Why was the Berlin Wall in Germany Built?

 

In August 1961, the Berlin Wall was constructed by East Germany, dividing the city of Berlin into two. It stood until 1990. After World War II, Germany was divided into West Germany and East Germany. This wall was referred to as the "wall of shame" by Westerners and the "anti-fascist barrier" by Easterners. The Allied powers, who won the war against Nazi Germany, had divided Germany and the city of Berlin into four occupation zones. After the war, the Allied powers grew distant from each other due to their divergent interests. The Western bloc, led by the United States, and the Eastern bloc, led by the Soviet Union, entered into fierce competition, which even extended to cinema films. This period is known as the Cold War. In 1949, the merging of the Allied occupation zones led to the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in the Soviet-occupied zone. The city of Berlin was divided into East Berlin and West Berlin. The length of the Berlin Wall was 155 km, and its height was 3.5 m. Additionally, there was also an electric barbed wire fence. East Germany justified the construction of the wall as a means to prevent hostile activities from West Germany, while West Germany interpreted it as a way to stop East Germans from migrating to the West. From 1949 to 1961, approximately 3 million people had left East Germany. After the construction of the wall, East Germany allowed West Germans to visit East Berlin while prohibiting its own citizens from traveling to the West. Between 1961 and 1988, 100,000 East Germans attempted to escape, and more than 500 were killed by guards' fire. Finally, the Berlin Wall was dismantled between June 13 and November 13, 1990.