After the establishment of the GDR (German Democratic Republic) and the FRG (Federal Republic of Germany) in 1949 at the dawn of the Cold War, a prolonged tension between East Germany and West Germany took place. Distracted by their intentions to push the Allies out of West Berlin, the GDR was initially unaware that the citizens of the East were beginning to travel towards checkpoints to leave East Germany.1 The eventual influx of East German citizens funneling into West Berlin through various forms would eventually be recognized as a dangerous factor that threatened the existence of the GDR, leading them to make breakneck decisions.
By the 1950s, the post-war East German economy was still left broken following the war. Although this itself was a large problem, there had been an unforeseen factor. Although the East German state was attempting to socialize their economy with centralized production and distribution of capital goods, its citizens were still suffering from a lack of basic consumer goods. This factor of a broken economy motivated citizens to begin travelling from East Germany to West Germany via the checkpoints in East Berlin. The departure of these citizens developed into what would be considered a large-scale brain drain of the Eastern state. Many of the citizens that had been moving to West Germany through Berlin were citizens around the age of twenty-five. These young people were the primary workers of the East German economy, and they were leaving for the West, seeing their future as best served in West Germany. The West German economy in the 1950s became known as “The Economic Miracle,” as a phoenix rising from the ashes of World War II. The workers draining from East Germany to the West contributed to the declining economic condition of the GDR, and a continued drain threatened the existence of the Eastern state as a whole. Because of the slow trickle of citizens draining from the East in the early to mid 1950s, Stalin–who at the time was much more concerned with pushing the Americans out of West Berlin–was not aware of this loss of citizens. But this leak eventually turn into about 3.5 million East Germans defecting from the GDR by the late 50s and early 1960. By 1961, the leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, recognized that something had to be done to address this problem.2
The night of the formation of the Wall was August 12th, 1961. Diplomats from the West at the time were hearing rumors that the East was going to take some kind of action to increase the difficulty of crossing between East and West Berlin. It was around midnight that the East German troops and workers began to create a barrier and close off the border. The barrier was especially shocking as it was put up with such speed, being erected by the morning after it had begun. Additionally, the barrier was put up with no actual disruption of the agreement between them and the Allies, so legally, the barrier was allowed. This made many citizens outraged as it left some East Berliners on the West side and others on the East.
The fence and small walls would eventually be replaced with a ten-to-thirteen-foot-high cement barrier and encircle West Berlin in its entirety.3 But despite the barrier, many East German citizens would try to escape with the majority ending up dead and the rest being capture and jailed. To the satisfaction of East Germany, they successfully cut off the draining of their citizens to that of a mere trickle and secured the existence of the “people’s republic.”4 The Berlin Wall forever after became the most prominent symbol of the Cold War. It was before this Wall and because of this Wall that two American presidents famously claimed the superiority of American values over that of “communism.” With Kennedy, we all became Berliners, and with Reagan, we applauded when Berliners began to “tear down this wall.”
- Norman Gelb, The Berlin Wall: Kennedy, Khrushchev and a Showdown in the Heart of Europe (Simon & Schuster, 1988), 34-35. ↵
- Frederick Taylor, The Berlin Wall: A World Divided (HarperCollins, May 2007), 17-20. ↵
- Salem Press Encyclopedia, January 2016, s.v. “Berlin Wall,” by Herbert Luft. ↵
- Wole Soyinka, “Beyond the Berlin Wall,” Transition, no. 51 (1991). 1-2. ↵
34 comments
Ryann Cervantes
Great article especially because I never knew the exact reasons for the building of the walls. I think it is very impressive the were able to build the wall in a single night, which for that instance would definitely be needed. Had they taken longer even more people would have wanted to move west. It must have also come as a shock to families when they awoke and suddenly a wall was built right next door severing their connections to anyone on the other side.
Luke Willis
This was a very interesting article. I took a Cold War class when i was back in high school so i have learned a lot about this time and about the Berlin Wall. However, i thought that the Berlin wall and the people that mainly wanted to stop the flow off people was the Soviet Union. I did not know that it was the government in East Berlin that wanted to stop it and i did not know that it took them so long to do anything about it. I also did not know that Stalin was so oblivious or disinterested in the matters that were happening with the citizens in Germany. Overall it was a great article!!
Edward Cerna
This was a really great article to read and is well organized and put together. I like how you gave the reason why the wall was constructed and your article was very informative. Of course I knew of the Berlin wall but I had very limited knowledge on the subject and reading his definitely gave me more knowledge on it. This was a great article about a sad and depressing moment in time.
Tyler Sleeter
Since my mom grew up in the shadow of the Berlin Wall, I had to read this article. I found it very interesting. With so much to say about the wall, I like how you focused just on the beginnings of the wall. I was not aware that the East Berlin government tried to stop the wall from being built, but it does not surprise me. The people of East Berlin simply had the misfortune of being in the sector of Berlin that was controlled by the Soviets when Berlin was split up after the end of World War II. The events leading up the building of the wall were simply tragic.
Michael Mandujano
This article provided adequate information and was well put together, I recently commented on the “Fall of the Berlin Wall,” so reading this article illustrates the perspective on the intent of the Berlin Wall. The images that were depicted throughout the article allows readers to visualize the Great Berlin Wall. Overall, it is quite shocking how families became separated due to the establishment of the Berlin Wall. In fact, the precautions that the Soviet Union leaders instituted, to kill anyone who crossed the Berlin Wall, was immoral.
Evelin Joseph
The Berlin Wall will always be remembered as a tragic event and structure in history. It separated brothers, families, and friends for a very long time and stood as a memory of the Cold War. It was astonishing that the wall was almost ten to thirteen feet high and still people were desperate to escape and even ended their lives by trying to cross it. Overall this article was great as through it, I was able to learn more about this depressing moment in time.
Samman Tyata
Great article! I really liked how you have managed and polished your article. I never had much knowledge about anything relating to the Berlin wall before reading this article. Your article successfully helped me to know the political view of why it was made. It was interesting to read that the East German troops and workers began to create a barrier and close off the border around midnight. To sum it up, it was a good read.
Oceane Roux
Thank you for this article! I think the Cold War is a very interesting part of the history. I find the story of the Berlin war extremely interesting as well as it was one of the major crisis between Russia and the US and had an impact on the entire world. I enjoyed reading this article as it brings another point of view on the events that occurred at that time.
Benjamin Voy
A very well constructed article that really captures the german people thoughts towards they wall. They clearly didn’t like it. I knew of the wall however haven’t visited it yet and haven’t seen the remains in person. This was clearly a harrowing story for all of those into,bed and the people of East Germany must have felt extremely hard done by as they were forced to stay on the declining side of the country. Great article!
Karina Nanez
The Berlin Wall is one the most iconic and catastrophic results of World War II. It became a symbol for oppression and separation, a result of a failing economy and Stalins focus on politics rather than people. What I had never known was just how quickly the wall was built and how it was legal in the agreement between the Allies.