As one of Cold War symbols, East Germany (German Democratic Republic) constructed The Berlin Wall in 1961. For 28 years, East and West Berlin stood apart by this monumental barrier. Its existence and construction were the result of sociopolitical, economic, ideological factors. Therefore, we will look at the most important reasons which caused the erection of the Berlin Wall, and how it affected Germany.
1. The Division of Germany
After the end of World War II in 1945, Germany was divided into four zones, each controlled by one of the Allied powers: the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and France and the United States. There was also Berlin, the capital city itself, divided into four sectors. But the Soviets and their Western Allies were in growing friction.
To consolidate his hold over East Germany, the Soviet Union tried to restrict travel from East to West Berlin. This caused an enormous number of East Germans fleeing to the prosperous West. In 1961, some 2.7 million people had already emigrated from East Germany since the end of the war.
2. Brain Drain and Economic Disparity
The cause for the erection of the Berlin Wall was simply too stark a contrast in economic development between East and West Germany. By contrast, both from a social and economic point of view, West Germany was a booming, successful nation while East Germany was an unsuccessful socialist economy.
East Germany lost a lot of its brain because individuals fled to the West looking for better opportunities. A lot of skilled professionals and young intellectuals left in hope of a better life in the democratic West. The threatening mass exodus also threatened the economic stability of East Germany, and had a hand in contributing to the leadership of East Germany’s resolve to take action.
3. Conflict of Ideology, Security Issues
The Berlin Wall would be much more than a political squabble between the East and the West, or the United States and the Soviet Union; it played a key role in the Cold War, a struggle for influence in which the Soviets and former Cold War foes, the Americans, were at simpatico. East Germany was usually regarded as having been a product of the Soviet Union, and down a socialist line of thought. In contrast to West Germany, a capitalist democracy linked to the United States, embraced.
The wall was a physical manifestation of the ideological conflict that was the intensely splited communist East from the capitalist West. The wall, they saw, was a necessary measure to prevent further ‘fascist’ Western ‘pollution’ of their socialist state and further espionage.
4. Political pressure and international relations
At the same time, the construction of the Berlin Wall was influenced by political pressure equally applied by the Soviets and the Western powers. The decision to build the wall was taken as East Germany’s leadership sought to secure its regime and show loyalty to the Soviet Union.
The wall provoked strong disapproval of the West, especially of the United States, which saw it as a violation of human rights. But because they feared escalating tensions and armed conflicts they did not resort to military action.
1. The Division of Germany
After the end of World War II in 1945, Germany was divided into four zones, each controlled by one of the Allied powers: the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France. Berlin, the capital city, was also divided into four sectors. However, tensions between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies caused a deepening divide.
The Soviet Union, aiming to consolidate its control over East Germany, began imposing restrictions on travel from East to West Berlin. This led to a substantial number of East Germans fleeing to the more prosperous West. By 1961, over 2.7 million people had left East Germany since the end of the war.
2. Economic Disparity and Brain Drain
The stark economic differences between East and West Germany were a significant motivating factor behind the construction of the Berlin Wall. West Germany experienced remarkable economic growth, while East Germany struggled with a failing socialist economy.
As individuals fled to the West to seek better opportunities, East Germany faced a significant brain drain. Many skilled professionals and young intellectuals left in search of a more promising future in the democratic West. This mass exodus threatened the economic stability of East Germany and strengthened the resolve of its leadership to take action.
3. Ideological Conflict and Security Concerns
Construction of the Berlin Wall served as a key point in the Cold War, a prominence battle over sway between America and the Soviet Union. Soviet Union operated in East Germany in a heavily socialist ideology. Contrawise, West Germany turned towards a capitalist democracy, albeit a democracy linked to the United States.
It was an ideological conflict played out on the wall, a physical object, as the divide between communist East and capitalist West. The wall was a measure that East Germany’s leaders considered necessary to hold back so called ‘fascist influences’ and possible espionage from the West.
4. Political Pressure and International Relations
Part played in the construction of the Berlin Wall by political pressure, both by the Soviet Union and by Western powers. The wall was built in order to secure East Germany’s regime and to show loyalty to the Soviet Union, as East Germany’s leadership wanted to do.
The wall was strongly disapproved by the Western powers, and particularly by the United States, which regarded it as trampling on human rights. But they had held back from military action out of fears of intensifying tensions and armed conflicts.
Conclusion
Placing the Berlin Wall represented physically and symbolically the division between East and West Berlin. Factors both political, economic and ideological had driven it, to halt and reverse the mass exodus of East Germans in search of a better life in the West.
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 ultimately represented the reunification of East and West Germany, and signaled a kind of ending for the Cold War. Reminders of ideological division and the desire for freedom are the wall that exists and its removal.
For further reading on this topic, refer to the table below for a list of recommended books:
Title Author
The Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall Mary Elise Sarotte
The Berlin Wall: 13 August 1961 – 9 November 1989 Frederick Taylor
The Berlin Wall: A World Divided, 1961-1989 Frederic Taylor
Now you know why Germany built the Berlin Wall, touch back on its meaning and the lessons it teaches us about what comes from division and the search for freedom.