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TedDavies
Mr.Douville
EnglishP.3
November21,2014

TheRiseoftheBerlinWall:TheBeginningoftheFallofCommunism

BACKGROUND

Itwasagratefulday.OnSeptember2nd,1945,WorldWarIIwasended.After
sevenlong,wartornyears,thewarhadended.Butthenanewproblememerged:
SovietdominationoverEasternEuropeposedaproblem.TheUnionofSovietSocialist
RepublicsalsohadanironfistruleoverhalfofGermany,orEastGermany.Inthelate
1940s,Germanywasdividedintofourzones.EachzonewascontrolledbyanAllied
country.ThecapitalcityofBerlinwasalsodividedintofourzones,eventhoughBerlin
wasdeepinsidetheCommunistzoneofGermany.(BackgroundofUSconflictwith
SovietUnion)
In1948,WestBerlinwasblockadedbytheSoviets.Theyshutdowntherailroad
lines,motorways,rivers,andsubwaylinesconnectingEastfromWest.Theyevenshut
downtheelectricity.TheyhopedthattheWesternAllieswouldgiveuponWestBerlin
(soitwouldsubsequentlyfalltoCommunism).Unexpectedly,theAlliesstartedmaking
supplyflightstoWestBerlin.Theydelivered13tonsofsuppliesa
day
,makingaround
theclockflightssupplyingtheGermanswithfoodandothernecessities.Whenthe
blockadeended,15monthsafteritwaserected,over200,000supplyflightshadbeen
made.(TheBerlinCrisis)
OnMay23,1949,theWesternAllies(France,theUSAandBritain)combined
theirzonesintoone,free,WestGermany,withCommunistEastGermanydominatedby

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theUSSR.TheSovietsdespisedofthemergingofthefreezones,astheywanteda
powerlessGermanythatcouldneverattackagain.ThiswasbecausetheSovietUnion
hadbeeninvadedbyGermanyfourtimes.TheWesternAllieshadadifferentplan:They
wantedafree,unifiedGermany.ThisnotionangeredtheSoviets.Thelegacyofthe
BerlinwallsymbolizedtheColdWar,causedsocialandeconomicchaos,andcaused
politicalpowerstruggles.(TheBerlinCrisis)
COLD WAR SYMBOL

ThelegacyoftheBerlinwallsymbolizedtheColdWar.Thewallwasmorethan
justawallwaymorethanjustbarbedandchainlinkfence.Thewallwasabout98
mileslong,with26ofitcuttingthroughthecityofBerlin.Thewallwashardertocross
ontheEasternsidethantheWesternside.Infact,themajorityofthewallwasnowallat
alljustastripoflandsurroundedbylowbarbedwirefences.Thatstripoflandwas
calledthedeathstrip.Itwasilluminatedbylights24/7.Thereweremanyguardtowers
alongthedeathstrip.Peoplewereupinthetowers24/7withmachineguns,sothat
peoplecrossingthedeathstripcouldbekilledeasily.186peoplediedattemptingto
crossthewall.(TheconstructionoftheBerlinwall)
TheBerlinWallwasalsoalargepointoftensionintheColdWar.TheSoviets
hadasmartideaerectingtheBerlinWallwaslikeaSovietformoftheUSs
ContainmentPolicy(ourforeignpolicytoCommunismatthattime).Theyhatedthe
presenceofafreeGermanyintheirwellmaintainedCommunistempire.Itwastheir
angeredresponsetotheWesternAlliescombiningtheirzones.Notonlythat,butit
also
showedtheworldtheSovietUnionsabsolute
power
overtheregion[easternEurope].

