Introduction

When history finds those cities, few have the intrigue or iconography like Berlin. Nearly three decades apart, the city was divided by a wall which made it a potent symbol of the ideological and physical division of Europe in the Cold War era. This blog post is about the Berlin timeline, key events leading up to the separation of the city, what it meant to its inhabitants, and for a final detour, how it all joined together to reunite the city.

The Seeds of Division

In the wake of World War II, Germany was divided into four zones controlled by the victorious Allied powers: the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France and the United States. In 1949 the German Democratic Republic (GDR), commonly known as East Germany, was created from additional divisions of the Soviet controlled, zone.

Berlin saw the same escalating tensions as United States and the Soviet Union were beginning to go at each other. While it lay very deep into Soviet controlled territory, the city also divided into four zones of occupation. The western sectors, those zoned by the United Nations, Great Britain and France, were islands of democracy between communist East Germany.

The Berlin Airlift

In 1948, the Soviets attempted to prove their authority by blocking all land access to the western sectors of the city in a first major flashpoint of the division of Berlin. Therefore, frustrated they were, they launched the Berlin Airlift in which, for more than a year, Western powers air lifted supplies to the blockaded city. The West, in the process solidified their resolve to defend their positions in Berlin from a Soviet aggression.

Construction of the Berlin Wall

It was on August 12, 1961, when East German authorities turned to the Soviet Union to build a physical divide on the night of August 12, and divided the Berlin, that its climax was achieved. Cutting though the heart of the city, the wall, made of barbed wire then reinforced with concrete, overnight separated families and friends, and communities.

Ideology and The Symbol of Oppression

It was then with the Berlin Wall that divided the world into East and West Berlin not only politically but physically. The wall symbolized for those living under communist rule the kind of oppression and limitations. It was a wall of inability to be free to walk, to be free to express oneself and to seek a better life for what its citizens were.

It soon became a focus of world attention and was looked on with condemnation from the West and protest calls for it to come down. Among his most famous of these was U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s 1987 speech at the Brandenburg Gate where he was calling on his counterpart, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, to ‘tear down this wall!’

Life in a Divided City

Living in Berlin became very different after its division. People were separated from their families, never to be heard from again or for years or even decades. People found themselves on either side of the divide, friends, colleagues and neighbors. It was fractured city, a microcosm of the East-West conflict, once thrived and interconnected urban landscape.

Life was rigidly controlled, there were few freedoms, one was tightly watched and looked over for… Travel was restricted, the access to Western media was limited, and a relentless propaganda machine. West Berliners lived perpetually on the frontlines of the Cold War, enjoying the benefits of a democratic society, and access to Western culture, but in contrast.

Escape Attempts and Tragic Results.

Many people in East Berlin were desperate to get out, desperate to escape the confines of East Berlin, and so it required people to run the risk of trying to escape over and the wall. Others tried to tunnel away to freedom, or to risk their lives by leaping out of windows or using homemade zip lines. Unfortunately, many died for trying to gain liberty, irrespective of the fact that many lost their lives in the quest for freedom.

The Wall, which fell, and Reunification

In 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed, events started unfolding that would unite Germany again and eventually cause the fall of the Berlin Wall. On November 9, 1989, long-awaited news spread like wildfire: They were to open the border crossings. ‘The border guards were over come by crowds of East and West East Berliners who tore down sections and broke them down with their bare hands.’

The end of the Cold War; the fall of the wall was the turning point in history; it was the end of the wall marking the end of the Cold War, the triumph of democracy. On Thursday it expedited the reunification of a city split up for almost three decades. However, the reunification was not guaranteed of course, but it brought Berliners to this new, unified Berlin, created as a testimony to the strength and spirit of its people.

Conclusion

Of the most iconic chapters in recent history is, of course, the division of Berlin through the creation of the Berlin Wall, which fell. It reminds us of the price for ideology and corporate greed and the intractability of the human spirit. Today, the Berlin of today is unified city of Berlin that stands as a symbol and hope of unity and reconciliation.

Visitors to the Berlin Wall walk often wonder past ruins of the wall or along its former path, having a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a tangible piece of history, but one that also helps to reflect the triumphs and tragedies of divided Berlin. Berlin’s story makes us reiterate the fact that peace is a very crucial thing to save, as the world keeps getting more and more complex and interdependent.