Snippets from World History: Tearing down the wall...

For my first post i will focus on an event which signalled the end of the bipolar world. It was a symbol of defeat for communism and a victory for capitalism.
The Berlin wall is no more however throughout the cold war it was a testament to the acrimony and mistrust shared by the capitalistic west and the communist eastern Europe. Associated with it are tales of political intrigue, spy games, espionage, propaganda and defections. For the west Germans it was a barrier aimed at separating the German people while for the eastern German government it kept the fascist elements out.
By the end of the second world war Berlin was a city in ruins and divided into four occupation zones by the allied powers in line with the Potsdam conference which decided the fortunes of the defeated Nazi Germany. It was decided that the country would be divided into four occupation zones between the US, UK, France and USSR. Berlin the capital was to be divided among the victors according to the same formula although it was situated deep within the soviet held territory. By 1948 tensions between USSR and US were reaching new heights leading to blockage of all supplies to the West Berlin. In response the US and west European countries resupplied west Berlin through a massive airlift operation the situation was resolved a few months later. As the crisis ended Germany was divided into two states modeled on the political systems of their occupying forces. West Germany was a free market democracy while east Germany was a communist state. Fueled by massive amount of aid for rebuilding the 'bombed to stoneage' country through the Marshall plan, west Germany reached a high standard of living compared to the East which was run frugally much like other command economies. This led to people from East Germany move to the West to benefit from the more economic opportunities it presented. Also those who wished to escape the perceived sovietization of East Germany continued to defect to the West through Berlin which was at this point allowed freedom of movement. It become the choice spot for people of the eastern bloc to escape to the west.
By 1961 however the East German government had had enough. It was losing its most intelligent people to the west and such a situation could not be allowed to continue. On 13 August 1961 East Germany stopped all movement between the divided city and started erecting barriers , fences and barbed wire to stop the emigration of people to the west. The complete wall was built in phases beginning in 1961 with a fence, followed by an improved fence and finally the concrete wall which began in 1965. The final version of the wall was the most sophisticated one with the top of the wall lined with a smooth pipe to make it difficult to scale the wall. The wall itself was reinforced by mesh fencing, signal fencing, anti-vehicle trenches, razor wire, beds of nails under balconies hanging over the death strip. Additionally it had over 116 watch towers and 20 bunkers.
Throughout its history there were several high profile defection attempts from the east to the west. Some defection attempts failed with not so pleasant consequences for the defector. East German border guards were allowed to shoot defectors and they often used that right to deter possible defections. There were many ingenious ways thought up by people who wanted to defect. Driving through barriers, using sewers which predated the wall, flying an ultralight into west Berlin, jumping for apartment windows overhanging on west Berlin streets and countless others.
If however a defector was shot in the process of defecting then there was no way for the west German border guards to help that person no matter how close to the western side he was. The infamous case of 18 year old Peter Fecter who was shot by east German guards and bled to death in full view of the media.
By 1989 there was winds of change blowing in the eastern bloc and the once mighty Soviet Union was breathing its last. Many eastern bloc nations began their move towards democracy with Germans on both sides of the wall demanding an end to the wall. Waves and waves of east Germans defected to Austria through Hungary and Czechoslovakia while the rest demanded change. On 9th November 1989 the east German authorities opened its borders to the west for the first time in decades yielding to the intense pressure by million of east German protesters. Jubilant crowds of east Germans poured into west Berlin freely meeting their friends and families for the first time in years. In the following days people with sledgehammers came to the wall to demolish parts of it with the border guards on both sides looking on.
In the coming months East Germany first opened additional crossings between the east and the west and later abolished all restriction on travel for German citizens. Sections of the wall stood until most sections were removed by the military after the German unification in 1991.

Today only a few memorial pieces of the wall exist as a reminder of the days gone by when Berlin was a divided city. Approximately 200 people lost their lives on this frontier of the cold war. The fall of the Berlin wall was the first blow to the iron curtain and within a few years communism as a political force was as dead as a door nail.