Catalogue Number
NMLH.1994.168.186
Object Name
Poster
Title
Four Power Talks
People
Harold Macmillan Nikita Khrushchev
Events
Cold War Berlin Wall
Date
around 1961
Description
Faded white poster with black text reading 'Four Power Talks | Britain should support stop H-bomb tests | Ban atomic weapons', around 1961. It was screen printed by Publicity Printing in Glasgow. The Four Power Talks were talks between the UK, France, the USA, and the Soviet Union, all powers which were in occupation of Germany after WWII and during the Cold War. The talks came about after the Berlin Crisis of 1961, wherein Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, issued an ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of armed forces from Berlin- inlcuding West Berlin. When this ultimatum was issued there was rumours of war spreading, which many people campaigned against, specifically nuclear war as both the USA and the Soviet Union were large nuclear powers and conducting tests with hydrogen bombs. The threat of nuclear war seemed very strong if
peace wasn't reached over Berlin. This poster urged British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan to advocate for negotiating a peace treaty with the Soviet Union instead of war. The result of the conflict was the construction of the Berlin Wall, which separated East and West Berlin and made it difficult for people to flee one area for another, and later the Berlin agreement, which gave all of the four powers limited access to the city. Condition: good
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