After World War II, the last remaining Superpowers became the two most powerful countries in the world. These two nations being the United States and Soviet Union. But because of each country's strong and different views on things like economics and government, a Cold War was started. This war was a battle fought of ideas, not a physical clash. One of the main differences in ideas was communism. The Soviet Union were communist which basically meant the government was in charge of/controlled everything and everyone was paid relatively the same. The United States, on the other hand, were capitalists, which means the people of the US control the production of goods, what they did as work, etc. The Soviet Union had control over Eastern Europe and …show more content…
half of Germany while the US, with France and Great Britain, controlled West Germany. This is where the Cold War started. This led to one of the Cold War's biggest problem, The Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was a barrier set in place by the USSR to separated West Germany from the rest of East Germany and East Berlin. It was used to cut off West Germany's communication/interaction with its superiors (US, Great Britain and France). Because of the Berlin Wall and the political stance behind it, it sparked a lot of different problems for the countries involved with it. In Europe, sparks started flying over controversy with the spread of communism and other different problems. On August 13, 1961, the communist government of East Germany, also known as the German Democratic Republic, started building a wall like barrier out of concrete and barbed wire between East and West Berlin. The purpose of this wall was to keep West Germany and is superpower controllers and their ideas from East Germany. But it was also used for things like cutting off West Germany's supplies, making sure Eastern Germans did not leave their native land to go to West 2 Germany where they would have more freedoms, and to drive out the US, Great Britain and France out of West Germany so eventually the Soviet Union could also take over its western counterpart. The Berlin Wall was eventually taken down on November 9th, 1989 after the head of the communist government GDR said that people living in East Germany were allowed to leave and flee to the other side of Germany. That was the official end of the Berlin Wall. There were many causes that led to the construction of the Berlin Wall.
One of the main reasons was The Berlin Blockade. The Berlin Blockade was the Soviet Union's attempt to try and keep the superpowers controlling West Germany, the United States, France and Great Britain, out of Eastern Germany's counterpart. Basically, cut off Berlin's communication with the outside world. This was a problem for the United States, France, and Great Britain because without access to Berlin, they wouldn’t be able to come and help Berlin and Germany. It also meant that they wouldn’t be able to come and have any say in executive meetings in Berlin. In 1948, the Soviet Union basically tried to limit the other superpowers ability to travel to their sectors of Berlin. An excerpt from the speech Winston Churchill gave in 1945, when the boundary and isolation started to become a problem, explains what is about to start between the Soviet Union and other countries. He says that “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an "Iron Curtain" has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe.(Churchill, 1945)” This new blockade caused worry to the superpowers controlling it. The Western side was losing its supplies because its superiors couldn't come in and help by sending things due to the surrounding …show more content…
Soviets. The Berlin Blockade eventually led to the Berlin Airlift. The Berlin Airlift was an attempt by President Truman to send supplies like food, fuel and water to the citizens of Berlin from Allied 3 controlled air bases within Germany for about a year. “Coming just three years after the end of World War II, the blockade was the first major clash of the Cold War and foreshadowed future conflict over the city of Berlin. (History.com Staff, 2010)” The events like the Berlin Blockade and the Berlin Airlift helped push the Soviets into making the executive decision of the construction of the Berlin Wall. Another important event that caused the Soviet to make the decision to put up the Berlin Wall was the fact that people kept leaving East Germany and fleeing to West Germany because of the freedoms that they would have there instead of in their native country. This became a problem because the Communist Government in East Germany wanted more people to control and having them all leave to go to a place with more freedom, means less power. According to History.com, “Throughout the 1950s and into the early 1960s, thousands of people from East Berlin crossed over into West Berlin to reunite with families and escape communist repression. (History.com Staff, 2010)” This eventually led to the night of August 12, 1961, the night that the government started sealing off every point of entry into West Berlin from the Eastern side. Within weeks, the walls construction became an official thing, pact with sentry towers, minefields and other things like surveillance around it in hopes to make sure nobody could leave. The Berlin Wall had many effects and consequences due to its inconvenience. For started it ruined many lives. For some people, their families were divided because now they wouldn’t be able to visit their relatives. Also, many people living on either side of Berlin were cut off from their jobs because it wasn’t possible for them to get into or out of the other side. West Berlin led in the criticism of the idea and construction of the Berlin Wall. “West Berliners demonstrated against the wall and their mayor Willy Brandt led the criticism against the United States who they felt had failed to respond. (RAF Museum 4 Authors, 2013)” People were also very upset with the superpowers, especially the United States. They expected the United States to help in taking down the wall. This hurt the United States reputation. Even after multiple different conspiracies from the United States that they were going to attack and bulldoze the wall down, they were shut down the the Soviet Union when they repeatedly sent armoured troops out into position to protect it from the incoming onslaught. Even though the United States tried to help a couple of times to then get denied, berlin was still enraged with the United States lack of progress on helping them. But President Kennedy realized the wall was less of a problem than a solution. “This is his way out of his predicament. It’s not a very nice solution, but a Wall is a hell of a lot better than a war.” He said this because if there was a wall blocking West Berlin from East Berlin, Khrushchev wouldn’t be able to take over and have complete control of all Berlin. Even though trying to escape would be risking your life, people still tried to help.
