Why was the wall built only around West Berlin?

Why was the Berlin Wall built? The Berlin Wall was built by the German Democratic Republic during the Cold War to prevent its population from escaping Soviet-controlled East Berlin to West Berlin, which was controlled by the major Western Allies.

How did the Berlin Wall affect West Germany?

Effects of the Berlin Wall Berlin soon went from the easiest place to make an unauthorized crossing between East and West Germany to the most difficult. Many families were split, and East Berliners employed in the West were cut off from their jobs. West Berlin became an isolated exclave in a hostile land.

Did the Berlin Wall surround all of West Berlin?

The finished wall was made up of a 66 mile concrete section that was 3.6 metres high, with a further 41 miles of barbed wire fencing and more than 300 manned look-out towers. It did not just go through the centre of the city – it completely encircled all of West Berlin, which was surrounded by the communist GDR.

How was Berlin Wall built?

Two days after sealing off free passage between East and West Berlin with barbed wire, East German authorities begin building a wall—the Berlin Wall—to permanently close off access to the West. The end of World War II in 1945 saw Germany divided into four Allied occupation zones. …

How did the West respond to the Berlin Wall?

West German protests against the construction of the Berlin Wall couldn’t change anything. There, he protested before Western allied commanders of the United States, Great Britain, and France: “The Berlin Senate publicly condemns the illegal and inhuman measures being taken by those who are dividing Germany.”

How much did the Berlin wall cost?

Begun in 1975 and completed about 1980, it was constructed from 45,000 separate sections of reinforced concrete, each 3.6 metres (12 ft) high and 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) wide, and cost DDM16,155,000 or about US$3,638,000.

How was Berlin connected to West Germany?

The Western Allies were guaranteed three air corridors to their sectors of Berlin, and the Soviets also informally allowed road and rail access between West Berlin and the western parts of Germany (see section on traffic).

Why is the Berlin Wall important?

The wall separated East Berlin and West Berlin. It was built in order to prevent people from fleeing East Berlin. In many ways it was the perfect symbol of the “Iron Curtain” that separated the democratic western countries and the communist countries of Eastern Europe throughout the Cold War.

Who was the first person to escape the Berlin Wall?

Corporal Conrad Schumann
The first daring escape was by a 19-year-old East German border guard, Corporal Conrad Schumann. He leapt over a 3-foot high wall of barbed wire just two days after the wall was erected.

Why did the East German government build the Berlin Wall?

The border of east and west Germany was hundreds of miles west of Berlin so it was an isolated pocket of capitalism surrounded by communist east Germany. The east German government built the wall to prevent East German citizens from defecting to the west via West Berlin.

Why did people cross the Berlin Wall in the 1950s?

Because they lived in East Berlin and worked in West Berlin. However, during the 1950s an increasing number of people decided to move from east to west. They crossed the line, pretending to go to work. But in reality they were on the run. From East Berlin to West Berlin and from there to West Germany.

What was the relationship between West Berlin and East Berlin?

West Berlin aligned itself politically with the Federal Republic of Germany and was directly or indirectly represented in its federal institutions. West Berlin was formally controlled by the Western Allies and was entirely surrounded by the Soviet -controlled East Berlin and East Germany.

When did East Germany open its borders to West Germany?

On November 9 the East German government opened the country’s borders with West Germany (including West Berlin), and openings were made in the Berlin Wall through which East Germans could travel freely to the West.