The Fall of the Berlin Wall and Communism in Europe Essay

In response to this, the side of Germany under control of the Soviet Union became the German Republic of Germany, also known as West Germany. This was one of the first steps that would divide Germany for almost 30 years.

On May 8, 1945, World War II was over and Berlin divided into 4 sectors; the American,

of  the Berlin  Wall  on 13th  August 1961.  This was done in order  to  prevent  the  massive  emigration of East

Germany and the capital, Berlin, was split at the end of WWII. The East Berlin and Germany were controlled by the Soviets and West Berlin and Germany was controlled by the US, France, and Britain. Since West Berlin was completely surrounded by communism, Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, decided to prevent any shipments (including food) from going into West Berlin (Doc. B) in an attempt to starve them out. They created a blockade. When the US and its allies found out, they sent planes over to get the shipments and take them to the West Berliners which provided over two million people with supplies ranging from food to coal for nearly over a year (Doc. B).

After the conclusion of World War II, the city of Berlin was divided into two sections: East and West Berlin. The western section was divided between the three allies while the eastern portion was under Soviet control. Western Berlin had become a small hold on capitalism in a sea of Marxist communism. On 24 June 1948, the Soviet Union cut off all ground routes into the western portion of Berlin. This left approximately 2.5 million Berlin citizens without the United States supplies they had been receiving. It would also leave the roughly 6,500 western troops without ground-level support, surrounded by 16,000 soviets (Owens 70).

After the conclusion of World War II, the city of Berlin was divided into two major sections: East and West Berlin. The western section was divided between the three allies and under the control of Britain, the United States, and France, while the eastern portion was under the Soviet's control. The portion of Berlin owned by the western powers had become a small hold on capitalism in a sea of Marxist communism. On 24 June 1948, the Soviet Union cut off all ground routes into the western portion of Berlin. This would leave approximately 2.5 million Berlin citizens without the United States supplies they had been receiving. It would also leave the roughly 6,500 western troops without ground-level support, surrounded by 16,000 soviets (Owens 70).

On August 15, 1961, Communists began building a wall to keep Germans from escaping Communist-controlled East Berlin to West Democratic Berlin. There were guards, electric barbed wired fences, and of course the twelve foot concrete wall that prevented Germans from escaping. After the wall was built many Germans still tried to flee the west but not all were successful. The East Berlin Germans were now under total dictatorship of the Soviets. Many United States Presidents traveled to Berlin to share their views on democracy with the Communists, but the Communist weren’t persuaded. In 1987,

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.

The end of World War II in 1945 had Germany Divided Four Allied occupation zones. The eastern part of the country went to the Soviet Union, and the western part goes to the United States, Great Britain and France. Each section was under the control of a different country. The United States, Britain, and France each joined their sections to form a democratic state on May 24,

In 1958, Kruschev had asked NATO to give up West Berlin to East Germany and by the summer of 1961, Kruschev and Kennedy met during the Vienna Summit, where Kruschev insisted upon East German control over West Berlin. On August 13, the Soviets and East Germans built a wall that limited free means of access between the Western and Eastern zones. American and Soviet forces confronted each other at “Checkpoint Charlie,” which controlled the passage across.

“Tear down this wall!” these were the inspiring and captivating words that came out of President Ronald Reagan’s speech at the Berlin Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987. Speaking to the Soviet leader Mikahil Gorbachev, Reagan was calling for the unification of East and West Germany. With the destruction of the wall, he believed it would bring not only Germany prosperity, but The Soviet Union as well. During this speech, President Reagan brings forth the benefits of tearing down the wall and unifying Germany once again. He introduces his strategies to create freedom, economic prosperity, and free trade to stop Soviet Expansion. On this day, President Ronald Reagan’s speech was classified as a heroic event. Why? He challenged the Soviet leader like no other president had before.

On May 8th, 1945, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel surrendered the German armed forces to the allies in Berlin, thus ending the war for Germany. The German people were then confronted by a situation never before experienced. All of Germany was occupied by foreign armies, their cities and infrastructure lay in ruins, and millions were homeless and starving. Following the unilateral surrender by Germany, the country was divided into four zones, governed by each of the allied powers: Britain, France, the U.S. and the Soviet Union. As diplomacy between the West and the Soviet Union began to deteriorate, each zone became more self-sufficient and independent of the others. Tensions between the West and the Soviet Union also began to rise as it became apparent that the two super powers, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. would vie for dominance throughout the world, each seeking to spread its ideology and stop the spread of the other’s. The first real exacerbation of this conflict came when the Soviet Union blockaded the divided city of Berlin, which lay in is zone of control. The U.S.S.R. wanted to test the Western resolve to hold Berlin and maintain control. The response the U.S. chose was to keep Berlin supplied by air, through constant resupply by aircraft, a feat never before accomplished. The airlift lasted for nearly eleven months and kept the Western controlled sectors of Berlin adequately supplied, and showed the Soviet Union the U.S.’s resolve to hold out against the spread of

After World War Two, Berlin as well as all of Germany was devastated and the city of Berlin was left in ruin as the German people unable to get electricity,gas,food, or even transportation.Disease became rampant in major cities.To stop the societal collapse of Germany, Britain,the United States, along with the Soviet Union who were called the European Advisory Commission gave aid to Germany and began to plan an occupation On May 23,1949, the country was divided into three zones andt he Soviets controlled the eastern region of Germany while Britain,and the United States controlled the western areas of Germany. The city of Berlin became apart of the border between the three regions.The city

In 1977, East Germany was horribly confining. The city was communist and had the Berlin Wall surrounding the entire city, isolating and trapping its residents. Little to no people could get in or out. Two families: the Strezyks and Wetzels, thought they could escape in a hot air balloon. It took them two years to build, because they had to work in secret, but it payed off. In 1979 they lifted off and flew over the massive Berlin Wall, by 8,200 feet, into West Germany, which was safe. It was kind of like Daedalus and Icarus and their great escape, but no one died.

They wanted to drive The United States of America, The United Kingdom and France out of the city. So, in 1948, what came to be known as the Soviet Blockade was an event that aimed to starve the western Allies out of the city. The United States could have retreated and started a war. But they did not. In fact, they themselves sent food to the city of Berlin and wanted to bring it back to normal. This is because they did not want Soviet Union to gain full control over the city. They could not see this part of the city turning totally communist. This effort, known as the Berlin Airlift, lasted for more than a year and delivered more than 2.3 million tons of food, fuel and other goods to West Berlin. 300,000 Berliners demonstrated for the international airlift to continue. In May 1949, The Soviets lifted the blockade, permitting the resumption of Western shipments to Berlin.