Berlin was a physical and concrete barrier that separated East Germany from West Germany in the middle of the cold war period. These are prevented transnational companies from operating in Countries of interest, more to this this barrier had profound implications on the political and Social Conditions of those times. In fact, the purpose of this blog post is to present the position of The Berlin Wall and its significance for the Cold War process.

1. Background of the Cold War

The cold war was a state of sustained peaceful military competition between the U.S.A and the Soviet Union after world war 2 and into the early 1990s. These two superpowers had different political systems, while America stood for democracy and operational capitalism, Soviet adopted communism or socialism.

These two contrasting ideologies were the foundation to cold war which included kennings race, proxy wars and propaganda. It was the struggle for domination in the attempt to diffuse the opposing systems, and gain political dominance in the world.

2. Division of Germany

After World War II these zones had been divided among the four allies who occupied Germany namely United States, Soviet Union Britain and France. Berlin, situated far in the Soviet zone, was also partitioned into four areas each of which was administered by one of the four occupying partners.

But SS relations worsened with the passing of time and ideological differences emerged with clarity. This saw the birth of two German states: West Germany- Federal Republic of Germany and East Germany –German Democratic Republic in 1949.

3. The Building of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 under the pretext of the government of East German to prevent its citizens from fleeing to West Germany. Huge numbers of east Germans were moving to west to looking for better economic prospects and civil liberties.

To this, the government of East Germany, fueled by the Soviet Union, built a wall that encircled West Berlin making it almost impossible to accessing east Germany. This wall was surrounded by barbed wire, guard towers and had trench barriers designed to halt vehicle traffic.

3.1 Families and Communities Division

Its construction and subsequent destruction led to immense disruption to families across communities frustrating the normative western construct of the family unit separated by the actual wall in Berlin and its aftermath. People were trapped in two different areas after the wall was erected at night. People were separated from their loved ones, they were split. Indeed the wall under construction acted as partitioning tool that separated human beings physiologically and psychologically impacting the lives of thousands of individual.

3.2 Defiance and Escape Attempts

The Berlin Wall itself was supposed to be insurmountable, but there were many more dramatic attempts at breaching it. Some attempted to force tunnels under it while others maneuvered to bounce or scale over it, respectively. These acts of defiance demonstrated how much persecuted East Germans were willing to risk to escape a life in the East.

4. On the one hand, symbolism: on the other, political consequences.

In addition to its very existence as a concrete structure though, the Berlin wall was highly symbolic in nature. It was a symbol of communism and capitalism conflicts and in general the conflict of the Cold War period.

Western powers perceived the wall as an instrument of oppression and instantly asserted that Soviet dictatorship was one of the most oppressive systems alive. It soon grew to become symbolic of anti-communist and the message was driven home of how much freedom was restricted in the East Bloc.

4.1 Speech by Kennedy: Ich bin ein Berliner

President of the United States of America John F. Kennedy made a widely noted speech in the year 1963 in West Berlin. He offered his support to the people of Berlin saying “I am you,” which in Berlin he said “Ich bin Berliner.” This declaration indicated to the Berlin people and the world at large that the United States was in support of the Cardians opposed to the constructing of the wall and also made the condemnation of the wall part of the western stand.

4.2 Fall of the Berlin Wall

Erected in 1961, the Berlin wall represented the extents of the cold war for approximately twenty eight years. The fall of the wall was one of the significant events that led to a cracked-start of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and the Cold War . It was a triumph for freedom for democracy as it marked a victory on the reunification of Germany and breaking down of prostrates that separated families and neighbors.

5. Legacy of the Berlin Wall

The /Berlin Wall /remembers people, who have suffered ideological battles and human rights violations in the /Cold War /. Now it is an icon of peoples’ fight for liberty and for womens’ fight in particular, as well as of the oppressors’ victims.

Currently there are many pieces of the Berlin Wall divided up and used as memorials in Berlin. They are monuments left behind by the people and valuable lessons from this rather chaotic part of history.

5.1 Importance of Remembering

Recalling the presence of the Berlin Wall is important because these powerful images should not be forgotten. It is to teach people that division is bad and points people to guard individual freedoms and human rights for everyone.

5.2 Lessons for the Future

It is proven by the success that occurred with the demolition of the Berlin Wall which typecasts the significant benefits of cooperation. It makes us understand that no obstacle is ever unpassable no matter the odds that is always we are when people come together and stand for something.

Finally, I think that appearance and demolition of the Berlin Wall where crucial in escalating the tension and conflits of the Cold War period. It embodied and embodied the alienation between east and west, and exists till date as a reminder of soul-oppression intimidation and victory.