The Fall Of The Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was originally a source of division in Europe for the Cold War. The East Berlin region announced that citizens would be able to cross the border into Western Europe. The dismantling of the wall had major significance because it reinstalled the peace between West and East Europe that wasn’t there for over 40 years. Ronald Reagan even encouraged the Soviet Union leader, Gorbachev, to bring down the wall in 1987 and many Americans believed that his speech impacted the tearing down of wall. The dismantling signified the reinstallation of human rights for those that were stuck in the border for years.

On the night of August 13 th , 1961, police officers strung barbed wire across the border of

The years following the fall of the Berlin wall brought Germany closer together as one country. The east side of Berlin was communist, whereas the west side was socialist/democratic. The Berlin wall was often referred to as a symbol of the cold war and the inner conflict of Germany. It showed the different ideologies of the USA and USSR and their systems of government. Officially known as the “Anti-Fascist-Protective Wall” by the east, and the “Wall of Shame” by the West, it physically divided the city of Berlin from August 13, 1961 to November 9, 1989. The fall of the Berlin Wall was beneficial for the economies of Germany and the US.

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.

Following the fall of the Third Reich at the end of WWII Germany was split between east and west into two different countries. In the east the German Democratic Republic was under communist rule and was supported by the Soviet Union. The Federal German Republic was a democracy that was part of NATO. As part of the division of Germany following WWII, Berlin, the capital of Germany was divided evenly between the two nations. However, the entire city of Berlin was deep inside of the GDR, so the Western half of the city was democratic but it was surrounded by communist territory. This made West Berlin a place where many East Germans would try to escape to. As a result of this the German Democratic Republic built a wall surrounding West Berlin to stop its own people from escaping to freedom.

After unraveling of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the Berlin Wall, fears of war breaking out between the major powers of the United States and the Soviet Union were greatly reduced. Numerous commentaries, reports, and studies arose out of the question of what to do with the excess U.S. forces, and how to reshape them for a new era (Snider & Carlton-Carew, 1996). Since the birth of the United States, the military has been an important part of the United States. The US military has been a fundamental part of foreign policy, including fostering democracy, establishing rule of law, and assisting with economic development in territories allied with the U.S. (Ludema, 2007).

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.

These blockades later became the infamous “Berlin Wall”. The wall was infamous because it “stood as a grim symbol of totalitarian socialism” (“Berlin Wall” 2). “The soviets tried to control all of berlin by blockading the roads.”(“Berlin Wall 2). After the building of the wall the Westerners responded with the Berlin Airlift. The Airlift was was series of helicopter flights that supplied the country with food and supplies. The Airlift not only helped them in their food situation but also caused success for the economy in western Germany. The wall was later destroyed after the Eastern Cabinet resigned. On “November 7… hundreds of thousands of Berliners took to the streets, breaching the wall in frenzied celebration.” (“Berlin Wall” 3). This was a momentous day as the effect of the wall was essentially imprisonment for the people on the eastern side. The wall was armed with guards that were instructed to kill anyone who attempted to escape. The destruction of the wall was significant because it displayed how things can be accomplished without violence. Then 21 days later “West Germany outlined a proposal calling for the reunification of the nation” (“Berlin Wall” 3). All in one year the wall that stood as a sign of separation was destroyed and the two sides were

The Berlin Wall was erected the night of August 13th 1961. Before the Berlin Wall was built it was a border but without warning in the middle of the night they closed all borders so no one could cross. The border was soon turned in a 3 layered wall. The length of the wall was 96 miles with 302 watchtowers. The wall wrapped around East Germany. East Germany had erected the wall to prevent people from running away from there to West Berlin. People that lived in the east were running away to the west because Stalin was in power and he was trying to make East Berlin turn into a communist country. About 2.6 million people were able to able to escape to live a better life in the west but that was only about 30% of the population. For the other people who were not able to escape, they were forced to stay there since the border was turned into a barrier known as The Berlin Wall. No one

On August 1 1961 the communist government of the German Democratic Republic had begun to build a wall of concrete between East and West of Berlin. The whole purpose of the berlin wall was to keep Westerns fascists from entering East of Germany. Undermining the socialist state but it served as on objective of stemming mass and defection

The Berlin wall was put up in 1961 to prevent the spread of communism and to separate Germany from Berlin. Mass protests and revolutions led to a chain reaction which caused the wall to fall. On November 9th, 1989 the wall started to fall, the military eventually began to help taking down the wall, this was the beginning of German reunification.

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.