Before it became a powerful icon of the Cold War, the Berlin Wall split Berlin for 28 years. Construction started on August 13, 1961, and its destruction was finally seen at November 9, 1989. And why did people consider it beyond their grasp to just walk around the Berlin Wall? In this case, there are the following questions as to why the history presented this barrier:
The Berlin Wall: A Barrier of Ideologies
The Berlin Wall was constructed on the part of East Germany to stop those in the region from crossing over to the capitalist side in the west. The wall acted as a barrier that further separated west Berlin from the East thus making it actual division of the city. It was a symbol of the confrontation that the world was divided between the USA and its allies and the preponderance of the Soviet Union and its allies.
Construction and Looks of the Wall
The Berlin Wall consisted of two main parts: This will be what we refer to as the outer wall and the inner wall. The outer wall actually worked as a preventive structure which had a number of mine fields, trenches, anti-vehicle roads, and barbed wires. The inner wall was more extensive, measuring about 155 kilometers (96 miles) and 3.6 meters (11.8 feet) high.
Between the two walls there was a space- fencing, a strip that was patrolled by armed guards and dogs. To ensure that none escaped to the western side, the guards were instructed to kill anyone that tried to escape. Over 100 individuals died in their attempts to cross through the Berlin Wall.
The Staying Hence the Reasons Why Going Around the Berlin Wall Was Impossible
Mental and Bodily Coercion
Whoa nonetheless, the Berlin Wall didn’t have any major cracks or openings through which people could simply escape. Moreover, great pressure was exerted by psychological warfare by the GDR that discouraged citizens from tries to get out into the free world. Trying to exercise their basic rights of freedom, the people were told through propaganda campaigns that the western world was unsafe and that persons trying to escape dictatorships were actually enemies of the state.
The physical characteristic of the wall, plus the fact that any attempt to cross meant either imprisonment or death for most would-be crossers, provided enough discouragement. The fact that people could not travel around the Berlin Wall was greatly attributed to fear.
Strict Border Controls
Border control in East Germany would always see to it that movement by its citizens was restricted as much as possible. The border guards even had the freedom of searching and interning the populace, which wasn’t innocent of spying on each other for the authority and reporting any suspect act or movement to the guards.
There were means of detecting the possible escapees that included; watchtower, floodlight and tripwire. Besides, the border guards used dogs that could easily identify the smell of escaping people. That is why all sorts of patrols as well as checks carried out randomly made it almost impossible to avoid the security measures.
That is why the conflict I chose has significant international diplomatic challenges as its foundation.
Much to everybody’s surprise, the construction of the Berlin Wall was no longer an internal affair but an international concern. The soviet union which was governing east Germany approved the construction of the wall, while the western powers opposed the construction of the wall. Encircling the Berlin Wall would have called for administering cross border in addition to other diplomatic issues that most individuals could not overcome.
Those, who got to the embassies of the Western countries in East Berlin had other problems to solve. While some posed as political asylum seekers, the access to these embassies was only a bottle neck because of the tight security measures and lack sufficient resources.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall: A Symbol of Change
However, getting out of East Germany was a hugely complicated and dangerous process which only a handful of people achieved. However, the Wall broke only in the late 1980s after the political change of the political landscape in Germany. Many political demonstrations, international community and influential changes inside the GDR caused the opening of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. It was in the decimation of that particular wall which people stormed into in a symbol of victory.
Lastly, it remained nearly impossible to go around the Berlin Wall through a quick Physical Barrier concerns were psychological, strict pass controls, The Wall was a diplomatic complex vehicle, discharge of East Berlin’s foreigners, and expulsion of East Germans 34 after the construction of the Wall. It also represented nearly half-century confrontation between the East and West during the world war era of cold wars. Its collapse became a turning point, for signifying German reunification and the exit from the cold war period.
Table of Contents
