1. Presented By: Aleena Milinski

2.  Germany carved into four occupation areas
 Soviet Union occupied Eastern Germany and
Eastern Berlin
 U.S., France, and Great Britain obtained West
Germany and West Berlin
 Berlin was in East Germany

4.  The German Democratic Republic (GDR)
 Communist
 Soviets took a lot of factory equipment left
over from the war and sent it back to Russia
for themselves
 Economy was dragging
 People‟s freedom was severely restricted

5.  The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG)
 Democratic Republic
 Capitalist society was set up
 People lived well, bought what they wanted, and
were able to travel freely

6.  During
the 1950‟s, many people fled East
Germany to West Germany
 More economic opportunities
 In 1959, 144,000 people emigrated
 In 1960, 199,000 people left
 In 1961, 207,000 people fled

7.  Ukrainian
 Joined the Soviet Communist Party in 1918
 In 1956, denounced Stalin and his totalitarian
ideals
 Major officials opposed this and he was nearly
ousted
 Saidthat East and West Germany‟s
relationship was a “peaceful coexistence”

8.  On March 27, 1958 he replaced Nicolay
Bulganin as Soviet premier (head of gov.)
 Also proposed an ultimatum for the U.S.,
France, and Great Britain
 Gave Western Powers 6 months to agree on
withdrawing from Berlin and to make it a
supposedly free city
 Stated that East Germany would have complete
control over Berlin
 The United States, France, and Great Britain
decided to remain in West Berlin

9.  Duringtheir meeting in the U.S., they said
in regard to a solution “all outstanding
international questions should be settled,
not by the application of force, but by
peaceful means through negotiations.”

10.  June 1961: Krushchev again wanted the
powers to sign a new treaty, but they refused
 West Germany‟s inhabitants had permission
to freely travel across borders
 Caused some problems when building the wall
 32,000combat and engineer troops were
involved in the construction of the wall

11.  Construction began at 2:00 am
on August 13, 1961
 107 km long
 Wall made of concrete segments, about 4 m
high
 Consisted of antitank obstacles, barbed wire,
and barricades
 On the Eastern side, refugees were shot
 At least 100 people were killed at the Berlin Wall

12.  Surprised by the sudden construction of the
wall
 Increased the army‟s strength from 875,000
to around 1,000,000
 Asked for funds to create shelters and stock
them with food in case of attack
 August 31, 1961: ordered 148,000 guardsman
as a response to the Soviet‟s move to
eliminate all access to Berlin

13.  Many USAF Reserve and Air National Guard
units were deployed
 Largest overseas movement of a fighter force
after WWII
 No planes were lost

15.  What was the construction of the Berlin
Wall‟s effect on East and West Germany?
What was it‟s effect on the United States?

16.  It‟seffect on both sides was probably
aggravating because the Berlin Wall went
against agreements made at the Potsdam
conference. It was probably harder for
people from the East because they were
stuck under Communist control, while at
least West Germans had freedom. People in
East Germany could not express their
displeasure because there were always
secret police around.

17.  Thewhole problem aided in the Cold War
and the increasing disputes between them
and the Soviets.

18. Iinterviewed Mr. Stamer, who lived in
Germany during this time.

19.  The building of the Berlin Wall was the conclusion of a series of
international events between the Soviet Union and the US with West
Germany, a US ally, and East Germany, a Soviet ally, caught in between the
two super powers. The Russians did not like having the western part of
Berlin sitting in the middle of communist East Germany which is why it
was often referred to as the "island city", literally an island of freedom in
the middle of a communist sea. The Russians had tried several
provocations to try and have the western powers give up on West Berlin
and let the communists take it over, the most famous of which resulted in
the Berlin Airlift of 1948. I was away at a Boy Scout camp (German scouts
were called Pathfinders) near the East/West border when news came
about the midnight shutting down of access points between West and East
Berlin and that the East Germans had thrown up barbed wire fencing and
rushed in tanks and troops. It was feared that this was a prelude to a
general communist invasion of West Germany. All kinds of rumors started
mixed with a great fear that our camp near the Baltic coast would be in
the path of the invasion because the great northern plain of Germany has
been a traditional invasion route from the east throughout history. My
parents along with others rushed from other parts of Germany to get us
out of the camp. My parents had experienced WW II and knew what war
meant and did not want their son to be a victim of another one.

20.  Life in East Germany was repressive and depressing. There was no
freedom of speech as we know it only the kind of freedom of speech
which always supported the communist government.. The secret
police (the Stasi) was everywhere. You never knew who to trust
because they had literally millions of informers who would inform on
you if you would even make a critical comment of the government.
People would disappear into a vast prison system never to be heard
from again. fear was everywhere. Americans have no clue what it
means to live in a country where you have an over-reaching
government which controls everything in an individual's life. It was a
stifling, choking type of existence knowing that you were actually living
in a prison system which represented itself internationally as a
sovereign state even referring to itself as a "workers paradise".
 West Germany was different. It was a democratic/socialist state
where you had much of the same freedoms we have here. There was
no secret police which came knocking at the door late at night. Life
was good, the economy was strong with lots of consumer goods not
available in East Germany. You did not have to belong to a political
party in order to have any kind of chance for a decent life as was the
case in the east

21.  Once the Berlin Wall was built by the communists people
living in the east could no longer walk into West Berlin.
The wall really does not truly decribe what it was, in fact
it is misleading because it was a system of obstacles
designed to kill anyone who tried to get to the west.
Nevertheless people still tried to get over it,around it and
under it. Guards had shoot to kill orders, no questions
asked. The most famous death was that of a young 17
year old boy named Peter Fechter who made the attempt
for freedom. The guards did not shoot right away, they
let him get across several of the obstacle strips then
waited till he got to the last one, that is when they shot
him twice in the back. He laid there for more than an
hour pleading for help as he slowly bled to death. The
guards let this happen in order to show anyone else who
would try what would happen to them.

22.  The effect of the wall of both East and West Germany?
You can only keep a people suppressed for so long before
they throw off or break the chains that bind them. We
only have to look to history to see countless examples of
people rising up against their masters, kings and
despots. Look what happened in Lybia, Egypt and
Tunisia last year. Look at what is happening in Syria
now. But we must also be careful that we don‟t
overthrow a dictatorship only to replace it with another
one. The East Germans rose up through peaceful
demonstrations in all of their major cities in 1989 which
eventually led to the downfall of the communist
dictatorship and a quick unification with West Germany
leading to a united Germany. The West German
government did pretty much all in its power to help the
East Germans throughout the period of East Germany's
existence and kept the hope alive of an eventual
German reunification which came to fruition in 1990.

23.  The US played a powerful role in the history of
Berlin. Had it not been for the US steadfastness and
determination to stand up to communist aggression it
would not only have led to the downfall of West
Berlin but also, in the minds of many historians, to
the downfall of western Europe and complete control
of Europe under soviet domination. Probably two US
presidents played a major role in the survival of West
Berlin; John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Reagan
made his famous "Mr. Gorbachov, tear down this wall"
speech in Berlin and was the driving force through his
policies in the eventual defeat of communism. JFK
made the also well known "Ich bin ein Berliner"
speech in which he equated all freedom loving
citizens around the world as citizens of Berlin who
must stand against tyranny.

24.  JFKvisited Berlin in June 1963 and
exclaimed:
 “All freemen, wherever they may live, are
citizens of Berlin. Therefore, as a free man, I
take pride in the words, „Ich bin ein Berliner‟.
 He
meant to say “I am a Berliner”, but it was
more accurately translated as “I am a donut”
 A Berliner is a popular German pastry