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ThewholeworldhadtheireyesonBerlin.TheonlygapintheIronCurtainhadbeen
shutoff,andwouldnotbereopenedforalmost30yearsandthefallwouldend
RussianCommunism.(ReasonsfortheBerlinWall)
Therewerelotsoflittlecompetitionsthatbothcountrieshad.TheSovietsalways
seemedtohavesomethingexactlyaliketheUSsidea.Forexample,theUShadthe
Marshallplan,whichwastheplantorebuildEuropeafterWorldWarTwo.Thenthe
Sovietscameupwiththeirownplan,theMolotovPlan.Butdidtheyreallyputthatplan
intoaction?No.ItwasjustanotherclichethattheUSSRhad.Thereweremore,like
NATO(NorthAtlanticTreatyOrganization)vstheWarsawPact.Theybothweremilitary
alliances,bothforeachitsrespectedsideoftheColdWar.(Croan)
SpeakingoftheMarshallPlan,itwasanothertensionhotspotintheColdWar.It
wastheUSplantoseeEuroperebuiltfromthefrayofWorldWarII.Nowthatposedan
unfortunatelyproblem:theplansaidtorebuildallofEurope.ButtheSovietunion
controlledofmainlandEurope.AndtheywantedthosecountriestohavenoWestern
influencewhatsoever(theplanwouldonlybeforpartofEurope).TheSovietsmadea
planoftheirownfortheirsatellitenations:TheMolotovPlan.Butitwasmoreofa
schemethattheSovietshadtomakethemselveslookgood.(HistoryoftheMarshall
Plan)
SOCIAL/ECON. CHAOS

ThelegacyoftheBerlinwallcausedsocialchaos.Someimmediatesocialchaos
thatoccurredwasthefactthatpeoplethatworkedintheoppositezonecouldnotgoto
work,whichsubsequentlymeanttheycouldnotearnmoney.Butbeforethewallwas

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built,thousandsdefectedtoWestBerlin/Germany.Peoplewerekilledtryingtocross
thewall.Evenwomenandchildrenwereshot.Thisposedahugehumanrightsissue.It
angeredEastandWestBerliners,aswellasNATOandUNmembersaroundtheglobe.
(EffectsoftheWall)
TheStasialsoposedahugeproblemtoEastBerlin.TheStasiwasEast
GermanysSecretPolice,liketheKGB.Theyhadarecordoneverysinglecitizenof
EastGermany,andmonitoredtheirlivesveryclosely.Theylimitedfreespeechtoa
minimum.TheStasialsocontrolledpeopleslivesindefinitely.(STASI)
Economicsisasubjectthatnotgreatlyrespectoneswishes(N.Khrushchev).
ThelegacyoftheBerlinwallcausedEconomicchaos.Now.beforethewallwasbuilt,
thousandsofEastGermansdefected(orimmigrated)toHungaryandWestBerlinand
WestGermany(thatwasonereasonfortheWalltobebuilt).Withtheseimmigrants,
camethousandsofskilledlaborersandworkers.Itwaslikesomeonehadpulledaplug
onEastGermanysreservesofworkers,causingEastGermanysGDPtofall.Butinthe
West[BerlinandGermany],theeconomyrosequiteabitfromtheswarmofworkers.
MostpeopleinWestBerlinhadagoodjobandmoney,unlikeintheEast,wherepeople
hadsomeverypoorjobs.Butwiththeinfluxinworkers[inWestBerlin],therebecame
lessandlessjobs.(1961BerlinWallgoesup)
POLITICAL

ThelegacyoftheBerlinWallcausedPoliticalpowerstrugglesandmovements.
In1953,JosephStalindied.Subsequently,therewasablankspaceforaSoviet
supremeleader.NikitaKhrushchevwasthemantotakethatspot.Beingmore

