All about the Berlin Wall. History of the creation and fall of the Berlin Wall

(Berliner Mauer) - a complex of engineering and technical structures that existed from August 13, 1961 to November 9, 1989 on the border of the eastern part of the territory of Berlin - the capital of the German Democratic Republic(GDR) and the western part of the city - West Berlin, which, as a political unit, had a special international status.

The Berlin Wall is one of the most famous symbols of the Cold War.

After World War II, Berlin was divided between the victorious powers (USSR, USA, France and Great Britain) into four occupation zones. The eastern zone, the largest, almost half the territory of the city, went to the USSR - as the country whose troops occupied Berlin.

Construction and refurbishment of the wall continued from 1962 to 1975. On June 19, 1962, the construction of the parallel wall began. Another wall was added to the existing wall, 90 meters behind the first, all the buildings between the walls were demolished, the gap was turned into a control and trail strip.

The world-famous term "Berlin Wall" meant the front, closest to West Berlin, barrier wall.

In 1965, the construction of a wall of concrete slabs began, and in 1975, the last reconstruction of the wall began. The wall was built from 45,000 concrete blocks measuring 3.6 by 1.5 meters, rounded at the top to make it difficult to escape.

By 1989, the Berlin Wall was a complex set of engineering structures. Total length the wall was 155 km, the inner city border between East and West Berlin - 43 km, the border between West Berlin and the GDR (outer ring) - 112 km. Closest to West Berlin, the front barrier wall reached a height of 3.60 meters. She encircled the whole western sector Berlin. In the city itself, the Wall divided 97 streets, six metro lines and ten districts of the city.

The complex included 302 observation posts, 20 bunkers, 259 devices for guard dogs and other border structures.

The wall was constantly patrolled special units subordinate to the police of the GDR. The border guards were armed with small arms, they had trained service dogs at their disposal, modern facilities tracking, signaling systems. In addition, the guards had the right to shoot to kill if the border violators did not stop after warning shots.

The heavily guarded "no man's land" between the wall and West Berlin came to be called the "death strip".

There were eight border crossings, or checkpoints between East and West Berlin, where West Germans and tourists could visit East Germany.

Fragment Berlin Wall

The undestroyed section of the Berlin Wall is located on Bernauer Strasse (Bernauer Straße) - the street that divided the lives of Berliners in two. At one time, this border, equipped and fortified with the latest technology, ran along it. In the German Democratic Republic, it was officially called the Anti-Fascist Defensive Wall. In the west with light hand The then Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Willy Brandt, called it none other than the "Shameful Wall", and also quite officially. Today, one can’t even believe that the cordon between the two states could be exactly like that - cutting to the quick: the houses on Bernauer Strasse belonged to the GDR, and the sidewalk in front of them belonged to West Berlin.

The Berlin Wall was and is perceived throughout the world as the ugliest manifestation of the Cold War. The Germans themselves associate it not only with the division, but also with the unification of Germany. A unique East Side Gallery subsequently appeared on the surviving section of this sinister border, attracting the attention of not only art connoisseurs, but also all freedom-loving citizens for whom democratic values ​​are not just beautiful words but a state of mind. A separate attraction on the former border is Checkpoint Charlie - the most famous of the three checkpoints on Friedrichstrasse, which now houses the Berlin Wall Museum.

There are probably not many places in the world where you can literally touch history with your own hands, and the Berlin Wall is one of them. This former border for many years, it literally cut the million-strong metropolis in two, not only along the streets and the Spree River, but also along residential areas. Not to mention families divided, shattered human destinies and the taken lives of innocent people who, in desperation, dared to cross it illegally. So this place in the German capital is more than unique and worth seeing with your own eyes at least once.

What preceded the construction

At the time of the appearance of the wall, the two Germanys, the FRG and the GDR, were still very young formations and there was no clearly defined border between them on the ground. The same was observed in Berlin, the division of which into eastern and western parts was a fact more legal than real. Such transparency led to conflicts at the political level and a massive drain of specialists from the Soviet zone of occupation to the West. And this is not surprising: after all, in the Federal Republic they paid more, so the East Germans (Ossies) preferred to work there and simply fled from the “socialist paradise”. At the same time, both states that emerged on the territory of the former Reich after the Second World War, to put it mildly, were not friends with each other, which led to a serious aggravation of the situation around the once common capital - Berlin.

