The Berlin Wall was, in fact, raised during the cold war period, people all over the world associate the event with the cold war period. This physical barriers separated the city of Berlin from 1961 to 1989 meant for East Germany officially known as German Democratic Republic (GDR) and West Germany officially known as Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). Writing about its political, social and historical value and seeing how it influenced not only Germany but the world today.

What was the Cold War?

Cold war was a state of confrontation and intensified competition between two super powers of the world that emerged after World war II. While the two powers never fought each other militarily they had what may be referred to as a long term world-view confrontation. The primary point of contention was their differing political systems: capitalism through the United State of America and communism through the USSR.

Berlin Wall construction

The Berlin Wall was erected by the East Germany authorities to discourage many of its nationals from emigrating to west Germany. Earlier before the construction of the wall , there was a massive movement of people from East Germany into West Germany via Berlin. This drain off of skilled professionals and intellectuals was leading to economic and political instability in the East Germany.

Building of this wall started during the early morning of 13 August 1961, which took many people by surprise. It included the barbed wire barriers, concrete walls, watchtower and anti-vehicular obstacle. To justify that the regime was right in preventing its citizens from visiting the West, the East German government stated that it wanted to shelter the people from the expansionist tendencies of the West colonialists as well as defend the people from the west imperialist’s attempt to disrupt the socialist government in East Germany.

The Impact of the Berlin Wall

This paper examines the impact of the construction of the Berlin Wall and how it affected the people of Berlin and the entire world. Here are some key impacts:

1. Family and Friend Departures

People were separated between the neighborhoods with the wall and those who lived on the other side. Some families hardly get to visit one another or talk for years and this pulls them apart emotionally and physically. The wall demolished the lives of so many people.

2. Escalation of Tensions

The construction of the wall brought rigid relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union. This impressed some observers as a marked expression of the Cold War division of the world. The stand at the wall symbolized the cold war standoff between two super powers.

3. Symbol of Oppression

The Berlin Wall did leave all over the world as a symbol of oppression, and the failure of communism. It symbolized restraint than liberation and the extents to which authorities would go in order to deny their people a noble chance at a better existence.

4. Fugitives and Catastrophic Outcomes

Still, the wall was meant to eliminate this problem, but many east Germans tried to dare staking their lives and cross to the West. Some attempted to cross the wall, others attempted to burrow, still others used camouflaged compartments in their automobiles. However, to try carrying out the crossing of the wall was fraught with a great danger as people could be imprisoned or even killed.

5. Fall of the Berlin Wall

Many years of Applied pressure, protest and changes in political climates and resulted in the falling of the Berlin wall on the 9th of November, 1989. This event signified a twist up in history and finally paved way to the reunion of the two Germany on the third of October, nineteen ninety.

In Conclusion

The Berlin that divided Germany into East and West was a realisation of the Cold War’s political conflict. Ferrie comments that, ‘It was a clear statement against people who wanted a ‘better life’ for themselves in the Old World and became a symbol of fear and oppression during the Cold War, underlining a divide that the war brought’. Nowadays, there are only piles of rubble that are becoming a symbol of people’s victory over division and oppression.