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The Soviet Union didn't put the Berlin Wall up. The East Germans did. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev told East Germany's dictator Walter Ulbricht to stop the flow of East German citizens into West Berlin or else. Ulbricht told his chief of construction troops, Erich Honecker, to construct a barricade. Honecker built the Berlin Wall. First understand that Germany was divided into four sectors after WWII, since the German government had failed and surrendered. The heart of these sectors was Berlin, the present day capital of Germany. The West was copposed of three sectors which belonged to the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. The East solely belonged to the Soviets. As you are aware the Berlin wall was erected in 1961. And naturally the Soviets ran their sector under ridiculous Communism. The people in the East were separted from all sorts of loved ones in the West and were forbidden to have either cross borders to visit one another. The East's ecomomy was very poor and the landscape as described by a former Berlin Soldier of the Berlin Brigade was "all bombed out and in ruins." There were no advances in technogy and the factories were left the way they were since WWII. The people lived in truly harsh conditions and endured the pangs of longing to see their loved ones. These are the factors that drove and motivated people to try jumping over the wall, tunneling under it, or some other way of escaping into the West where things were maintained and taken care of a place where standards of living and the economy were higher. The Soviets naturally did not want people, their people, escaping into the west. Matters had gotten out of hand and the Soviet government had decided to build a wall-the Belin Wall-through Berlin. They did this deed in effort that the people-their people would stay inside. You can relate to this if you have a dog or a little child. say you don't want the child climbing up a staircase-so you put a gate up (a wall) preventing the child from "escaping" to the other side and reaching the stairs. Or with a dog. Say you want to keep the dog in your garage which is connected to your home becasue you ARE cooking steak inside. So you put up a gate (a wall) to keep the dog from entering and eating your steak. That is the same concept of why the Soveits built the wall. They did not want their citizens escaping into the West. People refused bravly not to let a mere wall prevent them from freedom over 5,000 escape attempts were made. however not all concluded sucessfully since soviet gaursd patrolled the wall border by foot and in high watchtowers with guns preparing to shoot down anyone that was caught escaping. 239 individuals were shoot tring to flee the East. Germans placed flowers and wooden crosses where their shoot up bodies landed as a remembrance that unintentionally served as a warning (these were in the west since the people went over and got shot thei r bodies landing in the west dead.). The Berlin wall was taken down though but that is another topic.
After WW2Berlin was divided into four sections. The U.S., Britain, France, and Russia each controlled a section. Later, the U.S., Britain, France wanted to create a single state of the sections, and did so with their three sections. The USSR, who was a communist government, built the wall to block any attempt to make their portion part of the Western democracy German state. It was also built to keep defectors from fleeing to the West.
The Berlin Wall was built on the 13 of August 1961, around all of West Germany and West Berlin, because life in West Germany was allot better than in the east after 1948. They were trying to stop the East Germans fleeing to West Germany to get a better life for them and there families. Before the wall had been built more than 2.6 million East Germans had fled to West Germany ans West Berlin.
Until 1961 East German citizen were allowed to travel to West Berlin.
Travelling to West Germany became difficult after closing the border between East and West Germany in 1952.
The Wall was erected in 1961 because more than 2.6 million East Germans escaped to West Berlin or West Germany from 1949 to 1961 (total population of East Germany was about 17 million!).
The life in the West was much better than in the East after 1948. West Germany including West Berlin had got financial help through the Marshallplan from the USA. In East Germany a communist system was established and many people had to suffer under repressions of the Communist party.
In May 1952 the open border (Zonengrenze) between East and West Germany was closed by the East German government.
In the years after 1952 it became more difficult and dangerous to escape to the West over this border.
However, the sectorial borders between East and West Berlin were not closed. Many East German citizen went to East Berlin and from there to West Berlin. Once arrived in West Berlin they stayed there or were fled out to West Germany.
East Germany lost too many skilled workers in these years.
Another big problem were the two currencies in Germany and especially in Berlin. West German DM had been exchanged into East German DM at a rate of 1:4 (1 DM West = 4 DM Ost) in West Berlin.
People with West German DM could get goods very cheaply in the Eastern part of Berlin.
The East German government saw no other way to prevent from escaping to the West via Berlin than closing the border between East and West Berlin on August 13, 1961.
The reasons depend on which side you are on! The communists built it - so they say - to keep the East Germans from being defiled by the low life in the West. But the West say they built it to stop the East Germans from crossing to the West and not going back
Continual economic growth starting in the 1950s fuelled a 20-year "economic miracle" ("Wirtschaftswunder") in West Germany. As West Germany's economy grew and its standard of living continually improved, many East Germans began emigrating to the West.
By 1952, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin called the situation "intolerable" and urged East Germany to beef up its borders. By 1960, only 61% of East Germany's population was of working age, compared to 70.5% before World War II. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and East German Communist Party head Walter Ulbricht agreed on the need for the Wall, which went up on August 13, 1961.
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Why did the western allies did not react harshly to the building of the berlin wall?
Because the three essentials of American policy regarding Berlin were not affected.
What event helped unite East and West Germany?
The fall of the Berlin Wall
What cities were divided by the Berlin Wall?
Berlin was the city divided by the Berlin Wall.
What about the Berlin wall?
The Berlin Wall was built in Germany in August of 1961. The Berlin Wall was built to separate East Germany and East Berlin from West Berlin. The Berlin Wall was destroyed in 1990 which allowed for unification of West and East Berlin.
What event led to a reunited Germany?
The fall of the Berlin wall -APEX
The Berlin Crisis precipitated the building of the?
Berlin wall.
What is NATO's role in the Berlin wall?
The Berlin Wall no longer exists.NATO had no role in its building, upkeep or policing.
Who was Germany's president after the Berlin Wall?
The West German President during and after the building of the Berlin Wall was Theodore Heuss (1949-1959).
What reason for the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 was to?
does anyone know???
What statement is false with regard to the building to the Berlin wall?
The citizens of West Berlin were moving to East Berlin, taking jobs away from the East Germans.
Why did the western allies did not react harshly to the building of the berlin wall?
Because the three essentials of American policy regarding Berlin were not affected.
Who was the east German statesman who ordered the building of the Berlin wall in 1961?
Walter Ulbricht
Who order the building of the Berlin Wall?
Walter Ulbricht, who was the East German dictator in 1961.
Why is the Berlin wall called the Berlin wall?
because the wall was in the city Berlin
What event helped unite East and West Germany?
The fall of the Berlin Wall
What cities were divided by the Berlin Wall?
Berlin was the city divided by the Berlin Wall.
What nations were involved in the building of the Berlin Wall?
East Germany with the full support of the Soviet Union.
