The Historical Background

The building of the Wall in Berlin in 1961 can be considered as marking the Cold war era which was a time of political rivalry between the critics say that America and Russia. At the end of World War II in 1945, Germany was divided into four occupation zones controlled by the victorious Allied powers: the united state of America, the union of soviet socialist republics, great Britain and France. The capital named the Berlin was also divided into four sectors of influence of respective powers.

Over time, ideological differences emerged between the Soviet Union and the other three Western powers, leading to the formation of two separate German states in 1949: Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) also known as West Germany and the German Democratic Republic(GDR) also referred to as East Germany.

The Reasons behind the Wall

1. Economic Factors

It was estimated that for every 100 East Germans who moved to the West, only four of them were unskilled workers despite the extreme shortage of labour in that region. This high level of migration was beginning to become a problem for the East German government because it was losing it best resources.

When constructing the wall, East Germany did so, in an effort to slow down the drain of human capital and keep talent within East Germany. The government wanted to make its economy firmer and illustrate the effectiveness of socialism rather than the capitalist countries.

2. The Ideological Divide

The Berlin Wall served as a powerful symbol of the ideological divide between two opposing systems: : communism in the East and democracy in the West. East Germany was a Soviet puppet state, fully dominated by the ruling party, the Socialist Unity Party (SED).

The wall was to ensuring that those citizens of East Germany did not escape to the West which was comparatively more developed and politically free. The Soviets and East Germany’s authorities claimed it was needed to shield this socialist society against the decadence and uncertainties of the West – ‘capitalism’ and ‘imperialism’ – which could also be seen in the ‘toxic’ messages of Western ‘anti-Soviet’ and ‘anti-GDR’ propaganda.

3. A review of power relations identified political control and repression to be significant factors that affected the changes of power relations between individuals during the formation of postcolonial African states.

The wall also meant that the East German government was able to keep its population well controlled all the time. Opposition was suppressed and any one desiring to escape to another land was heavily penalized. The wall proved to be an effective method to lock people in since it practically impossible to climb it.

The ruling party had the Ministry for State Security (Stasi) maintain one of the most developed spying systems infiltrating the population to eliminate dissent. The construction of the wall went hand in hand with enhancing the governments abilities to monitor an monitor its people.

The Impact and Significance

1. Families Separated

A human cost of the construction of the Berlin Wall was that the people were separated from their families. Divorce tendered loved ones chopperd, disconnected from each other. East Berlin citizens had one day woken up to their friends, relatives, and neighbors being cut off on the other side.

For you understand, families suffered this lack of physical connection for nearly 30 years until the wall came down in 1989. The reunification that subsequently occurred was of course cheered in most parts of the world but it did not come without deep welts and psychological disturbance to those directly involved.

2. Symbol of the Cold War

One of the most famous Cold War barriers to people and ideas came to be known as the Berlin Wall. It symbolized the fight between communism and democracy, dictator ship and freedom.

It remains vivid to this date, pictures of people trying to escape with the help of ropes under the guns of guards and the ultimate pulling down of the wall.

3. End of an Era

The break of the Berlin Wall in 1989 initiated the denouement of the cold war. It marked the reunification of both east and west Germany and clearly represented the break up of the whole communism.

The destruction of the wall was instrumental in the formation of a new political culture, a new power paradigm in Europe, the rather fast disintegration of the USSR after the destruction of the wall was equally rapid. They relays the message of success of liberty over tyrany and symbolizes the desired change of nonviolence for the world.

Conclusion

The construction and creation of the Barline was brought about by reasons touching on economic, ideological, and factors of politics. It was aimed at avoiding the process of brain drain, at strengthening the socialist positions, at establishing control over the people. The wall meaning was a huge statement, and its necessity was felt and seen around the world as well as within the people targeted by its construction. Its collapse marked the end of the Cold War and a new world, in which there would be a much greater chance of world unity and harmony.