The Berlin Wall incident : The Cold War resulted in the separation of Germany into the Western occupied zone and Soviet occupied zone. The German capital, Berlin, was also split into four sectors. It was agreed that Germany and Berlin would eventually be reconstituted and made into a single self- governing nation. But because of the growing mistrust between Western Allies and the Soviet Union, this was prevented from happening. Finally, in 1948, relations broke down completely when the Western Allies announced currency reforms in their section of Germany.
This was in violation of a previous agreement that Germany was to be treated as a single economic unit. The Soviets perceived this as a Western attempt to end the communist regime in Germany. They responded by announcing their own currency reforms and a blockade of all land traffic from West Germany to Berlin to starve out Western interests. The Berlin Wall was erected in 1967 by East Germany’s Communist authorities to prevent mass immigration from East Germany to West Berlin. This wall completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany by land.
The West responded to this blockade by beginning a massive airlift to West Berlin to bring food, water and necessary supplies to the stranded and isolated inhabitants. Twenty-four hours a day, thousands tonnes of supplies were flown into West Berlin.
The Cuban Missile Crisis : One of the most serious crises in the history of the post Second World War period occurred on the installation of nuclear missile by Soviet Union in Cuba in 1962. Cuba, a communist country, is located in the Latin America, which the U.S. considers its backyard. Fidel Castro, the new ruler of Cuba, nationalized all American-owned estates and factories. As a result, her relations with America worsened whereas relations with Russia improved. The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba. Within a few months the U.S. organised the infiltration of 2000 Cuban exiles at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of overthrowing the communist government of Cuba.
The invasion was a fiasco and was condemned by the whole world. Russia, apparently at the request of Cuba decided to set up nuclear missile launchers in Cuba which were very close to the American coast. These missiles could be directed to any target thousands of kilometers away, without any operation. Before that, the United States had already set up missile bases near the territory of the Soviet Union and itself remained safe.
In 1962, the United States found through its spy network that the Soviet Union was building missile sites in Cuba. The installation would have brought American territory within easy range of attack. On 22nd October, 1962, the then United States President, John F. Kennedy, announced a blockade around Cuba. The U.S. also prepared to launch an attack on the missile sites in Cuba. This incident could have led to a major world crisis and to nuclear disaster. However, the crisis ended on 26 October, as Khrushchev, the Soviet Prime Minister, sent a message to the President Kennedy that the Soviet Union would remove her missiles from Cuba if the United States pledged not to attack Cuba and withdraw her missiles from Turkey near tlje Soviet Union. The United States agreed to these terms and the crisis was averted.
