Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Construction of Berlin Wall Separation Between Two Ideologies
Question: Discuss about theConstruction of Berlin Wallfor Separation Between Two Ideologies. Answer: The Construction of the Berlin Wall: A Physical Separation Between Two ideologies In the aftermath of the World War-II, the World is divided into two supreme blocs, United States of America and United States of Soviet Russia. The Cold War episode entails a phase of ideological confrontation between a capitalist USA and the communist USSR. The Berlin Wall Divide is one of the significant repercussions of the Cold War. The historians believe that the Berlin Wall Separation assumed an important historical dimension. The essay reflects on the main reasons that culminate the construction of the Berlin Wall. After the end of the World War-II, a series of Allied peace conference at Yalta and Potsdam conferences determined the contour of Germanys territories. They divided the defeated nation into four allied occupation zones. The Soviet Union seized control of the eastern part of the country and the Western part went into the fold of the United States, Great Britain and subsequently France. The essay seeks to address the trajectory of the conflict, by capitalizing on the construction of the Berlin Wall. From the political front, America was a capitalist country whereas Russia was communist. In the view point of John Lewis (2007)[1], ideological difference rises from the very point when there is a difference in the political perspective of two countries. It has to be noted that America had freedom and two-party democracy while USSR had a secret police and a one-party state. America had always focused on carrying out trading activities with European countries like Germany but Russia always focused on weakening the power of Germany and to create a friendly zone around Russia. These perspectives of the two groups were completely different that has lead to the situation of building the Berlin Wall (Mur 2004)[2]. As commented by Frederick[3] (2012), Berlin Wall was a tangible symbol of creating suppression of the basic human rights by the Eastern bloc that happened during the Cold war. The Berlin Wall was officially declared as the Anti-Fascist Protective Wall that implied that the NATO world is the fascists region and it is somewhat referred to as the Wall of Shame (Mur 2004)[4]. The effort made to stem the tide of the refugees who might attempt to leave East Berlin. The Eastern part of Germany went into the orbit of the Communist Russia and witnessed a phase of rigorous hardship (Tauban 2013)[5]. One of the major reasons behind the construction of the Berlin Wall was to stop the number of feeling population from the East Berlin to cross over the West Berlin (Wiegrefe 2009)[6]. Majority of the German population saw the construction of the Berlin Wall as a perilous blow to the economy of the country. All the factors acted as a composite whole that led the country knelt below the fate of annihilation. The Berlin Divide bears a testimony to the fact that the reunification was an elusive thing in the near future. There was a massive outrage in either side of Germany, particularly in East Germany. In East Germany, the plight of people was deplorable and the economic dislocations reached a peak. The secret communist societies subdued the uprisings in the Eastern part of Germany. However, given the renewed dangers of conflict during the previous few years, the building of the Wall, although it unleashed a brief East-West showdown, was seen from a global perspective -- not necessaril y the catastrophe that it first appeared. The experts believe that the construction of Berlin Wall Divide led to the exodus of 2.5 million people from the Eastern part of Germany. The exodus took place between 1945 and 1961 that led to the reduction of GDRS population by 15 per cent. In the summer of 1961, the exodus reached a critical climax that came to be known as escape hatch (Taubman 2003)[7] It was in the year 1961, when there was a complete sealing of the two sections of East and West Berlin. In fact, a barbed wire was also set up between the two regions to show a strong disagreement of the kind of relationship with the East and the West Berlin (Ulbricht 1965)[8]. With the advent of the construction of the Berlin Wall, US were angry and major troops were sent to give up on the idea of the armoured troops in the West Berlin. West Germany was furious as well and sent armoured troops to begin to protect against the idea of demolishing the Wall[9]. It was the President, John F. Kennedy who pointed out that it is better to build a Wall than to wage a War. It was in the year 1958 the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev demanded that the Western Power of the United States, Great Britain and France as well pull them out of the West Berlin within the six months of the manufacture of the Berlin Wall (Tauban et al. 2000)[10]. Nikita Khrushchev who led the Soviet Union at the time of the Cold War, pursued a policy of achieving a peaceful co-existence with the West (Pugh 2014)[11]. The USSR General Secretary had a telephonic conversation with Walter Ulbricht and it was well decided that in order to stop the unwanted fleeing away of people, construction of Berlin Wall was indeed important (Gaddis 2007)[12]. The Nuclear weapons that was found 90 miles away from Florida initiated the process of de-Stalinization and it was proposed to make an authoritarian in his own right that also resulted in crushing a revolt in Hungary that was one of the reasons that lead to the construction of the Berlin Wall (Taylor 2006)[13]. The boundary between the two German States had been fortified but was administered towards opening of an allied power. The complete process was done on a secret basis (Miller 1999)[14]. In fact, the border was also sealed off for a long duration that the process remained unseen from the rest of the World (Mur 2004)[15]. It was under the guidance and direction of the President, Construction of the Wall started that gave rise to Historical evidence. The propaganda disaster marked an end of Nikitas attempt to make an approach towards peace treaty of the two German States. The crisis spanned for more than three years that had lead to the division of Germany from its capital, the city of Berlin. These were the clear indication of the formation of the Second World War despite the postwar agreement to unify the zones. By the end of the World War II, it was observed that Berlin was controlled by two super powers, Soviet Union and the USA. Due to the difference in the ideologies of the two countries, the War resulted in the creation of two worst enemies. Capitalism of USA and Soviet socialism provoked a conflict that resulted in the Cold War. The essay concludes that the Berlin Wall Divide caused havoc in the Global politics and catapulted Germany to another degree of destruction. It resulted in the destruction of Germanys unity that was engineered by Otto Von Bismarck in the mid 19th century. The Cold War episode entails a phase of ideological confrontation between a capitalist USA and the communist USSR. The Berlin Wall Divide is one of the significant repercussions of the Cold War. Due to the historic Cold War, Berlin crises reached the crescendo. The Cold War had tarnished the unified picture of Germany. Bibliography: Gaddis, John Lewis. The Cold War: a new history. New York: Penguin Books, 2007. Gru?nbacher, Armin. 2004. Reconstruction And Cold War In Germany. Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Ashgate. Kempe, Frederick. Berlin 1961: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the most dangerous place on earth. New York: Berkley Books, 2012. Miller, David. The Cold War. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press, 1999. Taubman, William. Khrushchev: the man and his era. New York: Norton, 2003. Mitchell, Otis C. 2005. The Cold War In Germany. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America. Mur, Cindy. 2004. The Berlin Wall. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press. Pugh, Emily. 2014. Architecture, Politics, and Identity In Divided Berlin. Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press. Taubman, William, Sergei? Khrushchev, and Abbott Gleason. 2000. Nikita Khrushchev. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. Taylor, Frederick. The Berlin Wall: a world divided, 1961-1989. New York: HarperCollins, 2006. Ulbricht, Walter. 1965. National Mission Of The German Democratic Republic And The Forces For Peace Of West Germany. [Berlin]: Council of State of the German Democratic Republic. Ulbricht, Walter. 1967. Social Development In The German Democratic Republic Up To The Completion Of Socialism. Dresden: Zeit im Bild. Wiegrefe, Klaus. "The Khrushchev Connection: Who Ordered The Construction Of The Berlin Wall? - Spigel online". Spigel online, 2009..
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