Two Germanies
By: Jasmine F. & Hannah B.
Define:
Germany split up into two parts east and west Germany. They split during the Cold War near the end.
Cause:
After the second war ended Germany was split up into different occupation zones. Each was under the control of United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union. The Americans French and British allowed their zone to be a single nation known as west Germany. The Soviet Union kept their zone under communist control an it was separate from west Germany. It became east Germany.
Characteristics:
- The west side of the Berlin wall was covered in graffiti. The East side was not.
- Approximately 250 people died trying to cross the Berlin Wall.
- For every five German soldiers who died in WWII, four of them died on the Eastern Front.
- Eighty percent of Soviet males born in 1923 didn’t survive WWII.
Significance:
Less than one year after the destruction of the Berlin Wall, East and West Germany come together on what is known as Unity Day. Since 1945, when Soviet forces occupied eastern Germany, and the United States and other Allied forces occupied the western half of the nation at the close of World War II, divided Germany had come to serve as one of the most enduring symbols of the Cold War.