Cold War Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Berlin Crisis of 1961=== {{Main|Berlin Crisis of 1961}} {{Further|Berlin Wall|Emigration from the Eastern Bloc}} [[File:US Army tanks face off against Soviet tanks, Berlin 1961.jpg|thumb|[[Tanks of the Soviet Union|Soviet]] and [[Tanks of the United States|American tanks]] face each other at [[Checkpoint Charlie]] during the Berlin Crisis of 1961]] The [[Berlin Crisis of 1961]] was the last major incident in the Cold War regarding the status of Berlin and [[History of Germany (1945–1990)|post–World War II Germany]]. By the early 1950s, the [[Emigration from the Eastern Bloc|Soviet approach to restricting emigration movement]] was emulated by most of the rest of the [[Eastern Bloc]].{{sfn|Dowty|1989|p=114}} However, hundreds of thousands of [[East Germany|East Germans]] annually emigrated to free and prosperous [[West Germany]] through a "loophole" in the system that existed between [[East Berlin]] and [[West Berlin]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Berlin-Wall|title=Berlin Wall|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]|date=9 August 2023 }}</ref>{{sfn|Harrison|2003|p=99}} The emigration resulted in a massive "[[Human capital flight|brain drain]]" from East Germany to West Germany of younger educated professionals, such that nearly 20% of East Germany's population had migrated to West Germany by 1961.{{sfn|Dowty|1989|p=122}} That June, the [[Soviet Union]] issued a new [[ultimatum]] demanding the withdrawal of [[Allies of World War II|Allied forces]] from West Berlin.{{sfn|Gaddis|2005|p=114}} The request was rebuffed, but the United States now limited its security guarantees to West Berlin.{{sfn|Daum|2008|p=27}} On 13 August, East Germany erected a barbed-wire barrier that would eventually be expanded through construction into the [[Berlin Wall]], effectively closing the loophole and preventing its citizens from fleeing to the West.{{sfn|Pearson|1998|p=75}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page