The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was one of the main distractions of the 20th century because Germany was divided. There was East Germany and West Germany, East Germany was essentially communist Germany and West Germany was capitalist Germany. The Russian Armies controlled the Eastern block and the Western block was controlled by England, America, and France etc. Travelling to Western Germany from Eastern Germany was allowed till 1961; although the border was closed in 1952 2.6 million people escaped Eastern Germany. The wall was built in 1961 which tried to combat travelling to Western or Eastern Germany.
Travelling to Eastern Germany from Western Germany was despised by the Russians because Western Germans could get goods very cheaply, which is one of the reasons why the wall was constructed. The population was fuelled and many people could not keep their jobs as they worked in West Berlin, and lived in East Berlin. When the construction began there was barbed wire everywhere and people were all opposing the plans. The barbed wire entanglements and fences were placed along the 156 km around three western sectors, 43km that divided East and West Berlin.
The first concrete slab was put up on 17th August 1961 and during construction the NVA and KdA soldiers shot anyone trying to disrupt plans. An area called ‘no man’s land’ was put up so fleeing refugees were visible in a clear line of fire. The people who constructed it were normal working class West Berliners. The people who done what they were told were treated well, but the ones that tried to defect, were shot or imprisoned in the many torture chambers around the wall. Many East Berliners were invited to the Stasi, a private intelligence agency for Eastern Germany.
People who refused to join the Stasi were tortured and most died; some of the ones who survived were sold to West Germany. People were living in fear in the Eastern Block as they could be the next victim for the Stasi organisation. The construction of the Berlin wall was shocking, there was one wire fence at 1961, and then in 1962-1965 they improved the wire. They added concrete and left it for 10 years until 1975, when they added a boundary wall until 1989. The wall was over 140km long and there was an outer and inner wall with ‘no man’s land’ in the middle. The final wall was made out of 46,000 reinforced concrete sections that were 3.6m tall and 1.2m wide. Also in strategic points the wall were made weaker so in the event of war the soviet tanks could demolish points of the wall for ease of access.
The Berlin Wall had a lot of colour on it due to graffiti and also it had many bullet holes due to people trying to escape, but they failed. The Berlin Wall is historically significant because it was the creator of new Germany, with a democracy; if it was not created and demolished then Germany still may have been divided. The world could have still been in the Cold War stage, which is why this fairly new building is very significant, which impacted the world and made the world in Europe we know today.
any grammatical or historic errors?
