The Berlin Wall was constructed on August 13, 1961. The reason for this was to separate West and East Germany. People in East Germany received the short end of the stick because “to live in East Germany behind the Berlin Wall meant to live in fear and distrust” (Wagner). The Stasi (state security service) monitored citizens for fear of rebellion. Many students and college graduates tried to cross over but only a few were successful. Those who were not were fined, prosecuted, or even murdered.
The Berlin Wall was more than 100 miles long. It had 11,000-volt power lines to prevent people from crossing over. In the early years of construction, the wall was only miles of barbed-wire fence. Later on, concrete was added and the wall was made longer. Streets were destroyed to prevent cars and trucks from going to the other side. Final measurements were twelve feet high and almost four feet wide.
On November 9, 1989, twenty-eight years after it went up, the Berlin Wall was destroyed when the communist government buckled. It was more than a barrier, it symbolized the “ideological barriers that divided the United States and Soviet Union during the heart of the Cold War” (The Berlin Wall). It has also become a symbol of the Cold War and the Iron Curtain. The Iron Curtain separated the Warsaw Pact countries from the NATO countries. The countries east of the Iron Curtain were somehow connected to the Soviet Union. The countries west of the Iron Curtain had democratic governments. When
The East German Government wanted to stop the incoming immigrants from crossing into Eastern Germany. The wall started as a thrown together as a block wall with barbed wire on the top. The temporary wall was replaced by a concert wall that was 4ft wide and 12 ft wall. Close to two hundred people lost their lives attempting to cross over. The wall was finally taken down in 1989.
The Berlin Wall was erected on August 13, 1961. After World War II, Germany was divided into four Allied occupation zones; Berlin, the German capital, was also divided into occupation sectors, even though it was located deep within the Soviet zone (History.com). In post war Germany, Cold War tensions grew, from situations such as the Berlin Blockade and the US’ Berlin Airlift (History.com). Not only were Cold War tensions growing but East Germany was now under a communist system (History.com). West Germany was in better condition because, unlike in East Germany, it received financial aid from the Marshall Plan (Burkhardt, H). Another big problem was the two different currencies used; West German currency, which was also use in West Berlin,
For thirty years, an iron curtain lay across Germany. This iron curtain was called the Berlin Wall, and it represented the divide between East and West Germany. It also represented the loss of East Germany’s freedom and democracy. The Berlin Wall separated families and friends. This resulted in children growing up without a father and wives losing all communication with their husbands. The Berlin Wall poorly affected many people and businesses, and caused an ugly dent in Germany’s history.
When the wall was put up one thing lead to many other things. If a mother had gone to say the west side of berlin for a couple of days while her family was in east berlin where they live during the time period that the wall had been put up, the mother would have to maybe wait some time before she could go back to east berlin with her family. When the wall was put up many scenarios just like this had happened and many families actually were split apart. Families being split up could lead to the other family members trying to get into the side they are on which was now considered illegal and if they had been caught trying to cross the wall they could have been shot on site. People trying to cross from east to the west was very common as it was believed that west was the more favourable side. By 1961 around 3 million east Berliners had gone over to live in the west this impacted the people living in the east because many who had moved were skilled labourers such as doctors this meant that there were only limited doctors for the
Due to the Berlin wall families were divided, and no physical connection was able to be made from each side. Jobs from the East and West side of Berlin were cut off. The reason given to the East Berliners for putting the wall up was too, put off aggression from the West, even though the wall pointed inward to East German territory. During the wall's 30 year history, unstable and varying reports claim that either 192 or 239 people were killed trying to cross the wall. Interestingly enough, through the wall's 30 year history there were roughly 5000 successful escapes into West Berlin.
After World War II, Germany and Berlin were controlled by four major powers, US, Britain, France and Russia. Many people fled from the east side, which Russia controlled, because they did not like being under the rule of the Soviet Union and communism. Over 2 million people fled over the course of the years 1949-1959. Russia did not like how people were leaving their side of Berlin, so they built a wall. This wall started out as a barbed wire fence that later was made into a 15 feet high and 4 feet wide wall made of concrete blocks.
