| BERLIN WALL TIME LINE
Berlin was the capital of Prussia until 1945, and the capital
of Germany between 1871 and 1945.
May 8, 1945
The United States and its allies defeated Germany to end World
War II in Europe, and Germany was divided into two countries:
East Germany and West Germany. East Germany (the German Democratic
Republic) was governed by the Communist Soviet Block of Eastern
Europe. West Germany (the Federal Republic of Germany) was part
of free, democratic Western Europe.
1946
The World War II victors—the United States, Great Britain,
France, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)—were
to govern Berlin. Berlin was divided into four zones, essentially
dividing it into two cities. The USSR controlled East Berlin,
the capital of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), and the United
States, Great Britain and France controlled the three zones of
West Berlin. West Berlin was a free city, surrounded by Communist
East Germany.
June 24, 1948
The Berlin Blockade: Soviets blockade all access into Berlin’s
western sectors, and all commerce between West Berlin and non-Communist
West Germany. In order to travel from West Germany to West Berlin,
you had to travel through East Germany. This meant that all supplies
and food for the people of West Berlin had to travel through Communist
territory. During the blockade, President Truman and the western
allies airlifted in food, coal, and other supplies so the people
of West Berlin could survive. Over 272,000 flights were made over
321 days.
May 12, 1949
The Soviets concede the blockade had failed, and reopened the
borders.
Summer 1952
The border between the countries of East Germany and West Germany
is closed. Only in Berlin is the border still open.
June 17, 1953
East Berlin workers riot, dissatisfied with the economic and political
conditions in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The Soviets
respond with force.
1961
President John F. Kennedy is elected, and the US and the Federal
Republic of Germany form an alliance.
August 13, 1961
Early on this Sunday morning, the GDR begins to block off East
Berlin and the GDR from West Berlin, to stop the flood of refugees
(over 200,000 prior to this date) fleeing from East Berlin. Train
and subway travel between East and West Berlin is cut off. Citizens
of East Berlin—60,000 of whom commuted to work in West Berlin
but lived in East Berlin—are no longer allowed to enter
West Berlin. Antitank obstacles are built, streets are torn up,
and tanks are stationed at major crossroads. In the days to come,
construction of a solid wall replaces the temporary barricades.
August 14, 1961
Brandenburg Gate is closed
August 17, 1962
One of the first casualties of the Wall, 18-year-old Peter Frehter,
was shot and killed by East Berlin border patrol agents while
he tried to escape.
September 20, 1961
East Berliners who lived along the border were forced to move
out of their homes, and anyone who lived near the border had to
register with the authorities.
June 26, 1963
President John F. Kennedy visited Berlin and said, “There
are many people in the world who really don’t understand,
or say they don’t, what is the great issue between the free
world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin.”
President Kennedy, identifying with the citizens of Berlin in
their quest for freedom and to be reunited with their families
in East Berlin, said, “Ich bin ein Berliner” (“I
am a Berliner”).
1974
The US establishes relations with East Germany, the German Democratic
Republic.
June 12, 1987
President Ronald Reagan visits the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin
and speaks these now famous words: “General Secretary Gorbachev,
if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union
and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here, to
this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear
down this wall!”
December 8, 1987
President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev
sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty,
eliminating an entire class of nuclear weapons.
February 6, 1989
Chris Gueffroy is killed in the last failed escape attempt.
September 10, 1989
Hungary opens their border to East German refugees.
November 9, 1989
After more than 28 years, Communist East Germany opened its borders
to the West, including the Berlin Wall. It announced that its
citizens could travel freely between the two halves of the city.
The first woman who steps to freedom says, ”I am no longer
a prisoner.” Some border guards turned back people because
they didn’t have the proper papers, but eventually the guards
gave up and just opened the gates. They even stopped stamping
personal identity cards and allowed people to pass completely
unrestrained between the two halves of the city. West and East
Germans climbed to the top of the wall to greet each other and
celebrate. Some people, called “wall woodpeckers,”
used hammers and chisels to chip pieces out of the wall. Fireworks
exploded over West Berlin’s main boulevard, and rows of
cars along the border continuously honked their horns. In Bonn,
the West German parliament broke into spontaneous singing of the
national anthem.
December 22, 1989
The Brandenburg Gate is opened.
July 1, 1990
East and West Germany are reunited and all restrictions concerning
travel are eliminated. By the end of 1990, the entire Berlin Wall
had been removed except for a few sections that are preserved
as a memorial.
Since October 3, 1990, Berlin has again served as the capital
of a reunited Germany.
BERLIN WALL FACTS
The “wall” was actually a strip of land that ran
the length of the city of Berlin. The first barricade was a concrete
wall, made up of sections like the one you see at the Reagan Library.
It usually had a concrete tube on top of it. Behind that wall
(on the eastern side) there was a wide lighted area, also called
the “death area.” Anyone who reached that area trying
to escape was automatically shot. Beyond the lighted area was
a trench to keep vehicles from breaking across. Then came a patrol
corridor with watchdogs, watchtowers and bunkers. Last came a
second wall to separate East German citizens from the border.
West Berliners covered their side of the wall in brightly colored
graffiti. The side that faced Communist East Berlin was stark
and drab.
Total length of the Berlin Wall was 96 miles
27 miles went through the center of the city
23 miles went through residential areas
66 miles were a concrete barrier 13 feet high
It had 302 watch towers and 20 bunkers
Over 5,000 people successfully crossed the Berlin Wall to freedom
About 3,200 people were arrested in the border area
More than 160 people were killed in the “death area,”
and another 120 people were injured
The border cut through 192 streets that had originally run between
East and West Berlin
THE COLD WAR
The “Cold War” is the term for the antagonistic relationship
and mistrust between the Communist and non-Communist powers, particularly
the Soviet Union vs. the US and Great Britain.
BRANDENBURG GATE
The Brandenburg Gate was built in 1791 as a symbol of peace.
In 1961, it was sealed inside the Berlin Wall, in limbo between
East and West Berlin.
CHECKPOINT CHARLIE
Checkpoint Charlie was a tower erected by the Allies. It was
the crossing point for people doing business between West Berlin
and East Berlin.
GDR
The German Democratic Republic, the communist government ruling
East Germany.
FDR
The Federal Republic of Germany, the democratic government ruling
West Germany.
PERESTROIKA & GLASNOST
Restructuring and openness, the terms used to describe the set
of reforms instituted by Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s.
INF TREATY
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed by President Ronald
Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987.
The treaty stated that all US and Soviet missiles with a range
of 500 to 5,000 kilometers already deployed in Europe, must be
withdrawn and destroyed.
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