The cold war was a period in which two superpowers of the world power, the United States of America and the Soviet Union where in constant political conflict and engagement in arms race. Among the most important ‘changes of venue’ of this time was division of Berlin, the capital of Germany, into East Berlin and West Berlin.

The Division

After World War II, Germany was divided into four occupation zones controlled by the victors: the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, and france. The city of Berlin also was divided into four equal parts by the major Allied powers occupying it, although it lay fully within the Soviet zone.

The Berlin Wall

U.S.-Soviet competition grew in 1961: speaking of which, that fell of the Berlin Wall was built. The wall was a barrier that actually made up the physical barrier that split Berlin into east and west, and people could not travel from one side of the divide to the other. People were divorced and one could not move across to the other side to converse with their neighbors.

It had a barbed wire and high towers with armed check points all round the wall. The escape from East Berlin was a deadly ordeal because anyone who tried to get to the West could be arrested or killed. On a broader perspective, the Berlin Wall did help in presenting world the divide between the West and the East.

Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie was the most popular border crossing of East and West Berlin. It remained the only point accessible to foreigners and diplomats on the route that stretched over a wide area. Persons who wished to proceed to the other side of the city had to undergo through serious scrutiny and even to produce their I.D cards.

Checkpoint Charlie played various roles and its central feature was such incidences as the face off of American and Soviet tanks in 1961. It involved and remains as one of the most significant parades of the Cold War politics symbolized in slices today.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin wall was around for almost twenty nine years, and marked the split between East and West Berlin. In 1989, astoundingly, uprising of the people began across East Germany demonstrating to seek for the change in political system, to establish democracy abolishing and bringing an end to the worsening repression. Opposition protests were also mobilizing in Berlin.

On November 9, 1989 East German officials misunderstanding during a press conference declared that the border was open. East Berliners rushed to this wall and since the guards allowed them, more people crossed into West Berlin. Many people regard this event as the starting point of foil to the cold war period.

The Reunification

Subsequently, the reunification of Germany started with the break up of the Berlin Wall. Germany was reunited on East and West Germany officially on October, 3, 1990. One of the most important transformations was the wall removal and merging of two entirely different cultures of the city.

Today’s Berlin

Today’s Berlin bears little resemblance to the city we saw in the Second World War movies. The effects of the Cold war are still felt to date with some of the parts when Berlin Wall was still standing being only a few years ago. Tourists can walk around and take a look at what was basically a divided city, using guided tours to explain the entirety of the cold war.

Since the reunification process major development has been carried out in the city. Berlin has turned into the world city that is famous for its art, music, history and innovative technologies. It is the embodiment of strength and as a structure – it emphasizes the triumph over division.

Conclusion

The Cold War was one of the most important events in the history of mankind the division of Berlin being one of its main markers. This was evidenced by; the construction of the belin wall represents the divide between the east and the west. But the collapse of the wall and the German reunification demonstrated that there are ways to change and that unification is achievable.