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Cold War

A world divided between two ideologies…

Germany

Divided into four sections U.S., Great Britain, France &

U.S.S.R.

Berlin, Germany

Berlin was divided into 4 zones

A divided Germany

The Soviets feared a united Germany.

The western powers united their zones of occupation & encouraged Germany to rebuild their industry.

East Germany-Communist

West Germany-Democratic

Berlin Airlift: 1948-1949

Stalin tried to force western allies out of Berlin by blocking off all railroads & highways into the western sector of the city.

For almost a year, the western powers mounted a round-the-clock airlift- every 3 minutes!!!

Cargo planes supplied West Berliners with food & fuel.

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Operation Vittles

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What happened???

The airlift was so successful that the Soviets ended the blockade.

The West won this victory in the Cold War- but the crisis deepened the hostility between the two superpowers.

West Berlin

In the 1950’s, West Berlin’s economy was booming.

Low-paid East German’s slipped across the border into West Berlin.

To keep people from leaving East Berlin a wall was built between the two cities.

1961-Berlin Wall separated East & West Berlin

Berlin Wall under construction

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Tunnel Escapes

In an attempt to escape and gain access to West Berlin a large network of tunnels were built. They were dug mostly by college students, but many people used them. The first known successful tunnel dug was in a grave yard. People brought flowers to a grave to mourn, drop out of sight and would never be seen again. The tunnel was found after a woman accidentally dropped into the tunnel and left her baby carriage on top. The tunnel was sealed off.

Flying over the Wall

Some people even tried to fly over the wall. The families of Wetzels and Strlzycks bought small amounts of nylon cloth. The buying of cloth secretly and in small amounts didn’t raise any suspicion. When they had enough cloth they sewed it together to form a hot air balloon. They had just enough fuel to get in the air and floated over the wall. They reached West Berlin in a few hours. Due to this attempt the purchase of light weight cloth was strictly controlled.

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At first a large number of people were climbing over the wall with little trouble. The government in East Berlin then outlawed the sale of rope and twine. One of the most well know people who tried to get over was Peter Fetcher, age 18, who tried to climb over the wall on August 17, 1962. He was shot and left to bleed to death. This caused a outcry from the press throughout the world. Over 5,000 people tried to escape by climbing over the wall. About 100 died in the process, most were shot. The last person to get killed trying to climb the wall was Chris Gueffroy.

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Berlin Wall Falls-1989 Reunification-1990