The Fall of the Berlin Wall
By: Seham and Carolina.
What is The Berlin Wall?
The Berlin Wall was a border that served as a division between East and West Germany and Germany's capital city, Berlin, so it physically divided the city in half, from 1961 to 1989.
The Berlin Wall was officially referred to as the "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart".
The West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the "Wall of Shame"
Night Crossing 1982 TV Spot
Who built it and why?
It was built by the German Democratic Republic, the official purpose of The Berlin Wall was to keep Western "fascists" from entering East Germany and undermining the socialist state, but it primarily served the objective of stemming mass defections from East to West.
German Democratic Republic
Federal Republic of Germany
Effects of The Berlin Wall.
The wall especially affected the people in Germany because they could not leave or come into East or West Germany, so:
- About 160 people were shot and killed in the Death Strip while trying to scape.
- Families were separated.
- People lost their jobs.
- People protested against the wall.
When did it fall?
The Berlin Wall stood until November 9, 1989, when the head of the East German Communist Party announced that citizens of the GDR could cross the border whenever they pleased. That night some crossed freely into West Berlin, while others brought hammers and picks and began to chip away at the wall itself.
Nov. 10, 1989: Celebration at the Berlin Wall
Effects of the Fall of The Berlin Wall.
- It reunited Germany.
- The Soviet Union collapsed.
- Symbolizes the end of the Cold War.
The Fall of The Berlin Wall also made a change in global affairs.
- Dozens of new nations were born.
Reunification of Germany.
The German reunification was on 3 October 1990, when East Germany again became a part of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).
Oppositions.
In September 1989, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher pleaded with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev not to let the Berlin Wall fall and confided that she wanted the Soviet leader to do what he could to stop it.
"We do not want a united Germany. This would lead to a change to postwar borders and we cannot allow that because such a development would undermine the stability of the whole international situation and could endanger our security", Thatcher told Gorbachev.
Margaret Thatcher
British Prime Minister
Mikhail Gorbachev
President of the Soviet Union.