Dear friends, welcome to the overview of the East Berlin Communism if you are a total starter. In this article you will be given all the necessary information about communism in East Berlin focusing on the history, the ideas and effects. Whether you are a student, a history enthusiast or just curious and interested in learning we have got the perfect platform for you!

What is Communism?

Communism is a political system of governance that which seeks to promote the equality to the extent that the individuals as a common group own all the property. As it will be mentioned in the subsequent section, communism in theory means equal distribution of wealth and social classes would be done away with.

Communism however has a flexible and different application and results in practical life as will be observed hereunder. This article therefore concentrates mainly on East Berlin and the situation that prevailed under communism rule.

East Berlin as an area of communism

Following the end of World War II, Berlin was divided into four sectors: American, British, French and Soviet. Soviet controlled East Berlin was later branded as the capital of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in1949. The socialist regime in the east of Berlin was the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and the party practiced the Marxism-Leninism.

Activities in the SED included policy formation that sought to bring change for the formation of a socialist society within East Berlin. This included the process of actually industrializing industries, aggrandizing agriculture, as well as encouraging state control of several parts of people’s lives. Nevertheless these acts led to restricted civil liberties and centrally controlled economy.

The Berlin Wall: Symbol of Division

However, the symbol of East and West Berlin is perhaps the best known wall in the world – the Berlin Wall. Built in 1961, Berlins was primarily used as a wall and as a means of keeping East Berlin residents from moving to West Berlin with ease. It was very well protected and if anyone tried to flee, there would be certain death.

The existence of the Berlin Wall itself symbolized both geographical and political barrier as well as an ideological one. The in present it vividly depicted the difference between the communistic system of East Berlin and freedom of the western style.

Life in East Berlin

A look at social life in East Berlin before the walls came down revealed a society where the state taking full control of the economy and withdrawing the freedom of the people to express their disappointment to the ruling party. In education, media and even in employment, the government had the power to control several of people’s daily activities.

To a certain extent, the state ensured limited people’s needs fulfillment like healthcare and education but the limited supply of some certain products, and a comparatively less developed living standard compared with West Berliners. The state-controlled media and propaganda called on the people to remain loyal to the ruling party and avoid expressing opinions about the system.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

The wall that divided Germany was built in two years in 1961 and it remained for 28 years before it was demolished on the night of November 1989. Some of the factors that led to the pull down of the wall are; popular protests, political changes in the Soviet Union and above all freedom and reunification craze among people in East Berlin.

Many believe that the Fall of the Berlin Wall was a historic event that pivot was the reunification of the two German nations. It symbolized democracy, freedom of individuals against communism.

Legacy and Reunification

New difficulties arose with the unification of the two German states in 1990 different as the economic and political system of the former West Germany and the former Eastern Germany were completely dissimilar. There is still a strong feeling of communism in East Berlin, as the city changes and evolves and still deal with post Cold War issues.

Of course communism in East Berlin was not perfect but it must be remembered there was a message, there was an ideal that people wanted to make a reality in their lives. Studying this period will help society to understand how political ideologies affect it and think about lesson that has been learned .

Conclusion

Finally, it could be concluded that communism that skyrocketed in East Berlin and then fell, affected the city’s and its dwellers’ lives in many ways. It goes without saying that an understanding of the historical background and the philosophy of this political system is indispensable for making sense of the issues on the path of development which this country and its people have been facing since the regime of the Berlin Wall has collapsed. Responsibility teaches people that if you don’t want to repeat your failures, you have to learn from them.