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What leaders were involved in the Berlin Wall?
To halt the exodus to the West, Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev recommended to East Germany that it close off access between East and West Berlin. On the night of August 12-13, 1961, East German soldiers laid down more than 30 miles of barbed wire barrier through the heart of Berlin.
Who controlled each side of the Berlin Wall?
Soviets
The Soviets took the eastern half, while the other Allies took the western. This four-way occupation of Berlin began in June 1945.
Who was the Soviet leader when the Berlin Wall went up?
List of leaders
| Name (lifetime) | Period |
|---|---|
| Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) | 30 December 1922 ↓ 21 January 1924† |
| Joseph Stalin (1878–1953) | 21 January 1924 ↓ 5 March 1953† |
| Georgy Malenkov (1902–1988) | 5 March 1953 ↓ 14 September 1953 |
| Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) | 14 September 1953 ↓ 14 October 1964 |
Who was the leader of East Germany when the Berlin Wall was built?
On 15 June, East German leader Walter Ulbricht declared that ‘no one has the intention of building a wall’, but on the night of 12-13 August a wire barrier was constructed around West Berlin. Established crossing points between the Western and Soviet sectors were closed, dividing neighbourhoods and separating families overnight.
How did people get over the Berlin Wall?
According to German historian Hans-Hermann Hertle in his work Berlin Wall: Monument of the Cold War, between 1961 and when the wall finally came down in 1989, over 5,000 East Germans successfully managed to cross the border by jumping out of windows of buildings adjacent to the wall or climbing over the barbed wire.
Who was the first person to die at the Berlin Wall?
On 22 August 1961, Ida Siekmann was the first casualty at the Berlin Wall: she died after she jumped out of her third floor apartment at 48 Bernauer Strasse.
Who was in charge of Berlin during the Cold War?
This four-way occupation of Berlin began in June 1945. The existence of West Berlin, a conspicuously capitalist city deep within communist East Germany, “stuck like a bone in the Soviet throat,” as Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev put it. The Russians began maneuvering to drive the United States, Britain and France out of the city for good.