The Berlin Wall

Introduction

The Berlin Wall was a physical division that existed between East and West Berlin from 1961 until 1989. With the end of World War II in 1945 Berlin was occupied by the Soviets, the territory was declared a Republic in East Germany in 1949. Shortly after that, the city of Berlin was divided between East and West. This paper discusses the historical background of the Berlin wall, its fall and the consequences of the fall of the Berlin wall (Thackeray, 56).

The Berlin Wall

In 1945, after World War II, the victors of Germany (United States, the Soviet Union, and England) occupied and divided, to control the German territory. This division was a direct consequence of armed conflict between the powerful powers of this world: none of the victors wanted the old fascist regime gain power again. The United States and the Soviet Union (now Russia) agreed to occupy the country and then find a peaceful regime and freedom for the Germans. Very soon it became clear that the victorious powers could not agree on a common occupation policy. In short, behind this process was the ideological rivalry of two opposing social systems and the expansionist policy of the Soviet government.

Berlin, the capital, was also divided. The physical division of the city was consummated in August 1961 with the construction of a common wall of separation, motivated by the fact that the regime of the Federal Republic of Germany could not otherwise stop the rising tide of fugitives who wanted to move to other side of Berlin. From 1961 to 1989 Germany was separated. The difficult part of this creation of boundaries in the same country was that many people in a short period had to be separated from their families (who could live just on the other side of town) due to the construction the wall. The social systems in place were all separated not only German citizens on its territory, but also beliefs, feelings and ways of life, all this without consulting. The resolutions were taken to Germany within the conflict between the stronger powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, which vied for power in the world through an arms race that worried about the constant threat of nuclear war (Pearson, 67).

With the construction of the Berlin Wall, the country was divided in the West (Germany) and East (German Democratic Republic), there were systems of government, economic, military and different alliances commitments. The citizens of both States had different passports, although in western legal concept, everyone had the same nationality as German. During the existence of the Wall, which was nearly forty years, many people attempted to cross the border because they disagreed with the regime that had been imposed. The citizens tried to escape in many ways: through tunnels or over the wall from nearby windows. Some got out, others were imprisoned and some even died in the attempt. In the eighties, the Soviet Union told the world the beginning of its reform of the ...