Here in Berlin it was the Berlin Wall, not just a physical structure, but also a powerful symbol of the looming Cold War between the West and Communism which was moving to cast itself as western Communism and take on the capitalist West. This was the point of political division post war Germany, wall that German Democratic Republic (GDR) erected to stop the citizens from leaving for West Germany in 1961.
The Historical Background
After the end of World War II in 1945, Germany was divided into four occupation zones, each controlled by the victorious Allied powers: the United States, Great Britain and France and the Soviet Union. Another was Berlin as a capital of Germany was divided into four sectors.
But differences of opinion between the Allies began to coagulate very quickly. We had the Western Allies preaching democracy and capitalism, and the Soviet Union trying to prove its currency by imposing its influence over East Germany and Eastern Bloc. The results of this would eventually lead to the building of the Berlin Wall.
Imagining construction of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was begun to be constructed on August 13, 1961. The walls were of concrete, armed guard towers, barbed wire and extensive fortifications. The Iron Curtain stood for a city physically divided from families, friends and a city.
It was said that the wall had been built to protect GDR citizens from alleged Western aggression. But the real reason was to prevent East Germans from emigrating, because thousands were escaping to the West each day, where they would enjoy a more prosperous life.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
On November 9, 1989, came an important event in world history — the Berlin Wall falls. The chain of events leading to this monumental event was set off by a series of factors:
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Changing Political Landscape
Things were beginning to politically change towards the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. That is, when the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, was to introduce the drastic reform policies of perestroika (wrecking of the old school of economic thought, economics) and glasnost (openness or openness, open confrontation with the West, spread of information, making the Soviet case known to the world). These reforms left a large mark on the whole Eastern block and also instigated democratic movements.
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Mass Protesting and Civil Disobedience
In 1989, demonstrations throughout East Germany called for political reform erupted. Once things really started moving, the movement hit the streets rallying citizens, trying to get freedom of speech, free elections and the end of authoritarian rule.
On 9 November 1989 a member of the GDR government was reporting on the local radio that travel restrictions to the west would be ended and at that point of time, it was a mistake. Word traveled like wildfire, and thousands of East Germans crowded the checkpoints ready to cross into West Berlin. Goaded on by overwhelming pressure, border guards finally caved and people started to cross the once impenetrable border.
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International Pressure
It is a mistake to think that the fall of the Berlin Wall was due solely to domestic factors. Called a powerful symbol of oppression, the wall had long been condemned by Western democracies lead by the United States. The growing political will (togeschrieben in Germany) for the reunification of Germany helped the international community put pressure the GDR government to satisfy the demands of its citizens.
The Aftermath: German Reunification
Beginning with the fall of the Berlin wall, in 1990 East and West Germany were again reunited October 3. Felled immediately after, East Germany underwent accelerated political and economic reform on both parts in pursuit of unification.
Nevertheless, reunification was not a smooth ride. The disparities between the two regions created huge problems, from economic disparities to the different outcomes of the political legacy of secret police of the East Germany. Yet the reunification of Germany is a great symbol of peaceful resolution of the conflict with success of freedom over totalitarianism.
Conclusion
For a lot of people, the fall of the Berlin Wall was an amazing thing that happened, it symbolized the ending of the Cold War, and the reunification of Germany. It serves as a monument to one collective striving for freedom, one mass movement and one consequence or pressure from abroad. The fall of the Berlin Wall marked not just the end of Germany, but the beginning of a world that was more cooperative, more unified — a world that is closer to what we want now, but did not exist in 1989.
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