This removable barricade was one of the key symbols of the cold war. Constructed in 1961 by the German Democratic Republic (GDR), this was a borderline of East and West Berlin that split friendly and family ties and a city between two political allegiances. Welcome to this blog post where I will be discussing the following information, historical background, construction and purpose and ultimate decline of the Berlin Wall.
The Historical Context
Cold war scenarios describe the post-World War II period when the Soviet Union and the United States and those of their allies engaged in a political and military standoff. They were defined by political or policy discrepancies, arms race, and guerrilla wars.
After World War II, Germany was divided into four occupied zones, each controlled by the victorious Allied powers: the US, USSR, UK, and France. Berlin also had been divided into the four sectors after being situated in the Soviet controlled East Germany. However, there was increasing cold relations between the capitalist western bloc and the communists eastern bloc and as a result there was a big rush of people from east to west.
The events following construction of the Berlin Wall
Evidently to control such a drain of population and to pave a concrete channel to an unswerving political foothold, the G.D.R, on August 13, 1961 started the process of erecting the Berlin Wall. It was to provide a physical barrier between east and west Berlin, to stop east Germans from escaping to the west. Built around West Berlin, it stretched about 96 miles long from one side to another.
In other words the existing wall was composed of concrete walls and barbed wire, watch towers and a death strip complete with trip wire, trenches and guards on patrol. It created an unscalable trench and psyche, and literally split families and friends across the border.
Proving Its Existence: The Purpose of the Berlin Wall
Nonetheless, the main functional use of the Berlin Wall was to keep the influence of the communists in the eastern part of the country. Having sealed its borders, approving the travel only to the Western part of Germany, the GDR pursued to save qualified personnel, intelligentsia, and potential dissenters from escaping to the West. It was also an exercise in propaganda to display to the world as well as to intimidate the citizens of the Eastern bloc the might and transnational unity of the socialist countries.
Also, it represented the East and West’s global division and important power houses, the Soviet Union and United States. One could say it was a part of iron curtain as it underlined the impossibility of the co-existence of communism and capitalistic worlds.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
During the Cold War, there were emerging problems in the political and economic activities of the Soviet Union. In the 80s Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev begun liberalization of the system which included demand for more openness, glasnost and economic restructuring, perestroika. This new released policy of transparency encouraged the democratic activities and call for freedom in the Eastern Europe nations.
In East Germany, protest demonstrations that were demanding for a change in political system intensified. On November 9, 1989, the GDR – under pressure – issued the statement that its citizens wanted want to cross the border – they could do so. People of East Germans came out in large numbers and started tearing the wall apart bit by bit. This event was the press symbol of the End of the Cold War and The Reunification of Germany.
Conclusion
The construction of the Berlin wall in the eighteen-post Sixties was definitely an ardent Cold War moment, and this was a picture of the ideological battle between communism and capitalism. It has been the symbol of victory of liberty of people over tyranny and society for liberty and strong bond of unity.
Although the wall is not there to help us remember today, it serves as a representation that the rights of people should be respected and dictatorship is dangerous for society. Learning the story behind the Berlin wall gives us an opportunity to recognise the great effort people make to cross borders and fight for a globally tolerant society.
