Berlin Wall Dbq

The fall of the Berlin Wall had the greatest impact in my opinion on the fall of the Soviet Union. The wall was initially put up to keep people from fleeing East Germany. Although, the people in the East were informed differently about the actual wall’s purpose. In November of 1989, the Berlin Wall was dismantled. The wall was put in place by the East German Communist Government to keep East and West Berlin separated. People could no longer see their families or friends. It effected people who worked on either side of the wall that could no longer report to work. The atmosphere in the East was completely different from the West. The East looked dirty and run down. People were going hungry and expressed the look of misery. People from the West …show more content…
Everyone rejoiced together. The fall of the Berlin Wall caused the Soviet Union to collapse almost a year later. Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union president, submitted his resignation causing the Republics of the Soviet Union to disperse. The removal of the Berlin Wall generated a chain reaction of events in several countries. In this case, it sped up the collapse of the Soviet Union due to its closed borders, brainwashing, and failing economy. No one expected the collapse of the Soviet Union since as a superpower, it held a powerful position. A decline in power was expected, but not the fall of the empire as Gorbachev’s methods were taking too long to make any type of difference. Many people still rejected the Communist party and refused to embrace their ideas and way of thinking. Gorbachev struggled with the communist party imperial elites and the military. These struggles led to failures which added to the fall of the Soviet Union and Gorbachev practically finished himself. The Soviet Union was already weakening since it refused to assist the Eastern Bloc countries and join in their affairs. The Soviet Union was already experiencing food shortages and dealing with a failing