to know more about the berlin wall and its purpose here is a brief history of the wall
the partitioning of berlin as world war ii came to an end in 1945 the allied
peace conference at the alta and potsdam determined the fate of germany's territories
they split the defeated nation into four allied occupation zones the eastern part of the country
went to the soviet union while the western part went to the united states great britain
and eventually france they did the same thing to berlin the soviets took the eastern half while
the other allied forces took the western this four-way occupation of berlin began in june 1945
construction of the wall
after the war with the help of the soviet occupying forces
there's ed the ruling communist party began establishing a dictatorship in east germany or gdr
large parts of the east german population however did not agree with the new political
and economic system consequently a mass migration to the west began in the late 40s
by august 1961 east germany had lost a sixth of its population
the sed had begun sealing off the east german border to west germany
as early as 1952. so it became increasingly dangerous to flee directly to the west
many choose to take advantage of the last loophole and that is by crossing the sector
borders to west berlin which were still open so on august 13 1961 the sed began erecting barbed
wire to seal off the border all around west berlin walls were erected within a few days
hoping this would end the growing mass migration to the west once and for all
the sed also wanted to stabilize its power over the people in east germany and to demonstrate
its sovereignty to the world but the barbed wire and walls were unable to completely stop
escape attempts so the border barriers in berlin were continually expanded and reinforced
before the wall was built berliners on both sides of the city could move around fairly freely they
crossed the east-west border to work to shop to go to the theater and the movies
trains and subway lines carried passengers back and forth after the wall was built it became
impossible to get from east to west berlin except through one of the three checkpoints
at helmstead checkpoint alpha at rylinden checkpoint bravo and in the center of berlin at
friedrichstrasse or checkpoint charlie at each of the checkpoints the east german soldiers screened
diplomats and other officials before they were allowed to enter or leave except under special
circumstances travelers from east and west berlin were rarely allowed across the border
expanding the wall
but even after its construction the world did not completely stop the westward migration
on the contrary because the wall separated friends and relatives in berlin the pressure on the east
berliners and people on the outskirts motivation to flee became even greater
as people kept trying to cross border barriers the sed kept expanding the border fortifications
what began as a single simple wall evolved into a complex multi-layered border
installation designed to prevent escapes at first after every successful escape
border soldiers and pioneer units added temporary individual barriers behind the border wall
after a border area had been established in 1963 large expanses of this area were also blocked off
by a fence in the mid-60s buildings were tore down to make room for a uniform border strip
that would provide soldiers with an unobstructed view and clear field of fire
actors rasa is one of their example alar strasse was established in 1752 when berlin was expanding
to the north and the street was named in 1801 after world war ii it continued to be a lively
crossroad between the eastern city center and the working-class district of wedding
it crossed the border between east and west berlin at the sofiane parish cemetery when the wall was
erected in 1961 it was one of the first places that was divided the sed was able to strongly curb
the mass migration to the west by building the wall but people still tried to get to west berlin
so the border fortifications were continuously expanded and reinforced in consequence the wall
on actor strasse also evolved into a border strip containing many different barriers
coincidentally the systematic dismantling of the wall also began at the same site on june 13 1990
over the following years more barriers were installed within this dead strip
in the 70s a second inner wall were added blocking off the border strip to east berlin
border fortifications in the 80s
through the years border fortifications were constantly being developed and improved in the
early 80s the inner wall on the east german side was the first obstacle that fugitives encountered
then they had to climb over a signal fence
that when dutch activated an alarm for the border soldiers and observation towers
a carpet of steel spikes often play at the foot of the fence with the sharp ends pointing upward
either to injure or deter fugitives officially they were referred to as surface obstacles but
the guards called them asparagus bed in the west they were sometimes called stalin's lawn
after a fugitive had crossed the patrol road and security strip he had to get past the tank traps
that were designed to prevent an escape with a car or truck
in the inner city area they were usually made of railroad tracks welded together
and enveloped in the barbed wire thus also posing an obstacle to people escaping on foot
on the outer ring border a ditch was also added the nearly 12 foot high border wall was the last
obstacle before reaching the west at some areas dog rants were also installed so that watch dogs
