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What Happened to Germany and Berlin During the Cold War

by | Mar 7, 2024 | Cold War Tour Berlin

Cold war was a historical standoff of political and military between the United States and the Soviet Union. This global conflict was from end of the WWII to early nineties and it gave its impact upon any country of the world including Germany and its capital Berlin.

 

The Division of Germany

After the end of second world war, Germany was divided into four Parts with each part occupied by different allied power countries such as the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and France. Every zone was accountable for the reconstruction and management of its area.

 

The western zones were set up by the United States, Great Britain and France and in 1949 transformed into the Federal Republic of Germany or West Germany.

The eastern zone administered by the Soviet Union turned into the deutsche demokratische republische, also known as East Germany in the same year.

The Berlin Wall

The consequence of the division of Germany was division of Berlin, the capital of the country. For Berlin it meant that it was located entirely in the territory of East Germany, though it was divided into four sectors like the rest of the country was divided.

 

There was a boost of animosity with the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. The East German government funded by the Soviets put up the wall to stop people from escaping from East to West Berlin. The wall also depicted the dreaded iron curtain dividing Europe into East and West and became the focal point of the Cold War.

 

Life During the Cold War

West Germany

West Germany in particular, recorded a rapid economic growth during the period of the Cold War. After a war, with help from the United States, the country repaired it infrastructures, industries, institutions and so on. This period is called the “economic miracle” ; this period witnessed an enhancement of the standard of living of the many west Germans.

 

East Germany

As this paper would show, life in East Germany was greatly different in these aspects. The country came under the domain of the Soviet Union and its economy and polity operated with centralization. Civil liberties and personal dignity were somewhat limited due to high governmental control over people’s daily activities.

 

Some of the vital events in the post Cold war world and importantly in Germany were the fall of the Berlin Wall and German Reunification.

The Berlin Wall was virtually in existence for almost thirty-years before it was demolished in November 1989. Passive demonstrations and more precisely intra pressure in East Germany preceded the opening of the border between East and West Berlin.

 

The removal of the American president from power due to Congressional censure of his impeachment brought more definitive change as a milestone of the Cold War than the fall of the Berlin Wall which brought about the reunification of Germany. The unification of Germany actually occurred on the 3 rd of October in 1990 when the so called East Germany was officially dissolved and the new state was formed called the Federal Republic of Germany.

 

Conclusion

Diagram 1: The Cold War was a major influence in the development in Germany and Berlin. The partition of the country or the construction of the wall of Berlin represented the verses of ideological as well as political split of the period. But now with the wall down, and Germany reunified the country is back as one indicating the end of a rather painful chapter in German history.

 

What Happened to Germany and Berlin During the Cold War