During the post second world war period the world was reset and the aisle between the east and the west emerged as an important feature of international politics. Probably, one of the most well-known signs of this division was the Berlin Wall that existed for almost twenty seven years, and indeed divided East and West Berlin in Germany. Here in this article, the author discusses the Berlin Wall and the contribution it provided to the setting up of the Cold War situations.

What was the Berlin Wall?

Called Berliners Mauer in Germany, the Berlin Wall was a barrier that was constructed to slice the city of Berlin from the 13 th of August in the year 1961 up to the 9 th November in the year 1989. At a length of about 155 kilometers; it included concrete walls, rows of towers, a fortified ‘death strip’ surrounded by barbed wire facing East across anti-vehicular trenches, trip wires and other safeguards. It became first an objective that symbolised division as concrete barrier between East and West Berlin halted the free flow of individuals across the two sides.

The Cold War and the Siego of Berlin

Cold War was a kind of a rivalry and struggles that took place between two super powers namely the United State of America and the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic or technically known as Soviet Union and their allied nations. After World War II, Germany was divided into four occupation zones: Infact, it was reported to have American, British, French and Soviet influences. Similarly, Berlin, although located deep within East Germany, was also divided among the four occupying powers, creating a unique situation where the city was divided into two separate territories: It is divided between West Berlin under the jurisdiction of United States, United Kingdom, and France and East Berlin, under the Soviets.

The tension was always there between east and west Berlin for people of east Germany and East Berlin they longed to find better opportunities in west. This has been made to result in consequent and large-scale emigration of skilled and professional persons from the East to the West thus putting pressure on the image and economic development of the East Germans. In turn, the East Germany with the support of Soviet Union decided on the construction of a wall to prevent other people from fleeing East Germany and along with it the rest of the Eastern Bloc.

The Past and the Present of the Berlin Wall

On the August thirteen, 1961, East Germany started to build Berlin Wall by employing troops and workers. At first, a simple razor wire and other types of obstacles were put up, and then a concrete wall which remained a symbol of division of Germany into two parts.

The building of the wall had so many political, social and economical effects. People were separated with families that were split apart and it became that many East Berliners had no access to their jobs, school, and friends in the west. The wall sealed the split between East and West Germany and basically raised tensions between the Eastern Bloc and the West to new heights.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

The Cold War slowing came to a halt, and reformist measures undertaken in the Soviet Union under Gorbachev. As a part of these reforms, Gorbachev unleashed a new approach to the East-West conflict which in turn put a lot of pressure on the East German authorities to ease their stand.

People sought for freedom and reunion in East Germany and after a confusing political speech made by the politicians the Berlin Wall was opened on the 9th of November in 1989. The streets of West Berlin swarmed with crowds of both jurisdictions that started to pull down wall[s] and feast on the joy of the reunification of Germany.

Legacy and Lessons Learned

The event which marked the change of era was the bringing down of the Berlin Wall. It symbolized the break of the Eastern Europe Block and it brought the cold war to an end. This physical and ideological barrier was eliminated to led to German reunification and the eventual disintegrated of the Soviet Union.

The free Berliner seen alongside the divided Berlin Wall is a symbol of what happens when people are divided and what happens when people come together. People start debating the rights of a man, the state authority, and the effects of the political systems on people’s lives. Currently there can be found remnants of the Berlin Wall at many museums and memorials worldwide; the symbolism of freedom and victory of an individual spirit remains important and unambiguous.

Conclusion

The Berlin Wall was a physical embodiment of the cuticle which was created by the cold war. Both its construction and when it fell were important in history, as it helped to divide east from west so to speak. Every human can relate to and can appreciate the following slogans and posters of unity and freedom such as ‘Berliner Mauren fallen’—The Berlin Walls has Fallen. It is important to understand the meaning of this lie in order to properly regard the worth of the information which has been received from this chapter in the human history.