The Berlin Wall,1961
- People had been fleeing to the west through Berlin for many years "Brain Drain" (3 mil)
- Krushchev wants Kennedy to pull out of Berlin and make it a free city
- Kennedy increases US strength
- Krushchev responds by building a wall around West Berlin
- Both leaders were accused of being soft in Berlin and fixed this by ordering more tests of nuclear weapons
Interesting Fact
More than 5,000 escaped by going over and under the Berlin Wall.
Quote
"The Berlin Wall wasn't the only barrier to fall after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Traditional barriers to the flow of money, trade, people and ideas also fell."
-Fareed Zakaria
-Fareed Zakaria
Subjunctive Question
Would Krushchev have built the wall of the "Brain Drain" had not occured?
Summary
For many years people had been fleeing to the west through Berlin to avoid Communism. Krushchev wanted Kennedy to pull out of Berlin and make it a free city. Kennedy had no plans of backing down and he delivered the speech "ich bin ein Berliner." Krushchev responds to this by building a wall around West Berlin to seperate the East and West side of Germany.