Editing Checkpoint Charlie (section)

==Related incidents==

===Stand-off between Soviet and U.S. tanks in October 1961===
{{main article|Berlin Crisis of 1961}}
[[File:US Army tanks face off against Soviet tanks, Berlin 1961.jpg|right|thumb|US [[M48 Patton]] tanks facing Soviet [[T-55]] tanks at Checkpoint Charlie in October 1961]]
Soon after the construction of the [[Berlin Wall]] in August 1961, a stand-off occurred between US and Soviet tanks on either side of Checkpoint Charlie. It began on 22 October as a dispute over whether East German border guards were authorized to examine the travel documents of a US diplomat based in West Berlin named Allan Lightner heading to East Berlin to watch an opera show.

According to the agreement between all four Allied powers occupying Germany, there was to be free movement for Allied forces in all of Berlin, and no German military forces from either West Germany or East Germany were to be based in the city. The Western Allies also did not initially recognise the East German state and its right to remain in its self-declared capital of East Berlin, and only recognised the authority of the Soviets over East Berlin.

By 27 October, ten Soviet and an equal number of American tanks stood 100 yards apart on either side of the checkpoint. This stand-off ended peacefully on 28 October following a US-Soviet understanding to withdraw tanks and reduce tensions. Discussions between US Attorney General [[Robert F. Kennedy]] and Soviet intelligence officer [[Georgi Bolshakov]] played a vital role in realizing this tacit agreement.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kempe |first=Frederick |title=Berlin 1961 |year=2011 |publisher=Penguin Group (USA) |isbn=978-0-399-15729-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/berlin1961kenned0000kemp/page/478 478–479] |url=https://archive.org/details/berlin1961kenned0000kemp/page/478}}</ref>

===Early escapes===
The Berlin Wall was erected with great speed by the East German government in 1961, but there were initially many means of escape that had not been anticipated. For example, Checkpoint Charlie was initially blocked only by a gate, and a citizen of the GDR ([[East Germany]]) smashed a car through it to escape, so a strong pole was erected. Another escapee approached the barrier in a convertible, the windscreen removed prior to the event, and slipped under the barrier. This was repeated two weeks later, so the East Germans duly lowered the barrier and added uprights.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dearden |first=Lizzie |title=Berlin Wall: What You Need To Know About the Barrier That Divided East and West |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/history/berlin-wall-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-barrier-that-divided-east-and-west-9847347.html |work=The Independent |date=7 November 2014 |access-date=16 September 2017 |archive-date=4 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180404010323/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/history/berlin-wall-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-barrier-that-divided-east-and-west-9847347.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Death of Peter Fechter===
[[File:Body of Peter Fechter lying next to Berlin Wall.jpg|thumb|Fechter's body lying next to the [[Berlin Wall]] after being shot in 1962 while trying to escape to the West]]

On 17 August 1962, a teenaged East German, [[Peter Fechter]], was shot in the pelvis by East German guards while trying to escape from East Berlin. His body lay tangled in a barbed wire fence as he bled to death in full view of the world's media. He could not be rescued from West Berlin because he was a few metres inside the Soviet sector. East German border guards were reluctant to approach him for fear of provoking Western soldiers, one of whom had shot an East German border guard just days earlier. More than an hour later, Fechter's body was removed by the East German guards. A spontaneous demonstration formed on the American side of the checkpoint, protesting against the action of the East and the inaction of the West.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Media battle ensues following the death of Peter Fechter |url=https://www.axelspringer.com/en/inside/media-battle-ensues-following-the-death-of-peter-fechter |access-date=2023-09-06 |website=www.axelspringer.com |language=en-GB}}</ref>

A few days later, a crowd threw stones at Soviet buses driving towards the [[Soviet War Memorial (Tiergarten)|Soviet War Memorial]], located in the [[Großer Tiergarten|Tiergarten]] in the British sector; the Soviets tried to escort the buses with [[armoured personnel carrier]]s (APCs). Thereafter, the Soviets were only allowed to cross via the Sandkrug Bridge crossing (which was the nearest to Tiergarten) and were prohibited from bringing APCs. Western units were deployed in the middle of the night in early September with live armaments and vehicles, in order to enforce the ban.{{Citation needed|date=July 2015}}