BERLIN WALL BUILT:

August 15, 1961

Two days after sealing off free passage between East and West Berlin with barbed
wire, East German authorities begin building a wall--the Berlin Wall--to
permanently close off access to the West. For the next 28 years, the heavily
fortified Berlin Wall stood as the most tangible symbol of the Cold War--a
literal "iron curtain" dividing Europe.The end of World War II in 1945 saw
Germany divided into four Allied occupation zones. Berlin, the German capital,
was likewise divided into occupation sectors, even though it was located deep
within the Soviet zone. The future of Germany and Berlin was a major sticking
point in postwar treaty talks, and tensions grew when the United States,
Britain, and France moved in 1948 to unite their occupation zones into a single
autonomous entity--the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). In response,
the USSR launched a land blockade of West Berlin in an effort to force the West
to abandon the city. However, a massive airlift by Britain and the United States
kept West Berlin supplied with food and fuel, and in May 1949 the Soviets ended
the defeated blockade.By 1961, Cold War tensions over Berlin were running high
again. For East Germans dissatisfied with life under the communist system, West
Berlin was a gateway to the democratic West. Between 1949 and 1961, some 2.5
million East Germans fled from East to West Germany, most via West Berlin. By
August 1961, an average of 2,000 East Germans were crossing into the West every
day. Many of the refugees were skilled laborers, professionals, and
intellectuals, and their loss was having a devastating effect on the East German
economy. To halt the exodus to the West, Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev
recommended to East Germany that it close off access between East and West
Berlin. On the night of August 12-13, 1961, East German soldiers laid down more
than 30 miles of barbed wire barrier through the heart of Berlin. East Berlin
citizens were forbidden to pass into West Berlin, and the number of checkpoints
in which Westerners could cross the border was drastically reduced. The West,
taken by surprise, threatened a trade embargo against East Germany as a
retaliatory measure. The Soviets responded that such an embargo be answered with
a new land blockade of West Berlin. When it became evident that the West was not
going to take any major action to protest the closing, East German authorities
became emboldened, closing off more and more checkpoints between East and West
Berlin. On August 15, they began replacing barbed wire with concrete. The wall,
East German authorities declared, would protect their citizens from the
pernicious influence of decadent capitalist culture.The first concrete pilings
went up on the Bernauer Strasse and at the Potsdamer Platz. Sullen East German
workers, a few in tears, constructed the first segments of the Berlin Wall as
East German troops stood guarding them with machine guns. With the border
closing permanently, escape attempts by East Germans intensified on August 15.
Conrad Schumann, a 19-year-old East German soldier, provided the subject for a
famous image when he was photographed leaping over the barbed-wire barrier to
freedom.During the rest of 1961, the grim and unsightly Berlin Wall continued to
grow in size and scope, eventually consisting of a series of concrete walls up
to 15 feet high. These walls were topped with barbed wire and guarded with
watchtowers, machine gun emplacements, and mines. By the 1980s, this system of
walls and electrified fences extended 28 miles through Berlin and 75 miles
around West Berlin, separating it from the rest of East Germany. The East
Germans also erected an extensive barrier along most of the 850-mile border
between East and West Germany.In the West, the Berlin Wall was regarded as a
major symbol of communist oppression. About 5,000 East Germans managed to escape
across the Berlin Wall to the West, but the frequency of successful escapes
dwindled as the wall was increasingly fortified. Thousands of East Germans were
captured during attempted crossings and 191 were killed.In 1989, East Germany's
communist regime was overwhelmed by the democratization sweeping across Eastern
Europe. On the evening of November 9, 1989, East Germany announced an easing of
travel restrictions to the West, and thousands demanded passage though the
Berlin Wall. Faced with growing demonstrations, East German border guards opened
the borders. Jubilant Berliners climbed on top of the Berlin Wall, painted
graffiti on it, and removed fragments as souvenirs. The next day, East German
troops began dismantling the wall. In 1990, East and West Germany were formally
reunited.