Download The Berlin Wall and the fall of the Soviet Union

1)
If a wall was built across Hw. 290 is, how
would it affect your life?
-
You cannot cross this wall or you will
be shot or imprisoned.
-
This wall continues to the borders of
the United States, and surrounds
Houston, so you cannot just go
around.
-
Think about where you live and where
your friends live.
-
Think about what would be on the
other side of the wall. (would you be
able to go to this school?)
-
Which side would be better to live on?
The Berlin Wall and the fall of
the Soviet Union
Cy-Woods HS
World Geography
Where are we talking about?
Berlin, Germany
Why was there a wall there?
Let’s go back to the end of World
War II (1945).
The aftermath of World War II
• What was left of Nazi
Germany was divided into
4 areas.
• Britain, France, US, and
Soviet Union
• Berlin (the capital) was
also split into 4, even
though it was mostly
inside the Soviet zone.
The aftermath of World War II
• Two big powers arose
(United States and
the Soviet Union).
• Eastern Europe
became dominated by
the USSR.
• An “iron curtain” was
formed.
“Iron Curtain”
• “From Stettin in the Baltic
to Trieste in the Adriatic,
an iron curtain has
descended across the
Continent.” -Churchill
• While there were mine
fields, troops, and barbed
wire separating east from
west, more importantly it
was an ideological wall.
• The “iron curtain” was an
ideological divide
between Western
democracy and Soviet
communism.
The onset of the Cold War
• In 1949, as the Cold War
between the US and the
Soviet Union was heating
up, Germany split.
• Federal Republic of
Germany (France, Britain,
US) including West Berlin
• German Democratic
Republic (Soviet Union)
including East Berlin
West Germany (FRG)
West Germany
Market economy;
capitalist
Democratic
parliamentary
government
High standard of
living
East Germany (GDR)
East Germany
Command economy;
communist
Authoritarian
government
Low standard of
living
Why are walls normally built?
Which side built the wall and why?
• The Soviets decided to
build the wall in 1961.
• They wanted to prevent
people from leaving for
East Germany. To keep
people in!
• Why would people want
to go from East Germany
to West Germany?
What were the effects of the Berlin
Wall?
• Families were
separated.
• People could not get to
their jobs.
• While East Germany
grew economically, it
was viewed as
oppressive by the world.
It fell behind the West
economically.
Why didn’t they just go around
the wall?
Did anyone try to escape?
• There were 5,000+
escapes.
• 136 confirmed
dead.
"Do not hesitate to use your firearm, not even
when the border is breached in the company of
women and children, which is a tactic the traitors
have often used"
• Most escapes
were early in the
wall’s existence.
Fall of the Berlin Wall
• People were going
through Czechoslovakia
and mass protests in East
Germany were beginning.
• November 9, 1989
(Europe’s 9/11)
• People were allowed
travel between the two.
See Reagan clip
The Aftermath
• Problems arose with
reunification:
• East was communist
(inefficient).
• West was capitalist.
• Closing factories in
the East would cost
thousands of jobs.
Eventually, the Soviet Union would
collapse altogether.
The Aftermath
• Germany had begun
reunification.
• This marked the fall of
communism.
See Berlin Wall clip
Why reunite then?
• The German “people”
would be linked together
in a single country.
• Families separated since
1945 would be reunited.
• Potential for the future.
The Aftermath
•
West Germany
•
East Germany
•
They would have to pay for
reunification ($40,000/person).
•
Factories would have to close,
leaving thousands jobless.
•
There would be a mass migration
of East Germans into the West
looking for jobs.
•
Women had to give up free child
care to go to work.
•
The government no longer
guaranteed jobs.
•
The government no longer offered
free housing.
•
East German money was
worthless.
•
•
East Germans would work for less
than West Germans.
They would not have enough
natural resources and would have
to import them.
Your assignment
• On a piece of notebook paper, write a letter to a
friend on the other side of the wall.
•
 East
(middle row, pick one)
West 
• Tell them:
– What life is like on your side of the wall.
– What you have heard about life on their side of the
wall.