In due course, it was a supremely vexed and also protracted time of Cold War when the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a compete and dead Accords politico-military. The Berlin Wall is one of the most iconic symbols of this conflict as it separated the German city, Berlin, into two parts. Here, we delve into the Berlin Wall’s part in the Cold War and its part in making the world it is.
The Divided City
During the time after World War 2, Germany was divided into four Occupation zones administered by the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and France. Berlin, a city in Soviet zone, was also divided into four sectors. But there was growing disagreement between the Allied powers, and things eventually reached a head when the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) were created in 1949. They were the same as their wider divided capitalist West of the communist East.
Berlin was deep within East Germany and yet the city itself was split in two, East and West. In the early years, the sectors were open to people moving between them and had led to very high migration from East to West, a development of concern for the Soviet Union. The East German government, with Soviet backing, with stanch the flow of this peripheral population and to assert its control, built the Berlin Wall.
The Construction of the Berlin Wall
On the night of August 13th, 1961, the Berlin Wall was constructed. Fences and barbed wire were set up separating the Eastern part of the city from the Western ones. The first barricades grew over time into a very heavy covered structure protected with concrete walls, watchtowers and a wide death strip crisscrossed with mines.
The wall had been built mainly to stem the mass exodus of East Germans to West Germany through Berlin. East German economic disparity, political repression and, to a degree, personal freedom limitation inspired many East Germans to seek a better life in the West. In reality, the wall effectively acted as a physical barrier, that is, East Germans were not able to access the more prosperous West.
The Impact of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall had wide ranging effects on the Cold War and the people of Germany. Here are some key impacts:
1. Symbol of the Divide
But the Berlin Wall’s affair came to symbolise the East-West split and the ideological battles of the Cold War. It represented the Iron Curtain, the physical manifestation of the communist Eastern Bloc and the capitalist West. It was a symbol of the contradictions between democracy and totalitarianism and constantly reminded the world of the oppressiveness of communism.
2. Human Tragedy
The Berlin Wall separated families and friends for many decades. Many East Germans were prepared to risk their lives to get to the West, the number of documented people dying in attempts to cross the barrier is numerous. Emotional trauma — human suffering — the destruction of communities, the immense pain that such a wall caused.
3. Political Standoff
This only made already hostile US-Soviet relations worse. Whether it truly assured Soviet control over Eastern European countries was the primary question that the resolution sought to answer, or whether the Soviet Union was exercising its determination to maintain control over Eastern Europe at whatever cost. Instead, the United States denounced the wall as violated their human rights, and as a definitive break between freedom and oppression.
4. Cold War Strategies
In this case, the Berlin Wall prevented the United States and its Western allies to come up with mechanisms to soften the stringencies and support to West Berlin. For example, the Berlin Airlift in 1948–1949, which delivered supplies to West Berlin during a Soviet blockade. What they did was to show the resolve of the West to protect freedom and rights of people living in East Berlin.
5. Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall lasted 28 years and all came down November 9th 1989. The mass protests in East Germany, seeking political reform and freedom were fueled by political and economic changes brought about in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. That fateful day, the East German government lifted travel restrictions to the West and East Berliners celebrated by taking down the wall together. The Berlin Wall fell was a point in time indicating the end of the Cold War era.
Conclusion
Most of all it remains an enduring emblem of the Cold War and of its effects on the world. The construction of the dam and its eventual collapse was a dividing line between communism and capitalism, caused immense human suffering and helped set off political standoffs. Understanding the Berlin Wall teaches us about that period, what it was that transpired, and reminds us that all of us, people of the world, desire peace, freedom, and unity.