The Berlin Crisis of 1961

Key learning aims:

• To be able to explain:
  • the causes, events and results of the construction of the Berlin Wall.
  • Reasons for construction of Berlin Wall (1961);
  • Berlin Wall’s effects on relations between East and West and on Germany;
  • Long term factors and the failure of a negotiated settlement.

Key personalities and themes:

• The refugee crisis
• Walther Ulbricbht, Chairman of the State Council of the German Democratic Republic, 1960-73
• Geneva Conference of 1961 and Kruschev’s ultimatum
• Kennedy call’s Kruschev’s bluff
• Kruschev starts building the Wall (12 August 1961)
• Kennedy’s visit to Berlin, 1963

 

1. The Berlin Wall

   Read:

   • Edexcel, pp. 90-91: The Berlin Crisis: a divided city; pp. 92-93 The Berlin Crisis: the Berlin Wall.
   • See John D. Clare’s page on the Berlin Wall

    
   Tasks:

   • Carry out the card exercises on p. 93 of the Edexcel textbook
   • Write an answer to the C question ‘Why did the USSR build the Berlin Wall in 1961? Explain your answer.’ N.b. What do you need to do to pick up full marks from a C question?
   • Summarise the key consequences of the Berlin Wall crisis
   • Paired task: each pair produces two different headlines for the day after the building of the Berlin Wall
     • One for East Berlin
     • One for West Berlin
2. Drawing Conclusions
   • Group task: Each group given a grid which has the main crises of 1945-61 including the Berlin Crisis 1948-49, Hungarian Uprising, the U2 Crisis and the Berlin Wall Crisis.
     • Carry out further research on each crisis
     • Decide which was the most serious giving each a rating of 1-5 with 5 being the highest
     • Give a presentation to the rest of the class explaining their decisions.

     For an excellent diagram exercise on this topic see School History

     Also, see the electronic quiz from the same site.