“During the wall's existence there were around 5000 successful escapes into West Berlin. (RAF Museum Staff, 2013)” People in East Berlin would get really creative with how they would try to escape. According to the RAF Museum, it was reported that people started these escapes with things like people straight up climbing and jumping over the wall, people jumping out of buildings to get and eventually escalated to long tunnels, sliding along aerial wires, flying ultralights and even driving under a checkpoint barrier in a very low sports car. Unfortunately, there were about 200-240 reports of people being killed because they tried to escape. People, from both East and West Berlin, would help people from East Berlin escape even though it made their life.
Thankfully, in the end there was a solution. The Berlin wall was taken down/ opened on November 9, 1989. This was due to the Communist Government falling and losing power throughout
5 Europe. The Berlin Wall was then demolished after being opened. Throughout the entire war, the Berlin Wall became a physical symbol of the Cold War. To some, the demolition of the iconic symbol meant the end of the war. To others it just meant freedom from the harsh dictatorship they were stuck under while stuck inside the wall. But nonetheless, this was the solution many people needed because it now meant they could live where they wanted, see their families, find another job, end the cruel laws they had to live under, etc. The Cold War may not have been a physical clash but still was very intense because it affected so many different countries. This war was fought because of differences in ideas about the economy and government like communism. Through many different events between different countries and Germany/Soviet Union, the Berlin Wall was constructed. This new installment to the war meant that West Germany would basically be cut off from the rest of the world. But people wouldn’t give up that easily. The United States, France and Great Britain tried to help politically and even tried to break down the wall but were forced to drop the idea because the Soviets set up posts to defend the wall. But West Berliners would help the citizens from the Eastern side escape to the West with many ingenious techniques. Even though there may have been many problems sparked by this wall that also came with many consequences/effects, the Berlin Wall was eventually taken down, freeing and releasing most people from the torture it imposed initially.
A war does not necessarily require physical weapons to fight. From 1947 to 1991, military tension and ideological conflicts held place. Cold War is defined as a state of political hostility existing between countries, characterized by threats, violent propaganda, subversive activities, and other measures short of open warfare, in particular. The causes of the Cold War between United States and the Soviet Union were the mutual distrust that had taken place in World War II, intense rivalry between the two super powers, and conflicting ideologies. The two superpowers differed in views of political and economic principles and were eager to spread their ideologies to other countries. The United States were in favor of democracy and capitalism while the Soviet Union sought for the chances of influencing communism. Cold War did not involve the use of physical arms but was intensely fought. Propaganda, economic aids, Arms Race, and the creation of alliances were the main methods to fight the war. The use of propaganda played a crucial role in containment by criticizing the other power and raised the morale and spirit of their nation. The economic support for nations helped them recover from the desperate situation after World War II, which prevented the nations from falling under communism. Also, the Arms Race and forming alliances between the two main powers were important weapons for competition and rivalry in Cold War.
During the Cold War, the United States engaged in many aggressive policies both at home and abroad, in which to fight communism and the spread of communist ideas. Faced with a new challenge and new global responsibilities, the U.S. needed to retain what it had fought so strongly for in World War II. It needed to contain the communist ideas pouring from the Soviet Union while preventing communist influence at home, without triggering World War III. With the policies of containment, McCarthyism, and brinkmanship, the United States hoped to effectively stop the spread of communism and their newest threat, the Soviet Union. After the war, the United States and the Soviet Union had very different ideas on how to rebuild.
In the year 1961, the building of the Berlin Wall called upon disasters in Germany. The United States controlled the west of Berlin while the German Democratic Republic held the East. Being stuck under the rule of day-to-day terror, people from East Berlin were making their way to the West Berlin. West Berlin is a safe spot and a free checkpoint in the middle of terror. To stop the movement of East Berliners, the East German government decided to build a barrier that limited and halted the East Berliners from leaving.
The post-war world left the Soviets and the United States in an ideological power struggle. The origin of the cold war is hard to pinpoint. There were several issues and disagreements that led to it. The political differences between the 2 nations were absolute opposites. America was a democracy, a system that allows its citizens to choose the political party in which runs the government. The Communists were led by one of the most vicious dictators in human history, Joseph Stalin.
The Cold War was a post-World War II struggle between the United States. and its allies and the group of nations led by the Soviet Union. Direct military conflict did not occur between the two superpowers, but intense economic and diplomatic struggles erupted in the country. Different interests led to mutual suspicion and hostility in a rising philosophy. The United States played a major role in the ending of the Cold War.
