Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941-91: The Berlin Crisis and the Building of the Berlin Wall, 1958-61 - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

12 original exam-style questions - 4 pages of questions with a full mark scheme - free printable PDF.

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This topic is chapter 3 of GCSE History: Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941-91 Practice Book.

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4.3 Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941-91: The Berlin Crisis and the Building of the Berlin Wall, 1958-61

EDEXCEL 1HI0 · about 55 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Write in full sentences for Questions 15, 16 and 17. You are advised to spend about 65 minutes on this pack.

State what the Berlin Wall was initially built from, before it was rebuilt in a stronger form.

(Total for Question 1 is 1 mark)

State one way in which President Kennedy responded to the building of the Berlin Wall, without risking direct military confrontation with the USSR.

(Total for Question 2 is 2 marks)

State one reason why, from the Soviet and East German point of view, closing the border in Berlin was seen as necessary.

(Total for Question 3 is 2 marks)

Explain two consequences of the building of the Berlin Wall (August 1961).

(Total for Question 4 is 8 marks)

Write a narrative account analysing how the crisis over Berlin developed between Khrushchev's ultimatum of November 1958 and the building of the Berlin Wall in August 1961.

You may use the following information in your answer:
- the collapse of the Paris Summit in May 1960
- the Vienna Summit of June 1961

You should also use information of your own.

(Total for Question 5 is 8 marks)

Explain two of the following:
(a) the importance of the Berlin Ultimatum (1958) for increasing Cold War tension
(b) the importance of the U-2 incident (1960) for relations between the superpowers
(c) the importance of the building of the Berlin Wall (1961) for the situation in Germany

You must answer on TWO parts.

(Total for Question 6 is 16 marks)

Give the year in which Khrushchev issued an ultimatum demanding that Western powers withdraw from West Berlin.

(Total for Question 7 is 1 mark)

State what Khrushchev's Berlin Ultimatum (November 1958) demanded, and the time limit he gave for it to be met.

(Total for Question 8 is 2 marks)

State why the Paris Summit of May 1960 collapsed.

(Total for Question 9 is 2 marks)

Name the two leaders who met at the Vienna Summit in June 1961.

(Total for Question 10 is 2 marks)

State the outcome of the Vienna Summit (June 1961) regarding the future of Berlin.

(Total for Question 11 is 2 marks)

Give the month and year in which East German authorities began building the Berlin Wall.

(Total for Question 12 is 2 marks)

Mark scheme · 4.3 Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941-91: The Berlin Crisis and the Building of the Berlin Wall, 1958-61

Question 1

B1 barbed wire
Answer: Barbed wire

Question 2

B1 identifies a response, e.g. sending additional US troops to reinforce West Berlin
B1 supporting detail, e.g. this was intended as a symbolic reassurance of the US commitment to defend West Berlin, without taking action against the Wall itself, which stood inside East German territory
Answer: Kennedy sent additional US troops to reinforce West Berlin as a symbolic reassurance, without directly challenging the Wall.

Question 3

B1 identifies a reason, e.g. East Germany's continuing loss of skilled workers through the open Berlin border threatened its economic survival
B1 supporting detail, e.g. from the Soviet perspective, a stable, secure East Germany within the Warsaw Pact was viewed as essential to the USSR's own security in Central Europe
Answer: The continuing loss of skilled workers threatened East Germany's economy, and a stable East Germany was seen as important for Soviet security.

Question 4

Level 1 (1-2): Identifies one or two general consequences of the Berlin Wall, with little or no supporting detail or explanation.
Level 2 (3-4): Identifies and begins to explain one consequence, supported by accurate detail.
Level 3 (5-6): Explains two consequences of the Berlin Wall, each supported by accurate and relevant detail.
Level 4 (7-8): Explains two consequences in a well-developed, logically structured way, supported throughout by precise and accurate detail, showing how the consequences connect.
Indicative content:
- It stopped the mass flight of East Germans to the West almost overnight, ending a movement that had removed millions of people, including many skilled workers, and allowing East Germany's government and economy a greater degree of stability than before.
- It became one of the most powerful physical symbols of the Cold War division of Europe, damaging the international reputation of the USSR and East Germany in the eyes of much of the world, even though it achieved the practical aim of stopping the refugee flow.
- It reduced the immediate risk of a direct military clash over Berlin's status, since both sides settled into an uneasy acceptance of a divided city rather than pursuing Khrushchev's original 1958 demand for full Western withdrawal, effectively ending that particular crisis without a formal treaty resolving it.
- It hardened the practical division of Germany and Europe for decades, reinforcing the reality of two separate German states and two opposing blocs, and the Wall itself remained standing until 1989.