In total, during the existence of both Germanys, several so-called Berlin crises took place. The first two happened in 1948-1949 and 1953. The third broke out in 1958 and lasted three years: it was he who turned out to be especially intense. By this point, the eastern districts of Berlin, while legally remaining under Soviet occupation, were in fact controlled by the GDR. The rest of the city was both de jure and de facto ruled by the Americans, British and French. The Soviet Union demanded the status of a free city for West Berlin. Allies by anti-Hitler coalition these demands were rejected, fearing that the enclave might later be annexed to the GDR and there was nothing they could do.

The situation was negatively affected by distortions in economic policy conducted by the government of the German Democratic Republic headed by Walter Ulbricht. It sought to "catch up and overtake" the FRG and, it seems, was ready to sacrifice anything in order to achieve the goal. Following the example of the USSR, collective farms were forcibly created in the agricultural sector, and labor standards were increased for workers in cities. However, low wages and a generally low standard of living forced East Germans to look for a better life in the West, and people fled en masse. In 1960 alone, about 400,000 people left their homeland. The leadership was well aware that if this process is not stopped, then the young state will order to live long.

What to do in such a difficult situation? Really racked their brains over this high level: On August 3, 1961, the first persons of the countries that were part of Warsaw Pact. President Ulbricht believed that closing the border with West Berlin the only way out. The Allies did not object, but had little idea how to put it into practice. Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, proposed two options. The first, the air barrier, was ultimately rejected by the negotiators because it was fraught with problems on the international arena, and above all, complications with the United States. The second remained - a wall that would divide Berlin in two. On it and decided to stop.

Construction of the Berlin Wall

The appearance of a physical border between both parts of Berlin came as a complete surprise to the population. It all started on the night of August 13, 1961, when the troops of the GDR were drawn to the conditional dividing line. They promptly, with the help of barbed wire, closed all sections of the border within the city limits. The Berliners, who had gathered the next morning on both sides of it, were ordered by the military to disperse, but the people did not listen to them. It is not known what this spontaneous rally would have grown into if it were not for water cannons driven by the authorities, with which they hit the crowd, dispersing it in less than an hour.

Within two days, the servicemen, together with the workers' squads and the police, surrounded the entire western zone with barbed wire. About 200 streets were blocked, with a dozen trams and several lines of the Berlin metro. In places adjacent to the new border, telephone communications and power lines were cut off. At the same time, the water and sewer pipes that ran here were drowned out. Then the construction of the Berlin Wall began, which lasted until the first half of the 70s. During this time, the concrete border acquired its ominous appearance. High-rise buildings adjoined it, where, of course, it was no longer possible to live, so the owners of the apartments were relocated, and the windows overlooking the side of the “enemy” were bricked up. Potsdamer Platz turned out to be closed to the public as well, which in an instant became a border area.

It is interesting that the Brandenburg Gate appeared on the way of the odious building - business card Berlin and one of the symbols of all Germany. But she could not become an obstacle to construction. The authorities did not think long and decided ... to enclose them with a wall, and from all sides. No sooner said than done: as a result, residents of not only the western part of the city, but also the capital of the GDR could not even approach the gates, let alone pass through them. So the famous tourist attraction was sacrificed to political confrontation and closed to the public until 1990.

What did the odious border look like?

The border, which could only be compared to a fortress gate, was more than just a wall. It was a complex structure consisting of a concrete structure itself (length - 106 km, height on average 3.6 m), as well as two types of fences. The first one is made of metal mesh (66.5 km), the second one is made of barbed wire (127.5 km), stretched over the wall through which voltage was applied. When trying to penetrate through it, flares were fired, and the border guards immediately went to the place of the illegal crossing of the Berlin Wall. Meeting with them, as you understand, turned into big troubles for violators.

The "shameful wall" stretched for as much as 155 km, of which 43.1 km fell on the city limits. The border was also fortified with a system of earthen ditches, stretching for 105.5 km. On the separate sections there were anti-tank fortifications and strips studded with metal spikes, which were called "Stalin's lawns." In addition, along the perimeter of the ominous cordon there were 302 watchtowers and other border structures (there were no fences except in places where the cordon ran along the Spree). Along it, the authorities equipped a special zone with warning signs, where it was strictly forbidden to be.

Fall and collapse of the wall

In June 1987, Ronald Reagan, the President of the United States, took part in the celebrations in honor of the 750th anniversary of Berlin. It was at the Brandenburg Gate that he delivered his famous speech with the words addressed to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU: “Mr. Gorbachev, open these gates! Mr. Gorbachev, destroy this wall!” It is difficult to say whether the American leader believed that his Soviet counterpart was listening to his call - most likely not. Another thing is obvious: neither the head of the White House, nor the owner of the Kremlin at that time even imagined that the ominous border would not be standing for long ...

