Berlin ultimatum
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The Berlin Ultimatum was a conflict in which the Soviets demanded that the Allied military presence be removed from Berlin within six months.
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[edit] Ultimatum of 1958
The ultimatum was delivered on November 27, 1958 by Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. The Soviet premier was merely endorsing the sentiments of German Democratic Republic chancellor Walter Ulbricht who had previously stated that "all of Berlin lies in the territory of the GDR. The Western powers no longer have any legal, moral, or political basis for their continued occupation of West Berlin."[1]. The Western powers remained resolute in their military position and did not move in the following six months. Khrushchev's bluff had been called in his failure to act on his ultimatum following the six-month time period.
[edit] Political Fallout
The ultimatum would prove to be politically inopportune for both Ulbricht and Khrushchev. Ulbricht soon faced an increased brain drain of people who feared a closing off of the border. Khrushchev was now seen as being unable to follow up on his promises, which when paired with his weakness to follow-through in the Cuban Missile Crisis, will lead to his eventual ousting in 1964 from hard-line Communists in his own party who perceived him as "soft" on the West.
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