Building The Berlin Wall

The separation of East and West Berlin was a one of the great divides in Germany, which began in the 1950’s. Communist East Berlin and democratic West Berlin were seeing an overflow of refugees from East to West Berlin, causing them to build a wall to cut off one side from the other. It began in August of 1961 and was built 15 feet high, running over 100 miles across, then extending even further as time went on. Having no control over the walls execution, JFK had even said, “A wall is a hell of a lot better than a war.” It ended up becoming a symbol of the Cold War, and would remain that way until the late 1980’s when it was finally torn down.

Cuban Missile Crisis

It would seem that the world did not lack military conflict as time moved on. Another military clash was known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. October 22, 1962 would be considered a defining moment in John F. Kennedy’s presidency when he told America that US spy planes had found Soviet Union Missile Bases in Cuba. It would be characterized as a 13-day stand off between the United States and the Soviet Union, where President Kennedy declared that it was a “clandestine, reckless, and provocative threat to world peace.” Thankfully, despite the world believing that it was on the brink of nuclear war, thankfully both sides chose to follow a peaceful route.