Sociology

The impact of the Fall of the Berlin Wall on the social, economic, and global impact on the German and the world population at large.

The Berlin Wall was a barrier built by German Democratic Republic(GDR) in East Germany on Aug 13, 1961. The GDR built this wall as a protection against what they perceived as a Nazi influenced West Germany. From 1961 to 1989, i.e., for more than a quarter of a century, this wall separated East Berlin from West Berlin, stopping the movement of people between the two borders completely.
This Wall was referred to as the Anti-Fascist Protection Wall by the GDR and The Wall of Shame by the city mayor of West Berlin. It stopped the emigration of vast majority of people to West Germany and other European countries.

According to the Potsdam Agreement (July 17-August 2, 1945), Nazi Germany was to be reconstituted into four divisions, each governed by one of the four occupying  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiAllies_of_World_War_II o Allies of World War II Allied powers the  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiUnited_States o United States United States,  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiUnited_Kingdom o United Kingdom United Kingdom,  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiFrance o France France and the  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiSoviet_Union o Soviet Union Soviet Union. But Soviet President  Joseph Stalin wanted a Communist Germany and hence, tried to intimidate the other Allied powers to surrender the rest of Germany, using various tactics like nationalization of property, subverting education system, discontinuing food supplies to West Germany etc. The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was declared on October 7, 1949. By a secret treaty, the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs accorded the East German state administrative authority. While East Germany followed a Communist regime, West Germany became a capitalist country with a democratic parliamentary government. Due to the economic growth of West Germany, mass scale emigration took place from East to West. To curb the movement, the GDR under the chairmanship of Walter Ulbricht, decided to close the porous border. Starting with barbed wire on 13th Aug 1961, the wall was constructed with concrete.

When Communism and the USSR began to collapse, it was inevitable that the wall of shame had to go uniting the people of both parts of Germany together on 9th November 1989. Consequently, amidst chaotic celebrations, the wall was physically torn down  and  with it the downfall of an autocratic rule . Germany was reunified as a nation. The impact of the construction of the Berlin Wall had far reaching effect on the social and political lives of German citizens. Before World War II, Germany was a united nation with families living in different parts of the country. Suddenly the people found out that not only were they ideologically separated but they were physically divided as well. East Germany followed a policy of communism. Citizens were compelled into backwardness and deprived. They were forced to denounce West Germans as opportunistic capitalists.

To assert the GDR control of East Germany, the walls served as a necessary checkpoint. Since this wall divided families, it had deep social and economic impact on the German population. Begun in 1975 and completed about 1980, known officially as Sttzwandelement UL 12.11 (retaining wall element UL 12.11), was the final and most sophisticated version of the Wall. (2) East Berliners and East Germans could at first not travel to West Berlin or West Germany at all. Over the years several exceptions were made to family members, pensioners, professionals etc. East Germans successfully defected by a variety of methods digging long tunnels under the wall, waiting for favorable winds and taking a hot air balloon, sliding along aerial wires and by simply driving a sports car at full speed.  If an escapee was caught in the no-mans land then the Grepos or the East Berlin border guards let the fugitives bleed to death in the middle of this ground, as in the failed attempt of Peter Fechter  aged 18. Fechters death created negative publicity worldwide. This led the leaders of East Berlin to place more restrictions on shooting in public places, and provide medical care for escapers. (3)

In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin, on June 12, 1987, Ronald Reagan challenged Mikhail Gorbachev, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to tear down the wall. (4) Globally, peoples opinions were against the Wall and it was perceived as a means of suppression.

For those unable to abscond from the East, life was bleak and things only continued to get worse throughout the 70s and 80s as Communism and the USSR began to collapse. The GDR resolutely stuck to their rules, speaking out in support of their regime. But with rationed food and the control regime, freedom was a luxury in East Germany.

When Hungary opened its borders in the summer of 1989, a flood of East Germans made their way West. Student protests in Leipzeig put pressure on the government to lower the borders into West Berlin. The western democratic media was vociferous in its reporting of the plight of the Communist Germans.

In the evening of November 9th, 1989 Gunter Schabowski, Minister of Propoganda, read out a note at a press conference announcing that the border would be opened for private trips abroad. With this announcement the Wall was finally pulled down.