Occupation zone borders in Germany, 1947. The territories east of the Oder-Neisse line, under Polish and Soviet administration/annexation, are shown as white as is the likewise detached Saar protectorate. Berlin is the multinational area within the Soviet zone.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map-Germany-1947.svg)
Yalta summit 1945 with Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin.jpgPeople often ignore why the Berlin Wall was erected; During the same period another barrier the Iron Curtain was raised.
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On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall; it's fitting to examine how the division of the country occurred. Along with the changes in boundaries of Germany there was the partition of Europe between the western Allies, and the eastern Iron Curtain: Communist (Soviet) Bloc.
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In essence after the Second World War, Europe was divided between the Soviet (USSR & Poland, Chechoslovakia; Axis: Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria; Yugoslavia, and Albania ) Bloc, and the Western Allied Forces; This was the beginning of two separate realities: The Free West and the Communist East. The Allied countries (Russia, Great Britain, and the U.S. A.) that lead the resistance to Hitler's Third Reich agreed to protect (occupy) the defeated territories. Germany (East Germany and West Germany) was just one of those countries divided between the Allies and the Soviet Bloc. Berlin became a multi-national area within the Soviet Zone.
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The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a concrete barrier erected by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) (East Germany) that completely encircled the city of West Berlin, separating it from East Germany, including East Berlin. The Wall included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses.
The separate and much longer inner German Border (the IGB) demarcated the border between East and West Germany. Both borders came to symbolize the Iron Curtain between Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc.
Prior to the Wall's erection, 3.5 million East Germans had avoided Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions and escaped into West Germany, many over the border between East and West Berlin. During its existence from 1961 to 1989, the Wall stopped almost all such emigration and separated the GDR from West Berlin for more than a quarter of a century.[1] After its erection, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the wall, with estimates of the resulting death toll varying between around 100 and 200.
During a revolutionary wave sweeping across the Eastern Bloc, the East German government announced on November 9, 1989, after several weeks of civil unrest, that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans climbed onto and crossed the wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, parts of the wall were chipped away by a euphoric public and by souvenir hunters; industrial equipment was later used to remove almost all of the rest. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on October 3, 1990.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Berlin_Wall
Having understood the reasons why the Berlin Wall was erected gives people a better impression of how modern Germany has been born. It reminds us that Germany's leading role in the current "Putsch" for the unification of Europe, is but an expansion of its desire to enlarge its influence on the world scene. Helmut Scmidt and Helmut Kohl, and now Angela Merkel are (have been) all proponents of Germany's pivotal role on the international scene.
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Now, twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall the world joins Germans in their festivities; We all wish the German people many years of peace. But, we wait and watch for what their politicians have in mind when they attempt to lead the free world; And as the German dignitaries call for compulsory 'global' monetary reforms and climate change.
I in particular question their motives; I wonder who died and left them in charge?
How did Germany become an authority on what is best for the whole world?
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Was ist das?
Arsenio.
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