The long path to the Berlin Wall began in 1945, when Josef Stalin instructed the Communist Party to take power in the Soviet occupation zone while the three Western allies secured their areas of influence. When Germany was split into separate states in 1949, Berlin remained divided into four sectors, with West Berlin surrounded by the GDR but lingering as a captivating showcase for Western values and goods. Following a failed Soviet attempt to expel the allies from West Berlin with a blockade in 194849, a second crisis ensued from 195861, during which the Soviet Union demanded once and for all the withdrawal of the Western powers and the transition of West Berlin to a Free City. Ultimately Nikita Khrushchev decided to close the border in hopes of halting the overwhelming exodus of East Germans into the West.
Tracing this path from a German perspective, Manfred Wilke draws on recently published conversations between Khrushchev and Walter Ulbricht, head of the East German state, in order to reconstruct the coordination process between these two leaders and the events that led to building the Berlin Wall.
Foreword
List of Abbreviations
Map of Germany, 194989
Map of Berlin, 194989
Introduction
PART I: THE POLARIZATION OF POSTWAR EUROPE
Chapter 1. The Allied War Conferences and Europes Postwar Order
The United States of America and the Anti-Hitler Coalitions Goals for Peace: The Atlantic Charter of 1941 The Soviet Precedent in 1944 Poland and Churchills Warning about the Iron Curtain in 1945 Yalta: Controlling Germany without Dismembering It Germanys Forced Reorientation Liberation and Occupation Rule The Question of Guilt Emerging from Catastrophe: Konrad Adenauer, Kurt Schumacher, and Walter Ulbricht Potsdam 1945
Chapter 2. New Borders for Germany
Polands Borders and the Separation of Austria and the Eastern Provinces The Demarcation Lines of the Occupation Zones Reparations Borders Berlin: The Four-Sector City Interzonal Trade: An Economic Safety Pin Holding Together the Divided Country The Interzonal Pass: First Efforts to Control Travel to and from the East The Inter-German Emigration Movement, 19451989/90
Chapter 3. Two German States
Conflicts over the German Party System and the Democratic Elections of 1946 The Establishment of Communist Party Rule in the Soviet Zone Moscow Plans, 1944 The Soviet Military Administration and the Establishment of a Communist Party Dictatorship The German Economic Commission: Preparations to Found the New State The Party of Power: Party Cleansing and the Stalinization of the SED The Founding of the GDR The Federal Republic of Germany: The West German State Preliminary Decisions at the Conference of Foreign Ministers, Paris, 1946 The Bizone: A Decision to Rebuild Germany Fundamental Decisions for the West German State Currency Reform and the Social Market Economy A Constituent Assembly for West Germany The Marshall Plan The European Coal and Steel Community The Founding of the Federal Republic and the German Basic Law
Chapter 4. Western Integration and the Establishment of Socialism: Competing Systems in a Divided Germany
The Federal Republic: Western Integration and the Reclamation of German Sovereignty The Federal Republics Alignment to the West and Stalins Peace Note of 1952 The GDR in 1952: Building the Foundations of Socialism Cementing the Zonal Border and Sealing Off West Berlin from Its Surrounding Area Building Socialism in the GDR and Relations to the Federal Republic
Chapter 6. The End of the Postwar Period: The Geneva Summit and the Transition to Peaceful Coexistence in Germany
The Geneva Summit of 1955 The Beginning of Diplomatic Relations between the Federal Republic and the Soviet Union, and the Hallstein Doctrine Peaceful Coexistence in a Divided Germany: The Two-State Doctrine, Plans for a Confederation, and the Rapacki Plan Sputnik and the End of Americas Massive Retaliation Strategy Nuclear Missiles for the Bundeswehr? The Founding of the European Economic Community
PART II: THE FIGHT FOR BERLIN
Chapter 6. The First Berlin Crisis, 194849
Berlins Historical Significance for the Division of Germany Pivotal Conflicts over Berlins Political Order after the End of the War Berlin as a Soviet Lever to Shift the Zones of Influence in Germany The Conflict over Berlins Currency Reform, the Blockade, and the Airlift The Division of the City The Ring around Berlin: A New Border Crisis Management as Super-Power Diplomacy
