The Building Of The Berlin Wall Dbq

1890 Words4 Pages

The building of the Berlin Wall was the most serious crisis between the USA and the Soviet Union in the years 1960-68. How far do you agree? You may use the following in your answer. The Building of the Berlin Wall The Cuban Missile Crisis I fully agree that the Berlin Wall was an important cause of poor relations between the USA and the Soviet Union. However, there were other important events too, such as the Prague Spring and the Cuban Missile Crisis. One significant Cold War crisis was the invasion of Czechoslovakia. After the Soviet coup in Czechoslovakia, the leader of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, Klement Gottwald made liberal use of the secret police, and banned rival political parties. As Czechoslovakia was relatively industrialized …show more content…

After the Cuban Revolution that overthrew the Batista government, Fidel Castro became the de-facto leader of Cuba. This worried the West, which levied economic sanctions, and canceled the import of Cuban sugar. Tensions continued to percolate in the US government, with Kennedy planning an invasion aimed to overthrow Castro. This invasion, which was staged at the Bay of Pigs, was a massive failure, and a great source of embarrassment for the Americans. Kennedy continued to seek to destabilize the Cuban government under Operation Mongoose, which planned assassinations of Castro. However, after the Bay of Pigs invasion, Cuban relations with the Soviet Union improved, with Cuba viewing the influence of the Soviet Union necessary to prevent an American invasion of Cuba. Previously a staunch critic of communism, Castro declared Cuba a “socialist state”. Khrushchev also sent Kennedy a telegram on the second day of the invasion, claiming that nuclear retaliation would follow if the Americans continued interfering in Cuban sovereignty. In 1962, the Soviet Union decided to place nuclear missiles on Cuba, which ultimately culminated in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Khrushchev wanted to improve his personal prestige with the Soviet people, protect Cuba, and show the Americans that placing missiles in Turkey and Italy would bring serious consequences. Soon, a U-2 spy plane flying over Cuba noticed infrastructure for nuclear missiles, …show more content…

Leading into the 1960s, many skilled East German workers such as engineers, technicians and professors were escaping across the inner German border to West Germany, where they saw increased economic prosperity. Walter Ulbricht, the leader of East Germany saw this development, and closed the inner German border in 1953. However, residents were still able to escape through Berlin into West Berlin, where they could take a short flight into the GDR. Khrushchev viewed Berlin as a “malignant tumor”, and ordered the Allies to withdraw. The Allies refused, leading to the construction of the Berlin Wall, a barrier made out of barbed wire and concrete that separated East and West Berlin, and surrounded the outer portion of West Berlin. Construction of the wall took place at midnight, and many families found themselves separated on either side of the wall, with East German border guards ordered to shoot anyone trying to pass. A particularly tragic death was the case of Peter Fechter, who along with Helmut Kulbeik tried to cross the Berlin Wall. Kulbeik was able to cross into West Berlin, but Fechter was shot in the pelvis by East German border guards. He fell back into the East German sector, and West Berliners were unable to rescue him. They screamed “murderer” at the border guards until Fechter bled to death, and his body was removed an hour later. After the construction of the Berlin

More about The Building Of The Berlin Wall Dbq

Open Document