“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”-Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, 1987 (“Ronald Reagan: ‘Tear Down this Wall!’”) The ideas of communism may seem suitable on paper, but when enforced on an entire country, is devastating. One of these most profound examples of communism is the Berlin Wall. Communism changed the country of Germany; East Germans directly experienced the confinement of a communistic government. By the building of the Berlin Wall, there was an increase in violence and cultural unrest. Around the world, people protested the Berlin Wall. Finally, the protest was heard and Germans began to tear down the wall that separated a democratic country from a communistic country. Due to the fall of the Berlin Wall, there was
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To explain, after the wall came down there was an increase of car accidents, weapon and currency smuggling, and robberies in Germany. This is a result of confusion when citizens took the idea of “freedom” to “anything goes” (Cooper). Purse snatchings in the East rose rapidly to match the West’s rates. Because of the confusion of a new Western currency that was introduced to the East, shoplifting became easier. Domestic burglary rose and German citizens were afraid of being robbed. Felonies were also common in East Germany. There was a rise in auto theft, bank robberies, lethal arms smuggling, and bomb threats. Auto-theft rose because of the new Western cars that were in East Germany. The thieves liked Western cars instead of the East German Trabant and Wartburg (Cooper); with auto-theft rising there was also rise in the number of deaths due to traffic accidents. In 1989 there was 1,784 and in 1990 there was 3,330 (Cooper). The number of traffic accident related deaths in East Germany increased 85% in 1991 (Cooper). Some theories about the causes of these accidents, are that the East Germans were used to a completely different type of car and West Germans ignored Eastern traffic laws about drinking while driving and speed limits (Cooper). Almost one-third of accidents in East Germany were caused by a West German …show more content…
There were positive consequences of the fall of the Berlin Wall such as the reunion of families. Many German families were oppressed and separated for almost fifty years, now that the Berlin Wall had been taken down these families could reunite. They could reconnect with each other and help each other through the difficulties of adjusting to a democratic nation. One of the examples of reconnecting families is Ursula Bach and her lover, Fried. Bach was eighteen years old and sixth months pregnant with Fried’s child (Pidd). They were asked to spy on each other because Fried was a communist and Bach was not. Finally, Bach’s mother decided to move to West Germany before anything drastic happened. Leaving Fried behind, on the East side. Then, the Soviet Union built the Berlin Wall. When the Wall came down, Fried could make contact to his child and Bach (Pidd). Some families were not as fornate as Bach and Fried, some families never reconnected. Which had a lasting effect on children’s education. Children of the Wall, children born after the Berlin Wall fell, had 40% higher arrest rates (Arnaud and Olivier). These children were “...33% more likely to repeat a grade by the age of 12” and “... 9% more likely to have been put on a lower education track” (Arnaud and Olivier). This meant that children were not reaching their full potential. These Children of the Wall viewed “freedom” from
To explain, after the wall came down there was an increase of car accidents, weapon and currency smuggling, and robberies in Germany. This is a result of confusion when citizens took the idea of “freedom” to “anything goes” (Cooper). Purse snatchings in the East rose rapidly to match the West’s rates. Because of the confusion of a new Western currency that was introduced to the East, shoplifting became easier. Domestic burglary rose and German citizens were afraid of being robbed. Felonies were also common in East Germany. There was a rise in auto theft, bank robberies, lethal arms smuggling, and bomb threats. Auto-theft rose because of the new Western cars that were in East Germany. The thieves liked Western cars instead of the East German Trabant and Wartburg (Cooper); with auto-theft rising there was also rise in the number of deaths due to traffic accidents. In 1989 there was 1,784 and in 1990 there was 3,330 (Cooper). The number of traffic accident related deaths in East Germany increased 85% in 1991 (Cooper). Some theories about the causes of these accidents, are that the East Germans were used to a completely different type of car and West Germans ignored Eastern traffic laws about drinking while driving and speed limits (Cooper). Almost one-third of accidents in East Germany were caused by a West German …show more content…
There were positive consequences of the fall of the Berlin Wall such as the reunion of families. Many German families were oppressed and separated for almost fifty years, now that the Berlin Wall had been taken down these families could reunite. They could reconnect with each other and help each other through the difficulties of adjusting to a democratic nation. One of the examples of reconnecting families is Ursula Bach and her lover, Fried. Bach was eighteen years old and sixth months pregnant with Fried’s child (Pidd). They were asked to spy on each other because Fried was a communist and Bach was not. Finally, Bach’s mother decided to move to West Germany before anything drastic happened. Leaving Fried behind, on the East side. Then, the Soviet Union built the Berlin Wall. When the Wall came down, Fried could make contact to his child and Bach (Pidd). Some families were not as fornate as Bach and Fried, some families never reconnected. Which had a lasting effect on children’s education. Children of the Wall, children born after the Berlin Wall fell, had 40% higher arrest rates (Arnaud and Olivier). These children were “...33% more likely to repeat a grade by the age of 12” and “... 9% more likely to have been put on a lower education track” (Arnaud and Olivier). This meant that children were not reaching their full potential. These Children of the Wall viewed “freedom” from