The Berlin Wall By Jordan Schnarr and Shane McLaughlin

Post-War Germany  After World War II, Germany was divided into two piece: West Germany and East Germany.  Control of Germany was divided up among four allied powers: the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union  Since Berlin seemed to be the most important city that all countries wanted to control, it was divided into East and West Berlin

Problems in Berlin  Joseph Stalin became greedy and wanted complete control over Berlin.  In 1948, Stalin set up a road block on the one road that connected West Berlin with West Germany to cut off the supply of food and other resources from the US and the British. This was called the Berlin Blockade.  The US, Great Britain, Canada, France, New Zealand, and other countries all started airlifting supplies into West Berlin. This was called the “Berlin Airlift”  In May of 1949, Stalin removed the blockade because he couldn’t tolerate the airlift anymore.

The Wall Goes Up  Many Eastern German immigrants had tried to pass into Western Germany by first entering through West Berlin  On the morning of August 13, 1961, soldiers and workers had ripped the streets near the border apart and put up 43 kilometers of barbed wire that divided Berlin into two cities and cut of all transportation between the two sections  On August 17, the first concrete blocks were placed down  Soldiers stood in front of the wall and were ordered to fire on any who tried to escape into West Berlin.  A “no mans land” was created in between the wall to give a clear line of fire at those who tried to escape

Structure of the Wall

Initial Impacts  East Germans were split from their families and those who worked in West Berlin were unable to keep their jobs as no one was allowed to cross the border  East German government said the wall was an “anti-fascist protective rampart” that was meant to  "The Wall certainly ought not to be a permanent feature of the European landscape. I see no reason why the Soviet Union should think it is—it is to their advantage in any way to leave there that monument to Communist failure.” – United States Secretary of State Dean Rusk