Being situated in the center of Germany, the city of Berlin was one of main confrontational ground during the Cold War. Sliced by the Wall into two halves, the city became a materilized representation of the East/West cold war ideological confrontation. The goal of this article is to open up a different part of Berlin – the one that was dominated by communism and reveal how the decision changed the city and its people.

Background: The Origins of the Divide

In the aftermath of World War II, Germany was divided into four zones controlled by the victorious Allied powers: the USA, the USSR, Great Britain, and France. Berlin too became divided into four sectors although it was situated in the Soviet zone of Germany. It served this purpose to lay the ground work for the eventual split of the city.

The Eastern Side: The Rise of Communism

Ideologically the superpowers became polarized when the United States and the Soviet Union were at the center of the cold war. While the Greater Berlin’s eastern part was under the Soviet’s occupation it begun to adopt communism as a political and economic system.

East Germany also known as the German Democratic Republic was formed in 1949 the country enjoyed full support in terms of influence and directions from the soviet union. In the GDR East Berlin turned into the capital of the new socialist country.

The Russians tightened their grip on East Germany to have it running a command economy and all forms of political opposition crushed. They bestowed importance to industrialism and collective farming with especial stress on obedient to the dictatorial communist system.

The Western Side: Defenders of Democracy

The western part of Berlin controlled by USA, Britain, and France symbolized democracy in the centre of the Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe. West Berlin emerged as an eastern city that was full of western ideals.

With the support of their respective western powers West Berlin was allowed to have a political freedom and liberty in choice such as free multipartism and free economy. The traditional and historical division of the two halves of the city was widened when the old currency was replaced with the Deutsche Mark in 1948.

The Berlin Wall: The Concrete Barrier to Unity

During the Cold War years, the division between East and West Germany became more and more acute and many citizens of the Democratic Republic went to the Federal Republic in search of a better life. To avoid this shift in demography the East German government with the consent of Kremlin erected the Berlin Wall in 1961.

The Berlin Wall was a two-point structure constructed from concrete and barbed wire which enclosed West Berlin and included approximately 96 miles around it. Its intention was to prevent the people from the communism side crossing over to the side of democracy. The wall was an iron symbol of the divided city and the impacts of the Cold War on the society it served.

Impacts on Berlin citizens & the city

For close to three decades the Berlin wall stood for the divide between communism and democracies. People were displaced from their loved ones and their lives changed. They eat from plates drawn on the wall as if they were utilizing utensils; wall was a good symbol for an oppressive regime because it provides necessary conditions but does not allow escape.

In economic aspect the life of West Berlin was enriched under the patronage of the Western powers. For this it developed into a prosperous cultural and artistic hub with great many people arriving from different parts of the world. On the other hand, East Berlin was an economy in a state of standstill that was politically oppressed; freedom and every facet of life were controlled by the Soviet Union.

The Fall of the Wall: A Unified Berlin

November 9, 1989 remained historic when the Berlin Wall came crashing down as an aftermath of some civilly protests against the eastern Germany regime. It marked a certain point when the level of reunification of Germany increased sharply up to certain achievements.

The demolition of the Berlin Wall also led to the one Germany from east and west Germany. The last Berlin Wall was demolished on November 9, 1989 and on October 3, 1990 the German Democratic Republic was no more, Germany was reunified under a democratic government.

Legacy and Remembrance

The existence of East Berlin as a socialist state and West Berlin as a free world democratic state gave imprints in the city and on the people. Modern generation operates with fragments of the Berlin Wall to parallel the fate of each of the parties involved.

The city of Berlin is an example of the division and the result of revitalization of many split cities for people to notice a united and wealthy city. Witnesses’ views, memorials, and mementos of the cold war may be obtained from the museum, get more information from historical sites.

Thus, the communists were able to take over the Eastern segment of Berlin, Germany. The division that separated communism and democracy, Ideologically separated the city but was also social, political and economically very significant. September 11, 2001, attacks and disintegration of Soviet Union symbolize evidence of rehabilitation of the people and desire for a reunion.