In the fall of the Berlin Wall, which another American president, John F. Kennedy, called "a slap in the face of all mankind," Hungary played an unexpected role. In May 1989, the authorities of this country, thanks to perestroika in the USSR, no longer afraid of their "big brother", decided to raise the "iron curtain" on the cordon with Austria. The citizens of East Germany needed only this, and they rushed en masse to neighboring Czechoslovakia and Poland. The goal is to get from these countries first to Hungary, and from there, in transit through Austria, to get to Germany. As in the early 1960s, the leadership of the GDR could not contain this flow and no longer controlled the situation. In addition, mass demonstrations began in the republic: people demanded a better life and civil liberties.

After the resignation of the long-term leader Erich Honecker and those close to him, the outflow of people to the West became even larger, and this circumstance only emphasized the senselessness of the existence of the Berlin Wall. On November 9, 1989, it was announced on television that the Politburo of the SED Central Committee had decided to lift restrictions on crossing the border with West Berlin and the FRG. The Ossi did not wait for the new rules to come into force, and in the evening of the same day they rushed to the sinister structure. The border guards tried to push back the crowd with the help of an already tested means - water cannons, but in the end they gave in to pressure and opened the border. On the other side of it, people also gathered, rushing to East Berlin. Inhabitants divided city hugged each other, laughed and cried with happiness - for the first time in thirty years!

The date of December 22, 1989 became significant: on that memorable day, the Brandenburg Gate was opened for passage. As for the Berlin Wall itself, it still stood in its original place, but little was left of its former intimidating appearance. In places it was already broken, in places it was painted with a lot of graffiti. People put drawings on it and left inscriptions. Not only tourists, but also the townspeople themselves could not deny themselves the desire to break off at least one piece from the wall - as a keepsake, realizing that this is not just a souvenir, but a priceless historical artifact. Moreover, soon the wall was completely demolished, this happened a few months after the unification of the FRG and the GDR into single state held on the night of October 3, 1990.

Berlin Wall today

Such an object as the Berlin Wall, having ceased to exist physically, still could not disappear without a trace. She left a bad memory that is unlikely to be erased from the public consciousness. And it is hardly worth forgetting such sad lessons of history that are needed in order to prevent this from happening in the future. This border not only divided the whole city alive - it became a place sprinkled with the blood of innocent people who desperately tried to escape from the totalitarian state, but died while crossing it. Exact amount casualties are still unknown. According to the official statistics of the former GDR, there were 125 of them. A number of other sources cite the following figure: 192 people. However, there is every reason to believe that these data are clearly underestimated. According to some media sources referring to the archives of the Stasi (East German secret police), the death toll is 1245 people.

Innocent victims of political confrontation dedicated most of memorial complex"Berlin Wall", opened on May 21, 2010, which was called just that - "Window of Memory". Made of rusted steel, the monument weighs about a ton. It has several rows of black-and-white photographs of the dead. Some found their death by jumping from the windows of houses on Bernauer Strasse - the same ones that were later bricked up. Others died while trying to cross from East Berlin to the western part of the city. The memorial, located on Bernauer Straße, was completed in 2012 and covers an area of ​​4 hectares. The Chapel of Reconciliation, erected back in 2000 on the site of the church of the same name, which was blown up in 1985, also became part of it. The construction of the complex - initiated by the pastor of the Evangelical Church Manfred Fischer - cost the city treasury 28 million euros. But is historical memory can be measured in money? Commemorative plaque at the site of the Berlin Wall

The surviving fragment of the Berlin Wall with a length of 1316 meters has been a “living” reminder of the tragic times of separation and confrontation all these years. When the border embodied in concrete fell, artists from all over the world rushed here, inspired by the spirit of freedom. They painted the rest of the wall with their own paintings. So unexpectedly and completely spontaneously arose a whole art Gallery under open sky, called East Side Gallery (East Side), which translates as "East Side Gallery". The result of spontaneous creativity was the appearance of 106 paintings, united by the theme of the political detente of 1989-1990 in East Germany. The most famous and recognizable work was a fresco made by our compatriot Dmitry Vrubel. The artist captures the famous kiss in the form of graffiti Secretary General Central Committee of the CPSU Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev and First Secretary of the Central Committee of the SED Erich Honecker.

