The Berlin Wall was one of the main physical and psychological dividing lines which operated in the city of Berlin between 1961 and 1989. It functioned as a metaphor for the ‘battle line’ that existed between the East Bloc, dominated by the Soviet Union and West Bloc headed by the United State.
1. Historical Context
After 1945 Germany became divided into four zones of occupation controlled successively by the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and France. Berlin lay right in the heart of Soviet dominated East Germany. Cold War manifestedlogue between Western Allies and Soviet Union thus dividing Germany into East and West Germany.
After World War II in 1949 two German states were established: the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, west) – a democratic state that considered itself part of the West; and the German Democratic Republic (GDR east) – a socialist state that was part of the Eastern Block.
2. In his novel the content of the main topic is presented with the building of the Berlin Wall.
The Berlin Wall was built by the GDR to discourage the East Germans from crossing over to the west and to strengthen Soviet grip on East Berlin. On the 13th August, 1961 the GDR started constructing the wall, at first a wire and concrete partition. It was gradually developed into a wall, towers, and barriers of security check points.
This wall separated West Berlin from the area of the GDR, the border between communism and democracy.
3. Life with the Wall
The severance of the two German berga the construction of the Berlin Wall left a great influence of the residents of the divided city. Hence, people were separated from their families and their friends, and those simple things that can be done everyday have turned into challenging tasks.
People’s movement between east and west Berlin was strictly controlled. East Germans required a special permission for travel and even then, it was a long and very complicated process. Some of the consequences of attempts to flee involved being imprisoned or even killed.
4. Symbol of the Cold War
The Berlin Wall which they stood in equality and representative of the divide between East and West represent the overnight symbol of the Cold War. And served as the reflection of the fight between capitalists and socialist, between freedom and human rights.
Other events that directly involved the Wall as an important symbol include receiving then US President John F. Kennedy in West Berlin in June 1963, the.debate between Kennedy and Russia’s Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev, and the collapse of the Wall in November 1989.
5. Fall of the Berlin Wall
The freeing of Berlin was one of the greatest signs of change that signaled the end to the Cold War. On November 9 1989, weeks of non-violent demonstrations and pressure, the East German regime made a surprising declaration that people could cross the border.
Hundreds of thousands of East Germans flocked towards the wall where they were welcomed by which were previously uncertain border guards who ultimately flung opened the barricades. They demolished the wall, the direct meaning of which is about conversion and end of Soviet influence over East Europe.
Conclusion
The construction of the Berlin Wall was just another manifestation of the programs that underlined the social relations of the Cold War period. To me it symbolized the fighting of the people of both sides and the quest of being free. Its decline was followed by important changes on the geopolitical map of Europe and perceived as an indication of the shift.
Now the parts of the Berlin Wall are a beautiful sight for sore eyes that symbolize the atrocities of the past and how walls govern people’s lives and communities.
