Pros And Cons Of The Berlin Wall Blockade

It is 1945 and World War II has just ended with Hitler out of power however, conflict for the German people was far from over. After World War II in 1945 Germany was split up into different zones. Berlin, Germany’s capital was also divided into occupation zones; East Berlin and East Germany was run by the Soviet Union while West Berlin and West Germany was controlled by Western Allies, France, Great Britain, and the United States (Hyder). Over the next 16 years tensions rose due to defections from the East and the West this led to the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961. It was built to keep the ideas of a Western democracy out of East Germany’s communist government. The Berlin Wall was built in the hopes of having a beneficial outcome for

In 1948 the Soviet Union attempted to limit Western access to Berlin they created a blockade. “The blockade, however, was a terrifying experience for Germans in the East. Unlike people living in other parts of the Soviet bloc, who found it virtually impossible to leave the countries they lived in, East Germans who had access to Berlin had been able to travel to West Berlin by subway, and once there, to go wherever they chose. The future appeared bleak for East Germans, and life in the West was sufficiently enticing that many were willing to leave their belongings behind and go” (Germany Divided). The blockade was USSR’s attempt to stop the defections between East and West Germany and East and West Berlin. With the Soviet Union’s failed attempts to block Western influences from the East their economy steadily declined to the point where they had to do

The people of East Berlin were choosing democracy over communism. This lead West Berlin to build a wall that would stop ideas and people from influencing their communist ideals. The two sides that made up Berlin had different approaches to government, which ultimately escalated, into the Cold War. The Soviet Union ended up ultimately losing Germany. When East and West were reunified in 1990. The German people with the help of the Western Allies. Fought communism and ultimately won the right to the democratic government that they have today. The Building of the Berlin Wall was also significant because it was the first time that the Soviet Union showed that they feared Western