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What Was West Berlin During the Cold War

by | Mar 7, 2024 | Cold War Tour Berlin

The cold war was a long standing and bitter struggle of armed peace between the super powers, USA and the Soviet Union which spanned from the late 40’s to early 90’s. During this conflict, Berlin was turned into one of the.symbol of the struggle and hot geopolitical spot. Located in East Germany and controlled by the Soviet Union, and the other in West Germany governed by the Allied forces, the city was a miniature of communism and the west in this period.

The Division of Berlin

After World War II, Berlin, the capital of Germany, was divided into four zones controlled by the victorious Allied powers: five countries which are the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and France. There was segregation also in the management and rebuilding process of the city. Thus, there bloomed tension between the Soviet Union and three Western powers culminating into division of the city into East and West Berlin.

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West Berlin, situated in the Allied sponsored sectors to experience the taste of freedom was completely surrounded by the East Germany a satellite of the Soviet Union and existed in the larger C.B.Z. Due to its location, the city became associated with freedom and was a manifest projection of the bipolar split of the Cold War mentality.

West Berlin, or rather the Free City of Berlin, was changing into a symbol of the freedom with an entirely different way of life, an utterly different political system, in sharp contrast to the East Germans. Although east Berlin and most of east Germany were under soviet influence and command economy, west Berlin and most of West Germany enjoyed economic aid and shield from the US, UK and France.

The Berlin Wall

Undoubtedly that one of the most popular images associated with Cold War was the Berlin division observed by the erection of the Wall by the East Germany government on August 13, 1961. The wall was literally built at the border of East and West Berlin to prevent east Germany from escaping to the west. This division made the opposition of the two walls even deeper and created a two sided city.

The barrier that used to exist in Berlin was made up of concrete walls, wire, watchtowers and check points all of which were guarded. It was to be an ugly wall that cut off traffic and movement between East and West Berlin. Severally fluent has been observed by many and thousand of east germans actually risking their lives in an effort to cross the wall to west in the hope of getting better living conditions.

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Being on the frontline of the East and West superpowers’ confrontation, and being an island in the middle of the East bloc, West Berlin was not just an important, but a most important city during the Cold War era, both politically and culturally.

  • Political Significance: West Berlin was like an oasis for the western democracies, a stark reminder of what the Soviet block was offering their people. It was an advertisement of liberty and abundance provided by the western style of capitalist economies.
  • Cultural Significance: Indeed even with its small population and geographic isolation West Berlin embraced the arts and culture. They have called artists and creative people seeking refuge from oppressive policies of communism governments. Creative people – painters, singers, writers, – political emigrees sought refuge in West Berlin, as cultural oasis within Cold War context of the continent.
  • International Attention: The situation in West Berlin brought in so much attention of people and other nations. Thus, the Western Allies made sure that this city remained a symbol of people’s fight against Stalinist repression. Many political occasions including the well-known ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ speech of the US president Kennedy in 1963, directed people’s concentration to West Berlin.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall remained for 28 years before it was torn down suddenly on November 9, 1989 in response to protest and political liberalization in East Germany. By this event, there started the process of the Cold War termination and restoration of the German nation’s unity.

The Berlin Wall representedbm the battle between the extended power of autocratic rule over the actual people of Eastern Europe. Having lost many of the signs that it was once a part of West Berlin, a reunified Germany has once again made the city the capital which continues to grow into a prosperous city today.

Conclusion

The position of West Berlin during the Cold War gave it an identity, which personified the confrontation between the East and West. The city was depicted as lonely but stand-off: it symbolized democracy, freedom, and art. Its importance in the strategic times of the Cold War cannot be elaborated adequately.

Today there is a wall that physically separates East and West Berlin to symbolize what has happened in the past although the Germans today no longer live separated but the unification of Germany symbolizes victory against division.

What Was West Berlin During the Cold War