On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell after a five-day mass protest in East Germany. This is one of the significant turning points in recent history and a powerful symbol of freedom and unity. More than half a million protesters gathered in East Berlin demanding reform, freedom of movement, and an end to oppression, and their protests culminated in the eventual unification of Germany.
The fall of the Berlin Wall, driven by social, political, and economic grievances, was unmatched in its scale and impact until the Arab Spring. But what led to its construction in the first place? Why was Berlin split in half? And what happened during the decades it stood? Let’s unravel the story.
Why was Berlin cut in half?
To understand how Russia came to occupy Germany, we have to go back to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1939. Hitler and Stalin shocked the rest of the world by signing a non-aggression treaty where they secretly divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence.
However, this uneasy alliance ended when Hitler invaded Soviet Russia in 1941 — an operation dubbed Operation Barbarossa. But the tide turned against Nazi Germany, who were fighting on two fronts. The Soviet Red Army began pushing westward, eventually capturing Berlin in May 1945 after a brutal campaign. On the other hand, the Western Allies were pushing eastward, closing in on Germany from the opposite end. The Soviet Red Army and the Western Allies converged in Germany, marking the end of World War 2.
After the war, Germany was divided into four occupation zones controlled by the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union. Tensions between the three allies and the Soviet Union escalated, leading to the rise of the Cold War. West Germany (and West Berlin) embraced capitalism and democracy, while East Germany became a communist state under Soviet influence.
Why was the Berlin Wall built?
There was a stark disparity between the economic prosperity in West Germany and the struggles of the East. Most people in East Germany disagreed with the economic and political policies of the East, and by the late 1940s, people had begun migrating to the West en masse.
By 1961, about 4 million people had moved to the West, and East Germany had lost almost a sixth of its population. On August 13, 1961, the German Democratic Republic (East German government) began sealing off the borders in Berlin. Other potential escape routes to the West had been gradually closed off since 1952 when the East German government started erecting barriers along its border with West Germany.
However, Berlin had remained an open window, becoming the last frontier for anyone seeking to escape the East. The GDR sought to establish its sovereignty and stabilize its power. They began with barbed wire but later began erecting a physical wall. Officially, the East German government claimed they were protecting their citizens against Western “fascists,” but in reality, they were looking to trap them in the communist regime.
Berlin Wall and its historical significance for Germany
In 1946, Winston Churchill coined the Iron Curtain metaphor when he said: “An iron curtain has descended across the continent.” He described how Europe had been divided into two, with the Soviet Union controlling East and Central Europe and the Allies the West. The Iron Curtain wasn’t a physical barrier but an ideological divide between the communist and capitalist blocs.
However, the Berlin Wall became the physical manifestation of this division, standing as a concrete barrier that represented the stark separation between the West and East. What had begun as a single wall later evolved into a complex multilayered structure.
The wall included 302 watchtowers strategically placed and manned by border guards with orders to shoot any escapees. The GDR also built the “death strip,” which was a no man’s land area between two walls filled with minefields, spike strips, and sandbags. Searchlights, alarm systems, and dog runs were also set up to thwart any attempts to cross the border.
Still, people continued trying to cross the barrier because the Berlin Wall now separated family and friends. Some dug tunnels, others tried to climb the wall, and a few even tried to slam their vehicles through it to escape. More than 100 people lost their lives in these daring attempts.
A shifting world and the eventual fall
By the 1980s, tensions between the East and West began loosening. Slowly, the GDR began removing the visually intimidating security infrastructure along the wall. The political climate in the Eastern bloc was shifting, and there was a growing realization that these harsh control methods were unsustainable. The cracks that began appearing in the Iron Curtain, coupled with the increasing wave of reform protests across several Eastern European countries, led to the remarkable fall of the Berlin Wall.
Border crossings were opened, and families were reunited as jubilant crowds dismantled the walls with their own hands. Germany reunited in 1990, 11 months after the fall of the wall. Today, several sections remain a reminder of the wall’s historic significance. You can visit and learn the comprehensive history of the wall in the preserved sections at Bernauer Strasse and Potsdamer Platz, the East Side Gallery, and Checkpoint Charlie. Here, you can explore the wall’s history, stories of daring escapes, and Cold War espionage.
The fall of the Berlin Wall reshaped history, reunited a country, and symbolized hope and freedom. Whether you’re a history buff or just curious, exploring the Berlin Wall is an eye-opening journey into the heart of 20th-century geopolitics.
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