The Berlin Wall

It’s the early hours of the morning on August 16th, 1961. In the German city of Berlin, construction workers, guarded by soldiers and police, begin tearing up streets and putting up barriers. Over the next decade they will build a wall through the city, cutting through neighbourhoods, separating families, and dividing Germany. To understand how things got to this point, we have to go back to World War II. In 1941, America, Britain, and France join forces with the Soviet Union against the Axis Powers.

After they defeat Nazi Germany in 1945, each of the victorious nations occupies part of the country. The division is meant to be temporary, but the former allies disagree over their visions for post-war Europe. The Western powers   — America, Britain, and France — want democracy and free market economies throughout Europe; the Soviet Union wants to surround itself with obedient communist nations. Who will get their way in Germany? In 1949, the Western powers combine their occupation zones to form the Federal Republic of Germany in the west.

The Soviets respond by establishing the German Democratic Republic in the east… ‘democratic’ by name, but communist by nature. Germany’s former capital, Berlin, is technically within the Soviet zone, but it is also split, with the Soviets taking the eastern part of the city. The leaders of East Germany ban their citizens from leaving the country but in Berlin, people can simply walk or ride the bus to the western half, then travel to West Germany or beyond. In West Germany the economy is doing well and salaries are higher than in the East. There is a bigger selection of goods to choose from on store shelves.

And people enjoy greater personal freedom. East Germans leave for West Germany first by the thousands, then the millions. Many of those going are doctors, teachers, and engineers. If too many skilled professionals leave, it will become impossible to run the country. So East Germany’s Government is desperate to stop more people leaving.

The Government orders work to begin on the barrier to cut off East Germans’ access to West Berlin. It’s the beginning of the Berlin Wall. Mesh fencing is gradually replaced by concrete slabs, five metres high. The wall is topped with barbed wire and guarded from watchtowers. By the 1980s, it runs 45 kilometres through Berlin, dividing the two parts of the city and extending a further 120 kilometres around West Berlin, separating it from the rest of East Germany.

Escape is difficult, but not impossible. Some 5000 East Germans flee by digging tunnels under the wall, flying hot air balloons over it, or ramming through weaker sections in trucks. The risk is high. Over one hundred people die attempting escape. Overall, the wall largely prevents East Germans from leaving.

This helps stabilise the country’s economy. But the wall also damages East Germany’s reputation — it becomes a symbol of communist oppression. By the end of the 1980s, other countries in Eastern Europe are freeing themselves from communist leadership. Thousands of people in East Germany protest, calling for free travel and democracy. On the evening of November 9th, 1989, the East German government tries to relieve tensions by making travel permits easier to obtain.

But the announcement brings thousands of East Berliners to the border crossing points in the wall, forcing the surprised guards to open the gates immediately. Rejoicing crowds pour into West Berlin. It is soon clear that the years of division have reached an end. In October 1990, after four decades, Germany is officially reunited.