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 Introduction
Teacher Resources
Timeline
Major Events
Maps
Classroom Activities
Glossary
OTHER EPISODES
Cold War I
Citizen Kurchatov
Bay of Pigs
Yalta
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Part 1: Pre-Viewing
Episode Description
"The Berlin Crisis" - Part 1 focuses on the political
events that led up to the Soviet blockade of Berlin. It also introduces
the British, French, and American response: the Berlin Airlift.
This episode describes the situation in a divided Germany at the
close of World War II, particularly the growing tensions between
Stalin and the other Allies during the second half of the 1940s.
Other topics include the introduction of the Marshall Plan - which
caused the final break between East and West and represented the
philosophical beginning of the Cold War - and the daily lives and
feelings of the citizens of Berlin as they experienced the harsh
realities of life on the first Cold War "battlefield."
Part 1: Pre-Viewing Activities
FREE-WRITING PREPARATION FOR "THE BERLIN CRISIS" -
PART 1
Ask students to free-write for 20 minutes about their impressions
of World War II, the Cold War, and the history of U.S.-Soviet relations.
What do they think are the most important aspects of these relations,
and why do they think so? Ask students about their sources for information
on the Soviet Union. Encourage them to note any experiences they
have of non-U.S. cultures, and to think about how these experiences
have affected their views of U.S. culture.
This introductory exercise, if completed before showing any part
of the video, offers two interesting dimensions to study. First,
it will help students to keep a record of their progressive understanding
and impressions of the Cold War. This record can be used in later
discussions about preconceptions, stereotypes, and the sources of
our information about the world. Second, it will allow the teacher
to shape this unit, as well as later Cold War units in this series,
according to students' prior knowledge and primary interests.
BACKGROUND CAUSES OF THE BERLIN CRISIS
In order to provide students with a greater historical and cultural
context for the events to be covered in the video program, duplicate
the Timeline provided here
or the handout entitled Major Events
of the Berlin Crisis to use as the basis for an introductory
lecture about this topic. Then show the first few minutes of the
video episode that covers the events leading up to the Berlin Crisis
- the division of Germany and of Berlin among the four allied powers:
Russia, the United States, Britain, and France. Stop the program
frequently to further discuss the various factors that contributed
to the tension in Berlin at this time.
Ask the students to list and identify the political, economic,
social, geographic, historical, and psychological factors involved
as contributing causes to this crisis. Ask the students to select
one of these disciplines to "use as a viewing filter"
as they watch the rest of the program, and to continue to list other
events and factors within this discipline that relate to the causes,
events, and aftermath of the Berlin Crisis. Be sure to point out
the political, economic, and social differences that are rooted
in the twentieth-century division between socialist and democratic
systems of government. Refer to the vocabulary exercise below for
an extension of this activity.
MAP EXERCISE
Assign students a map exercise in which they either create or label
three maps of Europe. The first should be a map of pre-World War
II Europe, the second a post-World War II map reflecting political
boundaries as they existed at the time of the Berlin Crisis, and
the third map showing the current political boundaries of Europe.
Ask students to compare the maps and conclude by developing generalizations
about the effects that political divisions and the emergence of
the "Iron Curtain" had on the development of the Berlin
Crisis.
VERBAL AND VISUAL VOCABULARY EXERCISE
Ask students to develop basic definitions (using dictionaries or
encyclopedias) for the terms listed in the Glossary,
and then post each vocabulary word with its brief definition on
large "flashcards" prominently in front of the classroom.
Then ask the students to quickly draw cartoons to illustrate as
simply as possible each of the vocabulary words. Post these "cartoon
flashcards" nearby. Use both the verbal and visual "flashcard"
definitions as a starting point for a discussion about the general
economic and political themes and major events of the post-World
War II world. Conclude by asking the students to work in groups
to develop large political cartoons to show one of the reasons they
think the U.S. and Western European countries were concerned about
political and economic developments in Eastern Europe, or one of
the reasons they think the Soviets were concerned about a re-emerging
strong Germany. Compare these political cartoons to make clear the
underlying basis for the Berlin Crisis and the escalation of the
Cold War.
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