The Berlin Crisis of 1961 (USA vs Soviet Union) - The Berlin Wall_Full Length Cold War Documentary

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• published: 25 May 2013
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►My channel: http://youtube.com/TheBestFilmArchives ►SUBSCRIBE: http://www.youtube.com/TheBestFilmArchives?sub_confirmation=1 ►Google+: http://plus.google.com/+TheBestFilmArchives ►Facebook: http://facebook.com/TheBestFilmArchives ►Twitter: http://twitter.com/BestFilmArch This documentary presents the role of U.S. Army in Berlin from VE Day (Victory in Europe Day) 1945 to the critical summer of 1961 during the Berlin Crisis. The original title of this video is "U.S. Army in Berlin: Timetable for Crisis (1962)". The documentary is a part of "The Big Picture" series produced by the U.S. Army. About the Berlin Crisis of 1961 The Berlin Crisis of 1961 (4 June -- 9 November 1961) was the last major politico-military European incident of the Cold War about the occupational status of the German capital city, Berlin, and of post--World War II Germany. The U.S.S.R. provoked the Berlin Crisis with an ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of Western armed forces from West Berlin—culminating with the city's de facto partition with the East German erection of the Berlin Wall. After the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe at the end of World War II, between 1945 and 1950, over 15 million people emigrated from Soviet-occupied eastern European countries (Eastern Bloc) to the West. With the closing of the Inner German border officially in 1952, the border in Berlin remained considerably more accessible than the rest of the border because it was administered by all four occupying powers. Accordingly, Berlin became the main route by which East Germans left for the West. The 3.5 million East Germans that had left by 1961 totaled approximately 20% of the entire East German population. In November 1958, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev issued an ultimatum giving the Western powers six months to agree to withdraw from Berlin and make it a free, demilitarized city. At the end of that period, Khrushchev declared, the Soviet Union would turn over to East Germany complete control of all lines of communication with West Berlin; the western powers then would have access to West Berlin only by permission of the East German government. The United States, United Kingdom, and France replied to this ultimatum by firmly asserting their determination to remain in West Berlin and to maintain their legal right of free access to that city. In May 1959 the Soviet Union withdrew its deadline. Meeting with US President John F. Kennedy in the Vienna summit on June 4, 1961, Premier Khrushchev caused a new crisis when he reissued his threat to sign a separate peace treaty with East Germany, which he said would end existing four-power agreements guaranteeing American, British, and French access rights to West Berlin. He did so by issuing an ultimatum, with a deadline of December 31, 1961. The three powers replied that no unilateral treaty could abrogate their responsibilities and rights in West Berlin. Kennedy, in a speech delivered on nationwide television the night of 25 July, reiterated that the United States was not looking for a fight. He said he was willing to renew talks. The same day Kennedy requested an increase in the Army's total authorized strength from 875,000 to approximately 1 million men. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Crisis_of_1961 The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The Berlin Wall was officially referred to as the "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart" (German: Antifaschistischer Schutzwall) by GDR authorities, implying that neighbouring West Germany had not been fully de-Nazified. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period. The West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the "Wall of Shame"—a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt—while condemning the Wall's restriction on freedom of movement. The wall came to symbolize the "Iron Curtain" that separated Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. In 1989, a series of radical political changes occurred in the Eastern Bloc, associated with the liberalization of the Eastern Bloc's authoritarian systems. The East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. The physical Wall itself was primarily destroyed in 1990. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on 3 October 1990. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_wall U.S. Army in Berlin: Timetable for Crisis (1962)