Essay On Berlin Wall

In the early 1940s after World War II the United States, the Soviet Union, France, and Great Britain shared control of Germany. The occupiers also divided the capital city, Berlin, into four different territories. The most prominent countries, the Soviet Union and the United States, split Berlin into what is best known as East and West Germany. This time period is what we know as the cold war where there was great tension between the two territories. East Germany, allied with the Soviets, was a communist state while West Germany, allied with the United States, was a capitalist state. The superior lifestyle of the West German culture enticed countless East Germans to defect. Therefore, multitudes of people, with fairly little complications, …show more content…
The night of August 12 in 1961, the East Germans, governed by the soviets, secretly constructed The Berlin Wall. In the morning on August 13, people on either side of the wall woke up surprised to see that there was a wall standing between them, and for some, their families or even workplaces. One article from Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. History: War says, “Those who had crossed the border the night before to be with friends or family were stunned to find the U-Bahn and S-Bahn, the transit systems that crisscrossed Berlin, closed. They were prevented from traveling back to their residences” (Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. History: War). This quote shows how as soon as the Berlin Wall was built no one could pass from one territory to the next, even if he or she were just visiting someone and weren’t told about the new wall. As a result of families being separated from the people or places that provided their income, many families could not afford the things they needed such as rent of their current home or the food for their family. Overall, because of the surprise aspect of the construction of the Berlin Wall many people were separated from their families, homes, and