The Rise and Fall of the Iron Curtain: The Berlin Wall
| The Rise and Fall of the “Iron Curtain” | Research paper on the Berlin Wall | | By: Chelsea A. Joffrion | 5/10/2012 |
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“Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was civis Romanus sum ["I am a Roman citizen"]. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner!"... All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner!” ~ John F. Kennedy
(Introduction)
The Berlin Wall was built in the dead of the night on August 13, 1961 and stood for about 28 years until the Wall finally came down on November 9, 1989. The history behind the creation and destruction of the Berlin Wall is truly tragic. It was built due to the fact that the relationship between the Soviet Union and the other three Allies was crumbling over different views and once World War II was finally over, it was clearly evident that they weren’t going to be able to resolve their issues. The Allies (Western Germany) wanted to help fix Germany after being conquered and turn it into a democracy, but The Soviet Union (East Germany) disagreed and wanted to make Germany Communist. Neither side wanted to budge with their views so each side continued life under their completely different controls with the split being within Berlin. While West Germany was prospering, East Germany was falling apart. They could of been compared as night and day from each other. At a certain point, East Germany was losing so many people to West Germany, that in the middle of the night, The Soviet Union built a “rough draft” of the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was a split between East (Communist) and West (Democratic) Germany, but its destruction was almost as sudden as its creation.
(Body)
(Why the Berlin Wall was built) Before the Wall was built, people from either side could “freely” cross the boundaries every day for work or to just visit, but on August 13, 1961, that all changed. A quote
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“Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was civis Romanus sum ["I am a Roman citizen"]. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner!"... All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner!” ~ John F. Kennedy
(Introduction)
The Berlin Wall was built in the dead of the night on August 13, 1961 and stood for about 28 years until the Wall finally came down on November 9, 1989. The history behind the creation and destruction of the Berlin Wall is truly tragic. It was built due to the fact that the relationship between the Soviet Union and the other three Allies was crumbling over different views and once World War II was finally over, it was clearly evident that they weren’t going to be able to resolve their issues. The Allies (Western Germany) wanted to help fix Germany after being conquered and turn it into a democracy, but The Soviet Union (East Germany) disagreed and wanted to make Germany Communist. Neither side wanted to budge with their views so each side continued life under their completely different controls with the split being within Berlin. While West Germany was prospering, East Germany was falling apart. They could of been compared as night and day from each other. At a certain point, East Germany was losing so many people to West Germany, that in the middle of the night, The Soviet Union built a “rough draft” of the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was a split between East (Communist) and West (Democratic) Germany, but its destruction was almost as sudden as its creation.
(Body)
(Why the Berlin Wall was built) Before the Wall was built, people from either side could “freely” cross the boundaries every day for work or to just visit, but on August 13, 1961, that all changed. A quote
Bibliography: Galante, P. (1965). The Berlin Wall. London: Arthur Baker Ltd.; 1St Edition edition (1965). -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. I got the quote from the video on this website: http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/The-Cold-War-in-Berlin.aspx