Are you old enough to remember the “Cold War”? It was a time of incredible tension and anxiety, but it was also a time when most Americans were unified in their agreement that Russia (the USSR, then) was bad. The Cold War, which is said to have ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, is described as the open rivalry that developed after World War II between the US and Russia. The Cold War was waged on political, economic, and propaganda fronts and had only limited recourse to weapons. So, what role did the 1961 Berlin Crisis play in the Cold War?

Following the surrender of Nazi Germany in May 1945, Germany was divided into Russian, US, British, and French zones of occupation. The city of Berlin, although it was technically part of the Russian zone, was also split, with Russia taking the eastern part of the city. By 1948, Russia had installed hand-picked authoritarian/fascist governments in the countries of eastern Europe that had been “liberated” by the Red Army. The US feared permanent Russian domination of eastern Europe and the threat of Russian-influenced communist parties coming to power in western Europe. The Russians, on the other hand, were determined to maintain control of eastern Europe in order to safeguard against any possible renewed threat from Germany, and they were intent on spreading their authoritarian version of communism worldwide.

In 1948, Russia started getting testy about US access to Berlin, and blockaded the entire city to prevent Western access to it. The US responded with a massive airlift that kept food and supplies flowing to West Berlin. After the Berlin Airlift ended in 1949, the US and Russia maintained the status quo in Berlin, whereby each of the former WWII allies governed its own sector and had free access to all other sectors. However, the eastern section of the city was drawn even more tightly into the Russia fold.

Many East Germans weren’t too interested in living under another fascist dictatorship, though, after living through Nazi rule. Over the next 12 years, cut-off from its western counterpart and basically reduced to a Russian satellite, East Germany saw between 2.5 million and 3 million of its citizens head to West Germany in search of better opportunities. By 1961, about 1,000 East Germans—including many skilled laborers, professionals and intellectuals—were leaving every day.

The Berlin Crisis began in June 1961 when Russian dictator Nikita Khrushchev issued an ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of all US armed forces from West Berlin. The Russians also wanted to stop its "brain drain" as its population fled west through Berlin. As the confrontation over Berlin escalated, US President John Kennedy delivered a July 25 television speech, broadcast nationwide in the US, reiterating that the US was not looking for a fight. He said he was willing to renew talks, but also announced that he would ask Congress for an additional $3.25 billion for military spending. Kennedy proclaimed: "We seek peace, but we shall not surrender." This greatly angered Khrushchev and he believed that Kennedy's military build-up threatened war, and interfered with his goal of stopping East Berlin’s population from leaving for the West.

Fascist governments don’t function so well without people to oppress, use, and abuse, so in August 1961, Russia constructed a barrier to seal-off access between East and West Berlin. Approximately 32,000 soldiers began the work over the night of August 12-13, laying more than 100 miles of barbed wire, just inside the East Berlin border. They also tore-up streets running alongside the barrier to make them impassable to most vehicles. On the morning of August 13, many Berlin residents awoke to find themselves suddenly cut off from friends and family members in the other half of the city. The barbed wire was soon replaced by a six-foot-high, 96-mile-long wall of concrete blocks, complete with guard towers, machine gun posts, and searchlights. East German officers patrolled the Berlin Wall day and night.

On August 30, 1961, in response to Russians efforts to cut-off access to Berlin, President Kennedy ordered 148,000 Guardsmen and Reservists to active duty. In October and November, more Air National Guard units were mobilised, and 216 aircraft from the tactical fighter units flew to Europe in operation "Stair Step,” the largest jet deployment in the history of the Air Guard.

The powers governing Berlin had agreed in 1945 that US personnel could move freely in any sector of Berlin. But on October 22, 1961, just two months after the construction of the Wall, a US diplomat in West Berlin was stopped in his car while attempting to cross into East Berlin. The US was outraged by Russia’s attempt to control the passage of American government and military forces, and complained that the Russian military was not doing its part to avoid disturbing actions. Russia replied by describing American attempts to send armed soldiers into East Berlin as an "open provocation."

On October 27, 1961, the US diplomat again attempted to cross through the Wall, accompanied by ten jeeps with infantry troops to escort him through East Berlin. In addition, ten M-48 tanks, some fitted with bulldozer blades, were close behind. Simultaneously, ten Russian tanks drove to within 50-100 meters from the checkpoint on the Russian side of the boundary. The US tanks moved towards the checkpoint, stopping an equal distance from it on the American side of the boundary. From October 27, 1961 at 5pm until October 28, 1961 at about 11am, the respective troops faced each other. Both groups of tanks were loaded with live munitions. The alert levels were raised for the US Garrison in West Berlin, NATO, and the US Strategic Air Command.

Khrushchev and Kennedy agreed to reduce tensions by withdrawing the tanks. Kennedy offered to “go easy” over Berlin in the future, if the Russians removed their tanks first. The Russians agreed. Concerning the Wall, Kennedy stated, "it's not a very nice solution, but a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war."

It is against this backdrop that my dad’s and my family’s story is told. There was a very real threat of war between the US and Russia at the time, and I’m sure this must have been an incredibly stressful situation for two young newlyweds, just starting a family.

Here is a link to the online scrapbook of photos and other information.

August 13, 1961 — Barbed-wire barrier on Bernauer Strasse with Russian soldiers keeping East Berliners in-check

August 13, 1961 — A woman finds herself separated from family and friends after the Russian wall was built

August 15, 1961 — 19-year-old East German border guard Konrad Schumann jumped over the barbed wire to join his family who was already in West Berlin