The Cold War’s Impact on Germany
The construction of the Berlin Wall, which divided the people and split the nation into two parts, has left a great impact in the history of Germany and Cold War. After World War II, Germany was divided into four occupation zones: Soviet, American, British and French Forces. There was animosity between the Soviet Union who dominated the east, and the Western Allies who dominated the west of the Germany.
This division between East and West Germany provoked, finally, the building of the ‘wall of berlin’ in 1961. Chief among its motives was the employment of such ideas by both sides as well as the intent to stem the flow of people out of East Germany into a better-moderated west by building this barrier.
The Iron Curtain and the GDR
The physical barrier consisted of the material barriers built by the German Democratic Republic and called by the Western popes the “Iron Curtain.” Its main function was to separate the residents of the non-communist West Berlin from the communists of East Berlin.
Common reasons put forward by the GDR for the construction of the wall was to shield socialism from the baleful influence of its foe, capitalism, and that this concentric circle was necessary to prevent professional and intelligentsia from emigrating to the western world. In fact, it became sign of oppression and significant tool to gain more control over the Eastern part of Germany.
The Human Cost and Symbolism
Berlin Wall was standing for nearly twenty nine years, divided not only the neighborhoods, families, but it even divided the city in half. The show had a strong positive effect on the people living on both sides of the divide wall.
To many inside East Germany the wall became a symbol of a physical and psychological division that was planned between them and their relatives who were still in western part of Germany. Any attempts to cross the wall were punishable by imprisonment, up to death sometimes.
In West Berlin citizens were able to feel how they are divided in their own country and they have wall in front of them as a symbol. Erected as part of the Cold War expansion, the wall signified the East-West divide, and the circumscribed liberties which the regime offered its subjects.
The Aftermath and Fall of the Wall
Thus, the bipolar confrontation between the GDR and the FRG began to ease in the late 1980s due to the policy of glasnost of the Soviet Union MICHAEL GORBACHEV. Mass movement for political liberties and the liberalization of frontiers engulfed East European countries.
Lastly, on the 9th of November 1989, to the world’s surprise the Berlin Wall came crashing down. Masses of happy Germans from both east and west climbed over the wall, started hugging each other, and rejoicing at the unity of Germany. This cheered signified the end of Cold War and the dawn of a new Germany and a new Europe.
Lessons Learned
Depending on which side somebody was born, life under the wall was a chilling example of the human race divided and experiencing the suffering of separation from other human beings. It is an emblem of a reality that can cause separation of people and a symbol of a reality that can bring love in a way that transcends the situations which can cause such obstacles.
Sacrifice is the cornerstone of the topic: the chronology of the Berlin Wall’s existence, its background, cross-section, and demolishing, provide proper insight into what had happened. It acts as a cautionary measure letting the world know that liberty, the integrated nation, and compassion are principles that should be embraced in the twenty-first century civil societies.
In Conclusion
The construction of the Berlin Wall was aimed at stopping people troop from east Germany into West Germany and exercise authority over a region that was split. But in the end, it represented the backwardness and people feared it: it remained a symbol of a division created by the Cold War.
Fortunately, the wall broke and this meant that Germany reunite and the cold war was over. First of all, it testifies to the human’s courage and ability to come together to resist the greatest evil. The best lessons coming out of the Berlin Wall must continue to be remembered as we seek to create a more open minded and tolerant society.
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