Chapter 7. Stalins Death and the First Existential Crisis of the GDR: 17 June 1953
A New Course for the SED The SED States Crisis of Legitimacy: 17 June 1953 The Soviet Union Guarantees the Existence of the SED State Western Initiatives toward New Negotiations on Germany Recognition and Stabilization of the GDR
Chapter 8. A Prelude to the Second Berlin Crisis: The SED Party Congress
The Fifth Party Congress of the SED, 1958 The Question of a Peace Treaty with Germany Khrushchev Demands a Peace Agreement and a Solution to the Westberlin Problem SED Propaganda and the West Berlin Elections of 1958
Chapter 9. The Soviet Unions 1958 Berlin Ultimatum
A Bolt of Lightning: Khrushchevs Speech on 10 November 1958 Khrushchevs Motives The Berlin Ultimatum Multiple Reactions from the West
Chapter 10. Negotiations over a Peace Treaty and the Free City of Westberlin
Moscow Drafts Ulbrichts Plans: Full Sovereignty and a Solution to the Westberlin Problem The Transfer of Soviet Rights in Berlin to the Government of the GDR The Free City of Westberlin: The Statute by the SED The Geneva Conference of Foreign Ministers, 1959
Chapter 11. The Second Berlin Crisis and a Shift in the Cold War
The International Character of the Second Berlin Crisis The SovietChinese Schism and the Position of the SED Khrushchevs Trip to the United States in 1959 The Summit that Khrushchev Cut Short: Paris 1960
Chapter 12. Crisis in the GDR, Changes to the Border Regime, and Interzonal Trade
A Supply Crisis and the Exodus Movement from the GDR Border Controls and Special Permits to Enter East Berlin The Conflict over Interzonal Trade Negotiations on Interzonal Trade
Chapter 13. Ulbricht: Resolve the Westberlin Question Now!
The Status Quo in Berlin before Khrushchevs Summit with President Kennedy Ulbricht Pushes for a Solution to the Westberlin Question, 1961 Khrushchevs Timeframe in March 1961
Chapter 14. The Vienna Summit, 1961: The Second Soviet Ultimatum
Moscows Expectations before the Summit Kennedy: Balancing Détente and an Assertion of the Western Positions Confrontation at the Summit: Khrushchevs Vienna Ultimatum The Outcome: A Policy of Force The SEDs Reaction to Khrushchevs Vienna Ultimatum
Chapter 15. The Decision to Close the Sector Border in Berlin
No One Has the Intention of Building a Wall Ulbricht Demands Closing the Sector Border in Berlin Secrecy and Conspiratorial Communication Kennedys Three Essentials and Khrushchevs Response
Chapter 16. The Construction of the Berlin Wall, 1961: Germanys Division Gains a Symbol
They Will Feel Your Power!: Khrushchev and Ulbricht on the Walls Construction West Germany Is Superior: The GDRs Economic Crisis Legitimizing the Border Closure through the Warsaw Pact The Operation to Close the Border: Planning and Troop Deployment 13 August 1961: The Division of Berlin The SED Mobilizes its Party against Desertion of the Republic The Decision by the Council of Ministers on 12 August Barbed Wire through Berlin Regulations at the Border The Border Regime: The Wall and the Command to Shoot
PART III: THE END OF THE SECOND BERLIN CRISIS
Chapter 17. Negotiations, but No War!
13 August and the Berlin Crisis: BerlinBonnWashington Khrushchev and the German Question after the Construction of the Wall Conflicting Positions among the Western Powers, and Kennedys Decision to Negotiate
Chapter 18. A Wall in Berlin but No Peace Treaty with the GDR
The Retraction of Khrushchevs Ultimatum Military Exercises for an Unwanted War over Berlin Ulbricht Demands a Peace Treaty The Confrontation of Tanks at Checkpoint Charlie in October 1961 Khrushchev Approves Strengthening the Border Exploratory Discussions on a Berlin Settlement Khrushchevs Change of Course: Negotiations, but No Agreement
Chapter 19. Repercussions for Germany and a Shift in Trouble Spots
Ulbricht and the New Situation Adenauers Conflict with Kennedy over the Transit Routes to West Berlin Germany Policy, or the Importance of Holding On From the Berlin Crisis to the Cuban Missile Crisis
Conclusion: Who Was Responsible for the Berlin Wall?
Bibliography
List of Persons
About the Author
