Causes And Effects Of The Berlin Wall

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The Berlin Wall stood from its inception on August 13th, 1961 until it was deemed unnecessary on November 9th, 1989. When the Second World war ended and the allies were victorious they called conferences to determine what they were going to do with Germany. After the first world war Germany was punished heavily with reparations and having to reduce the size of their armed forces, and at the end of the second world war it would be no different. Of course they had to pay reparations but the countries that fought with Hitler would also lose territory and Germany would be no different. Dividing Germany would be the precursor to the building and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
When the war ended the Allied Peace Conference, the Yalta Conference and
2 weeks later after his declaration a fence and concrete wall was built to block the movement of people. Prior to the building of the fence people were able to move freely between East to West Berlin. Of course after the fence was constructed restriction from East to West was prohibited and if one wanted to go from West to East they would be heavily searched and scrutinized when they arrived and left. There were originally 3 check pints along the fence, Helmstedt, Dreilinden, and Friedrichstrasse. When the full wall was actually built there were 12 checkpoints. These check points would have guards of both sides to watch and see if people were attempting to leave and those that where coming in. When the full wall was finally built it would have the effect that the Soviet Union and the communists in Germany were hoping
Two years earlier President Ronald Reagan delivered his famous ‘Tear Down This Wall” speech on June 12, 1987 where he discussed that the wall was a symbol of the Cold War and the dominance that both super powers were seeking. Of course this is where the most famous line of his presidency happened, “Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” (http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/reagan-tear-down.htm) The most important line of his whole presidency didn’t happen in the United States but in the occupation zone of West Berlin. That weekend when the gates were opened they were flooded with people shouting and drinking, over 2 million people would go through the gates in two days to sometimes see family that were on the opposite side of the wall or to go to the movies and enjoy their day. The reunification of Germany would be official on October 3rd, 1990.
The Berlin wall stood in the face of the allies and they were able to continue to be peaceful and continue to protect their people while fighting in proxy wars across the country. To the people inside the wall it was a sign of oppression and to those that escaped a sign of the past. Today pieces of the Berlin Wall are around the country and you can touch a piece of

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