The Cold War and a World Remade · Ages 16–17
Divided Berlin: From the Airlift to the Wall (1948-1961)
Name: Date:
This worksheet is for 11th grade history students. Read each question carefully and write your answers in complete sentences based on historical evidence.
Identify the Western policy introduced in June 1948 that directly triggered the Soviet blockade of West Berlin.
How did the Western Allies keep West Berlin supplied between June 1948 and May 1949?
State the primary economic reason the East German government wanted to close the border in Berlin by 1961.
On what specific date did East German security forces begin sealing the border in Berlin with barbed wire?
Compare the East German term for the wall with the Western perspective on its true purpose.
Read this excerpt from a secret East German police report in late August 1961: 'In factory staff rooms, many workers refuse to discuss the security measures. When pressed, several noted that family members in the West can no longer be reached for Sunday dinners.' What does this source reveal about public reaction to the wall?
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Identify the Western policy introduced in June 1948 that directly triggered the Soviet blockade of West Berlin.
The introduction of the new currency, the Deutsche Mark, in the western occupation zones and West Berlin.
How did the Western Allies keep West Berlin supplied between June 1948 and May 1949?
They launched the Berlin Airlift, flying cargo planes into West Berlin around the clock with food, fuel, medicine, and coal.
State the primary economic reason the East German government wanted to close the border in Berlin by 1961.
East Germany was losing millions of skilled professionals, such as doctors, engineers, and teachers, who fled through West Berlin to the West, causing a severe brain drain and economic crisis.
On what specific date did East German security forces begin sealing the border in Berlin with barbed wire?
August 13, 1961.
Compare the East German term for the wall with the Western perspective on its true purpose.
East Germany called it the Anti-Fascist Protective Rampart, claiming it kept Western spies and agitators out; the West viewed it as a prison wall designed to trap East German citizens inside a failed communist system.
Read this excerpt from a secret East German police report in late August 1961: 'In factory staff rooms, many workers refuse to discuss the security measures. When pressed, several noted that family members in the West can no longer be reached for Sunday dinners.' What does this source reveal about public reaction to the wall?
It shows that ordinary citizens experienced immediate personal heartbreak and family separation, while maintaining cautious silence at work due to fear of state punishment.