Introduction
This historical figure refers to the barrier that was put up in Berlin between 1961 and 1989. It was acted as a Sign for the struggle between western democracies led by united states and the eastern communism headed by Soviet Union during the Cold war. Germany hence constructed a wall that later exemplified the west and the east splits between capitalism and communism.
The Cold War and Its Origins
For a proper understanding of the Berlin Wall and its relation to the Cold War one should get acquainted with a brief history of the Cold War. The Cold War was a long standing uneasy rivalry between the United States and its allies; the Western Allies and the Soviet Union and its allies; the Eastern Allies after World War II.
The Berlin Wall was a symbol of this division between the people bringing out the division between the United States and the Soviet Union that was typical of the Cold War period.
The Division of Germany
After the WWII Germany was divided into four zones, thus each controlled by the USA, USSR, Great Britain and France respectively. Disagreements with the interpretation of the Anglo-American interpretation of how a liberated Europe should be set up resulted in Germany being divided into two halves – the Western Allies civilised half of Germany and the Soviet Union half of Germany.
The Escalation between East and West
When the relations between the East and the West grew frosty, the Eastern Germans were inclined to move to the western part of the country, to get better working conditions, and individual liberty. This developed into a major problem for the USSR as it was losing a good percentage of it’s skilled workers.
Due to the continued emigration through West Berlin, the East German government with the support of the Soviet Union began fencing off East and West Berlin in August 1961. This barrier would later on be referred to as the Berlin Wall.
The Attempt of the Construction of the Berlin Wall
Initially the Berlin wall was merely fencing with barbed wire and barricades. Nevertheless, it became a large concrete wall with towers, automatic firing solutions and anti-vehicle traps.
Why was the Berlin Wall Built
The main idea of the construction of the wall was in the fact that the authorities of East Germany were afraid of the loss of population. It was meant to have a locked-ground that would spread out families, friends, and even neighbors. The wall not only separated the two east and west physically but also economically dividing the capitalist world from the communistic one.
The Impact on Berliners
The aparthied that was accompanied by the construction of the Berlin Wall created major changes in the lives of Berliners. People were separated from their families, and for a majority , the wall became a detention center which they could not escape from. The wall represented the Soviet oppression which was inherent in the so called, ‘post war’ era of the cold war.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
The breaking of the Berlin Wall remained one of the significant steps in the world history. The East German government made a statement on the 9th of November, 1989 saying that travelling to west was allowed. Hundreds of thousands of citizens of the GDR went to the wall to joy about the fact that history is going to turn its back on the GDR. This event became the prologue to the dismantling of the situation of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany.
Conclusion
The Berlin Wall was a breakaway of the growing gulf between the Western liberal democracies and the Eastern communism states in the middle of the Cold War. It represented the global struggle between communism and capitalism along with the struggles of the ostensible ideological war of the period. The breaking of the Berlin wall was significant in the history of the world and the re-unification of Germany putting and end to the cold war session.