On November 9, 1989 the Berlin wall came crumbling down. For 28 years the wall did nothing but make everyone's life worse. However, when the wall fell everyone’s lives were about to be impacted for the better. Families were reunited, friends saw each other again, and peace was restored. The fall of the wall marked the winding down of the Cold War, and started a new age where communism would cease to exist. Much of the credit was being given to Ronald Reagan, who had visited the wall just a few years earlier. When Reagan gave his “Tear down this wall” speech, no one could’ve predicted, that it would lead to the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, and the eventual end of the cold war. Although as a result all communist governments in Eastern Europe had come to an end, would be replaced by “democratically elected governments”. With all this, there was a glimpse of peace and a time of rejoicing for all of the world. ("Fall of
When the Soviets started to notice that their best citizens (like doctors, scientists, and other citizens that play an important part of society) were moving to West Berlin, they decided to put an end to it. They did so by constructing an 11 foot tall wall between East and West Berlin on August 13th, 1961.
In August 1961, the Soviet dictator Nikita Khrushchev ordered for the construction of the Berlin Wall. This was built entirely on East Berlin soil but surrounded West Berlin to stop the East Berliners from crossing (and fleeing) into West Berlin. There are other reasons why the wall was built, such as Kennedy’s refusal to back down from Khrushchev’s threats and the need to prevent a nuclear war.
The Cold War was the name given to the relationship between the U.S.S.R. and U.S.A. after the end of World War II. Germany was the representation of the war, and therefore, it became the most disputed country. The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 during the Cold War. During late 1950s and early 1960s, the socialist government decided to build a fence across the city border and restrict access to the Western area. Over time, this fence became a brick wall, completely cutting off access to the west, leaving family and friends separated for almost 30 years. The Berlin Wall marked the different ideologies between the different systems of governments, how they functioned, and the meaning to the people.
The Berlin Wall is a historical symbol of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall is a symbol of the end of the Cold War. And also, the Berlin Wall played a great role in the life of millions of people and defined the fate of German people, which put them apart by the Wall for a long period of time. Sixteen years after the end of World War II, the communist government of East Germany began building a wall on (August 13, 1961), that would divide the city of Berlin into East Berlin and West Berlin. The purpose was to keep fascists from entering East Germany, but mostly to keep West German citizens, primarily people of valuable professions such as doctors, teachers and engineers, from Changing side to the West. People of Berlin Called the wall Schandmaur, which actually means " The wall of shame". Over the years of the wall being constructed it took at least 3x times to rebuild it, but each time bigger than the last one.
The Berlin Wall, built in August of 1961, was s physical symbol of the political and emotional divisions of Germany. The Wall was built because of a long lasting suspicion between the Soviet Union on one side and Western Europe and the United States on the other. For 28 years the Berlin Wall separated friends, families, and a nation. After WWII was over Germany was divided into four parts. The United States, Great Britain, and France controlled the three divisions that were formed in the Western half and the Eastern half was controlled by the Soviet Republic. The Western sections eventually united to make a federal republic, while the Eastern half became communist.
The Berlin Wall was built in August 1961 during the Cold War. The Wall that separated East and West Berlin came to show the different ideologies between different systems of government, Communism and Democratic supported by the USSR and the USA.
The Berlin Wall had a major impact on humanity’s views on how society should be ruled. Berlin is the capital of Germany. After the ending of WWII, Berlin was split up into East Berlin, and West Berlin. East Berlin was communist, suffered from the repressions of the Communist Party. West Berlin had a better lifestyle, and had financial aid from the United States. From the years between nineteen forty-nine to nineteen sixty-one, approximately 2.5 million people from East Berlin escaped to West Berlin. This toll included skilled workers, professionals, and intellectuals. Because of the loss of these people, the economy in East Berlin was threatened. On August twelve-thirteen, nineteen sixty-one, the Berlin was built in order to stop the people of East Berlin from fleeing. The Berlin wall was a major point during the Cold War, and many opposed it. It gave another reason to detest communism.
In 1961 there was a wall build with barbed wire to separate the east and the west in Berlin. This resulted in a riot from the citizens who proceeded to attack offices, military officials, and threw rocks at military vehicles like tanks and cargo trucks. The people of Berlin were outraged, people were forced away from their friends and family and were not allowed to cross the border of the wall because Khrushchev wanted to gain control of the entirety of Germany.