It has always been not only a historical fact, but also a stage flooded with spotlights, on which a performance was played, full of personal tragedies, ideological confrontation and nuclear confrontation. This wall can be characterized as a partial loss of sovereignty, which consisted in the disunity of the Germans for several centuries. Western political scientists in their initial speeches expressed the idea of the impossibility of creating a wall, attributed the idea of its creation to the communists.
Acute contradictions between West and East Germany began to arise after 1948, when a monetary reform was carried out that abolished the single monetary currency. In response to these decisions, restrictive measures were taken on migration in East Germany.
After that, the United States of America decided to deliver essential goods to Berlin by air on their military aircraft via Frankfurt am Main. Thus, the “air bridge” was opened. Soon this idea was supported by Great Britain and France.
It quickly became clear that the blockade of Berlin was futile, and in the spring of 1949 it was lifted. This period can be characterized as an illusory independence of the two territories. In Berlin, the communication system functioned as a single transport and infrastructure. But checkpoints were introduced with their own prohibitions and restrictions.
The situation escalated on June 17, 1953, when waves of indignation of the population swept through the territory of the German Democratic Republic. The protest movement consisted of the working class and civil servants. Modern sources claim that about 10 prisons and more than 100 buildings of political power were attacked during the actions. The number of protesters ranged from 400,000 to 1,500,000.
The situation in Germany worsened in the summer of 1961, when there were massive attempts by East Germans to migrate to the West of the country. Statistical evidence suggests that young and skilled professionals tried to migrate, seeing abundance in West German markets compared to shortages in East Germany. The GDR, in which higher and secondary education was free, was regularly deprived of highly qualified specialists.
Residents of East Berlin sought to become doctors, engineers, builders at the expense of the GDR budget, but to get a job in West Berlin, where salaries were higher. The authorities of the German Democratic Republic accused the Federal Republic of Germany of deliberately bribing citizens and trying to create dissonance in the economy of East Germany.
On August 13, 1961, the Council of Ministers of the GDR issued a corresponding resolution, and at one in the morning, 25,000 people began to build a wall that became a symbol of lost freedom and the division of Germany. The length of this wall was 155 km, there were watchtowers with checkpoints. The wall has gone through several renovations. The border guards were given the right to open fire on illegal border crossings. This permission was obtained by them in 1973.
Throughout the existence of the Berlin Wall, attempts were made to carry out a secret transition from one region (East Germany) to another (West Germany). Cases of crossing the border were recorded even in the professional community of border guards.
The situation became critical in the 1980s, when there was a serious weakening of the positions of the socialist camp, velvet revolutions began to take place. As early as 1987, the Embassy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the German Democratic Republic began informing the Soviet state about the impending integration of the two countries.
In 1982, Helmut Kohl came to power in Bonn, the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. He played a significant role in the unification of the two countries. There has been an increase in imports and exports between countries. As a result of these contacts, the economy of the German Democratic Republic moved forward, as customs duties were canceled for goods from East Germany (which led to a saving of about 8 billion German marks), and dividends were received from the sale of large quantities of agricultural products. Also, goods from the GDR were subject to preferential taxes on additional profits, which amounted to a tax reduction for turnover of about 10%.
On November 9, 1989, Günther Schabowski made a speech during which the previous restrictions on entry and exit from the country were lifted. The Berlin Wall fell, remaining on the pages of history. Hundreds of thousands of East Germans, having familiarized themselves with this decision, went to the wall, they rejoiced, as they expected that a united Germany would be a developed state in both political and economic order.
Thus ended one of the largest historical events, which largely predetermined the further course of development of the situation on the European continent, affecting the fate of a number of countries and peoples of Europe.
