Berlin Wall

Several years ago, a tragic event happened in Berlin, Germany. Many thought that it was the end of the world. This tragic event just happened to be, The Berlin Wall. Everything happens for a reason and this particular event did happen for a reason, even if the results at the end were not the best. This was thought to be a good verse evil type of war, and then the Berlin Wall came up. Every country has had some major event that has happened and that is part of history. The Berlin Wall is an event that will never be forgotten throughout the years and the years to come. The Cold War is the war the led up to the building of the Berlin Wall. That war had many particular events that occurred during the process, including the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was the physical division between West Berlin and East Germany. However, it was also the symbolic boundary between democracy and Communism during the Cold War.

On Sunday, August 13, 1961 Herr Walter Ulbricht built the Berlin Wall. It only took them one night to build the 15 foot high 100 miles long concrete barrier. It cut through one hundred and ninety two streets. The Berlin Wall represents a uniquely squalid, violent and ultimately futile, episode in the post war. Now, Sunday, August 13th became known as 'Stacheldrantsonntag' which means barb wire Sunday (McGill). The Wall was built to shut people in and annex to Communist East Germany what had not been given by agreement: East Berlin. It was overseen by 300 watchtowers and manned by guards with orders to shoot and kill anyone that got near the border. The wall divided families and neighborhoods in what had been the capital of Germany. In 1945 victors of World War II had divided Germany into four zones of occupations and its capital, Berlin, into four sectors. The Berlin Wall became a symbol of the hostilities and mist rust of the Cold War era.

Germany was split into two different parts: the East and the West. East Germany became known as the German Democratic Republic. It was also occupied by the Soviets. East Germany had approximately 10,000 East Germans that attempted to escape into West Berlin. Half of the 10,000 East Germans succeeded while the other half were killed or captured trying to escape. East Germans had porous boundaries that represented a hole, or an 'escape hatch'. East Germany remained under joint four-power Allied occupation and kept a special status still more or less one city, in which, fairly free movement was possible. By the late 1950s, many East Germans wanted out. By the early 1960s, East Germany was rapidly losing both its labor force and its population.

West Germany became known as the 'Federal Republic of Germany'. The French, British, and Americans controlled West Berlin. West Germany officially promoted the recreation of a unified German State. All along the West Berlin border were men in uniform and stacks of war materiel. On May 26, 1952 the border between East and West Germany and between East Germany and West Berlin is closed. Only the border between East and West Berlin is still opened.

Checkpoint Charlie was an important factor when they built the Berlin Wall. Checkpoint Charlie was the only possible "rollback" that came in late October when the East Germans began to demand identity documents from American officials entering East Berlin. Private Hogen Koch painted the 'white line' at Checkpoint Charlie on August 15, 1961. That is what unleashed the famous 'Checkpoint Charlie'. The end of 'Checkpoint Charlie' confrontation in effect meant the end of the Berlin Crisis.

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