With the end of World War II in 1945, Germany was split by the triumphant allies 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 France. Berlin, Germany’s capital city, though located within the Soviet zone was similarly partitioned with the Soviets taking the eastern half and the other Allies the western. The existence of capitalist West Berlin within communist East Germany was a great annoyance to the Soviets and in 1948 they blockaded West Berlin in an attempt to starve the allies out, however this failed because the allies supplied the city by air, this was known as the ‘Berlin Airlift’ and lasted until the Soviets called off the blockade in 1948.
Tensions flared again in 1958 over the huge flow of refugees from east to west, many of them young skilled workers and on the 13th
of August 1961, after the defection of nearly 33 000 people in August alone, the Communist government of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) began to build a barbed wire and concrete “Antifascistischer Schutzwall,” or “antifascist bulwark,” between East and West Berlin, closing the border, which became the Berlin Wall. Initially it was only possible to cross the border at three checkpoints, Alpha, Bravo and Charlie. As people from the east were not allowed to move west many tried inventive ways of getting over, under or around the wall. From 1961 to 1989 more than 5,000 succeeded, however at least 171 people were killed in the attempt.
The Berlin Wall stood until November 9, 1989, when, as the Cold War began to thaw, the head of the East German Communist Party announced citizens could cross the border whenever they pleased. That night, ecstatic crowds swarmed the wall. Some crossed freely into West Berlin, while others brought hammers and picks and began to chip away at the wall itself.
As the Berlin Wall was a powerful symbol of the Cold War its fall truly heralded the war's end. The reunification of East and West Germany was made official on October 3, 1990, almost one year after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Images (in the Public Domain):
- Border guards at Brandenburg Gate on August 13, 1961, the day the Berlin Wall was erected
- Sign at Checkpoint Charlie
