The Berlin Wall History
by Krysta CardinaleAugust 13th, 1961 was the day the Cold War heated up, and German citizens awoke to the sounds of the Berlin wall being constructed. What had been a city divided by politics, became a city divided by stone.
When World War II ended, the defeated country of Germany and its capital city of Berlin were divided in half. The Soviet Union controlled the East and the allied powers of England, France and the United States occupied the West. The city of Berlin was located inside communist controlled East Germany with access given to the allies through Soviet held territory. Since the war years, West Berlin had become a thriving, industrial metropolis, and was a continuing irritant to the Russians. It showed to the world, and to the East Germans in particular, the contrast between the Communist and Capitalist ways of life. Even worse, West Berlin was the only breach in the impenetrable Iron Curtain that had long provided an escape route for thousands upon thousands of Communist professionals and intellectuals.
After the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion, Berlin was suddenly center stage in the world arena. On June 15th 1961, Soviet Premier Khrushchev declared his intention to sign a treaty with East Germany. This would cut off free access to the city and terminate all allied rights in West Berlin. The city had remained relatively quiet for almost a decade; but with this pronouncement, Khrushchev transformed it into a tinderbox. At the UN, United States President John F. Kennedy made the allied position clear.
President Kennedy: “There is a dangerous crisis in Berlin. It is because of threats against the vital interests and the deep commitments of the western powers and the freedom of West Berlin. We cannot yield these interests, we cannot fail these commitments, we cannot surrender the freedom of these people for whom we are responsible.”
On August 13th, Russia carried through with its threat and closed the border between West and East Berlin. Within days, the Berlin Wall was erected. After the wall was built, there were about 5,000 successful escapes from East Berlin. There were anywhere from 190 to 250 people killed during their attempts to illegally emigrate. Initial escape methods included jumping over the barbed wire or out of apartment windows. However, this became impossible after improvements were made to the wall. Late success stories included the use of tunnels, sliding along aerial wires, and flying ultralights (a small aero plane device).
Berlin Airlift
Kennedy responded by moving fifteen-hundred allied reinforcements into West Berlin, but continued a diplomatic dialogue. On October 26th, East Berlin refused to allow US civilians into the city, provoking a US-Russian tank standoff at the Berlin Wall. At that point, NATO leaders decided to send a clear warning of their own.
Among the people watching was Federal German Defense Minister Strauss. The Berlin airlift consisted of helicopters that demonstrated how a two hundred man infantry could be transported in a matter of minutes to a threatened deploy. Sixty thousand Americans and West German troops departed. Sixteen thousand tanks and armored vehicles helped to make Operation Berlin Airlift the biggest kind NATO has ever staged.
Negotiations and then the Fall of the Berlin Wall
On November 7th diplomatic negotiations and common sense finally took hold. Having stopped the refugee flight to the west and having faced nuclear holocaust, Khrushchev announced that he would postpone settlement of the Berlin question. A situation that many feared would bring up the curtain on World War III, had for the moment been averted. But the Berlin problem would continue for almost 30 years. In the wake of reforms in the Soviet Union, the communist domination of Eastern Europe began to wither.
Communist Hungary removed its border restrictions with Austria on August 23, 1989. Within the next few weeks more than 13,000 East German tourists in Hungary escaped to Austria. Next came large rebellions and demonstrations against the East German government. Erich Honecker resigned as leader of East Germany on October 18th and was replaced by Egon Krenz. On November 9th 1989, border crossing points between West and East Berlin where opened for the first time since 1961. Within weeks, the Berlin Wall was dismantled, and thus obliterated forever the symbol of the divided world.
