The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall - Essay Example

The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall Introduction Berlin wall has been considered as one of the historical structures in the world that has been built by man. It was a barrier that was built to separate West Berlin from East Berlin and which in advance separated the rest of East Germany from West Germany. Although the wall had been built to separate West Berlin from East Berlin, it has extended to separate the rest of the country and reduced the level of interaction between the east and the west. There were borders which were used to separate East and West Germany in the rest of the country. These boarders were considered to be a part of the iron curtain that has a historical significance in the world. The Berlin wall was able to separate East and West Berlin for about 28 year since the day that construction of the wall began in August 13 1961 till the time it was dismantled in 1989. Apparently the dismantling of the wall was seen as a new era in the world and an action that contributed greatly to the end of the cold war that had persisted for more that 3 decades. Up to the time the wall was dismantled it was recorded that 133 people were confirmed to have been killed as they tried to cross over the wall to the other side. However it is claimed that more than 200 people were killed in this period the above given official figures were inaccurate. The East German government had given shooing order to office regarding the wall for all the defectors who had tried to cross over the border. (Curttis, 1998) In November 9 1989, the East German government announced that the visit to West Germans and Berlin would be permitted. This followed weeks of civil unrest and relentless activities by the civil society. There was a celebration atmoshpher from both sides as public crowds climbed over the wall and started chipping it piece by pieces. There was later industrial equipment that was used to bring down the wall. This is just an introduction about the great wall that separated the two sides in the same country. This paper will look closely at the reason for the rise and reason for the fall of the wall. The rise of Berlin wall Germany under Hitler was one of the most developed states n the world. Due to the atrocities of the Nazi and the desire by Hitler to acquire more state under Germany, the second world was erupted with a mere attack on Poland. There was entrance for other allies in the war and it grew to be a world war. Germany wanted Britain but Britain could not allow Hitler to acquire it. The war ended with the entrance of America and the subsequent defeat of Japan through bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The war had increased in magnitude such that not only the death of Helter and his ally Benito Mussolini of Italy would have ended the war. But Germany was left more unstable with the clout rule of Nazi regime that had helped to hold the country together under an authoritarian rule. After the ended to the war the territory that was left that could be termed as Nazi Germany had been divided into four occupation zones according to the postal agreed. Each of the regions was occupied by the allied power, American, British, French and the soviets. The former capital of Germany Berlin was occupied by the allied powers and acted as their center of control of the whole region. It as also subdivided into four zones although the city was in the zone that was occupied buy the soviet. The intention of the agreement that had led to the division of Germany among the powers was in order to govern the country together as one. But immediately after the war there was growing tension between Soviet Union which was working to occupy the superpower vacuum in the world and the allied forced led by America. The era of cold war had just but set in. The advent of cold war saw increasing tension between the forces that had divided Germany among themselves. The French, British and American zone were brought together to form Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin. On the other hand the region which was under the soviet rule formed the Germany democratic Republic which included East Berlin. Therefore the main forces behind division for Germany were the growing differences that were emerging between the allied forces and the Soviet Union which was mainly based on ideological differences between the two forces. (Maddrell, 2006) Growing difference between West and East The cold war was purely based on ideological difference between the USA and the Soviet Union which was then led by Russia. While the USA was advocating for development of the democratic government and more open social markets, the Soviet Union on the other hand was advocating for communism government and market where the government controlled all the resources. This was the main differences that had led to the eruption of the cold war. As the difference emerged, West Germany developed a social market economy which was more open to the world and also it formed a democratic parliamentary government which was elected by the people and worked for the people. Since then the region made great stride since its economic gains and from 1950 there was a period the fueled great economic performance which was later to be known as economic miracle. On the soviet region, East Germany on the other hand established an authoritarian government which followed the soviet style of government and their economy and market style. As a result there was increasing underperformance of the economy and the number of poor people in the country continued to increase. On the other hand the economy of West Germany was developing rapidly and most of the people in East Germany wanted to move to West Germany due to economic performance of the country. Initially there was free movement of people from east to west. But as the economic fortune of West Germany increased there was increase movement of skilled labor from the east and the soviet region had already started to feel the pinch of brain drain. There was a threat of economic collapse in the East as most of the skilled labor had left for the west. This was likely to have a great impact on the economic condition of the whole communist bloc and more so the Soviet Union since it had been subsidizing the economy of East Germany. As the war intensified and spread to other parts of the world, the difference between the two sides enlarged. The economic development difference between the west and East Germany likewise increased. More people were wanted to move from East Germany which promoted the government to take action in order to limit the number that could leave the region. The only solution that was found was construction of wall by the East Germany in order to restrain its people from migrating to the west. In this way the Soviet