The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall: A Cold War Symbol of Communism vs. Democracy

Who built the Berlin wall? Why?

East Germany, keep East Berliners from escaping to the free West Berlin. Supported by USSR.

The Berlin Wall was built by the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), under the leadership of Communist Party Secretary Walter Ulbricht, which was supported by the Soviet Union. The wall was erected in August 1961, separating the communist-controlled Eastern sector of Berlin from the democratic-controlled Western sector.

The primary reason for the construction of the Berlin Wall was to prevent East Germans from fleeing to the West. The East German government saw the mass exodus of their citizens to the West as a threat to their existence and wanted to stop it. The construction of the wall was also a response to the allied powers’ decision to introduce a new currency (the Deutsche Mark) into West Berlin, which threatened to cripple the East German economy.

Thus, the Berlin Wall was built to serve as a physical barrier that would prevent people from fleeing to West Germany, as well as to symbolize the ideological and political divide between Western democracy and Eastern communism during the Cold War. The wall became a defining symbol of the Cold War until its collapse in 1989, as a result of political and social pressure from citizens in the East and West, as well as changes in the policies of Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

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