The division of East and West Germany by the Berlin Wall in 1961 can be said the exert major influence on the Cold War between the United States and the Soviets. Despite having been built mostly of concrete, this barrier not only separated the two bewildered cities physically; ideologically, it separated communism from capitalism. To do so, in this article, we will examine those major facets in order to better understand the role and impact of the Berlin Wall in the Cold War.

This paper focuses on the Construction of the Berlin Wall.

In the aftermath of World War II, Germany was divided into four occupation zones controlled by the Allies: the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union. Berlin was also spitted into four sectors in the Soviet zone, each sector was controlled by different allied power. Sino-Soviet Bloc came under increasing stress in years later and the construction of the Berlin division wall began.

1. Physical Division

The Berlin Wall was the structure that was built constructively to prevent the movement of people from East Berlin that was under USSR to West Berlin that was under Allies. There were walls, barb wires and watch towers which made up the external security compounds. The barrier that literally was built separated East and West Berlin, meaning people could not easily flee from from East to West – ensuring the Soviet Union’s control over Eastern Europe.

2. Ideological Symbolism

The symbol of the conflict during the Cold War was the Berlin Wall. It marked the split between the state socialist Eastern European community, headed by the Soviet Union, and the liberal capitalist community of Western Europe and North America headed by USA. This wall acted as a symbolic check and a reminder of the dissimilarities in each superpower’s ideologies thus adding to the escalating rivalry and negative perception between the two countries .

The Impact on the Cold War

Now, let’s explore the specific ways in which the Berlin Wall influenced the course of the Cold War:

1. Escalation of Tensions

Indeed, the construction of the Berlin Wall made a new leap of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. The physical barrier in the form of Berlin Wall erected the moment the decision was made conveyed a clear message to the East Europeans that Moscow would not relinquish control of the Bloc to what it considered a den of Western permissiveness.

2. The “Domino Effect”

The Berlin Wall also contributed much to the further definite of the United States to prevent the growth of communism. This commitment was from what came to be known as the “domino theory”, the belief that just like dominoes, if one country fell to communism, the next falling in a chain. The existence of the Berlin Wall supported the idea that communism continued to expand and required to be halted so that the string of effects of communism could be stopped all over the world.

3. The Cuban Missile Crisis

The history of the erection of the Berlin Wall can be examined in conjunction with the occurrence of the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the year 1962 the soviet union tried installing Nuclear missiles in Cuba which is just neighbour to United states. This action further threatened hostility between the superpowers and the US even threatened to go to war. This state of emergency in the period was compounded by the even more concrete fact of the physical division between east and west Berlin, not to mention the more general ideological division between east and west.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

In November 1989, the decadel which brought significant changes in the world, the Berlin Wall was demolished. This event represented a pivotal moment in the Cold War and had a profound impact on international relations:

1. The End of the Cold War

The event that predicted the collapse of the Cold War was the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was means an end of communism in Eastern Europe and the victory for the democratic principle. The history which features the reunification of Germany and the break up of the Soviet Union also bring about a paradigm shift on the international politics.

2. Reunification of Germany

The break down of the Berlin Wall made it easier for the two parts of Germany to be reunified. The developed and the developing sides of the country; two halves that were separated for 29 years were able to reunite, thus eradicating a physical and mental barrier. This reunification was seen as a triumph to democracy, peace but also a milestone in the process of the Europe’s integration.

Conclusion

The reality is that the Berlin Wall was the sharp end of the conflict between the two worlds during the Cold War. Its physical partition and ideological aspiration were responsible for provoking the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. The break of the Wall was symptomatic of the end of the Cold War and brought many political changes in Germany and the world. A brief background and timeline on the Berlin Wall will be important in gaining an appreciation to the period of the Cold War.