Berlin+Wall

__**Berlin Wall﻿**__

The Berlin Wall was the Soviet-made boarder between East and West Berlin. The wall, built in 1961 after World War II, was made by the German Democratic Republic. It separated the American, British, and French controlled West Berlin from East Berlin, which was controlled by the Soviets. The wall stood strong until it was torn down on November 9th 1989.

Table of Contents—


 * 1) The Building of the Wall
 * 2) While the Wall Stands
 * 3) Presidents and The Wall
 * 4) Demolition
 * 5) The Wall’s Legacy

**__The Building of the Wall__**

Once World War II was over, Berlinwas divided into 4 parts on May 8th 1945. The United States, France, and Britain shared control over West Berlin, while Germany owned control over East Berlin. On June 23rd 1948, the two sides began to separate by forming new currencies for each side. The Berlin Blockade began the very next day. The German sector cut off all transports to West Berlin; no cars or trains could deliver necessary resources to the other side. The U.S. was forced to step in and airdrop resources and fuel to West Berlin. Germany didn’t like this for obvious reasons. After a year the blockade finally ended on May 12th. The Berlin Wall began construction on August 13th 1961. The German Democratic Republic (GDR) built it to separate East Berlin and West Berlin because of their different ideas on government. N­­ikolay Berzarin, a communist from the Soviet Union, ruled East Berlin, while a democratic government ruled West Germany. While most Berliners were asleep, the GDR was building the wall in the darkness of night. The wall was finally finished on August 17th. Within the first year an estimated 1,500 people fled to West Berlin.

**__While the Wall Stands__**

The Brandenburg Gate was the first one to be completely closed off and soon after, all crossing checkpoints were shut down completely. On December 17th 1963, a West Berliner was allowed to visit his family who lived in East Berlin in over two years. And 8 years later on September 3rd, the 4 powers passed a proposition to make an easier process for someone to cross the wall in order to see someone on the other side of the wall. But some people couldn’t wait for the proposition to be passed, so everyday people tried to jump over the wall. By the time of the walls demolition 171 people were killed trying to sneak across the wall.

media type="youtube" key="WjWDrTXMgF8" height="302" width="398" align="left" **__ Presidents and The Wall __** On June 26th 1963, President John F. Kennedy traveled toBerlin and delivered a very famous speech, and in that speech he stated “Ich bin ein Berliner.” meaning “I am a Berliner.” This showed that the President was trying to work with the people to help make life easier for them. Then, President Reagan delivered his very meaningful and important speech. The speech ultimately ended with Reagan saying “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” This speech was delivered in front of the Brandenburg Gate. He gave this speech behind 2 panes of bulletproof glass. In this speech, he called out the Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev; he wanted him to come out immediately and agree to get rid of the Berlin Wall forever.

**__Demolition__**
 * __[|ABC Coverage of Berlin Wall]__**

On the 9th of November 1989 the wall was officially allowed to be tore down. Within the next few weeks, citizens from East andWest Berlin came to the wall with sledgehammers and chisels to take home a souvenir. And as the big bulldozers took away large chunks of the wall, the crowd stood there and cheered at the sight of the wall being dismantled.

**__The Wall’s Legacy__**

On November 9th, 2009 Berlin celebrated the 20th anniversary of the demolition of the Berlin Wall; this was simply named “The Festival of Freedom.” The day reached its peak when over 1,000 colorful dominos were stacked along the original route of the wall. Each domino, which stood up to 8 feet tall, was knocked down to symbolize the demolition of the wall exactly 20 years ago. But even thought the wall has been torn down, a poll taken a few years ago showed that 25% of West Germans and 12% of East Germans thought that there should still be a wall separating east from west. Even thought the wall is physically gone, Germans still separate themselves by east and west and say that they aren’t very similar. Another poll showed that over half of the residents of Berlin don’t even know that the German Democratic Republic built the wall. There has been a debate over who should get credit for the eventual demolition of the wall; some say Reagan because of his aggressive military spending and his impactful speeches which swayed the minds of the citizens of Berlin. Others say that Mikhail Gorbachev allowed the demolition because he wanted the Cold War to be over, and by tearing down the Berlin Wall he showed that he wanted it to be over. Not all of the segments of the wall were torn down; some still stand today in the exact place where it originally stood. Other pieces are in historical museums around the world, others are in government offices, and some are even in hotel lobbies.