Union did not like to show that world that the Capitalist economy was better that a socialist economy and therefore the only solution was to limited the migration by construction a war that separated East and West Berlin. Apparently West Germany did not have a problem with the crossing of people to both sides. So it was East Germany soldiers who constructed the war in order to restrain East Germans from fleeing to West Germany. But on the other hand West Germans were allowed to enter East Germans but East Germans could not cross to the west. (Rory, 2002) The construction of a Barrie between the east and the west In April 1952, the East German government sought the consent of the then soviet lead Stalin at Moscow on what could be done in order to save get situation that was already deteriorating. East Germany had already suffered massive loss of labor to the west and the west on the other hand had been enticing most of the skilled labor to its side in order to build its economy. From the discussion East Germany was advised to put up a barrier that could restrict free movement of people from East to the West and which could ensure that East Germany retained its sovereignty as a free states. There was a proposition that the boarder should be immediately closed in order to stop the freedom movement of West Germany spies on the East who were particular spying on the activities of the whole communist bloc. East Germany was adviced to come up with a strong defense mechanism that could restrict the movement of people free across the border. There was a proposition that the demarcation line between the two sides must be guarded by East German solder by all other might should not only be considered as a border but also a dangerous border. The East German soldiers were advised to guard the line of demarcation with all their lives to make sure that there was no free movement of spies to their region. (Harrison, 2003) The government was also advised to close inner Germany border that could separate the west and the east. The inner Germany border was a border that had been separating the two regions and run fro 1381 km. It was used by the government of East Germany to prevent is citizens from defecting to the west. In order to follow the rules that had been given by their masters, the inner border between the two countries was consequently closed and barbed wire fence was erected to separate between the two regions. There was construction of a series o f 3-4 meters high metal fenced and was guarded by soldier all day and night. Up to date it is recorded to have been one of the most militaries border in Europe and in the whole world. It was later to be referred as iron curtain by Winston Churchill. After the border was closed, there was restriction in the movement of traffic and people between the two regions. This only acted to worsen the situation and create more enmity between the two sides. There was a heavy guarding of the region and East Germany committed a huge chunk of its deteriorating resource to the guarding of the border. Construction of the Berlin wall The construction of the wall began in 1961 and it was expected to be a permanent barrier between the two regions. Months after the construction of the wall started, the secretary of the social parent Walter Ulbricht stated that no one had the intention to build the wall. The construction of the Berlin was which 156 km long was and occupied three western sectors were commons on august 1961. This include as 43 km stretch that completely separated the West and East Berlin. On the day the construction of the wall started the zonal boundary between the two sides was sealed by German troops on that fateful morning. The wall was constructed by East Germany troops and other workers. It was recorded that no Soviet Union people were involved in the construction. The construction of the war was fairly done and it was built slightly inside the East Germany side to make sure that it did not encroach to the Western territory in order to avoid conflict that could arise due to encroachment of the region which could automatically result to war. There was construction of a high war that completely separated the East from the west and surrounded West Berlin. During the construction of the way there was soldiers who were stationed at all points in order to shoot anyone who tried to defect from the east to the west. The whole inner border that separated the two regions was also closed with chain fences, walls, minefield and any that installation that could be used to demarcate that two region and prevent the cross border migration between the two regions. (Buchloliz, 2004) Effects of the wall Before the construction of the war, resident of East Germany had been accessing the west although there was restriction on the border. Now the only access point to the west had bee completely closed. Many of the family which had been caught unaware by the split of Germany were not separated and could not see one another. Most of the resident of East Berlins were also cut off their jobs and had little chances of improving their financial status in East Germany. As West Berlin was cut off from the rest of land it became enclave in the East which was considered as a hostile land by the West Berlin. There was immediate demonstration by West Berlin residents about the wall and there was a world wide criticism of the wall. The wall was considered as a breach of the Potsdam Agreement which had given the allied forces a more say in the administration of the whole Berlin. Therefore the allied forces acknowledge that they would support and defend West Berlin resident and west Germans although the whole of Berlin was supposed to be under their custody. Though there had been consent between the allied forces and the Soviet union that there was need to build a fence that could separate the two sides, the allied forces was astonished that the soviet had gone on to build a wall that actually separated the two regions and torn families apart. There had been an expression of fear that the soviet had been trying to capture the whole Berlin and therefore the construction of the wall was a relief to the allied forces that at least there was now a demarcation point between the tow areas. Therefore there was reduced possibility of military conflict between the two sides. (Nothnagle, 2000) There were many justifications that were given by East Germany officials who said that the wall was aimed at curtailing the West Germany effort for interfering with ht running of the East Germany affairs. There was another explanation that the wall was meant to stop West Germany resident from buying out subsidized goods from East Germany. However the effect of the construction of the wall was largely felt by families that had been torn apart from each other. True to their words, American sent and infantry to defend the enslaved West