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
•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
summery
onstructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The brain drain of professionals had become so damaging to the political credibility and economic viability of East Germany that the re-securing of the German communist frontier was imperative
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