Separately, it should be said about the former Checkpoint Charlie checkpoint (Checkpoint Charlie) on Friedrichstrasse Street, the most famous of the three checkpoints under the control of the Americans. Only dignitaries could cross the border through Checkpoint Charlie. Attempts by ordinary Germans to illegally penetrate from here to West Berlin were brutally suppressed by the border guards of the GDR, without warning, shooting to kill each violator.

At the aforementioned border point, there is now the Berlin Wall Museum, among the exhibits of which are various equipment and devices with which the inhabitants of the "socialist paradise" tried to escape into "decaying capitalism." These are parachutes, and paragliders, and small submarines, and even armored vehicles and Balloons. The collection contains a lot of photographs depicting watchtowers, bunkers, technical means of warning and much more, for which the Berlin Wall has become infamous throughout the civilized world. Relatives of Berliners who died trying to cross the wall often come here.

One of the popular expositions is the Soviet and american soldiers, whose portraits are placed in light boxes (author - artist Frank Thiel). Another famous exposition - "From Gandhi to Walesa" - is dedicated to the theme of man's struggle for his civil rights, but only by peaceful means, without violence and bloodshed. The open-air exposition tells about the history of the Checkpoint Charlie checkpoint itself: comments on photographic materials are available both in German and in Russian. The museum will also show tourists a documentary film that tells about the stages of destruction of this terrible border, which seemed to exist forever.

How to get there

Considering that the Berlin Wall stretched for several tens of kilometers within the city, it does not have an address in the usual sense.

The surviving fragments of this engineered concrete structure are scattered in various areas along its entire perimeter. You can get to the most preserved and significant sections of the legendary border by metro, reaching the Niederkirchenstracce and Warschauer Straße stations.

The official website of the Berlin Wall memorial complex: www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de. Materials are duplicated in three languages: German, English and French.

The fall of the Berlin Wall united not only one people together, but also families separated by borders. This event marked the unification of the nation. The slogans at the demonstrations were: "We are one people." The year of the fall of the Berlin Wall is considered to be the year of the beginning of a new life in Germany.

Berlin Wall

The fall of the Berlin Wall, whose construction began in 1961, symbolized the end of the Cold War. During the construction, wire fences were first stretched, which later grew into a 5-meter concrete fortification, supplemented by watchtowers and barbed wire. The main purpose of the wall is to reduce refugees from the GDR to (before that, 2 million people had already managed to get over). The wall stretched for several hundred kilometers. The indignation of the FRG and the GDR was transferred to Western countries, but no protests and rallies could influence the decision to install a fence.

28 years behind the fence

It stood for a little more than a quarter of a century - 28 years. During this time, three generations were born. Of course, many were unhappy with this state of affairs. People aspired to a new life, from which they were separated by a wall. One can only imagine what they felt for her - hatred, contempt. The inhabitants were imprisoned, as if in a cage, and they tried to escape to the west of the country. However, according to official figures, about 700 people were shot dead in the process. And these are just documented cases. Today, you can also visit the Berlin Wall Museum, which keeps stories of the tricks people had to resort to in order to overcome it. For example, one child was literally catapulted by his parents through the fence. One family was transported by balloon.

Fall of the Berlin Wall - 1989

The communist regime of the GDR fell. It was followed by the fall of the Berlin Wall, the date of this high-profile incident is 1989, November 9th. These events immediately provoked a reaction from the people. And joyful Berliners began to destroy the wall. Very soon most of pieces became souvenirs. November 9 is also called the "Festival of all Germans". The fall of the Berlin Wall was one of the most notorious events of the 20th century and was taken as a sign. In the same 1989, no one knew yet what course of events was prepared by fate. (leader of the GDR) at the beginning of the year claimed that the wall would stand for at least another half a century, or even a whole century. The opinion that it is indestructible dominated both among the ruling circles and among ordinary residents. However, May of that year showed the opposite.

The fall of the Berlin Wall - how it happened

Hungary removed its “wall” with Austria, and therefore there was no point in the Berlin Wall. According to eyewitnesses, even a few hours before the fall, many still did not suspect what would happen. A huge mass of people, when the news about the simplification of the access control reached her, moved to the wall. The border guards on duty, who did not have an order for precise actions in this situation, made an attempt to push the people back. But the pressure of the inhabitants was so great that they had no choice but to open the border. On this day, thousands of West Berliners came out to meet the East Berliners to meet them and congratulate them on their “liberation”. November 9 was indeed a national holiday.

