Today the Berlin Wall is a major Cold War landmark that splits the city into two pieces. While many portrayals come from the Western world’s perspective, it is important to understand how the Soviethad viewed the walls construction and purpose.
The Historical Context
To understand the Soviet’s view of the Berlin Wall needs to be understood in light of its history. The period between the end of the World War II and its close was marked by a major power struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, popularly called the Cold War.
Because of its location, Berlin was also of historical importance, and was a focal point because of this, the Soviets wanted to spread communism across Europe. Tensions were rising however in between the two blocs because of the Western Allies presence in West Berlin.
The Soviet Justification
The Berlin Wall was built, the Soviet Union said, to defend east Berlin and east Germany from Western infiltration and espionage. The barrier was needed, they said, in order to keep the integrity of socialism and prevent the invasive capitalist ideologies.
W: The threat to East Germany’s stability was purported by the Soviets as always being posed by the West, and notably the US. Western intelligence agencies were actively working, they feared, to undermine the socialist government and take up sabotage activities.
Furthermore, it was the division of Berlin for the Soviet Union that was also the countermeasure against the so called mass exodus of East German to West Berlin and onward. The brain drain devasted the East German economy, and was a threat to the legitimacy of the socialist regime.
Control and Surveillance
The Berlin Wall signified physically Soviet control over East Berlin. Guard towers were also put on the border fortifications, which were surrounded by barbed wire and barraged when it comes to unauthorized crossings. It meant East Germans stayed under the thumb of the socialist regime.
The other angle in our connection story that needs to be mentioned is East Germany’s secret police, the Stasi, which also took on the job of keeping tabs on the population. They spied on East German citizens, infiltrated dissident groups and it used informants to suppress opposition to the government’s policies. Under the sponsorship and direction of the Soviet Union, the Stasi acted.
The Propaganda Battle
Sure, the Soviets touted the building of the Berlin Wall as a defensive measure, but these walls helped spread propaganda as well. The barrier appeared to Soviet media as a symbol of the victory of socialism over capitalism and as a defence against decadence and imperialism of the West.
And the Soviets highlighted the ideological split, portraying West Berlin as a despoiler of East German capital for the West Berliners, to cement support in the East for the socialist regime there. East Germans, they propagated, offered social equality, economic stability and protection from the deities of the West.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
In the late 1980s the Soviet perspective on the Berlin Wall underwent a dramatic shift. The Berlin Wall was also a liability for the Soviet leadership in terms of its being an ideological matter because the Soviet Union had experienced great interior turmoil and Eastern Bloc countries promised democratic reforms.
At the time, this was the policy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union being led by Mikhail Gorbachev: glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). Spearheaded by reforms designed to redress widespread dissatisfaction and satisfy the aspirations of the Eastern Bloc countries to enjoy a greater measure of autonomy and freedom, these laws have satisfied the proletarian element.
The fall of the Berlin Wall came about because of the peaceful protests in East Germany and East and West mounting pressure for reunification. It was an end to an era, bringing German reunification.
Conclusion
To really understand the Cold War and the geopolitical tensions of its time, one must understand the Soviet perspective on the Berlin Wall. Soviet construction was to some degree a defensive measure to keep the socialist regime from falling to capitalist influence.
The Berlin Wall was a powerful Soviet symbol of control, allowing them to watch and limit person to person contact between East and West Berlin. The fall of the wall was a profoundly destabilizing moment in world history and, along with it, was responsible for helping the Soviet Union itself to crumble.
Consider of the Berlin Wall by focusing on the motivations and justifications for its construction, and we can understand further the dynamics and viewpoints of this as chaotic period of history.
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