Germany’s Powerful And vast History
Creation began on The Berlin Wall early in the morning of Sunday, August 13, 1961. It was a frantic yet effective move by the GDR (German Democratic Republic) to prohibit East Berliners escaping the Soviet-controlled East German state into the West of the city, which was then under the control by the Americans, British and French. You should go to Berlin yourself to check this out and stay in one of the many Berlin apartments
Berlin’s rare situation as a city half-controlled by Western forces, in the heart of the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany, made it a main point for tensions concerning the Allies and the Soviets and a place where conflicting ideologies were forced side-by-side. However, as more and more people in the Soviet-controlled East grew disillusioned with communism and the progressively more cruel financial and political setting, an rising amount began defecting to the West. By 1961 an predicted 1,500 people a day were fleeing to the West, damaging both the credibility and – more importantly – the personnel of the GDR. Soon rumours began to proliferate about a wall, and it wasn’t long after that those rumours were made a solid reality.
In a masterfully-planned operation, spanning just 24 hours, the streets of Berlin were torn up, barricades of paving stones were erected, tanks were gathered at fundamental places and subways and local railway services were interrupted, so that within a day the West of Berlin was completely sealed off from the East. As of that same day people of East Berlin and the GDR were no longer allowed to go into the West of the city (including the 60,000 who had been commuters). In response to worldwide criticism that such radical measures inevitably drew, the GDR claimed that the barrier had been raised as an ‘anti-fascist protection wall’, and that they had moved to avoid a third world war.
The version of the ‘Wall’ that started life in 1961, was in fact not a wall but a 96 miles barbed wire fence. However, subsequent to this incarnation proved too easy to scale, work started in 1962 on a second fence, equivalent to the first but up to 100 yards further in. The area in between the two fences was demolished to make an empty space, which became extensively identified as “death strip” as it was here that many would-be escapers met their doom. The strip was covered with raked gravel, making it easy to spot footprints, it offered no cover, was mined and booby-trapped with tripwires and, most notably, it offered a patent field of fire to the armed guards – who were instructed to shoot on sight.
Later on even these measures were deemed insufficient and a concrete wall was added in 1965, which served until 1975 when the infamous ‘St
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