Cold War in Europe trivia thread...

[John F.]

Okay Gentleman,

This will be a Three Part Question:

What country was invaded by the Soviet Union with support from the DDR, Poland, Hungary and a small contingent from Bulgaria? Also what was the year and cause of the invasion?

Good luck!

[Mike G.]

I'm going to guess what was formerly Czechoslavakia and now is the Czech Republic.

August 1968.

Cause: Dubcek and the "Prague Spring". Basically a revolt.

I noticed John when you added the DDR to the equation, you were careful to clarify the context of participation in terms of "Support".

Interesting choice of words. From all the research spanning over many years, outside of a small "Signals Unit" already positioned in the Czech Capitol of Prague, there is no hard evidence I know of that any DDR Military or Para-military units actually crossed over into Czechoslavakia.

All this is contingent of course upon my guess even being correct.

[John F.]

I'm going to guess what was formerly Czechoslavakia and now is the Czech Republic.

August 1968.

Cause: Dubcek and the "Prague Spring". Basically a revolt.

I noticed John when you added the DDR to the equation, you were careful to clarify the context of participation in terms of "Support".

Interesting choice of words. From all the research spanning over many years, outside of a small "Signals Unit" already positioned in the Czech Capitol of Prague, there is no hard evidence I know of that any DDR Military or Para-military units actually crossed over into Czechoslavakia.

All this is contingent of course upon my guess even being correct.

Hi Michael,

CONGRATULATIONS, your guess was correct! In Spring 1968, the Czechoslavakia Communist Party announced a new reform program which asserted that democracy, civil liberties, and equal rights were to be integrated into the socialist government. These changes were unacceptable to the Soviets and after firm warnings and preparatory maneuvers, the Warsaw Pact forces invaded on 11 Aug 68. The invasion force consisted of 20 Soviet Divisions plus two East German, two Polish and one Hungarian divisions crossing the boarder into Czechoslavakia. They met virtually no resistance from the CSLA ( Czechoslavak People's Army). As stated earlier the Bulgarians only provided a very small force as a show of solidarity.

Hey Michael, I just remembered...isn't your mother Czech?

[Mike G.]

Absolutely



Is that cheating?

[Mike G.]

Okay,

Here is the next Cold War Trivia question(s) related to the DDR:

Between 61 and 89, there were three corridors by which travel from the free world to West Berlin, and from West Berlin to the free world could be accomplished.

The first was the Autobahn. (Helmstedt).

The second was the Rail System. The US and British operated Trains that went to destinations in West Germany. The French operated a Train that went to a destination in France.

The third was an air corridor.

The questions are related to the third corridor:

a). What was the third corridor called?

b). Where is the monument by the same name located?

A hand-full of pilots were trained, licensed and authorized to fly through this Corridor. They flew for the only airlines that were authorized flight over East Germany, from West Germany into Berlin, through this Corridor.

c). How many airlines were authorized to fly through it, and can you name them?

[John F.]

Hi Michael:

I'm going to say it was the Berlin air corridor. The monument can be found in Frankfurt at the the now defunct Rhein-Main AB.

[AR-11]

Dirk,

Excellent questions and answers. If by chance you have the Stockholm (1978) photo, I would really be interested in seeing it !! And, congratulations for your meeting; I'm sure it has been a great moment!!

John,
Bravo (again) !! ( and ... again).
Up to you, now !!!
Cheers.
Ch.

Christophe,
I answered this question the "man without face"-thread.

Ciao, AR-11

[AR-11]

Huuu Michael,

what a question!

These are things, we not learned in DDR. I am very curious of the answers.

AR-11

[Soviet]

The first was the Autobahn. (Helmstedt).

The second was the Rail System. The US and British operated Trains that went to destinations in West Germany. The French operated a Train that went to a destination in France.

I used to know the "train station chief" (don't know what's the proper word in English, in French : "Chef de gare" ) of Helmstedt.

He had some very interesting history about the Cold War and the Second World War. Unfortunetely he passed away last year.

