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THE BERLIN WALL
BEFORE THE BERLIN WALL
The story of the wall begins as World War II ends. When the Nazis surrendered in 1945, Berlin, the capital of
Germany, was a ruined city.
Quick history:
- World War II's victors – the United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union – divided Germany
into four zones, each controlled by one of the four countries.
- Berlin also was divided into four zones, the same way the rest of Germany was.
- At first, Berlin's citizens could move freely between the zones to work or visit family and friends.
- The U.S., British and French zones became capitalist and democratic. The Soviet zone became a
communist dictatorship.
By 1948 the democratic Allies and the communist Soviet Union argued over how to govern Berlin. Berlin was
in the Soviet part of Germany, an island surrounded by capitalism. Western nations assumed they would
have free access to the city. But on April 1, 1948 the Soviet Union blockaded routes in and out of East
Germany, trapping 2 million West Berliners with little food or fuel. The Allies countered with the Berlin Airlift,
flying planes with food and supplies into West Berlin for 462 straight days. The Soviets lifted the blockade in
1949.
Also in 1949, Western and Eastern Germany formed separate governments. In the 1950s, the West-East
gap continued to widen. In West Berlin and West Germany, rebuilding boomed. In the East, food and housing
were scarce. People began "voting with their feet" – fleeing to the West. "I no longer had any reason to stay
on in what I had considered my homeland," said Walter Kocher, after his East Berlin business had been
seized by the government.
More than 3 million people left East Germany for a better life in the West. By 1961, the communist
government knew it had to stop the emigration.
BUILDING THE BERLIN WALL
At 2 a.m. on Aug. 13, 1961, a low, barbed-wire barrier was strung
between East and West Berlin. It effectively divided the city in half.
Within days, workers cemented concrete blocks into a low wall
through the city.
Moscow called the wall a barrier to Western imperialism. "It
pleases me tremendously," Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev said.
"The working class of Germany has erected a wall so that no wolf
can break into the German Democratic Republic again."
The West Germans called it Schandmaur, the "Wall of Shame." It
was rebuilt at least three times – each time bigger, stronger and
more repressive – hand-mortared bricks, pre-cast blocks and
finally concrete slabs. Towers, guards, and dogs stood watch over
a barren no man's land. A pipe, too large in diameter for a climber's grip, ran along the top of the wall.
"Forbidden zones," miles wide, were created behind the wall. No one was allowed to enter the zones.
Anyone trying to escape was shot on sight.
The East German government saw the Berlin Wall as a symbol of its superior technology. But, as strong as
the wall was, it would never be strong enough.
TRYING TO ESCAPE
The Berlin Wall didn't stop all East Germans. An estimated 10,000 of them tried to escape to the West. About
5,000 made it.
Some escapes were ingenious. One woman hid under the hood of a car. Two families floated over the border
in a hot-air balloon as big as a four-story house.
Other escapes were just plain hard work. One group took six months in 1964 to dig a 145-yard tunnel from
the cellar of a former West Berlin bakery to an outhouse on the eastern side. They freed 57 East Berliners.
The escape ended when East German soldiers sprayed the tunnel with machine-gun fire.
Even soldiers escaped. On Aug. 15, 1961, the first member of the East German People's Army leaped to
freedom. After him, about 2,000 soldiers fled to the West.
In all, 246 people died at the wall. Perhaps the best known was 18-year-old bricklayer Peter Fechter. On
Aug. 17, 1962, he tried to jump the barbed wire near Checkpoint Charlie, a key border crossing between the
American and Soviet sectors of Berlin. East German soldiers fired. Fechter fell. The East Germans would not
allow anyone to help him as he bled to death.
"Murderers!" yelled West Berliners.
LIVING WITH THE WALL
"The wall must go," West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt said. "But until it goes,
the city must live."
And so it did. West Germans would hold their babies above the wall for
relatives to see. They painted scenes and slogans on the wall. Others
staged political rallies and concerts in front of it.
Despite the wall, East Germans learned about the West by listening to
newscasts from Radio Free Europe, Radio in the American Sector, the
British Broadcasting Corporation and West German stations.
News broadcasts created cracks in the so-called Iron Curtain. They were
signs that Soviet-style government was not working in East Germany.
FIGHTING THE WALL
By the 1980s, communism was bankrupt. In East Germany, wages were low. Homes bombed during World
War II were still unrepaired. Citizens lived in poverty; communist leaders lived in luxury.
"The Berlin Wall," said East German leader Erich Honecker, "will still exist in 50 and in 100 years, unless the
reasons for its existence are eliminated."
But the end was near. The Soviet Union no longer could afford the Cold War - decades of military, political,
and economic rivalry with the United States. Two U.S. presidents who visited the wall made strong
statements in support of West Berlin and democracy. In 1963, John F. Kennedy visited. In 1987, Ronald
Reagan visited Berlin and demanded: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
Earlier in the 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had introduced the policies of glasnost (openness) and
perestroika (democratic reform). Slowly, Eastern Europeans began to test their new freedoms. Mass protests
in Dresden, Leipzig and Potsdam demanded freedom of expression, freedom of the press and freedom to
travel.
On Friday, Nov. 9, 1989, the people won. That weekend, the East German government opened its borders,
allowing its citizens to visit the West. The world watched the celebrations on television. After 28 years, the
Berlin Wall had fallen.
BEYOND THE WALL
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989, Germany has undergone many changes leading to the
reunification of East and West Germany in 1990.
1990 In March, free elections are held in East Germany and non-communists gain control of the government.
- July, West Germany's currency the deutschemark becomes the official money of both East and West
Germany.
-In October, East and West Germany reunite into a single nation. Berlin is declared the country's capital.
1993 New government buildings are built in Berlin where the eastern and western parts of the city meet.
The two Germanys reunited quickly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. But the country still had a lot of obstacles
ahead. The first challenge: raise money to help East Germany's standard of living. Funds were needed for
education, housing and health care. Gradually, East Berlin recovered. Germany is now a member of the
European Economic Community, whose members share a common currency, the Euro.