The twentieth-century world, Year 10: the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis (East and West (Cold War) option)

13 August

提示Berliners woke up to find it had happened overnight.

为什么A barbed wire fence went up overnight on the orders of East German leader Walter Ulbricht. It was soon extended with walls and guard towers.

Large numbers of its people, many of them well educated, leaving for the West

提示Think about who was crossing the border.

为什么About 3.5 million East Germans, around a fifth of the population, had left by 1961. Oak describes this as a brain drain, and the open border in Berlin was the easiest way out.

That the Western powers pull their forces out of West Berlin within six months

提示It came with a time limit attached.

为什么The ultimatum began a three-year crisis over the future of Berlin. That crisis ended in 1961 with the building of the Berlin Wall.

He criticised it but accepted it and did not use force

提示He did not want to risk a war over the border.

为什么The USA believed the Wall meant West Berlin was no longer threatened, and it used the Wall as a valuable propaganda symbol of communist oppression.

Walter Ulbricht

提示He led East Germany's communist government.

为什么Ulbricht had pushed for a border closure for some time, arguing that East Germany's existence was at stake. A barbed wire fence went up overnight on his orders.

Fidel Castro

提示His revolution happened less than 150 km from the American coast.

为什么Cuba lies less than 150 km from the American coast, so the revolution worried the USA. The USA restricted trade, and Castro mainly turned to the USSR for support in 1960.

Cuban exiles trained and funded by the CIA

提示They were Cubans who had left after the revolution.

为什么President Kennedy refused to send American ground troops or air support, and the invaders were defeated within a few days. The failure damaged American prestige and deepened relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union.

A U-2 spy plane took photographs of them

提示The same type of aircraft had been shot down over the USSR in 1960.

为什么The photographs were taken on 14 October 1962. They showed sites under construction for medium-range and intermediate-range missiles, which could hit most of the USA.

Quarantine

提示A word usually used about illness.

为什么In law, a blockade implied that a state of war existed. The word quarantine also helped the USA win support from other countries.

It agreed to withdraw its missiles from Turkey

提示Think of a country on the southern edge of the USSR.

为什么The withdrawal of American missiles from Turkey was kept secret at the time. Khrushchev's reputation suffered in the USSR, while Kennedy's tough stance was praised in the USA.

A hotline

提示It allowed leaders to talk quickly in an emergency.

为什么Both sides were relieved to have avoided war, and agreements were made to make a future war less likely. The hotline connected the White House with the Kremlin.