FREE ESSAY ON BERLIN WALL

BERLIN WALL

The Rise and the Fall of the Berlin Wall
Many hardships began for Germany when World War II began, but by the end of the war
Germany was in the mists of a disaster waiting to happen. After WWII was over Germany
found itself split between France, the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union, each
country controlling a zone. Berlin, which was surrounded by the Soviet Union, was also
divided into four sectors. The Soviet Union was in control of half of Germany, and it
happened to be the East half of the Germany. The Soviet Union made East Berlin the
capital of East Germany. The other three counties were each in control of a small part of
what was to be West Germany. These three countries decided that they would come together
to form one country out of their three sectors. Those three sectors formed West Germany
(The Division and Unification of Germany 1). 
After all the land was divided the Soviet Union controlled East Germany. Just like the
Soviet Union, the economy in East Germany was struggling to get back on its feet after
the war. While West Berlin became a lively metropolitan area like many American cities,
East Berlin became what many thought of as a Mini-Moscow. In East Germany there was 
literary nearly nothing. The shelves in the stores were nearly bare, and what was there
was of bad quality. Under the dismay of the people of 
East Germany, the Soviet Union went against their promises, and made East Germany a
Communist country. This decision by the Soviet Union even further separated East Germany
from the rest of Europe.
East Germany was now all by itself, and by the summer of 1952 the border between East and
West Germany was closed; only in Berlin the border was still open. On June 17, 1953 the
worker of East Germany were fed up, and they started a riot (Berlin Wall Timeline). By
noon the riots had escalated and the workers from East Germany were marching through the
Brandenburg Gate into West Germany with intension to consolidate with workers from West
Germany. All of this came to an end when the Soviet Union called in tanks, and other
troops to take care of the riots. The Soviet tanks shot into the crowds of people killing
many, and injuring many others, they even shot into the crowds in West Germany that were
rioting (The Division and Unification of Germany 2). The people of East Germany realized
that they were trapped in East Germany, and if they wanted out they would have to risk
their lives in doing so. 
In the late 1950's approximately 8,000 to 10,000 people from East Germany left and each
day they would move further and further west. 
Many of these people were from East Berlin, and the government of East Germany knew that
they couldn't afford to loose all of these people. 
Their economy was suffering already, and with the loss of so many people the economy
would be doomed. Many of the people that were leaving were skilled trades men, or members
of professions. East Germany did not have any ideas on how to stop all the people from
leaving in droves, until some person came up with an idea to build a wall so high, and so
booby-trapped that no one would try to get over the wall (The Division and Unification of
Germany).
This idea, thought up by some unknown person became the infamous Berlin Wall. This
infamous symbol of the cold war was built on August 13, 1961 (Berlin Wall Timeline). It
stunned people from both East and West Germany. Workers from East Germany that worked in
West Germany were separated from their family that night, and they were separated for
years. The Berlin Wall was 96 miles long. It consisted of 67 miles of concrete segment
wall which was four meters high, 42 miles of wire mesh fencing, 65 miles of anti-vehicle
trenches, and 79 miles of contact or signal fence. There were 302 watchtowers, and 20
bunkers (Facts About Berlin Wall). Many people are mistaken and think that it only
divided East and West Germany. The wall did not only divide Berlin through the center and
all around the outer part of the 
city, it was built on the border between West and East Germany, from the Baltic Sea
southward through the center of Germany all the way to Hildburghausen. From there it went
east toward the border of Czechoslovakia. When building the wall, houses were tore down,
and replaced with mined strips and watchtowers. At this time the people of Berlin new it
was more than just their worst nightmare, it was reality (Facts About Berlin Wall).
The people of East Germany were trapped in East Germany. There was no way to see
relatives or anything for that matter on the west side of the wall. The people of West
Germany were granted permission to go to the East side of the wall, but could not take
anything with them. They were allowed to stay for only a week, and could only do this a
couple times a year. As I talked to my German roommate who lived in West Germany, he told
me about all of the hardships that the people in East Germany went through. He visited
East Germany and he told me about all of the hassle he had to go through just to see
friends and family. He said he believes it is as bad as being in prison. He also told me
that no one could trust anybody. He said best friends would be torn apart because they
didn't know if the other could have been a spy. He told me that he heard that 1 out of
every 6.5 citizens of Berlin were spies, and if 
someone was caught talking about the government they would be severely punished (Knorr).