15th anniversary of destruction

In 2004, marking the 15th anniversary of the destruction of the Cold War symbol, a large-scale ceremony dedicated to the opening of the Berlin Wall monument was held in the German capital. It is the restored part of the former fence, but now its length is only a few hundred meters. The monument is located where there used to be a checkpoint called "Charlie", which served as the main connection between the two parts of the city. Here you can also see 1065 crosses erected in memory of those who were killed from 1961 to 1989 for trying to escape from East Germany. However, there is no exact information about the number of those killed, since different resources report completely different data.

25th anniversary

On November 9, 2014, the people of Germany celebrated the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. holiday event visited by German President and Chancellor Angela Merkel. Foreign guests also visited it, including Mikhail Gorbachev ( ex-president USSR). On the same day, a concert and a solemn meeting took place in the Konzerthaus hall, which was also attended by the President and the Federal Chancellor. Mikhail Gorbachev expressed his opinion on the events held, saying that Berlin is saying goodbye to the wall, because ahead new life and history. On the occasion of the holiday, an installation of 6880 luminous balls was installed. In the evening, they, filled with gel, flew away into the darkness of the night, being a symbol of the destruction of the barrier and separation.

Europe's reaction

The fall of the Berlin Wall became an event that the whole world was talking about. A large number of historians argue that the country would have come to unity, if at the end of the 80s, as it happened, then a little later. But this process was inevitable. Before that, there were lengthy negotiations. By the way, Mikhail Gorbachev, who advocated the unity of Germany, also played a role (for which he was awarded Nobel Prize peace). Although some assessed these events from a different point of view - as a loss of geopolitical influence. Despite this, Moscow has demonstrated that it can be trusted to negotiate complex and rather fundamental issues. It is worth noting that some European leaders were against the reunification of Germany, for example, Margaret Thatcher (British Prime Minister) and (French President). Germany in their eyes was a political and economic competitor, as well as an aggressor and military adversary. They were worried about reunion German people, and Margaret Thatcher even tried to convince Mikhail Gorbachev to retreat from his position, but he was adamant. Some European leaders saw Germany as a future enemy and frankly feared him.

End of the Cold War?

After November, the wall was still standing (it was not completely destroyed). And in the mid-nineties, it was decided to demolish it. Only a small "segment" was left intact in memory of the past. The world community perceived the day of the fall of the Berlin Wall as a connection not only for Germany. And all of Europe.

Putin, while still an employee of the KGB representative office in the GDR, supported the fall of the Berlin Wall, as well as the unification of Germany. He also starred in documentary dedicated to this event, the premiere of which could be seen on the 20th anniversary of the reunification of the German people. By the way, it was he who persuaded the demonstrators not to smash the building of the KGB representative office. Putin V.V. was not invited to the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the collapse of the wall (Medvedev D.A. was present at the 20th anniversary) - after the "Ukrainian events" many world leaders, like Angela Merkel, who acted as the hostess of the meeting, considered his presence inappropriate.

The fall of the Berlin Wall was a good sign for the whole world. However, unfortunately, history shows that fraternal peoples can be protected from each other even without tangible walls. "Cold wars" exist between states in the 21st century.

After the end of the Second World War, Berlin was occupied by four countries: the USA, Great Britain, France and the USSR. And since, after the victory over the common enemy, the confrontation between the USSR and the NATO bloc began to grow from new force, then soon Germany, and Berlin in particular, was divided into two camps, the socialist GDR (German Democratic Republic) and the democratic FRG (Federal Republic of Germany). This is how Berlin became bipolar. It is worth noting that until 1961, movement between the two states was practically free and economical Germans managed to get free Soviet education in the GDR, but work in the western part of the country.

The lack of a clear physical border between the zones led to frequent conflicts, smuggling of goods and a massive drain of specialists in Germany. Only for the period from January 1 to August 13, 1961, 207 thousand specialists left the GDR. The authorities claimed that the annual economic damage from this was 2.5 billion marks.

The construction of the Berlin Wall was preceded by a serious aggravation of the political situation around Berlin, since both sides of the conflict (NATO and the USSR) claimed the city as part of the newly formed states. In August 1960, the government of the GDR put into effect restrictions on visits by citizens of the FRG to East Berlin, citing the need to stop their "Western propaganda". In response, all trade relations between the FRG and the GDR were severed, and both sides of the conflict and their allies began to build up their military presence in the region.