**__Analysis__**

The Berlin Wall was one of the most important physical objects in the history of the U.S.and Europe. The wall stood for nearly thirty years, separating East Berlin from the West. It was one of the most controversial acts that have ever been done, because nobody ever thought that the German Democratic Republic would actually have the need or desire to build a wall. But now that the wall has been torn down, have the people of Berlin forgot about the wall and all of the stress it caused the government and themselves as a country? First, the GDR didn’t care about anyone because they not only cut off West Berlin, but they cut off their own East Berlin. Built in 1961, the wall stood cutting off one side of Berlin from the other. There was no real reason for the wall other than to pretend it was good for their people. They thought that the people of the west were “repulsive” and a disgrace to all of Berlin. It seems that East Berlin thought that they were better than the citizens of the west. They seemed like because they lived in a communist city they had the privilege of all of the resources. Even though the wall was only built less than a year ago East Berlin thought they lived at a higher standard. But if you asked the United States, they would say that East Berlin is a repulsive city that didn’t have any right to build the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall wasn’t built overnight, so what the GDR did, they made a cheap wall to stand in while they constructed the real wall. The wall had to be patched up a few times while it was standing. Each time it was patched up they used a new design of the wall to see if it would work better. If the wall was falling apart then why wouldn’t they just bite the bullet and let the wall be torn down? By the time they had to reconstructed it the third time, they were losing support from everyone involved. The citizens didn’t like it from the beginning; the government realized that the wall is a very dark cloud over their heads so they were beginning to doubt the need of having the wall. And even Mikhail Gorbachev started to get desperate; he was thinking that if he got rid of the wall then it could be a spark to start ending the cold war. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A recent study showed that 5% of the citizens of Berlin didn’t even know that the wall existed. 5% doesn’t seem like a lot of people, but if you take into account the 3 million people that live in Berlin today. That’s still 15,000 people had had no clue that the wall even existed. Now you may wonder how they didn’t know this because of all of the festivals and parades that happen every year. Some even wonder if they asked 5-year-old kids for this survey, but nonetheless 15 thousand citizens had no idea. But the real interesting survey was one done in 2009. And it showed that over 30% of all Berlin thought there should still be a wall separating East from West. This survey showed that East Berlin and West Berlin are still quite different than each other. Some of the residents were grown adults, some were just getting out of high school, and some were little toddlers when the wall was built. The reason why some want the wall back is because it became part of their everyday lives, they became so use to walking outside and seeing the wall that when it was torn down, some of their life was being taken away with the wall too. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Weather or not you grew up with the Berlin Wall, most people know a great deal about it. But if you asked everyone in Berlin and the United States today, the majority of them will tell you that getting rid of the wall was symbolic to the fall of communism and a great event in history. The day the wall fell will never be forgotten and will never be regretted.

**__ Works Cited __** "Berlin Wall." //Berlin Life | Travel Guide | Berlin Apartments Hotels Restaurants Bars Pubs and Shops Berlin | Germany//. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://www.berlin-life.com/berlin/wall>. "Building Berlin Wall." //Audifaz Entertains You//. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://www.audifaz.com/coldwar/building.htm>. "Timeline - History of Berlin Wall." //Dailysoft: IT-Consulting, Photography, Berlin and Berlin Wall Information//. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/history/berlinwall-timeline.htm>. "Escape Attempts to the West - History of Berlin Wall." //Dailysoft: IT-Consulting, Photography, Berlin and Berlin Wall Information//. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/history/escape.htm>. " Tear down This Wall!" //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 19 May 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tear_down_this_wall!>. "Berlin Wall." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 19 May 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall>. Erlanger, Steven. "The Year the Wall Fell Still Causes Debate - NYTimes.com." //The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia//. New York Times, 19 May 2011. Web. 19 May 2011. [].

"Facts of Berlin Wall - History of Berlin Wall." //Dailysoft: IT-Consulting, Photography, Berlin and Berlin Wall Information//. Web. 25 May 2011. <http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/history/facts.htm>.

"Berlin Wall." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 26 May 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall>.