The cold war was an international state with a military tension between two super powers Soviet Union and United States of America and their associates for about 45 years after the Second World War up to early 1990s. Although the Berlin Wall is traditionally credited to the Cold War, the construction of the wall did not itself cause this bitter enmity. In this blog post, we will look at greater context of Cold War and the role of the Berlin Wall in that larger context.
The Cold War: A Brief Overview
However, the main cause of Cold War was based on differing political systems of the world with Glenan west, which was headed by United States and the Soviet east. They both fought political wars, built up arsenals and competed for spheres of influence around the world. An animosity between the United States of America and the Soviet Union continued for over forty years and defined the world, particularly the developed world, after the Second World War.
Cold War: The Role of The Berlin Wall
The construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 is usually associated with the period of the Cold War. Here are some key aspects:
1. Division of Berlin
After World War II Germany was divided into four occupation zones administered by the United Sates, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and France. It also shared its fate of divided into four sectors with Berlin, which was situated in the Soviet zone. But conflict emerged based on ideological grounds hence the formation of East and West Germany.
2. Symbol of the Cold War
The exemplar of the division of the world during the Cold War was the Berlin Wall, a concrete construction of East Germany. It was a symbol of the Iron Curtain through which communication was denied between the western liberal democracies and the Eastern Bloc Soviet dominated states.
3. Preventing Defection
The main function of the Berlin Wall was to stop east Germans from crossing over to the West. Through the statistics, it is clear that prior to the erection of the wall, some 2.7 million had moved from East to the West. However, it also served as the wall through which East Germany prevented hundreds of thousands of its citizens from emigrating, and which led to attempts at crossing the border ending in death.
4. Tensions and Crises
The construction of the Berlin Wall escalated tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, with several significant crises occurring during its existence:
The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962): Just how far Washington and Moscow came to nuclear war.
The Berlin Crisis (1961-1962): The United States confronted the wall in different ways such as in operation airlift mentioned above.
The Prague Spring (1968): In Czechoslovakia liberalization attempts were followed by an invasion by Soviet forces.
The end of the cold war: The dramatic unwinding of a global confrontation: collapse of the berlin wall
Berlin Wall was physically as well as psychologically barrier till the 9 the November 1989 when it was unexpectedly knocked down. This became the stage which influenced the coming together of Germany, and the break up of the Soviet Union.
The fall of the Berlin Wall was a culmination of factors, including:
Protests and riots for civil liberty in East Germany.
A relative détente betweens the super powers resulting from the changes in political and social structures brought about by Gorbachev’s perestroika and glasnost policies.
It further highlights a shift in programme focus and international pressure for policy change.
Conclusion
Although the construction of the Berlin Wall was not a direct trigger to the beginning of the Cold War it was the epitome of the battle between the east and the west. It increased Cold War rivalry and denoted a particular period in lock and key during Cold War duration. The significance of the event evokes a sense of new turn in the united world, in view of the changes that were taking place within the political structure of the world. Knowledge of the functions of the Berlin Wall prevents the simplified perception of the Cold War and its consequences for the development of the world.