could block the path alert border soldiers and deter fugitives from continuing their flight
at night the border strip was lit up brightly by a line of lamps allowing soldiers to see fugitives
in the dark both walls enclosing the border strip were painted white on the inner side so
that the fleeing person could be easily recognized watch towers stood approximately 250 meters apart
they were positioned so that the guards posted their could easily oversee the
border area between two towers they monitor the border strip and rear border territory
and ready to prevent any escape the guards were also expected to maintain surveillance on the
area of west berlin that bordered the wall in the late 70s the sed leadership had the wall rebuilt
hoping to achieve international recognition the sed no longer wanted the east german capital's
image tarnished by the border fortifications with its metal gratings bunkers and vehicle obstacles
these types of barriers were removed in 1983 this was possible because the new wall had a much
stronger blocking capacity and surveillance of all of east germany so the border fortifications
became less crucial to preventing escapes by the late 80s shortly before the wall fell
most of the menacing obstacles between east and west berlin had been removed from the wall
ordered to shoot
but the wall and border fortifications were not enough to hinder fugitives from escaping
from 1961 until the wall came down in 89
more than 5 000 east germans including some 600 border guards managed to cross the border
by jumping out of the windows adjacent to the wall climbing over the barbed wires flying in
hot air balloons crawling through sewers and driving through unfortified parts of
the wall at high speed in return the wolves had to be guarded by armed soldiers who
had the order to shoot at fugitives if they were unable to hinder their escape
an official low the gdr border law was not passed until 1982
but the changing standard situation beginning in 52 a verbally dictated command status existed
that obligated the border policemen and border soldiers to shoot as fugitives if
they were unable to prevent their escape in another way
the use of weapons caused many people to lose their lives at the border
berlin alone 90 people most of them trying to flee were shot and killed by east german border
soldiers between 1961 and 1989 the order to shoot was not revoked until april 1989
and in november of the same year the border opened and the order lost its significance
fatalities at the berlin wall at least 140 people were killed or died at the wall in connection with
the east german border region between 1961 and 1989 101 east german fugitives who were killed
died by accident or committed suicide while trying to flee through the fortifications
dirty people from the east and west without any escape plans
and one soviet soldier were shot or killed in an accident
eight east german border soldiers were either killed by the starters comrades a fugitive an
escape helper or a west berlin policeman by accident or intentionally while on duty
at least 251 travelers also died during or after they had gone through
checkpoints at the berlin border crossings i know numbers of people suffered and died from the
distress and despair in their personal lives as a consequence of the berlin wall being built in all
at least 171 people were killed trying to get over under or around the berlin wall
the fall of the wall
at the conference in helsinki in 1975
the east german leadership agreed in principle without wanting to admit it
the right of people to move freely and the freedom to travel afterwards more and more
east german citizens submitted obligations to immigrate permanently to west germany
an opposition movement that also developed in east germany in the 1980s that expressed
increasingly fundamental criticism of the political and social conditions
environmental damage and economic stagnation also angered the general public leading it
to turn away from the east german state similar developments occurred in other eastern bloc states
after mikhail gorbachev became general secretary of the communist party in the soviet union
in 1985 the political situation in the eastern bloc slowly began to change
gorbachev first tried to solve the serious economic and social problems using internal
political reforms in 1988 he gave up the freshness doctrine political principles
central to soviet foreign policy that demanded limited sovereignty of the warsaw pac nations
this change allowed the eastern black states to determine their own national policies
the demolition of the wall in the remains today soon after the border opened the
motivation of the wall began the so-called wallpapers broke off pieces as souvenirs
an increasing number of new border crossings were created leaving behind large gaps in the wall
border soldiers began dismantling the signal fans and other elements of the border of the same year
places of the world were sold all over the world
june 1990 the systematic dismantling of the border grounds began at akerstrasse between
the districts of wedding and mitre and was for the most part complete by the end of the year
soon the wall was gone and berlin was united for the first time since 1945.
the reunification of peace in west germany was made official on october 3rd 1990
almost one year after the fall of the wall
then the first section of the berlin wall were designated a historical monument on the same year
so that's it for the history of the berlin wall until next time
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