The Cold War was the period of ideological tension between the Soviet Union and the United States and their allies, from the end of World War II, through to the early 1990s. At the center of this conflict, Europe saw some major events that being central to history. The Berlin Wall was one of the most well known of the Cold War symbols in Europe.

1. The Cold War in Europe

A series of confrontations which resulted from the division of Europe into two ideological blocs, the one of which was led by the United States (capitalist) and the other by the Soviet Union (communist). There were not only military alliances, ideological battles, but also proxy wars.

Countries like Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, etc., all wore the face of Europe where they became caught in a middle ground again for battling conflicting ideas.

2. The Berlin Wall

2.1 Construction and Purpose

The Berlin Wall was built up by the communist East German regime, on the day August 13, 1961, dividing East Berlin (under communist control) from West Berlin (under the allies’ control). Indeed, the prevailing purpose of the wall was to slow down or even stop the mass exodus of East Germans into the West.

With concrete walls on either side of it and guard towers set in place along heavily fortified barriers, it was essentially a hardened brick box. The wall became a symbol of the Iron Curtain, a metaphorical boundary dividing Europe into two separate spheres: the Eastern Bloc and the Western Bloc.

2.2 Effects on People

The building of the Berlin Wall had predominantly an impact on people living in Berlin. The wall became a physical symbol of the dividing ideology and families and friends were torn apart.

Over the wall, there were attempts made to escape and they were summarily dispatched very harshly. It was a wall of oppression, of the other restrictions under the communist regime.

2.3 Fall of the Berlin Wall

On November 9, 1989, just 28 years after the East Berliners had been held prisoner for almost eight or nine years by the neighbors across the River Spree, Berlin’s Wall finally came down. The fall of the wall was also a symbolic end of the Cold War and an opening for the unification of Germany.

The event, people from both sides of the wall celebrated it, in this it also became a turning point in European history. It was the collapse of communism in Europe, begat by the fall of the Berlin Wall, but subsequent events, some positive, some humiliating, may have left Germans asking: what now?

3. Key Cold War Events in Europe

The Cold War was largely known for the many events and conflicts which, for the most part changed the dynamics of the region. Some notable events include:

Truman Doctrine (1947): The United States gave economic and military support to prevent Greece and Turkey from going communist.

Marshall Plan (1948): Thus, the United States took financial help to the European countries ruined by war so that these countries do not fall to the Soviet influence.

NATO (1949): Owing to its defensive collective atlantic treaty, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a collection of Western European and North American countries.

Warsaw Pact (1955): When it heard that NATO was forming, the Soviet Union formed a military alliance with several Eastern European countries.

Prague Spring (1968): Soviet led forces crushed Czechoslovakia’s attempt to introduce political reforms.

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962): An icy standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union over where to put nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba.

4. The Legacy of the Cold War

It still echoes in Europe today because of Cold War legacy. And while the physical division between Eastern and Western Europe no longer exists it hasn’t gone away entirely. The Cold War has impacted the continent economically, politically and socially.

But notwithstanding, the act of reunifying Germany, the expansion of the European Union, or the warming of relations between former enemies of the cold war are signs of progress towards one united Europe.

Conclusion

Such chapters are the Cold period of European history and the subsequent building of the Berlin Wall. Tension and division of this period can be felt even yet. By understanding the key events and their impact you can better understand the complexities of Europe’s recent past, and how we have made progress towards unity.

The study of the Cold War in Europe and the Berlin Wall helps us understand what the ideological conflicts cost and what human spirit can survive.