[torstenbel]

answer c: Pan Am, British European Airlines (BEA, later British Airways) and Air France. Pan Am carried the bulk of the passenger and cargo traffic. In the late 1980s, as relations with the East were improving, new airlines were allowed to service Berlin, provided they carried the flag of one of the Western Allies.

with regard to the first two questions I do not know the answers...I first thought it would have been called the Luftbruecke or Air Bridge and I thought the monument would have been the Berliner Luftbrucke Denkmal, which can be found at Platz der Luftbrücke in 12101 Berlin-Tempelhof....but, the name Luftbruecke only applied to the airlift in 1948/49 and not to what youy have described... so, I don't know the answer to your first two questions...but I am sure that someone else will...Cheers, Torsten.

Okay,

Here is the next Cold War Trivia question(s) related to the DDR:

Between 61 and 89, there were three corridors by which travel from the free world to West Berlin, and from West Berlin to the free world could be accomplished.

The first was the Autobahn. (Helmstedt).

The second was the Rail System. The US and British operated Trains that went to destinations in West Germany. The French operated a Train that went to a destination in France.

The third was an air corridor.

The questions are related to the third corridor:

a). What was the third corridor called?

b). Where is the monument by the same name located?

A hand-full of pilots were trained, licensed and authorized to fly through this Corridor. They flew for the only airlines that were authorized flight over East Germany, from West Germany into Berlin, through this Corridor.

c). How many airlines were authorized to fly through it, and can you name them?

[Ralph P]

Well...I guess I got to much sleep and missed the last round.

Hey Bryan...about your last post about the station chief. I would be interested if you start a new thread so we can further read about your discussions you had with him. Thanks...

[Christophe]

Mike,

Good questions and an interesting challenge .

I thought there were 3 air corridors (Luftkorridor) between West-Berlin and the Bundes Republik, and not only one :
* Lufstrasse Berlin-Hamburg - 120 km - or Nördlicher Korridor
* Lufstrasse Berlin-Hannover - 100 km - or Mittlerer Korridor
* Lufstrasse Berlin-Frankfurt - 180 km - or Südlicher Korridor
They had connection with Tegel, Gatow and Tempelhof airports.

These Lufkorridors were instituted in 1946, and have been used during the Airlift Berlin (Luftbrücke Berlin) in 1948 / 1949, with tempelhof Airport as destination.
Hence, BTW, the 3 prongs of the Airlift Berlin monument in Tempelhof Airport.

But, I did not know the rule changed from 1961, to reduce the number of air corridors from 3 to 1... And, in this case, how were the three airports used ? Where was done the dispatching ?

Very interesting... I'll try to find more...

Cheers.

Ch.

[Mike G.]

Hello Torsten,

You are mostly correct and I'm going to give credit to you. And actually, the very same Air Corridor that was established and used for the Berlin Airlift in 48/49. which was called the Luftbrücke continued in use afterward. So the question I asked is still correct in the context that I asked it. It is the very same Air Corridor through which Air Traffic continued to cross from West Germany into West Berlin, and back.

The monument as you correctly noted, is at Templehoff Airbase. The "Luftbrücke" monument was initially dedicated to the memory of the pilots that risked their lives flying goods and provisions into West Berlin during the Berlin Airlift. The monument depicts three corridors coming up out of the ground, which were the same three "Air" Corridors that continued in use throughout the Cold War.

You correctly guessed two of the three Airlines. The French may have been brought into the picture at the very last minute regarding getting a section of Berlin, but Air France did not get the right to fly the Luftbrücke. The three Airlines were:

a). British Airways
b). Pan American
c). TWA

Air France was one of the first Airlines permitted to fly in and out of Berlin when restrictions were gradually lifted.


Torsten, you surprised me with your knowledge about all this.

I would say you've definately earned the right to pose the next Trivia Question(s).

Congratulations.

I need to post a correction. Torsten got the answers completely correct. TWA is incorrect and the correct answer is indeed Air France. Thanks for catching my mistake Torsten.

[Christophe]

Hi Mike,

Have you seen my last post (#372) ? What do you think ?

Cheers.

Ch.

[torstenbel]

Christophe, of course your answer is more detailed... ...but lets go to the next question..

1. What is the total number of jails and remand centres (Untersuchungshaftanstalten) that were in the DDR between 1949 and 1989? Get to the closest 5 of the total number and I will count the question as answered.

2. How many of those were run by the Stasi? Get to the closest two...

3. How many people were interned in the DDR for political reasons between 1949 and 1989? Get to the closest 10000....

No too difficult I hope??...

Good luck. Cheers, Torsten.