Definition of Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was one of the most aggressive and embarrassing constructions of the 20th century. Its origins lead us to the end of the Second World War (in 1945) and the reprisals taken by the Allies (France, Great Britain, Russia and the United States) to take revenge for the disasters caused by the Nazism in the rest of Europe. The wall was erected in Berlin in 1961 and was intended to divide the city into two parts that would act as the spoils of war between the western allied countries and Russia (or Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, as it was called at that time). moment).

The Berlin Wall was built out of thick, hard concrete and took only fifteen days to complete. demonstrating in large part the urgency that the victorious nations had to seize the booty. In such a way, from the division that this wall generated, the one that at that time was the territory German in two: the Federal Republic German (or West Germany, under the power of the United States, Great Britain and France) and the

Democratic Republic German (or East Germany, dominated by the U.S.S.R.).

The wall became one of the hardest and most effective devices to separate a population that until now was the same. In addition to the high concrete walls, large sections of barbed wire were installed, as well as pits on both sides and an active military guard with the aim of limiting in every way the passage from one side to the other by the civilian people German. However, the ban did not always mean acceptance by the German people and many cases of escape and failed trespass attempts marked the history of the wall.

The separation generated by this wall caused a deep wound in modern Germany that, to this day, suffers the consequences. In this sense, the wall divided the country and also distanced one part from the other: while the western part fell under the power of the capitalism, of modernity and of a quality of life high-level, the eastern part remained under the ideology Communist, he became backward both socially and economically. This division is visible to this day in some respects. The Berlin Wall would be pulled down on November 9, 1989 and this event marked the completion of the Cold War, that phenomenon that kept both parties at odds and that had the city of Berlin as the maximum space for dispute.

Themes in Berlin Wall