Division of Germany
By: aakriti Singh
The fault lines of the cold war in Europe were clearly visible in a divided Germany. After the Third Reich fell, the American, Soviet, British, and French forces occupied Germany, and specifically Berlin, dividing up the country for administrative purposes. The US, British, and French zones of occupation coalesced to form the Federal Republic of Germany in West Germany in May of 1949, and later in October the German Democratic Republic was formed in East Germany emerged out of the Soviet zone of occupation.
The Berlin War personified the division of German, as that one city managed to parallel the division of the rest of Germany, as the same process of the division of Germany repeated itself in Berlin, even though it was deep within the Soviet zone. There was a Soviet sector that formed in East Berlin, which became the capital of new East Germany. The other three zones united to form West Berlin, and the West German capital became a small town called Bonn.
Between 1949 and 1961 around 3.5 million East Germans, many of whom were young and highly skilled, fled as refugees, preferring life in capitalist West Germany, much to the embarrassment of the communist leaders of East Germany. In reaction to this, in August of 1961, the communists reinforced their fortification along the border of East and West Germany, to follow the construction of the Berlin Wall. Though the creation of the Berlin Wall was an obvious violation of the four way power control rule in Germany, the US, Britain, and France avoided a direct confrontation with the Soviet Union for fear that such a crisis could escalate and become a full shooting war.
In years following the creation of the Berlin War, several thousand East Germans still managed to escape into West Germany, though several hundred died attempting to do so. While the Berlin Wall accomplished its original purpose to slow the flow of refugees, it came at the cost of shaming the communist regime, showing their lack of legitimacy among the people.
The Berlin War personified the division of German, as that one city managed to parallel the division of the rest of Germany, as the same process of the division of Germany repeated itself in Berlin, even though it was deep within the Soviet zone. There was a Soviet sector that formed in East Berlin, which became the capital of new East Germany. The other three zones united to form West Berlin, and the West German capital became a small town called Bonn.
Between 1949 and 1961 around 3.5 million East Germans, many of whom were young and highly skilled, fled as refugees, preferring life in capitalist West Germany, much to the embarrassment of the communist leaders of East Germany. In reaction to this, in August of 1961, the communists reinforced their fortification along the border of East and West Germany, to follow the construction of the Berlin Wall. Though the creation of the Berlin Wall was an obvious violation of the four way power control rule in Germany, the US, Britain, and France avoided a direct confrontation with the Soviet Union for fear that such a crisis could escalate and become a full shooting war.
In years following the creation of the Berlin War, several thousand East Germans still managed to escape into West Germany, though several hundred died attempting to do so. While the Berlin Wall accomplished its original purpose to slow the flow of refugees, it came at the cost of shaming the communist regime, showing their lack of legitimacy among the people.