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moderatethanStalin,hedenouncedStalinandLenininaspeech.Peopleweremadat
himfordenouncingtheirpreviousleaders,andsostartedasmallmovementof
antiKhrushchevism.IttooksixmonthsforKhrushchevtorisetopower,andhewas
almost
removedfrompowertwicebymembersoftheExecutiveCommitteeoftheUnion
ofSovietSocialistRepublics.(NewYorkTimes)
JohnF.Kennedywasfrustratedbythefactthathe
couldnot
defendWestBerlin
andWestGermanywithnuclearweaponsifinvadedbytheUSSR.Hedidnotwantto
startanalloutnuclearwarwiththeSoviets.KennedytraveledtoViennatopeacetalks
withtheUSSRanditssatellitenations.Unfortunately,theconferencewasaflop.
Khrushchevstormedoutoftheconferencebeforeitbegan.Subsequently,heincreased
militaryspending,tobereadytorespondifanythinghappenedinBerlin.Healsoputa
militaryalertonBerlin,becausehethoughtitwasapointwherenuclearwarcouldbreak
out.(TheColdWarinBerlin)
RonaldReagan,the40thpresident,wenttoWestBerlinin1987togivean
inspirationalspeech.Strategically,hedeliveredhisspeechlessthan100feetfromthe
wall.ReaganattackedEastGermanleaderMikhailGorbachevtopleaseteardownthis
wall(Reagan,1987).HeattackedGorbachev,andcalledfortheimmediateunification
ofEastandWestGermany.Peoplenotedthespeech,butitwasntuntil1989that
peopleactuallygotReagansideasintheirhead.Anditwasabignotionthepeople
had.(RememberingReagansTearDownthisWallspeech)

IMPORTANCE

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TheBerlinWallalsohadahugespotinhistory.Itwasveryimportanttoboththe
SovietUnionandtheUnitedStates.ItisstillarespectedthinginCommunisthistory,as
wellasworldhistory(andColdWarhistory).
TheBerlinWallhadasignificantimpactontheformerUSSR.TheWallkept
Communismfromgettingpollutedbydemocracy.Italsosymbolizedthepowerthe
USSRhadovereasternEuropetheBerlinwallgavetheUSSRmorecontrolover
EasternEurope.Therewerealsosomenegativeimpacts(butthereissomedebate
overifthesewerepositivefortheUSSRornot).Forexample,theBerlinWalldrovea
deeperwedgebetweenthemandtheUSA.AnothernegativeimpacttotheSovietswas
thattherewasmoretension.Also,theplangavethemadisadvantage,becausetheUS
hadalegitimatereasontocriticisetheSoviets.(Wallace)
TheBerlinWallalsohadasignificantimpactontheUnitedStatesaswell.Itwas
atelltalesignthattheUSSRhadpowerovertheirSatellitenations.TheWallalso
stirredupangerintheUSpublicandGovernment.Theywantedthewalldownassoon
aspossible.Butthewallalsostartedthe30yearendtotheColdWar,andultimately
theUSSR.Onthedownsideoftheimpacts,itbroughttheUSandSovietUnionvery
closetoandalloutnuclearwar.ItalsohighlightedthedesperateescapefromtheCold
WartheSovietstriedtodo.(BerlinWall)
CONCLUSION/FALL OF THE WALL

Inthelate1980s,thecorruptcommunistgovernmentwasfallingapart.Countries
werestartingtowantindependence,andReagandealtabigblowtoCommunismin
1987,withhisspeech.Thesatellitenationswerealsofallingapart,bystretchingaway

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fromtheUSSR.Thecommunistleadersweregettingwearyofdealingwiththesatellite
nations.(Wallace)
Then,onthenightofNovember9th,1989,theWallfell.Alongwithit,theSoviet
Unionwasnomore.Peoplehitthewallwithsledgehammers,andthefirstgapinthe
wallwasopened.TheeventwasonTVallovertheworld.Peopleweredrinkingand
cryingandlaughingandhuggingpeoplewerereunitedafter28yearsofseparation.
ThousandsofEastGermansplowedintoWestBerlin.Theendofthediehad
communistgavewaytothebirthofsomenewnations,someold.Newnations,like
SlovakiaandMontenegrowereborn.Oldones,likeEstoniaandKazakhstanwerealso
reborn.TheformerSovietcountrieswerenowfreeandGermanywasonecountry
again.(TheFalloftheBerlinWall)