From 1961 to 1989, the Berlin Wall both embodied and symbolised the division of the world into two opposing blocs. The history and the reasons behind its construction.
"Nobody has any intention of building a wall." Berlin, 15 June 1961. Walter Ulbricht, a senior official of the German Democratic Republic (the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, DDR), was responding to a question from a West German journalist who asked whether the creation of a border at the Brandenburg Gate was being planned. A "border": the journalist had never once used the word "wall".
And so it was that East Germany, probably without intending to, effectively announced to its own population, to those in the West, and to the entire world, the decision to erect that "antifascist barrier" that would remain standing until 1989. Reading the history of sixty years ago today, what strikes us most are the motivations. In Berlin, in 1961, action was taken to defend sovereignty, against the will of the people. Today, walls are championed in defence of sovereigntism. Supported, often, by populism.
Read also: 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall: events, exhibitions, books and films to celebrate an unforgettable historic event
To understand what happened in Berlin 58 years ago, we need to take a further step back. To 8 May 1945. The Wehrmacht, the army of Nazi Germany, had capitulated. Russian IS-2 tanks (the initials standing for Iosif Stalin) had been in control of the capital for a week, following a battle of around two weeks. A ghost city, almost entirely razed to the ground. For six days, the Soviet red flag had been flying over the ruins of the Reichstag, on Moscow's orders.
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The Third Reich was divided into four zones, controlled by the victors: the Soviet Union, the United States, France and the United Kingdom. The decision had been agreed upon by the leaders of the four powers during the Yalta Conference. Berlin was no exception. But the agreements between the occupying nations were fragile. On 24 June 1948, the first crisis between the USSR and the Western powers arose. Moscow decided to block land traffic heading towards West Berlin, exploiting its own position, which otherwise made the zone impossible to reach.
For eleven months, Americans, British and French organised a massive air relay. 300,000 flights, to provide West Berliners with everything they needed to live. Only after the intervention of the United Nations would the "blockade" be partially lifted, on 12 May 1949.
Eleven days later, the Federal Republic of Germany, West Germany, was founded. Its constitution underlined the will to work towards a united Germany. Berlin was already a divided city, but crossing from East to West was as simple as taking a train. As a result, around three million East Germans moved to the western part of the metropolis between 1947 and 1961. They were predominantly well-educated young people. For the communist government, losing them was too great a blow.
A protest by East German workers was violently suppressed in 1953. Eight years passed, and the GDR government decided to act. From midnight on 13 August 1961, numerous army divisions stood guard along the demarcation line. The following morning, Berlin would wake up divided in two by a wall. Families and friends were separated overnight. Images of Bernauer Strasse circulated around the world. Some residents jumped from their windows onto ladders held out by West Berlin firefighters.
Before long, attempting to cross would become extremely dangerous. The Berlin Wall, stretching 155 kilometres, was watched over by 14,000 guards, 302 watchtowers and hundreds of d
