[Maddie]

can anyone help me with why berlin became an issue in the cold war by 1961?

THANK YOU!!

[MrJohnDClare]

All the trouble in Berlin was caused because Germany was divided after the war:


But Berlin - which was also divided - was inside the Russian zone:


The Americans saw West Berlin as an opportunity to show that capitalism worked better than communism, and they poured money into it so that it prospered.

The Russians saw West Berlin as a danger, and as a centre of spying, and as a Western attempt to destabilise and destroy east Germany. It was also an embarrassment to the Russians, because so many Germans (mostly skilled workers) fled to the west via Berlin. That's why they closed the border in 1961.

A summit booked for May 1960 to discuss Berlin and nuclear weapons failed because of the U2 crisis.
At the Vienna summit of June 1961, Khrushchev demanded that the US leave Berlin. Kennedy responded by increasing US support and weapons. So on 13 August Khrushchev closed the border and built the 'wall'.

It is worth mentioning that, although the US made a song and dance about the wall, secretly the Americans were delighted. Berlin was a terrible flashpoint of the Cold War. It had already (1948) almost caused a hot war between the two. The Russians HAD to demand that the Americans leave, and the Americans HAD to refuse - there was a real danger that Berlin could erupt again into direct confrontation.
The Wall put an end to all the tension - it was a solution. AND, as far as the Americans were concerned, it was a good solution because it made the Russians look like rottersb (it was a propaganda disaster for the Russians).

For links:
http://www.johndclar...cold_war15b.htm - for starter on the Berlin Wall
http://en.wikipedia....iki/Berlin_Wall - very detailed
http://edition.cnn.c...ar/episodes/09/ - interesting but faffy.

http://www.geocities.../cold.htm#seven - general background on Germany (but it keeps going down because it exceeds its bandwidth limit!)

and finally, for pictures
look here