Question 5

Level 1 (1-2): Simple, generalised statements about the Berlin crisis, with little organisation or sense of change over time.
Level 2 (3-4): Some accurate knowledge is deployed, with limited organisation into a sequence; the account may be more a list of events than a developed narrative.
Level 3 (5-6): The account is organised and mostly coherent, and shows some analysis of how the crisis developed, with accurate supporting detail.
Level 4 (7-8): The answer demonstrates a coherent, well-organised narrative that analyses connections between events across the crisis, showing clearly how repeated failures to resolve the dispute led to the Wall, fully supported by precise and accurate detail.
Indicative content:
- In November 1958 Khrushchev issued an ultimatum demanding Western withdrawal from Berlin within six months, driven partly by the continuing loss of East German citizens through the open border in the city, but the deadline passed without the West giving way.
- In May 1960, an attempt to make progress at the Paris Summit collapsed after the Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 spy plane and Eisenhower refused to apologise, leaving the underlying Berlin dispute unresolved and superpower relations more strained.
- At the Vienna Summit in June 1961, the newly-elected Kennedy met Khrushchev, but again no agreement on Berlin's status was reached, and Khrushchev came away believing Kennedy could be pressured further, while East German refugee numbers continued to rise through the summer.
- With diplomacy repeatedly failing to resolve the crisis and the refugee flow becoming increasingly urgent for East Germany, the Soviet Union and East Germany chose a unilateral solution, sealing the border overnight on 12-13 August 1961 with what became the Berlin Wall.
- The Wall's construction effectively ended this phase of the crisis by removing the immediate cause of Soviet pressure (the refugee flow) without either side going to war, showing how three years of failed negotiation led finally to a physical, rather than diplomatic, resolution.

Question 6

Level 1 (1-4): For each part answered: identifies a general point of importance, with little or no supporting detail or explanation.
Level 2 (5-8): For each part answered: begins to explain importance, supported by some accurate detail.
Level 3 (9-12): For each part answered: explains importance clearly, supported by accurate and relevant detail, with some analysis of consequences.
Level 4 (13-16): For each part answered: explains importance in a well-developed, analytical way, fully supported by precise and accurate detail, showing clearly why the event mattered for the outcome named.
Indicative content:
- (a) The Berlin Ultimatum was important for increasing Cold War tension because it directly threatened the post-war status quo in Germany, forcing the Western powers to decide whether to defend West Berlin's position, and its six-month deadline created a sustained period of uncertainty and risk that lasted well beyond 1959.
- (b) The U-2 incident was important for relations between the superpowers because it destroyed the Paris Summit, an opportunity that might otherwise have made progress on Berlin, and it embarrassed the USA publicly (Eisenhower had initially denied the spy flights before Khrushchev revealed the captured pilot), damaging trust between the two sides at a critical moment.
- (c) The building of the Berlin Wall was important for the situation in Germany because it physically and permanently divided the city, ending the possibility of free movement between East and West Berlin that had existed since 1945, and became the enduring symbol of a divided Germany until 1989.
- A strong answer on any two parts explains a clear causal chain from the named event to the outcome specified, using precise dates, and may note that all three events form a connected sequence in which repeated failed negotiation eventually produced the Wall as a unilateral solution.

Question 7

B1 1958
Answer: 1958

Question 8

B1 he demanded that Western powers withdraw their troops from West Berlin, proposing it become a 'free city'
B1 he gave a six-month deadline for this to happen
Answer: He demanded Western withdrawal from West Berlin, making it a 'free city', within six months.

Question 9

B1 the Soviet Union had shot down an American U-2 spy plane over its territory shortly before the summit and demanded an apology from Eisenhower
B1 Eisenhower refused to apologise, so Khrushchev walked out of the summit and it ended without progress on Berlin
Answer: The USSR demanded an apology for the U-2 incident, Eisenhower refused, and Khrushchev walked out.

Question 10

B1 John F. Kennedy (new US president)
B1 Nikita Khrushchev (Soviet leader)
Answer: John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev.

Question 11

B1 no agreement was reached on the status of Berlin
B1 Khrushchev repeated his pressure for a resolution, and the meeting left the two leaders on tense terms, with the Berlin question still unresolved
Answer: No agreement was reached; Khrushchev continued to press for a resolution and the two leaders left on tense terms.

Question 12

B1 August
B1 1961
Answer: August 1961

Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941-91: The Berlin Crisis and the Building of the Berlin Wall, 1958-61 - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

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4.3 Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941-91: The Berlin Crisis and the Building of the Berlin Wall, 1958-61

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