Notably, before the walls creation, Germany was a political mess. It was a mess for many reasons, but the main being that “West Germany (governed by the Allied powers- the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) and East Germany (governed by the Soviet Union)” (“Cold War”). Of course, the Allied Powers and the Soviet Union were polar opposites; the Soviet Union was Communist while the Allies were anything but, and despised the very idea of Communism. Therefore, The Wall was constructed in 1961 by the East German government. The walls main purpose was to stop the emigration of East German citizens, because in “1953, the number of refugees doubled- more than 400,000 people left”, all of whom were heading to West Germany (Dowling). They wanted to stop the “skilled workers and professionals”, which were in high demand at this time, from leaving (“Berlin Wall”). These young men were valuable to the economy, because of the various products and services they could provide. However, they were trapped against their will in East Berlin;...
The end of World War II was the beginning of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States. The Soviet Union had control over East Berlin, which was governed by a communist government and the United States had control over West Berlin, which was regulated by a democratic government. Both countries wanted full control over Berlin, so the Soviet Union set up a blockade on the West but was unsuccessful. The Berlin Wall was then built to stabilize the economy of East Berlin, which meant that fewer people could escape the east to live in the west. In the article “The fall of the Berlin Wall: what it meant to be there,” by Timothy Garton Ash, he highlights the feelings of no longer having a “iron curtain” segregating both sides of Berlin.
Before the wall got built in1961, East German peoples could travel to West Berlin to visit there family’s. On May 8th, 1945 the World War II ended. June 24th, 1948 the Soviet Military started the Berlin Blockade. Germany was divided in four different parts after World War II. Each part was controlled by a different part of a country. Twenty- eight years and “Iron curtain” East and West Berlin got divided in the heart of Germany.
In conclusion Berlin Wall was an important milestone in the growth of the Cold War. It was the expansion that represented the thinking of a determined Communist system. Western Capitalism, which was more powerful, eventually defeated the system. The massive wall that did so much harm to a country was finally destroyed, and the people of Germany could now live the way they all wanted to live. They could live the life of freedom. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall East Germany has went through a lot of changes, and it still is not easy for all of the people in East Germany. But no matter how hard it is for the people of East Germany now, it is better than being alone and separated from their families, friends and rest of Europe.
East Berliners could attend movie theaters showing Western films, and many had jobs in the strong economy of West Berlin. With the thriving economy, many shopped in the well-stocked stores in West Berlin. Items like jeans, fashionable dresses, and seamless panty hoses which were unavailable in East Berlin shops were reaidly available in West Berlin shops. In addition, East Berliners and other East Germans could simply take a subway car to flee to West Berlin and on to West Germany. Even today Germans are seeing the effects of the wall.
Each section was controlled by a different country; United States, France, Britain, and the Soviet Union. The Capital Berlin, being inside the Soviet controlled East Germany, was also divided into two sections, East and West Berlin. West Berlin was controlled by the United States and East Berlin was controlled by the Soviet Union. Starting on August 13 1961, Berliners woke up to a barrier separating the east from the west. East Germans had closed off the border with barbwire and guards. Many families were separated. Many jobs were lost. Two days after the border had been closed off, a wall had begun to get built.
From when World War II ended in 1945, all the way up to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Cold War was the center of attention of international affairs. It was a struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union. From an American view the Cold War was a mostly a war on communism. The US caused and maintained the Cold War, the US is to blame for the Cold War for disparish of the communist Soviet Union in support of the political and economic systems.
...s website explained facts about escape attempts from the Berlin Wall that I thought would be helpful to my paper.
The Berlin Crisis reached its height in the fall of 1961. Between August and October of that year, the world watched as the United States and the Soviet Union faced off across a new Cold War barrier, the Berlin Wall. In some ways, the Wall was Khrushchev’s response to Kennedy’s conventional buildup at the end of July, and there were some in the West who saw it that way. However, as Hope Harrison has clearly shown, Khrushchev was not the dominant actor in the decision to raise the Wall, but rather acquiesced to pressure from East German leader Walter Ulbricht, who regarded the Wall as the first step to resolving East Germany’s political and economic difficulties. The most pressing of these difficulties was the refugee problem, which was at its height in the summer of 1961 as thousands of East Germans reacted to the increased tensions by fleeing westward. But Ulbricht also saw the Wall as a way to assert East German primacy in Berlin, and thus as a way to increase the pressure on the West to accept East German sovereignty over all of Berlin.
At the same time, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were involved in the Cold War. They were competing against one another, constantly trying to show that their country (and therefore their form of government and ideals) was the better choice. They were competing for influence over the rest of the world. Eventually the USSR and Communism lost, but far more important results came out of this competition instead.