The Cold War refers to a strife that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union and, their respective partners, the Allied powers after the Second World War till early 1990s. Probably, the most widely known emblem of this period was the Berlin Wall. I think it would be appropriate at this point to take a closer look at the part the Berlin Wall in the Cold War experience.

The Division of Germany

After World War II, Germany was divided into four occupation zones controlled by the victorious Allied powers: the four major powers of the post World War II era namely the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and France. The capital city of Germany, Berlin was also divided into four sections. Though the Western power wanted the unity of Germany and free elections, the Soviet Union disagreed and soon the Germany was divided into two parts.

Listen to the news on the construction of the Berlin Wall.

Thus, as a measure aimed at putting a stop to the mass exodus of East Germans to West Germany, the Soviet-sponsored German Democratic Republic (GDR) granted the construction of the Berlin Wall August 13, 1961. The wall was effectively the physical barrier that separated east and West Berlin in Germany.

The Impact on Berliners

Due to the construction of the Berlin wall some changes that affected the citizens include. Neighbours were divided and people who lived previously in East Berlin overnight became isolated from their jobs, schools or friends in the West. The wall was not only the barrier in literal sense, but also psychological one as well as the barrier between couple becomes emotional one as well.

Checkpoint Charlie

There were many crossings between the Eastern and Western sectors of Berlin; one of the best known was Checkpoint Charlie, through which diplomats, soldier and foreign visitors could pass into the restricted area. It emerged as a conspicuous and most conspicuous emblem of the city’s division and an ever constant gesture of the competition between the two super powers.

The Role in the Cold War

The Berlin wall represented the bigger fight between communism and democracy in the eastern and western world during cold war. It represented the division of Europe into two opposing spheres of influence: between the democratic grouping referred to as the Western Bloc headed by America and the communistic grouping in the Eastern Bloc headed by Soviet Union.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

Until November 9 1989 it was 28 years before the wall was brought down by a series of protests and change in East Germany’s policies on border crossing. The destruction symbolised the end of the Cold War war as well as the ultimate opportunity for Germany to be reunified and the Soviet Union to collapse.

Legacy and Remembrance

Today, the Berlin Wall is much more that the symbol of people’s fight for freedom and spirit’s victory. There is some piece of the wall to this day, and people can see it in museums and memorials all around the whole world, as the element of the past is a sign of division and victory of unity at the same time.

East Side Gallery

The East Side Gallery events the still existing division of the wall that was changed to the artwork gallery which symbolizes the victory over the division and freedom celebration.

Conclusion

The Berlin Wall was not only concrete with barbed wire on the West side, but it was a simply symbolic fortress of the famous Iron Curtain of the Cold War. Its construction and its collapse mattered to the history of Germany, Europe and the rest of the globe. In order to comprehend the general layout of the Cold War the story of the Berlin Wall is of special significance.