Timeline: 1945-1947 | 1948-1949 | 1961-1999

Introduction

Teacher Resources

Timeline

Major Events

Maps

Classroom Activities

Glossary

Cold War I

Citizen Kurchatov

Bay of Pigs

Yalta

Timeline: 1961-1999

1961: Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev warns President John Kennedy that any "violation" of East Germany's borders would be considered an act of aggression against the Soviet-controlled Warsaw Pact.

July 1961: 30,444 refugees escape from East Berlin to the West.

August 1-10, 1961: 16,500 East Germans escape to the West.

August 12, 1961: Approximately 4,000 East Germans, especially skilled workers, doctors, and scientists, cross to the West.

August 13, 1961, 12:30 AM: Sirens announce arrival of East German military troops who build Berlin Wall in four days to prevent East Berliners and East Germans from escaping to the West.

November 1989: East German government lifts all travel restrictions to the West, and begins taking down the Berlin Wall. West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl proposes early reunification of Germany.

July 1990: East Germany adopts West Germany's currency.

October 3, 1990: Germany is officially reunited as one country.

1991: The German Legislature votes to return German capital to Berlin.

1999: Berlin is established as capital of Germany.