Berlin Wall A Symbol of the Split of Berlin Essay

The aftershocks of World War II were seen all over the world, but they were perhaps most prevalent in the country that felt was the most primary cause of WWII and should receive the most punishment. This country was Germany and in order to immediately cut down their military strength, it was split into two halves, East Germany and West Germany. â€Å"The Soviet Union was granted control over East Germany, while the United States, Great Britain, and eventually France were given control of West Germany.† (â€Å"Soviets Blockade West Berlin†) Right around the middle of East Germany was the city of Berlin, which was at the time being controlled by the Soviet Union. Another measure was taken to cripple the military of Germany and that was to even further†¦show more content†¦In 1961, the first efforts to make the Berlin Wall were being made. The original wall took only two weeks to fully construct and it started out as a small fence covered with barbed wire but it g rew into something much larger than anyone could have anticipated. Overnight, families were separated from each other and many men in East Berlin lost jobs who could no longer freely travel to West Berlin. Soon, the wire fence was fortified with concrete and a second fence was later built almost a year later in June of 1962. Many people tried to escape unsuccessfully and the area between the two fences gained a reputation. This area that was located between the two walls was referred to as â€Å"The Death Strip† due to the many deaths that occurred in between them either by military personnel who were required to shoot on site or by fierce guard dogs who were allowed to kill anyone they saw. Although there were quite a few casualties a lot of people were making their way across the border still, so further fortifications were made to the walls. The culmination of five years of construction brought about the most complete wall yet called the Border Wall 75 which, as the name i mplies, was completed in 1975. â€Å"This wall was so massive that it had 45,000 sections of reinforced concrete that were each 4 feet in width and 12 feet in height weighing approximately 3 tons a piece.† (Rusk, 1983) The new modifications of the wall stretched for about 79 miles inShow MoreRelatedThe Berlin Wall : A Secret History960 Words   |  4 Pagesto the building of the Berlin Wall. So why had the Berlin Wall been allowed to last for twenty-eight years? During a search to find out more as to the reason for this lengthy existence, I came across the website for the magazine History Today, or www.historytoday.com. 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