Berlin. This was meant to show the soviet that America was still a force to reckon with and that they could not let that soviet take West Berlin. The solder were rotated from not and then in order to defend the region. (Catudal, 1980) The construction of the wall was however good for the east as it was able to retain a good size of its labor and it also found the market of its products. As a result there was a marked improvement of its economy. However the wall was used by the allied forces as a propagated against the Soviet Union and is was given as a symbol of try any of the communist blocks. The shooting of would be defector from the East also showed the East Germany tyranny and lack of respect of the respect of human rights. (Schneider, 2005) In 1962 there was modification that was done to the will ad a parallel walls of 155 km was build inside East Germany and parallel to the original wall. There was a space of 91 meters that was left between two walls which came to be known as the death strip. The strip was paved with reeked gravel which made it easy to identity foot prints of would be defectors. It as also used to offer a clear field that was used by the guards in order to observe those who were trying to defect to the west. The construction of the wall can therefore be traced to for basic emphasis. The first phase was a basic wire fence which was construction in 1961. The second phase was an improve wire fences which was constructed in 1962 to 1965. The third phase was a concrete wall which was constructed in 1965 to 1975, and the last phase was the border wall 75 construction from 1975 to 1989 which was the most sophisticated wall. The wall was construction with eight borders crossing between eh East and the west which were used for official crossing. They were usually used to allow visitor from the West to the East Berlin. East Germans were also allowed to visit the west only if they held the necessity permits. The fall of the war The fall of the wall was prompted by some actions which were signifying the collapse of the Soviet Union and the disintegration of the communist bloc. In 1989, the communist Hungary raised its border restriction with Austria and as a result there was massive escape of East German touring in Hungary to Austria. This was one of the rests that promoted the rise of mass demonstration against him government of East Germany by its own citizens which began in October 1989. (Buckley, 2004) At the same time the long serving East Germany leader Erich Honecker resigned in October and his place was taken by Egon Krenz. Erich had stressed that the wall would continue to stand in the place for the next centuries if the until the condition that had prompted the building of the wall had changed. By September the same year which Erich was resigning, protest had broken on all parts of East Germany. The protest started as a call by the people to be allowed to leave to the west where life was relative good and there was more freedom. But with time the protest took the shape of a peaceful revolution which had been described a wanting to create socialism which had a human face. By November the whole country was engulfed in protests. At the same time there was increased number of people who were leaving East Germany for West Germany and were mainly using Czechoslovakia as their exit point. This was tolerated by the new Krenz government which was an arrangement made with the communist Czechoslovakia government. In November 1989, the government agreed to let people to exit to West Germany though the crossing prone between the two countries including those who wanted to move to west berlins and there was also regulation that were made in order to accommodate private travels. The government announced that East Berliners would be given permission to cross over to the west under proper regulations though there were not regulation that were announced on how they would be allowed to leave. Since there was a delay on announcement of the regulations that were to be used to give the permission for the East Berlin to move to the west, there was already tens of thousands of people who wanted to move to the west immediate they hear the announcement. The guards at the gate were overpowered and most of those who wanted to move to the West were allowed to cross the border. They were greeted the West Germans in jubilations. This was on November 9 and therefore it is considered as the day that the wall fell down though this was with a proper procedure from the government since there has been a misunderstanding and a delay in giving condition under which East Berliner would be allowed to cross over to the west. The government of East Germans announces the opening of ten new border crossing point the week that followed. These crossing were put in strategic position that allowed the east and the West population to intermingle. There was increase opening of new border crossing that followed through 1990 which saw a decreased relevance of the wall in the region. There was a los of celebrations of the Brandenburg gate in West German as they were able to receive their East German friends and family member again. On July 1990, there were more effort towards the unification of the two sides and the economic, money and social union between the East and the West Germany was formed. There was abolition of all the restriction that had been put in a place that restricting the movement of people and goods between the two region. The wall finally vanished complete in 1991 and what remained was just monument for museum. These remainders can be found ad Bernauer Strasse, the Niederkirchnerstrasse and a 1.3 km wall the railway station. (Friedrich and Hampe, 1996) These have been left as monument to show the generation to come what had happed to their country and the end of the socialist influence of the country. On February 1997, there as a red line that was painted on the pavement at what was once used as check pin in order to market het course of now the former Berlin wall. The line stretches for 20 km and has been replaced by two rows of stones. The fall of the wall marked the end of the cold war. References Buchloliz, H. (2004). The inner German border. Rout ledge. Buckley, W. (2004). The fall of the Berlin Wall. New Jersey: John Willy Catudal, H. (1980). Kennedy and the Berlin wall. West Berlin: Berlin Berlag Curttis, C. (1998). The ideas of August: the Berlin wall. New York: Evans Publishers Friedrich, T. & Hampe, H. (1996). Where was the wall? Berlin: Nicolai Harrison, M. (2003). Driving the Soviet up the wall. Pricnton University Press Maddrell, P. (2006). Western intelligent in divided Germany. Oxford University Press. Nothnagle, A. (2000). Building the East German Mayth. University of Michigan. Rory, M. (2002). Across the face of Europe. London: Harper Collins Schneider, P. (2005). The wall Jumper. London: Penguin Read More