The Berlin Wall

      The Berlin Wall was what separated East Berlin from West Berlin from 1961, and 1989. After WWII, the Soviet Union had set up a communist, totalitarian government in their faction of Berlin, while France, Great Britain, and the U.S. had made a democratic government in their faction. The Wall was built to keep these ideas separate.
      When WWII ended, Germany had been divided in four for the Soviet Union and the Allied nations to rule together. Since the country was split up, the capitol was to be split up as well. Over time, relations between the Soviet Union and the Allied forces grew weaker, and Germany was split into separate countries, the capitol being split accordingly. Lastly, people from the Eastern half of the country and capitol began fleeing to the West, and escaping the communist government. For these reasons, the Berlin wall was constructed. It kept those in the East under communist jurisdiction, and attempted to keep those in the West out.
      With the Wall constructed, life went on. For some, it went quite well. For others, more difficult. In the West, the economy thrived, the standard of living couldn't stop rising, people were able to live quite comfortably. In the East however, living was so unbearable people would jump out of buildings in attempt to get into the West. What was the cost of a broken arm, leg, or rib compared to living free of communism? People in East Berlin, and Germany, lived in fear of the Soviet Secret Police, ultimately driving them to flee. World wide, the wall helped fuel the war on communism. President Kennedy used it to his advantage showing how constricting communism was compared to capitalism, and gain allies during the Cold War.
      Fortunately, the wall wouldn't last forever; although, 28 years is quite a long time. The Soviet Union had acquired a new leader, one who allowed public criticism of the government, giving many people the ability to voice their opinions. This led to the Soviets losing control to many countries. When Austria and Hungary allowed free passage between the two, thousands of East Germans fled to Hungary, and from there into Austria where they could travel freely into West Germany. Lastly, inside Churches intellects would gather and convince their neighbors, friends, relatives, and anyone who would listen as to why they needed  to begin protesting in order to change the way they lived life in the East. Eventually, these groups of protesters reached the hundreds of thousands, where they were able to relieve their communist leader in East Germany, with a more liberal leader. All of these reasons led to the destruction of the wall in 1989, and total liberation in 1991.
      Now, life in Germany has changed drastically, but still there are problems because of the dividing of East from West. Since the west had such a great economy, they had to absorb the problems of the East, and therefore their economic status was brought down. With the thousands of people migrating into the West, many cities became overpopulated, and had to deal with all of the problems that accompanied it. Life today is still great, Germany is a thriving nation, but the past still affects life as people know it.

Works Cited
1) http://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-events/berlin-wall2.htm
2) http://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-events/berlin-wall4.htm
3) http://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-events/berlin-wall5.htm
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