After the end of World War II, the city of Berlin had become a peculiar situation. It was transformed into an island-like city, which was occupied by four countries. Each country divided Berlin into its own sectors. These four countries were the Soviet Union, America, Britain and France. In 1948, efforts began to bring into existence a separate country, West Germany, and Stalin had objections to it. Stalin cut off the parts of West Berlin adjoining his sector from West Germany in revenge.
Things became such that West Berlin became a permanent neck bone for the surrounding areas of East Germany, and things changed dramatically in the blink of an eye on August 13, 1961.
The Wall of Berlin:
It was one o'clock in the morning, when the border police and armed forces of East Germany were deployed along the borders of the Soviet sector. On the other side in front of them were the police of America, Britain, France and West Berlin. Large-scale barbed wire installation began on the East German side, concrete poles erected in a hurry. Even the pre-existing lampposts were also being used for siege.
Four days later, regardless of West Germany, construction of a more permanent concrete structure was started in East Germany. This was the Berlin Wall. One issue was also the exodus from East Germany to the West. Every sixth person from East Germany went to West Germany and this exodus took place via Berlin.
Escape from East Germany:
After 1958, the years of the communist administration began to rise in view of the way doctors, professors and engineers were leaving East Germany and going west. A policy of strictness and leniency at the same time had failed to deter people from leaving East Germany. It was also agreed between the four countries running Berlin that the borders of the areas under their control in the city would be kept open.
But this condition was only facilitating the exodus from East Germany. In May 1960, East Germany's notorious intelligence police was formed, but this too was able to catch only one in five people who fled.
Siege of Berlin:
The result of the meeting was that in late July, the Soviet Union approved plans to build the Berlin Wall. The plan to build the wall was kept secret so as not to cause a stampede among those who wanted to leave East Germany. The Soviet Union made the decision just a day after President Kennedy's speech on July 26, 1961. Khrushchev, through the Soviet Union's ambassador to East Germany, sent Walter Ulbricht a message of siege through the barbed fence of Berlin.
The message was clear, this work must in any case be completed before the end of the peace agreement. In reality, the leaders of the Soviet Union were rekindling the same diplomatic crisis that they had laid in November 1958.
What happened in 1958:
The Soviet Union at that time told the Western powers to agree to a peace deal or to evacuate West Berlin. Then the Western powers were forced to recognize East Germany as an independent country under this peace agreement and the German Democratic Republic came into existence. It had all three roads, railways and air traffic.
Kennedy made it clear in his speech that he was ready to go to the extent of war to save West Berlin, but he remained silent on the issue of East Berlin. And that's what happened as expected. The communists got complete freedom in their area. However, the world saw East Germany as a puppet country of the Soviet Union. Upon gaining sovereignty, East Germany gained control of the routes connecting West Berlin to West Germany.
It had all three roads, railways and air traffic. Kennedy made it clear in his speech that he was ready to go to the extent of war to save West Berlin, but he remained silent on the issue of East Berlin. And that's what happened as expected. The communists got complete freedom in their area.
Implementing the plan:
After this 'Operation Pink' started. Work began on the plan for the siege of West Berlin in a very secret way. Many top government officials were kept unaware of this plan. It is said that only 60 people in East Germany knew that something like this was going to happen. Erik Honecker, who held the number two position in the East Germany Communist Party, was also one of them. A decade later, he became the leader of East Germany.
This work was to start on Saturday night and be completed by Sunday morning. The Communist Party had bitter memories of the June 17, 1953 attack. On 24 July, the party's security department calculated that 27,000 people would need to be employed and 500 tons of barbed wire would be required.
An uncertain choice:
Iron barbed wire was gradually transported from the border areas to the capital. Tanks were deployed in the name of security arrangements to carry out the siege work with barbed fences. The secrecy was maintained in such a way that the western powers did not even notice it. Although the CIA and the British intelligence agency had expressed its possibility in the past.
The West German intelligence organization had informed Chancellor Konrad Adenauer about this plan. So much was certain that the Western countries knew that the siege of West Berlin was an option and East Germany was working on this plan. But they were not sure about its date.
'Operation Pink' :
According to a document from the East German intelligence agency Stasi, "The most important lesson of the successful operation of August 13 is to keep an operation undercover. It is as effective as a successful attack on the enemy at the right place at the right time." .
On August 1, Khrushchev and Walter had a lengthy phone conversation that Moscow had released a few years earlier. After some light talk in the beginning, the two talked about the security issue of West Berlin and the plan for the wall.
On August 12, Walter ordered the implementation of this plan. Work on 'Operation Pink' had started. John F. Kennedy later said, "A wall is not a great thing, but a better alternative than a battle."
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