In the context of the aggravation of the situation around Berlin, the leaders of the GDR and the USSR held an emergency meeting, at which they decided to close the border. On August 13, 1961, the construction of the wall began. In the first hour of the night, troops were brought up to the border area between West and East Berlin, which for several hours completely blocked all sections of the border located within the city. By August 15, the entire western zone was surrounded by barbed wire, and the actual construction of the wall began. On the same day, four lines of the Berlin underground and some lines of the city railway. Potsdamer Platz was also closed, as it was located in the border area. Many adjacent to future border buildings and houses were evicted. The windows overlooking West Berlin were bricked up, and later, during the reconstruction, the walls were completely demolished.

Construction and refurbishment of the wall continued from 1962 to 1975. By 1975, it had acquired its final form, turning into a complex engineering structure under the name Grenzmauer-75. The wall consisted of concrete segments 3.60 m high, equipped on top with almost impenetrable cylindrical barriers. If necessary, the wall could be increased in height. In addition to the wall itself, new watchtowers and structures for border guards were erected, the number of street lighting facilities was increased, a complex system barriers. From the side of East Berlin, there was a special forbidden zone along the wall with warning signs, after the wall there were rows of anti-tank hedgehogs, or a strip dotted with metal spikes, nicknamed "Stalin's lawn", followed by a metal mesh with barbed wire and signal rockets.

When trying to break through or overcome this grid, flares were fired, notifying the border guards of the GDR about the violation. Next was the road along which the patrols of the border guards moved, after it there was a regularly leveled wide strip of sand to detect traces, followed by the wall described above separating West Berlin. Toward the end of the 80s, it was also planned to install video cameras, motion sensors and even weapons with a remote control system.

By the way, the wall was not insurmountable, only according to official information in the period from August 13, 1961 to November 9, 1989, 5075 successful escapes to West Berlin or Germany were made, including 574 cases of desertion.

The GDR authorities practiced the release of their subjects for money. From 1964 to 1989, they released 249,000 people to the West, including 34,000 political prisoners, receiving $2.7 billion from the FRG.

Not without casualties, according to the GDR government, 125 people died while trying to cross the Berlin Wall, more than 3,000 were detained. The last dead violator was Chris Geffroy, who was killed while trying to illegally cross the border on February 6, 1989.

On June 12, 1987, US President Ronald Reagan, speaking at the Brandenburg Gate in honor of the 750th anniversary of Berlin, called on General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Mikhail Gorbachev to demolish the Wall, thus symbolizing the desire of the Soviet leadership for change. Gorbachev heeded Reagan's request... 2 years later.

At 7:34 p.m. on November 9, 1989, Mayor of East Berlin Günther Schabowski announced on live television the decision of the authorities to open the checkpoint. When asked by a shocked journalist when it would come into force, he replied: "Immediately."

Over the next three days, more than 3 million people visited the West. The Berlin Wall was still standing, but only as a symbol of the recent past. It was smashed, painted with numerous graffiti, drawings and inscriptions, Berliners and visitors to the city tried to take away the pieces that had been beaten off from the once powerful structure as a keepsake. In October 1990, the entry of the lands of the former GDR into the FRG followed, and the Berlin Wall was demolished in a few months. It was decided to preserve only small parts of it as a monument for future generations.

This article will consider the Berlin Wall. The history of the creation and destruction of this complex illustrates the confrontation between the superpowers and is the embodiment of the Cold War.

You will learn not only the reasons for the appearance of this multi-kilometer monster, but also get acquainted with interesting facts associated with the existence and fall of the Anti-Fascist Defensive Wall.

Germany after World War II

Before understanding who built the Berlin Wall, we should talk about the current situation in the state at that time.

After the defeat in World War II, Germany was under the occupation of four states. Its western part was occupied by the troops of Great Britain, the USA and France, and the five eastern lands were controlled by the Soviet Union.

Next, we will talk about how the situation gradually heated up during the Cold War. We will also discuss why the development of the two states based in the western and eastern zones of influence followed completely different paths.

GDR

In October 1949, the German Democratic Republic was established. It was formed almost six months after the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The GDR occupied the territory of five lands that were under Soviet occupation. These included Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Brandenburg, Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Subsequently, the history of the Berlin Wall will illustrate the gulf that can form between two warring camps. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, West Berlin differed from East Berlin in the same way that London of that time differed from Tehran or Seoul from Pyongyang.

