Berlin Crisis, 1958-61

Abstract

Late in 1958 Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev – motivated by a variety of concerns that included large‐scale migration from the German Democratic Republic – threatened the American, British, and French military presence in West Berlin. The Western powers were unwilling to withdraw because to do so would represent a major Cold War victory for the Soviet Union. The result was an intermittent crisis which ended in August 1961, when the communist authorities built a wall around West Berlin, ending the refugee problem. Nevertheless, there were still tensions over Berlin until access arrangements for the Western allies were agreed in 1971.