Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Decades»Events
    Events 4 Mins Read

    Berlin Wall

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    In 1945, at the end of WWII, Germany was divided into a Soviet Zone in the East, and British, French and American Zone in the West.

    The border between East and West Germany was closed on 26 May 1953. Control of the city of Berlin was also split.

    President John F Kennedy brought a new firm approach to the argument over Berlin. Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev met in Vienna in June 1961. This was unfriendly and unsuccessful, with Khrushchev demanding that Berlin should become neutral.

    He angrily talked about the danger of war if the USA refused to pull out of Berlin. Banging his hands on the conference table. Khrushchev said, “I want peace, but if you want war, that is your problem”.

    Kennedy ended the conference by saying “It’s going to be a cold winter”.

    Afterwards, Khrushchev repeated his demands in public and insisted, as he had done with Eisenhower, that the USA must act within six months. At the same time, he increased Soviet spending on defence by 30 per cent. Unlike Eisenhower, Kennedy was in no mood to do a deal.

    At the end of July, Kennedy announced a complete rejection of the Soviet demands.

    He ordered a massive increase in the American armed services and the number of troops was increased by 15 per cent, spending on defence was increased by $3 billion, and many new aircraft and warships were ordered.

    In public speeches, both Kennedy and Khrushchev suggested that they were ready for war over Berlin, but behind the rhetoric and angry words, it seems that neither side was really willing to start a nuclear war over the future of Berlin.

    While Khrushchev threatened nuclear war, he secretly planned a different solution to the Berlin crisis.

    The continued uncertainty over Berlin increased the number of East Germans who fled to West Berlin, and every day over a thousand East Germans entered the Western part of the city.

    berlinwall322

    In the early hours of 13 August 1961 barbed wire and barricades were erected all around West Berlin. When the people of West Berlin woke up their city was sealed off from East Germany.

    Train services were halted and the 50,000 East Germans who worked in West Germany were turned back. Building materials stored in warehouses close to the line were brought forward and work started immediately on a wall which began to snake across Berlin, being made taller and stronger every day.

    Soldiers were told to open fire on anyone who tried to cross and the Berlin Wall was created – a potent symbol of the Cold War.

    While Western powers were outraged by this swift and brutal action, it quickly became obvious that there was nothing they could do about it.

    By 1964, more than 40 people had lost their lives in escape attempts, most of them shot dead.

    The Wall encircled West Berlin for a distance of 155km, and its barriers and surveillance systems evolved over the years into an advanced obstacle network. The Intra-German Border ran from the Baltic Sea to the Czechoslovak border for 1,381km and was where NATO forces faced the Warsaw Pact for the 45 years of the Cold War.

    Guards from 250 observation turrets could fire at anyone who tried to climb over it, and at least 64 people were shot dead while trying to escape from East Berlin – the last two in February 1989.

    In September 1989, Hungary created a route for East Germans to cross to the West by opening its border with Austria. This breach destroyed the reason for the Berlin Wall’s existence.

    In November 1989 the wall was opened and East and West Germany were reunified.

    Scenes of widespread euphoria were beamed across the world as East and West Berliners dragged down slabs of the hated symbol of their separation.

    Gorbachev‘s effective go-ahead for this part of the “Iron Curtain” to be breached meant that things would never be the same again.

    By October 1990, East and West Germany were reunited, and the Berlin Reichstag was once again the seat of government. Here, politicians would eventually put East and West back together again, marrying a totalitarian, atheist, communist system with a democratic, Christian, capitalist one.

    Related Posts

    • Assassination of JFK (1963)
      Assassination of JFK (1963)
      President Kennedy was assassinated on 22 November 1963 - shot in the head as he was driven through Dallas, Texas, in an…
    • Live Aid (1985)
      Live Aid (1985)
      On 25 November 1984, 36 British recording artists gathered at a studio in Notting Hill, London to donate their time…
    • Civil Rights Movement
      Civil Rights Movement
      In December 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, a black woman named Rosa Parks insisted on sitting in the front of a bus. The…
    • Dwight D (Ike) Eisenhower
      Dwight D (Ike) Eisenhower
      Dwight David Eisenhower was born on 14 October 1890, at Denison, Texas, the third of seven sons of David Jacob…
    • Moon Landing (1969)
      Moon Landing (1969)
      It seemed the whole world had stopped. Then, clear as crystal, came those immortal words . . . "That's one…
    • Bay of Pigs
      Bay of Pigs
      Fidel Castro overthrew the US-backed Batista dictatorship in January 1959 to take control of Cuba, and in 1960 he took over…
    • John F Kennedy
      John F Kennedy
      1 9 1 7 - 1 9 6 3 Born in 1917, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the second son of…
    • Lockerbie (1988)
      Lockerbie (1988)
      Pan Am flight 103 - a Boeing 747-121 named Clipper Maid of the Seas - left London Heathrow Airport at 6:25…

    Cold War
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleBay of Pigs
    Next Article Black September

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • ABBA: The Movie (1977)
      Unashamed and supremely slick commercial for the group, […]
    • Innocenti Spider
      In 1959, Innocenti – famous for the Lambretta scooter – entered […]
    • Avengers, The
      1 9 6 1 – 1 9 6 9 (UK) 161 x 50 minute episodes When The […]
    • Whirlpool (1970)
      Swinging London fashion model, Tulia (Vivian Neves), is lured to […]
    • Crosstrap (1962)
      Predating Straw Dogs by nine years, Crosstrap sees Geoff (Gary […]
    • Woman Of Substance, A
      1 9 8 5 (UK) 3 x 160 minute episodes Told in flashback and […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.