Germany

In May 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was formed. The Berlin Wall in twelve years will separate it from eastern neighbor. In the meantime, the state is rapidly recovering with the help of countries whose troops were on its territory.

So, the former French, American and British occupation zones, four years after the end of the Second World War, turn into the Federal Republic of Germany. Since the division between the two parts of Germany passed through Berlin, Bonn became the capital of the new state.

However, later this country becomes the subject of a dispute between the socialist bloc and the capitalist West. In 1952, Joseph Stalin proposes the demilitarization of the FRG and its subsequent existence as a weak but unified state.

The United States rejects the project and, with the help of the Marshall Plan, turns West Germany into a rapidly developing country. In fifteen years, starting from 1950, there is a powerful boom, which in historiography is called the "economic miracle".
But the confrontation between the blocks continues.

1961

After some "thaw" in cold war, the confrontation begins again. Another reason was shot down over the territory Soviet Union American spy plane.

Another conflict broke out, the result of which was the Berlin Wall. The year of erection of this monument to perseverance and stupidity is 1961, but in fact it has existed for a long time, even if not in its material incarnation.

So, the Stalin period led to a large-scale arms race, which temporarily stopped with the mutual invention of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Now, in the event of war, no superpower had nuclear superiority.
Since the Korean conflict, tensions have risen again. The peak moments were the Berlin and Caribbean crises. In the framework of the article, we are interested in the first one. It took place in August 1961, and the result was the creation of the Berlin Wall.

After the Second World War, as we have already mentioned, Germany was divided into two states - capitalist and socialist. During a period of particular heat of passion, in 1961, Khrushchev transferred control of the occupied sector of Berlin to the GDR. Part of the city, which belonged to the FRG, was blockaded by the United States and its allies.

Nikita Sergeevich's ultimatum concerned West Berlin. The leader of the Soviet people demanded its demilitarization. Western opponents of the socialist bloc responded with disagreement.

The situation had been for several years in what seemed to be a defuse situation. However, the incident with the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft put an end to the possibility of mitigating the confrontation.

The result was 1,500 additional US troops in West Berlin and the construction of a wall stretching across the entire city and even beyond it, from the GDR.

wall construction

So, the Berlin Wall was built on the border of the two states. The history of the creation and destruction of this monument to stubbornness will be discussed further.

In 1961, in two days (from August 13 to 15), barbed wire was stretched, suddenly dividing not only the country, but also the families and destinies of ordinary people. This was followed by a lengthy construction, which ended only in 1975.

In total, this shaft lasted twenty-eight years. At the final stage (in 1989), the complex included a concrete wall about three and a half meters high and over a hundred kilometers long. In addition, it included sixty-six kilometers of metal mesh, more than one hundred and twenty kilometers of signal electric fencing and one hundred and five kilometers of ditches.

Also, the structure was equipped with anti-tank fortifications, border buildings, including three hundred towers, as well as a control and trace strip, the sand of which was constantly leveled.

In this way, maximum length The Berlin Wall, according to historians, was more than one hundred and fifty-five kilometers long.

It has been reconstructed several times. The most extensive work was carried out in 1975. Notably, the only gaps were at checkpoints and rivers. At first, they were often used by the most daring and desperate emigrants "to the capitalist world."

Border crossing

In the morning, the eyes of those who do not expect anything civilians capital of the GDR opened the Berlin Wall. The history of the creation and destruction of this complex clearly shows real face opposing states. Millions of families were divided overnight.

However, the construction of the rampart did not prevent further emigration from the territory of East Germany. People made their way through the rivers and dug. On average (before the erection of the fence), every day from the GDR to the FRG traveled along different reasons about half a million people. And in the twenty-eight years since the wall was built, only 5,075 successful illegal crossings have been made.

For this, waterways, tunnels (145 meters underground), balloons and hang gliders, rams in the form of cars and bulldozers were used, they even moved along a rope between buildings.

was interesting next feature. People got free education in the socialist part of Germany, and began to work in Germany, because there were higher salaries.

Thus, the length of the Berlin Wall allowed young people to trace its deserted sections and make escapes. For pensioners, there were no obstacles in crossing the checkpoints.

Another opportunity to get to the western part of the city was cooperation with the German lawyer Vogel. From 1964 to 1989, he signed contracts totaling $2.7 billion, buying a quarter of a million East Germans and political prisoners from the GDR government.

The sad fact is that when trying to escape, people were not only arrested, but also shot. Officially, 125 victims have been counted, unofficially this number is increasing many times.

