Cold War I: Berlin Crisis - Part 2: Pre-Viewing Activities

CHAPTERS

Part 1: Pre-Viewing | Post-Viewing
Part 2: Pre-Viewing | Post-Viewing

Introduction

OTHER EPISODES

Part 2: Pre-Viewing

Episode Description:

"The Berlin Crisis" - Part 2 begins approximately 23 minutes after the start of the video with a focus on the Berlin Airlift itself. This episode describes the mechanics of the Airlift and introduces viewers to individual participants, offering firsthand accounts from a variety of points of view. It also covers the political backdrop, the rising tensions, the activity of spies, and the growing threat of renewed war. Finally, the segment addresses the U.S. introduction of B-29 bombers - atomic bombers stationed in Britain and sent to patrol German airspace. Though the B-29 bombers finally brought about an end to the blockade, they also marked the entrenchment of Cold War hostilities that would last until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Part 2: Pre-Viewing Activities

TIMELINE CONTINUATION
The timeline/cause and effect diagram exercise for "The Berlin Crisis" - Part 1 can be extended or repeated for the events and decisions leading up to the end of the blockade.

TALK SHOW
In the second part of the video program, three different points of view are expressed about the Berlin Crisis:

Berliners experienced the Crisis as a threat to the qualities that make people human, and they hoped the end of the war would bring an end to Soviet revenge hostilities.
Britain and the United States perceived their occupation of Germany and parts of Berlin as a right and a moral imperative.
The Soviet Union saw any occupation of Berlin by those other than themselves as an insult and a threat to their national security.

Divide the class into three groups. Assign each of the groups one of these perspectives and ask them to watch the video program and focus on how they will use the information to create a fictitious person who will role-play this perspective in a Talk Show format. After viewing the video, ask each group to develop sample questions, answers, and arguments and select a student to role-play this fictitious person during "show-time." Ask the students to suggest ways for the role-player to develop a "complete personality" with emotions, data, anecdotes, and personal examples to use during the role-playing. Either the teacher or another student can serve as the talk show host to question these three guests about the Berlin Crisis. Try to develop opportunities for the three guests to compare and contrast their points of view. Invite the audience members (other students) to interact with the talk show guests. Think Oprah!

CABINET MEMBER SIMULATION
Assign students to take the parts of Cabinet Members who have been asked by the President to research and develop position statements and proposals for solutions to one of the problems below. As they watch "The Berlin Crisis," they should look for information that helps them formulate answers to the problems. (Also, see other programs in the Cold War I series, including "The Bay of Pigs" and "Citizen Kurchatov.")

How can four different countries with two different political philosophies rule a conquered Germany?
How can the U.S. and Western Allies diffuse tensions and end the blockade of Berlin, and prevent the threat of nuclear war/World War III?
How can the tensions of the Cold War be diminished and peace promoted during other crisis points of the Cold War, including the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, etc.?

Students should make orderly presentations of their proposals, and then vote on what they consider the best plan of action for the U.S., considering all factors. This is a good time to introduce the criteria for judging the validity of a presentation: credibility and reliability of sources, relevance of the evidence to the subject at hand, the logical development of the arguments being made, and the point of view of the analyst - whether or not they are impartial judges of the situation, and if they are partial, what the basis of that partiality is.