OH+Research

Topic: Berlin Wall: Before and After Interview subject:  Joel Wallskog (Joey’s father)

With the Cold war continuing to drive fear into the United States and its citizens, Europe was also being terrorized by the Cold War as well. With the country of Germany split into different zones due to the Yalta Conference, tension grew. Because of this tension in such a restricted area, the Soviet Union separates it’s zone from the rest of the world. Also, they also blockaded the United State’s zone. This limited the supply lines from the United States.

 Later in 1961, the Soviet Union built a wall in which separated the zones. it became known as the Berlin Wall. East Germany was now separated from the West. With both capitalism and communism in a very confined space, tension grew. With passage from East to West Germany denied, people often tried to escape. Because of this, many people lost their lives to the Soviet Union’s power.  Due to the erosion of Soviet political power over East Europe, the Berlin Wall was overly criticized. On November 9, 1989 the government of East Germany announced that the Wall would no longer block the immigration and emigration of East germany citizens. People flooded the entrances to West Germany and even climbed the wall in order to escape East Germany. Throughout the next few weeks, many people took their souvenirs of the wall. The government later destroyed the Berlin Wall with industrial equipment.

The Berlin Wall led to German reunification, where East and West Germany became one country once again. People would refer to this as the turning point of their country’s history. The //Iron Curtain// soon began to dissolve. This process was greatly influenced by the Berlin Wall.

Sources:

Works Cited

ABC CLIO. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2012. <[|http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/‌Search/‌Display/‌260719?terms=Berlin+Wall]>.

“Berlin Wall.” Wikipedia. N.p., 16 May 2012. Web. 24 May 2012. <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/‌wiki/‌Berlin_Wall]>.

“The End of the Cold War (Overview).” ABC CLIO. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2012. <[|http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/‌Topics/‌Display/‌1187888?cid=41&terms=Berlin+Wall]>. Used for impact of Berlin Wall.