The Berlin Wall was a single wall built by German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in 1961 to divide East Berlin from West Berlin. It had far reaching implications on the Cold War, the period of geopolitical tension between the two superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States. The next blog post will discuss the same topic, putting emphasis on the major points of the Berlin Wall’s role in the Cold War.
The Berlin Wall was born.
This conflict resulted in the tension which led to the construction of Berlin Wall by the Communist and Capitalist sides of the world. Following World War II, Germany was occupied four times by the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France. Like Berlin, though, situated in the Soviet occupation zone, Berlin was divided among the four powers.
Conflict converged on Berlin as ideologies between the Soviet Union and Western Allies grew ever more separate. To economically and politically strengthen West Berlin, the Western Allies introduced new currency and the Berlin Airlift.
This factor affects international relations.
During the Cold War, the Berlin Wall played a big role in the international relations. The wall represented the separatation of communism and democracy, the Iron Curtain marking the difference between East and West.
The build up increased tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States and brought about a nuclear arms race that lasted through the entirety of the Cold War. The fact that the wall had been built now gave weight to the view of two separated blocs engaged in ideological warfare.
The Human Cost
The berlin wall was costly in human lives. Families were split, friends were split, many East Germans living in West Berlin were trapped in East Berlin. Many escape attempts ended with violence and injury or death.
Lifelong Berlin residents living near the wall were constantly under surveillance and oppressed in their ability to move about freely. The wall represented the physical rupture of division between East and West that had wrought untold suffering and loss upon those confronted on its other side.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Cold War turned in the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The reasons for the demolition of the wall were directly related to the large extent of political changes that took place in the Eastern Bloc above all in East Germany.
A range of political reforms started by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and the growing need that East Germans had for freedom and democracy all led to massive, peaceful protests throughout Germany. However the pressure ultimately forced the opening on the East German government’s border between East and West Berlin on November 9, 1989.
The Cold War’s End: The Impact
The end of the Cold War was related to the fall of the Berlin Wall. At the time it was a symbol for the waining power of the Soviet Union and beginning of a reunification of Germany. The reunification process began in earnest, marking the peaceful disintegration of the Eastern Bloc, and ultimately the end of the Cold War.
The destruction of the Berlin Wall had become a potent symbol of democracy and freedom over communism and totalitarianism. The impact was broad: it laid the foundations for a more unified Europe and remapped the geopolitical map of the world.
Conclusion
The Cold War is a powerful history lesson that the Berlin Wall had on it. This added to the deep gulf between the Eastern Bloc and Western ones, and helped to aggravate Soviet–US tensions. But the wall generated so much human suffering and was such a potent symbol of the oppression that no one doubted that Berlin would be reunited and reunified entirely. But it became part of the groundwork for Germany’s subsequent reunification, and the end of the Cold War itself.