US Presidential Statements

After Caribbean Crisis the intensity of passions gradually decreases and the crazy arms race stops. Since that time, some American presidents have begun to make attempts to Soviet leadership to negotiate and reach a settlement.

In this way, they tried to point out to those who built the Berlin Wall their erroneous behavior. The first of these speeches was the speech of John F. Kennedy in June 1963. The American President spoke before a large gathering near the Schöneberg City Hall.

Of this speech still remains famous phrase: "I am one of the Berliners." Distorting the translation, today it is often interpreted as saying by mistake: "I am a Berlin donut." In fact, every word of the speech was verified and learned, and the joke is based only on ignorance of the subtleties. German language audiences in other countries.

In this way, John F. Kennedy expressed support for the people of West Berlin.
Ronald Reagan was the second president to openly talk about the ill-fated fence. And his virtual opponent was Mikhail Gorbachev.

The Berlin Wall was the vestige of an unpleasant and outdated conflict.
Reagan told the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU that if the latter is looking for liberalization of relations and a happy future for socialist countries, he should come to Berlin and open the gates. "Tear down the wall, Mr. Gorbachev!"

Wall fall

Shortly after this speech, as a result of the procession of "perestroika and glasnost" through the countries of the socialist bloc, the Berlin Wall began to fall. The history of the creation and destruction of this fortification is considered in this article. Earlier we remembered about its construction and unpleasant consequences.

Now we will talk about the elimination of the monument to stupidity. After Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union, the Berlin Wall became. Previously, in 1961, this city was the cause of conflict on the path of socialism to the West, but now the wall interfered with the strengthening of friendship between the once warring blocs.

The first country to destroy its section of the wall was Hungary. In August 1989, near the town of Sopron, on the border of this state with Austria, there was a "European picnic". The foreign ministers of the two countries laid the foundation for the elimination of the fortification.

Further, the process could no longer be stopped. At first, the government of the German Democratic Republic refused to support this idea. However, after fifteen thousand East Germans crossed through the territory of Hungary to the Federal Republic of Germany in three days, the fortification became completely superfluous.

The Berlin Wall on the map runs from north to south, crossing the city of the same name. On the night of October 9-10, 1989, the border between the western and eastern parts of the German capital officially opens.

Wall in culture

In two years, starting in 2010, the Berlin Wall memorial complex was built. On the map, it occupies about four hectares. Twenty-eight million euros were invested to create the memorial.

The monument consists of the "Window of Memory" (in honor of the Germans who crashed while jumping from East German windows onto the pavement of Bernauer Straße, which was already in the Federal Republic of Germany). In addition, the complex includes the Chapel of Reconciliation.

But the Berlin Wall is not only famous for this in culture. The photo clearly illustrates what is probably the largest open-air graffiti gallery in history. If it was impossible to approach the fortification from the east, then the western side is all decorated with highly artistic drawings of street craftsmen.

In addition, the theme of the "valve of dictatorship" can be traced in many songs, literary works, movies and computer games. For example, the mood of the night of October 9, 1989 is dedicated to the song “Wind of Change” by the Scorpions, the film “Goodbye, Lenin!” Wolfgang Becker. And one of the maps in Call of Duty: Black Ops was created to commemorate the events at Checkpoint Charlie.

Data

The value cannot be overestimated. This fencing of the totalitarian regime was perceived by the civilian population with unambiguous hostility, although over time the majority came to terms with the existing situation.

Interestingly, in the early years, the most frequent defectors were East German soldiers guarding the wall. And there were neither more nor less of them - eleven thousand composition.

The Berlin Wall was especially beautiful on the day of the twenty-fifth anniversary of its liquidation. The photo illustrates a view of the illumination from a height. The two Bauder brothers were the authors of the project, which consisted of creating a continuous strip of luminous lanterns along the entire length of the former wall.

Judging by the polls, they were satisfied with the fall of the shaft more residents GDR than FRG. Although in the early years there was a huge flow in both directions. East Germans abandoned their apartments and went to a richer and more socially protected Germany. And enterprising people from the FRG strove for the cheap GDR, especially since there was a lot of abandoned housing there.

During the years of the Berlin Wall in the east, the mark was worth six times less than in the west.

In each box with the World in Conflict video game ( Collector's Edition) lay a piece off the wall with a certificate of authenticity.

So, in this article, we got acquainted with the manifestation of the economic, political and ideological division of the world in the second half of the twentieth century.

Good luck, dear readers!