5 of 16

Write now Article Tools

The history of the Berlin Wall begins in 1945 after World War II ended. Each of WWII's victorious countries - U.S.A., Great Britian, France, and the Soviet Union - divided Germany into four parts. Each country controlled one part of Germany. Berlin, the capital of Germany, was controlled by the Soviet Union and was also divided into four parts. The soviet Union eventually become a communist dictatorship. By 1948 the democratic Allies and the communist Soviet Union argues over how to govern Berlin. Berlin was in the Soviet part of Germany, an island surrounded by capitalism. The Allies countered with the Berlin Aritlift, flying planes with food and supplies into West Berlin for 462 straight days. The Soviets lifeted the blockade in 1949. Also in 1949, Western and Eastern Germany formed seperate gpvernments. In the 1950s, the West-East gap continued to widen. In West Berlin and West Germany, rebuilding boomed. In the East, food and housing were scarce. More than 3 million people left East Germany for a better life in the West. By 1961, the communist government knew it had to stop the people from the East from moving to the West. On August 13, 1961, a low, barbed-wire barrier was hung between East and West Berlin. Within days, workers cemented concrete blocks into a low wall through the city. The wall was built at least three times. Each time bigger, stonger, and more repressive. Towers, guards, and dogs stood watch over no man's land. A pipe, too large for a grip, ran along the top of the wall. Behind the wall were forbidden zones that stretched for miles. Anyone trying to escape, was shot on the spot. Communists said the wall was built to shield East Berliners from capitalist philosophies. But the Berlin wall was cut through the city's heart - seperating families and friends, and preventing people from getting to work. West Germans would hold their babies above the wall for their relitives to see. They painted scence and slogans on the wall. Others held political rallies and concerts in front of it. News broadcasts created cracks in the so-called Iron Curtian. It was a sign that the Soviet-style governemt was not working in East Germany. The communisim was bankrupt by 1980. In East Germany, wages were low. Homes bombed during WWII were still not fixed. Citizens lived in poverty, communist leaders lived in luxury. The soviet Union could no longer afford the Cold War - decades of military, political, and economic rivalry with the United States. Two U.S. presidents who visited the wall made strong statements in support of West Berlin. In 1963, John F. Kennedy visted; and Ronald Regan in 1987. Earlier in the 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had introduced the policies od openness and democratic reform. Slowly, Eastern Europeans began to test their new freedom. Mass protests demanded freedom of expression, travel, and press. On Firday, November 9, 1989, the people won. That weekend, the East German governemt opened its borders, allowing its citizens to visit the West. After 28 years, the Berlin Wall had fallen, and the world watched it on television.

Learn more about this author, Mary Anthony.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about The history of the Berlin Wall?
We want to hear your view. Write now!