The Oxford Companion to American Military History | Berlin Crises
Berlin Crises(1958, 1962). The Berlin Crises involved mounting tension between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies over West Berlin. Since the 1948–49 blockade, West Berlin had become a symbol of U.S. guarantees for Western European security and a platform for Western intelligence operations. In November 1958, Soviet premier Nikita S. Khrushchev launched a campaign to terminate the Allied presence in West Berlin and to prompt the West to recognize the German Democratic Republic (GDR). He hoped to reduce the GDR's isolated diplomatic position; some analysts argue that Moscow also feared U.S. plans for nuclear sharing with West Germany.
Without Western concessions, Moscow declared it would turn over its responsibilities in East Berlin to the GDR and allow East German officials to regulate civilian and Allied military traffic between West Berlin and West Germany. Khrushchev did not want to risk nuclear war; Presidents Eisenhower...
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