Chapter 15 Summary

Despite his desire to reduce East-West tensions, on November 10, 1958, Khrushchev surprises everyone by demanding the status of Berlin be normalized. The capital of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) should be under the control of East German boss Walter Ulbricht. U.S. Ambassador Thompson figures this is Khrushchev's way of forcing a summit meeting. On November 27, in his first-ever press conference, Khrushchev announces the "malignant tumor" of West Berlin must be removed, and gives the Western powers six months to demilitarize the "free city" or face having to deal with East Germans rather than the Soviets for access to the city. Eisenhower is belligerent. The standoff will not be end until the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Khrushchev acts because Berlin is a locus for dissatisfied skilled workers and professionals fleeing from the East to the West, and political subversions flowing from West to East...