The Berlin Wall, 1961
- People had been fleeing to the west through Berlin for many years “Brain Drain” (3 mil.)
- Krushchev wants Kennedy to pull out of Berlin and make it a free city
- Kennedy increases US strength
- Krushchev responds by building a wall around West Berlin
- Both leaders were accused of being soft in Berlin and fixed this by ordering more tests of nuclear weapons
Fun Fact
The west side of the Berlin wall was covered in graffiti. The East side was not.
Subjunctive Question
Why did Kennedy not grant krushev wish of pulling out to be a free country ?
Summary
The "brain drain" was the result of Nazi scientists heading into the East part of Germany. Soviets had decided that they had to prevent any more loss of scientists. Their solution was to build a large wall separating Berlin. Though it was effective in stopping scientists from leaving, it also separated many families from each other and had cut the country into two parts (East, West).