The Berlin Wall Was Built By The Communist Regime To Restrain East German Citizens

Berlin Wall in 1975 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - That night, August 13, 59 years ago or in 1961, East German soldiers were busy laying bricks and piercing barbed wire. They are currently creating a barrier between East Berlin which is controlled by the socialist regime of the Soviet Union and West Berlin which has democratic principles. The main objective of building the embryo of the Berlin Wall was to stem the mass defections from East to West.

Launching History, after World War II, the defeated Germany was divided into the occupation zones of the Soviet Union, America, Britain and France. The city of Berlin, although technically a part of the Soviet Union zone. After a massive Allied airlift in June 1948, the Soviet Union failed to block West Berlin. Therefore the eastern part was drawn even closer to Soviet territory.

East Germany saw between 2.5 million and 3 million of its citizens go to West Germany in search of a better life. In 1961, about 1,000 East Germans - including skilled workers, professionals and intellectuals - decided to move to West Germany every day.

In August, Walter Ulbricht, leader of the Communist East Germany, received permission from the Prime Minister of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchev to begin closing all access between East and West Berlin. Soldiers began building the border at night, laying more than 150 km of barbed wire on the border.

The wire was then replaced by a concrete wall as high as 2 meters with a length of about 155 km. The wall is also equipped with guard towers, machine gun posts and spotlights. East German officers known as Volkspolizei patrolled the Berlin Wall day and night.

The next morning, not a few Berliners were surprised to find themselves suddenly separated from their friends and even their families. Residents led by Berlin Mayor Willi Brandt staged a demonstration against the construction of the wall. He criticized western democracies especially the US for failing to take a stand against the construction of the wall.

But the US President at that time, John F. Kennedy, said publicly that the US can only really help the citizens of West Berlin and West Germany. He said any action on behalf of East Germany would only result in failure.

Cold War Icons

The Berlin Wall is one of the most powerful and iconic symbols of the Cold War. In June 1963, Kennedy gave his famous Ich bin ein Berliner speech in front of the wall.

The speech was made to celebrate West Berlin as a symbol of freedom and democracy in its fight against tyranny and oppression. In addition, Kennedy's narrative is widely considered to be the Cold War's speech and the most famous of the anti-communist speeches.

The height of the Berlin Wall was raised to 3.5 meters in 1970 in an attempt to stop fleeing people, which at that time occurred almost every day. From 1961 to 1989, a total of 5,000 East Germans fled, including those who failed to make an escape attempt. The high number of shooting of several people trying to flee increased the hatred of West Berliners towards the Berlin Wall.

Finally, in the late 1980s, East Germany, encouraged by the decline of the Soviet Union, began implementing a number of liberal reforms. On November 9, 1989, a crowd from East and West Germany gathered at the Berlin Wall. They were all busy climbing the wall and breaking it down. When this symbol of Cold War repression was crushed, East and West Germany became one nation again, signing the official agreement for unification on October 3, 1990.