The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1961 to 1989,separating it from East Berlin and the German Democratic Republic. Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government of the GDR on 13 August 1961. It included guard towers placed along large concrete walls,accompanied by a wide area that contained anti-vehicle trenches,beds of nails and other defenses. The primary intention for the Wall's construction was to prevent East German citizens from fleeing to the West.
West Berlin was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990,during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1990,the territory was claimed by the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),despite being entirely surrounded by East Germany (GDR). The legality of this claim was contested by the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries. However,West Berlin de facto aligned itself politically with the FRG from May 1949 and was thereafter treated as a de facto city-state of that country. After 1949,it was directly or indirectly represented in the institutions of the FRG,and most of its residents were citizens of the FRG.
Checkpoint Charlie was the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War (1947–1991),as named by the Western Allies.
Schießbefehl was the term in the German Democratic Republic for standing orders authorizing the use of lethal force by the Border Troops to prevent Republikflucht (defection) at the Inner German border from 1960 to 1989.
The Glienicke Bridge is a bridge across the Havel River in Germany,connecting the Wannsee district of Berlin with the Brandenburg capital Potsdam. It is named after nearby Glienicke Palace. The current bridge,the fourth on the site,was completed in 1907,although major reconstruction was necessary after it was damaged during World War II.
David Michael Satterfield is an American diplomat and ambassador,who has served extensively in the Middle East,including the Persian Gulf area,Lebanon,and Iraq. He later served as a senior advisor on Iraq for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and was director general of the Multinational Force and Observers,the peacekeeping force for the Sinai Peninsula from June 2009 until August 2017. He was chargéd'affaires to Egypt from August 2013 to January 2014 and was subsequently Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for Libya. From September 2017 to June 2019 he served as the acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs,and was confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Turkey on June 27,2019.
Bernauer Straße is a street of Berlin situated between the localities of Gesundbrunnen and Mitte,today both belonging to the Mitte borough. It runs from the Mauerpark at the corner of Prenzlauer Berg to the Nordbahnhof. The street's name refers to the town of Bernau bei Berlin,situated in Brandenburg.
The Berlin border crossings were border crossings created as a result of the post-World War II division of Germany. Prior to the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961,travel between the Eastern and Western sectors of Berlin was completely uncontrolled,although restrictions were increasingly introduced by the Soviet and East German authorities at major crossings between the sectors. This free access,especially after the closure of the Inner German border,allowed the Eastern Bloc emigration and defection to occur. East German officials,humiliated by this mass defection,subsequently chose to erect the Berlin Wall in order to prevent residents from leaving East Germany.
Giorgi Makharadze was the deputy ambassador of the Republic of Georgia to the United States. Around midnight on January 3,1997,Makharadze was speeding while driving in Washington,D.C. and hit a line of stopped cars at a traffic light,causing a five car crash that injured four people and killed a Brazilian girl,Jovianne Waltrick,who was sixteen years old. He had been drinking alcohol and was found to have a blood alcohol content of at least 0.15,higher than the city's then legal limit of .10.
The Embassy of the United States of America in Berlin is the diplomatic mission of the United States of America in the Federal Republic of Germany. It started in 1797,with the appointment of John Quincy Adams to Berlin,the capital of Prussia. There was no permanent building for the embassy until 1930,with the purchase of the Blücher Palace. During the United States involvement in World War II,the embassy ceased operations.
The Helmstedt–Marienborn border crossing,named Grenzübergangsstelle Marienborn (GÜSt) by the German Democratic Republic (GDR),was the largest and most important border crossing on the Inner German border during the division of Germany. Due to its geographical location,allowing for the shortest land route between West Germany and West Berlin,most transit traffic to and from West Berlin used the Helmstedt-Marienborn crossing. Most travel routes from West Germany to East Germany and Poland also used this crossing. The border crossing existed from 1945 to 1990 and was situated near the East German village of Marienborn at the edge of the Lappwald. The crossing interrupted the Bundesautobahn 2 (A 2) between the junctions Helmstedt-Ost and Ostingersleben.
Arthur Adair Hartman was an American career diplomat who served as Ambassador to France under Jimmy Carter and Ambassador to the Soviet Union under Ronald Reagan.
Roscoe Seldon "Rocky" Suddarth was an American career diplomat. Suddarth was a Foreign Service Officer and served as United States Ambassador to Jordan from 1987 to 1990. He served as the secretary of the American Academy of Diplomacy until his death.
The Berlin Crisis of 1961 was the last major European political and military incident of the Cold War concerning the status of the German capital city,Berlin,and of post–World War II Germany. The crisis culminated in the city's de facto partition with the East German erection of the Berlin Wall.
The following events occurred in October 1961:
Walter Cecil Dowling was the United States Ambassador to West Germany from 1959–1963 and the US Ambassador to South Korea from 1956-1959.
Albert Watson II was a United States Army lieutenant general. He participated in World War II and fought in a number of significant battles in the Pacific Theater,including the Battle of Okinawa. From May 1961 to January 1963,Watson served as Commandant of Berlin and commanded American military forces there when construction of the Berlin Wall began. A major diplomatic incident occurred when members of Watson's staff were refused access to East Berlin. Riots also broke out during his tenure following the death of Peter Fechter. From 1964 to 1965,Watson filled the position of Commissioner of the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands. He increased Ryuku autonomy but ultimately spoke against the significant lessening of American administration authority in the Ryukyus. Watson received two Army Distinguished Service Medals during his career.
John Christopher Stevens was an American career diplomat and lawyer who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Libya from May 22,2012,to September 11,2012. Stevens was killed when the U.S. Special Mission in Benghazi,Libya,was attacked by members of Ansar al-Sharia on September 11–12,2012.
Sergeant John Earl Staff was an American soldier. He was one of two known Allied soldiers killed in the line of duty on the border of West Berlin and East German territory between the beginning of the joint occupation of Berlin in summer 1945 and the beginning of the construction of the Berlin Wall on August 13,1961.
William Sterling Byrd Lacy was an American diplomat who served as the third United States Ambassador to Korea from May to October 1955.
