The Berlin crises (1948-49 and 1958-61)
Practice Flashcards
Flip to reveal answersWhy did West Berlin become a Cold War flashpoint?
Track your progress — Sign up free to save your progress and get smart review reminders based on spaced repetition.
All 12 Flashcards — The Berlin crises (1948-49 and 1958-61)
Sign up free to track progress and get spaced-repetition review schedules.
Question
Why did West Berlin become a Cold War flashpoint?
Answer
It was a Western-controlled island lying deep inside the Soviet occupation zone, so its access routes could be squeezed by the USSR.
Question
What were Bizonia and Trizonia?
Answer
The merged Western occupation zones of Germany — Bizonia (US + British), then Trizonia when France joined — a step towards a separate West Germany.
Question
What triggered the 1948–49 Berlin crisis?
Answer
Western currency reform (the new Deutschmark) and the merging of the Western zones, which signalled a separate capitalist West Germany.
Question
What was the Berlin Blockade (1948)?
Answer
Stalin cut all road, rail and canal routes into West Berlin to force the West out and reverse the currency reform.
Question
What was the Berlin airlift?
Answer
The Western response to the blockade: for nearly a year the USA and Britain flew food, coal and supplies into West Berlin until Stalin gave up in 1949.
Question
What two states did the first crisis produce in 1949?
Answer
The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in the West and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the Soviet-backed East.
Question
What was Khrushchev's ultimatum (1958)?
Answer
His demand that the Western powers leave West Berlin within six months, threatening to hand control of the access routes to East Germany.
Question
Why did refugees cause the second Berlin crisis?
Answer
Around 3 million East Germans — many young and skilled — fled to the West through open West Berlin, crippling and humiliating the GDR.
Question
Why was the Berlin Wall built in 1961?
Answer
To seal the border and stop the refugee exodus, stabilising the GDR by trapping its citizens in the East.
Question
What happened at Checkpoint Charlie in 1961?
Answer
US and Soviet tanks faced each other at the main crossing point for a day before both sides pulled back — a tense but bloodless standoff.
Question
How did Kennedy respond to the Berlin Wall?
Answer
He did not tear it down (that risked war) but defended West Berlin firmly, reinforced its garrison, and later declared 'Ich bin ein Berliner' (1963).
Question
What did the Berlin Wall come to symbolise?
Answer
The enduring symbol of a divided Europe and the Iron Curtain between the communist East and the capitalist West.
Read the notes
Full study notes for The Berlin crises (1948-49 and 1958-61)
Topic 17.3 hub
Cold War crises
More from Topic 17.3
All flashcards in this topic
History exam skills
Paper structures & tips
Track your progress with spaced repetition
Sign up free — Aimnova tells you exactly which cards to review and when, so you remember everything before your IB exam.
Start Free