Introduction
In pondering over the Berlin Wall we always conjure a symbol that tore a city, a country, and a world asunder. Some of the top ten events in the twentieth century include the construction of the Berlin Wall. It was a physical symbol of the Cold War that was splitting the world ideologically well into the twentieth century. In this article, we are going to analyze the Berlin Wall beginning with its inception and proceeding to its objectives, effects and consequences, and its existence and demolition.
This paper undertakes to explain what led to the construction of the facility.
The physical construction of the Berlin Wall started only on August, 13, 1961 and remained substantially impenetrable until November 9, 1989. However, to explain the purpose of building this wall, it is necessary to turn back to the results of the Second World War. Germany has also been occupied into four zones of occupation controlled by the four powers who were; USA, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union.
Strikes floats between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies happened soon and consequently Germany was spilt into East and West Germany in 1949. The same was the situation in the city of Berlin of the Soviet occupied East Germany. Nonetheless, Berlin was controlled by the four occupying powers at the same time and still represented a special district in the middle of East Germany.
Key Reasons for the Construction
So, why was the Berlin Wall constructed? There were several key reasons:
- Preventing defections: East Germany, under Soviet influence, was experiencing a wave of emigration to the West. To stem the flow of educated professionals, skilled workers, and intellectuals leaving for a better life in West Germany, the regime decided to build a physical barrier.
- Propaganda and control: The East German government sought to maintain control over its population and reinforce the ideological division between East and West. By physically separating the two parts of the city, they hoped to solidify the division into people’s minds and portray the capitalist West as a threat.
- Pressure on the West: The construction of the Berlin Wall put pressure on the Western powers to withdraw from West Berlin altogether. The Soviet Union aimed to demonstrate that the West could not protect the people in their isolated enclave and that the people of West Berlin were better off under East German rule.
Preventing defections: East Germany, under Soviet influence, was experiencing a wave of emigration to the West. To stem the flow of educated professionals, skilled workers, and intellectuals leaving for a better life in West Germany, the regime decided to build a physical barrier.
Preventing defections:
Propaganda and control: The East German government sought to maintain control over its population and reinforce the ideological division between East and West. By physically separating the two parts of the city, they hoped to solidify the division into people’s minds and portray the capitalist West as a threat.
Propaganda and control:
Pressure on the West: The construction of the Berlin Wall put pressure on the Western powers to withdraw from West Berlin altogether. The Soviet Union aimed to demonstrate that the West could not protect the people in their isolated enclave and that the people of West Berlin were better off under East German rule.
Pressure on the West:
The Impact on Daily Lives
With the construction of the Berlin Wall, daily life for Berliners changed drastically:
Divisions in a city and families divided
People were separated from their families and loved ones in a day. Neighbours, co-workers and friends – at one point in time they were all just separated by a two headed wall. It often became almost impossible for families to pay frequent visits to each other’s homes or to other relatives. This had a very emotional appeal in Berlin, as families were split and lovers forced to wait for their beloved to join again.
Security Measures during the era with special reference to the Death Strip
The Berlin Wall was not just a simple wall; it had an immediately adjacent ‘death strip,’ a no-man’s-land consisting of watch towers equipped with searchlights and beams of machine gun-fire, floods of floodlights, and trenches for anti-vehicle barriers. More people were posted around the area with instructions on what they should do to the intruders; shoot them dead if they try to cross the border. This is the sort of bleak and oppressive atmosphere which was present in the everyday life for those in the divided city.
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Gap between the social life in east and that of the west Berlin emerged clearly. West Berliners, on the other hand, had the burgeoning capitalist economy, freedom to buy the produce of western democracy and pop culture. While West Berliners enjoyed growing economies, freedom of speech, and indefinite freedoms from the unrelenting watch of the East German Secret Police, Stasi.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, was a momentous event that marked the end of an era:
Protests and Political Change
The state of East Germany in the late 1980s was fraught with political, economic instability. Intense protest activities calling for political liberalization characterized the country at this time. Finally, the East German government, overwhelmed by the unrest that was boiling up in the country, related to the demands of the population. This led, in a chain of reactions, to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The Opening of the Border
Subsequently on the night of 9th November, 1989 an opening address was made that the east Germans will be free to move own to the west. And the people came running to the border crossings shocked, wonderful, feeling misunderstanding. Checkpoint guards, unprepared for such an order soon opened the gates to let thousands of East Germans into west Berlin for the first time in decades. People from every corner or the world were able to observe these scenes or jubilation and togetherness.
The End of the Cold War
The most important event that led to the transformations was the fall of the Berlin Wall. It marked the fall of the Cold War, a superpower conflict between the first world and the second world. It let the two German states reunite on October 3, 1990 thus ending the division of Germany and encouraging a new beginning for Europe.
Conclusion
The Berlin Wall holds a prominent place in history as a vivid reminder of the human cost of ideological division. While its construction brought suffering and division, its fall symbolized hope, unity, and the triumph of the human spirit. The Berlin Wall serves as a lesson about the importance of freedom, cooperation, and the pursuit of a more connected world.
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