The people of East Germany knew there was nothing they could do, so they tried to live
their lives as best they could. Occasionally someone would try to get through to the
west, and would either be shot, arrested, or sometime make the escape to freedom. In all
around 5000 people made it to the west, around 3200 were arrested trying, around 160 were
shot in killed trying, and around 120 were shot and injured by trying to make that escape
to freedom (Facts About Berlin Wall).
Years past and nothing changed, the East Germans still had no freedom. In the mid 1980's
there was a beginning of change in the relationship of East and West Germany ( Bowman
38). The Cold War was coming to a gradual end. Mikhail Gorbachev, who was then the leader
of the Soviet Union, said that his country, and the world were in need of reform. After
Gorbachev got his point across to many people, and even many government officials you
could see the end of the Cold War was in close sight. By September 10, 1989 the Hungarian
government had opened the border for the East German refugees. This was a big step for
the East Germans freedom. On October 6, 1989 East Germany celebrated its 40th anniversary
of statehood. Then just two 
days later thousands took the streets shouting "no more violence!" and "join us join us."
Then a group of people that spoke for all of East German citizens said: 
"We, the people, demand:
1.) The right to free access of information.
2.) We demand the right to open political discussions.
3.) We demand the freedom of thoughts and creativity.
4.) We demand the right to maintain a plural ideology.
5.) We demand the right to dissent.
6.) We demand the right to travel freely.
7.) We demand the right to exert influence over government authority.
8.) We demand the right to re-examine our beliefs.
9.) We, the people, demand the right to voice an opinion in the affairs of the state."
(The Division and Unification of Germany 4).
After this statement by the people of East Germany, the East German government felt
obligated to give in to the people. The day then finally came a little over a month
later. On November 9, 1989 the Berlin Wall was finally opened. The crowds were
astounding; thousands of people were at the wall going over to see friends and family
that they haven't seen for years. The celebrating continued throughout the night, and the
next day. On the 10th and 11th of November the flow from East to West Germany was
eternal. The evening of November 11th the first concrete slab was taken from the wall,
and as this happened the cheers from the crowds were heard from miles away (Ramous). The
last step was the opening of the Brandenburg Gate, which was finally opened on December 
22, 1989 (Berlin Wall Timeline). This was the end of the legendary Berlin Wall, and the
beginning of the reunification of Germany.
During the time of the cold war East Germany went through many hard times, but they had
went through hard times before. They did a great job of dealing with all of their
hardships. The destruction of the enormous wall that did so much harm to a country that
did not deserve it was finally destroyed, and the people of Germany could now live the
way they all wanted to live. They could live the live of freedom. Since the fall of the
Berlin Wall East Germany has went through a lot of change, and it still isn't easy for
all of the people in East Germany (Cooper 57). But no matter how hard it is for the
people of East Germany now, it is better than being alone and separated fro the rest of
Europe.
Bibliography
Works Cited
Berlin Wall Timeline;http://www.dailysoft.de/berlinwall/time.htm, 
11/04/99.
Bowman, Stephan; "Crisis in Berlin", VFW, November 1998; 34-38. *
Cooper, Belinda; "The Changing Faces of Berlin", World Policy Institute;
57-68. *
Facts About Berlin Wall; http://www.dailysoft.de/berlinwall/facts.htm,
11/04/99.
Knorr, Marco; citizen of West Germany; current roommate; interviewed 
On 11/17/99. *
Ramous, Andreas; "A Personal Account of the Fall of The Berlin Wall: 
The 11th and 12th of November, 1989"; 
http://www.andreas.com/berlin.html; 11/11/99; 1-6.
"The Division and Unification of Germany: The Fall of the Berlin Wall"; 
http://members.tripod.com/~Nevermore/wall.html; 11/11/99;
1-5.
All Academic articles or sources have an * after them.
Works Cited
Berlin Wall Timeline;http://www.dailysoft.de/berlinwall/time.htm, 
11/04/99.
Bowman, Stephan; "Crisis in Berlin", VFW, November 1998; 34-38. *
Cooper, Belinda; "The Changing Faces of Berlin", World Policy Institute;
57-68. *
Facts About Berlin Wall; http://www.dailysoft.de/berlinwall/facts.htm,
11/04/99.
Knorr, Marco; citizen of West Germany; current roommate; interviewed 
On 11/17/99. *
Ramous, Andreas; "A Personal Account of the Fall of The Berlin Wall: 
The 11th and 12th of November, 1989"; 
http://www.andreas.com/berlin.html; 11/11/99; 1-6.
"The Division and Unification of Germany: The Fall of the Berlin Wall"; 
http://members.tripod.com/~Nevermore/wall.html; 11/11/99;
1-5.
All Academic articles or sources have an * after them.