Here is our brief tutorial on the Cold War Berlin Crisis for new learners. In this article, will give you brief information regarding this important event of the cold war period. Regardless of whether you are a fan of history or an international relations learner, this article will provide a quick guide on background of the Berlin Crisis, its causes, as well as its outcomes. Let’s dive in!

1. Understanding the Cold War

To comprehend the Berlin Crisis, it’s essential to grasp the broader period in which it occurred: the Cold War. The Cold War was an intense struggle for supremacy between the United States and Soviet Union(USSR) which started in late 1940’s and ended in early 1990s.

The conflict emerged following World War II, as the United States and the USSR came to represent two opposing world powers, each advocating for their respective socioeconomic systems: capitalism, and communism, in that order. Marx shows that during the Cold War struggle both superpowers were involved in a constant competition for supremacy and this they dragged the world through many proxy fights, arms race forges as well as diplomatic showdowns.

2. The Division of Berlin

After World War II, Germany was divided into occupation zones, each controlled by the victorious Allied powers: the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, as well as France supplemented the study’s findings. The Soviet zone included four sectors, and the city of Berlin, which was quite deep in this zone was also divided into four sectors.

This division was on the line of the ideological war that was to come to characterise Allies, with the west supporting democracy and the soviet supporting communism. When conflict arose, different parts of Berlin themselves represented two different styles of governance, which later became a significant struggle during the Cold War.

2.1 The Berlin blockade and Airlift

The Southeast of Union in early 1948 felt restless with western influences that dominated in West Berlin, moved ahead and closed all roads and water ways leading to the western side of the city. This action was taken in order to make the allies either surrender West Berlin or capitulate to Soviets.

Yet the US and its allies did not leave, but responded by putting into motion a vast operation called the Berlin Airlift. Round the clock concrete supply of food, fuel and other necessities in cargo planes to West Berlin demonstrated the resolve of the Allies to maintain their part of the city.

2.Merganser A & Williams B (2008) The Berlin Wall 2 The Construction of the Berlin Wall

With the tensions becoming very high thousands of East Germans crossed the border into West Berlin in search of political liberty as well as employment. This mass exodus was very much embarrassing to the Socialist Soviet Union and its ally, the East Germany.

As a reaction to this, on the 13th of August, in 1961 the East German government with Sovies full support started the construction of what came to be known as the Berlin Wall. This wall was built with a purpose of halting more people from meeting their fate and cementing the chasm between East and West Berlin. The Wall also came to represent everything that was wrong with communism: the partition also became a reminder that the Cold War was still on.

3. The Berlin Crisis of 1961

German fore was a significant intensification in the Berlin crisis the climax of which was the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. It intensified confrontation between the two superpowers and brought the world to a direct military conflict edge.

3.1 Kennedy’s Response

The American President, John F. Kennedy in particular scoed up with the crisis by sending more troops and tanks into West Berlin to show full support of Americans towards the citizens of West Berlin. The stand that Kennedy took during the crisis culminated into him being hailed an icons of stronghold globally.

3.2 Checkpoint Charlie

Through its wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous crossing between East and West Berlin became a symbol of division. That is where several rather tense meetings between the representatives of the American and Soviet sides took place during the crisis.

4. The End of the Berlin Crisis

/At the end of months of the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union a peaceful settlement was achieved. They faced a grim period from 1945 to 1963 before a new accord known as Berlin Agreement resolves all these by allowing movement between East and West Berlin.

4.1 The Fall of the Berlin Wall

Slowly, with the coming the era of Glasnost and the peaceful revolution, the population uprising and the new world map, the Berlin Wall came down on November 9, 1989. This occasion proved to be the last nail in the crusade of Cold War and ever since Berlin again became one united city.

5. Conclusion

The Cold War Berlin Crisis is unforgettable event it represents the strain and divide between the United States and the Soviet Union during the period of Cold War. Through a comprehension of this crisis, the issues of the political conflict and the survival of people in a divided city are getting revealed.

Our goal in creating this guide was to supply you with a complete understanding of Cold War Berlin Crisis. Regardless of whether you carry on looking at the subsequent events of the Cold War or move on to other areas of the subject, the information acquired will enable you to understand and analyse this critical period of world history.