Such is his arbitrary devise, convening the world to the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961. For the next several decades this formidable border divided the East from the West in Berlin, to reinforce profound political, social and economic divisions in the country. This blog post will analyze the reasons for the construction of the Berlin Wall as well as its effects on the people, and the world.

Historical Background

After the end of World War II, Germany was divided into four occupied zones controlled by the Allied forces: the United States, Britain and France, the Soviet Union. Berlin was also divided into four sectors which included the capital city. But that did not prevent the Soviet Union and Western powers from soon developing tensions upon which the Cold War began.

After the war, so many Germans within the Soviet controlled Eastern Germany left to the West in order to find freedom, better economic opportunities and escape the Soviet regime. It alarmed the Soviet government.

Reasons for Construction

Economic Pressure

The reason for construction of the Berlin Wall was to stop East Germany from bleeding their economies dry with their citizens deserting to the west. The economy was in trouble and the workforce was declining.

The idea was that they could keep their skilled workforce, and prevent any further brain drain, by erecting a physical barrier. Through this, they would get an opportunity to develop their industrial base and to strengthen their economy.

Ideological Differences

The construction of the Berlin Wall was also brought about by an ideological divide in the governments of East and West Germany. The West celebrated capitalism and democracy while the East kept following their communist regime influenced by Soviet.

The Berlin wall was over a cold war, the separation of ideologies that were conflicting with the East using the wall as a visible reminder that socialism was different and better than capitalism, having it as a reminder of their citizen’s control over what they were allowed to do and not allowed to do.

Security Concerns

The Berlin Wall was built in order to defend East Germany, as said by the government. Instead, they said it was necessary to shield their citizens from the threats they perceived as espionage, invasion and sabotage by Western powers — especially the United States.

Tensions between East and West Germans were rising, and the East German government believed the wall would ensure the survival of their communist regime by finding some protection against infiltration from West and CIA and other intelligence agency acts to subvert.

The Impact of the Berlin Wall

Division of Families

Just as it did with families and friends and loved ones, the Berlin Wall divided. People were separated overnight from relatives who lived on the other side. Special permission was necessary for family gatherings, weddings and even routine interactions – and that was hard to come by.

This resulted in great emotional hurt and gap families for many years without the ability to see or communicate with one another.

Economic Consequences

The building of the Berlin Wall affected quite substantially East Berlin’s economy. While it shut the brain drain, it kept people in the country, but isolated East Germany from Western markets and technology.

East Germany lacked trade and resources, and its economy stagnated with a widening difference between East and West Berlin living standards. It became a symbol of the gulf in America’s economic forces.

Symbol of Oppression

No matter how you slice it … the Berlin Wall became an international symbol of oppression, a visual that showed just how far a government was willing to go to control its citizenry. The wall was a physical correlate of the Iron Curtain that separated Europe in Cold War.

The building of the wall brought out East and West, and the wall became an ardent symbol of the fight between communism and democracy — and a discussion of human rights and freedom.

Conclusion

Built primarily as an economic, ideological, and security response of the East German government, the Berlin Wall. Yet its reach stretched so much further than that, and it went far before that. It became a symbol of division, and oppression, and freedom and human rights.

Fortunately, the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 and Berlin and all of Germany reunited. One of the most significant events in the whole of the history of this world is the fall of the Berlin Wall — in that sense it succeeded both the victory of liberty over oppression.