The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 by East Germany to prevent mass emigration to West Berlin. It divided the city between the communist East and democratic West until 1989 when the East German government opened the border crossings and began dismantling the Wall. The Wall had a major impact on the lives of Berliners, restricting movement and separating families between East and West for over 28 years until its fall helped lead to German reunification in 1990.

1. The Fall of the Berlin Wall Courtney Destiny Brad By:

2. Introduction The Berlin Wall was built simply to keep democracy and communism separated, and to stop East Berliners from escaping from the Soviet controlled East German State. But how do you think the Berlin Wall affected the lives of the people around it?

3. Who? Who Built the Berlin Wall? The German Democratic Republic built the Berlin Wall, also known as East Germany. Who Tore down the Wall? East Berlin tore down the wall. Who all was effected by the Berlin Wall? East Germany West Germany East Berliners West Berliners Soviets

4. Who? Who was the Berlin Wall built for? East and West Berlin were very different. West Berlin had a capitalist society and lived well with appliances and free travel. East Berlin was run by the Soviets and had to send all their equipment to the Soviet Union to fix destruction from the war. It became a communist run society. The economy was severely dropping and people wanted out. The population in East Berlin rapidly dropped. The government then decided to build a wall that prevented the people from leaving and going into the west side.

5. What? What was it? The Berlin Wall was a concrete barrier that was built to enclose West Berlin, which separated it from East Germany and East Berlin. Was a “symbolic” boundary between communism and democracy during the Cold War. What was the purpose? The purpose of the Berlin Wall was to prevent migration into East Berlin, unlike today where people migrate from country to country. What is checkpoint Charlie? One of the many border crossing points in which people could migrate into the City of Berlin.

6. What? What led to the creation of the Berlin Wall? Once World War II ended, the Allied Powers divided Germany into four parts. Each part was occupied by either the United States, Great Britain, France, or the Soviet Union. However, the differences between the Soviet Union and the other three Allied Powers led to Germany being a competitive country. This led to Germany being divided into two sides, West and East, Democracy and Communism. Just like Germany, Berlin was separated into two sides. This planted the seed for the building of the Berlin Wall.

7. When? When was Germany separated into East and West? In 1949 When did people start wanting out of East Berlin? In the late 1950s When was it built? The Berlin Wall was built on August 12th and 13th, 1961. When were the doors of the wall opened? On November 9, 1989 the East opened the doors of the Berlin Wall. When did East and West Germany come together to form one country? They reconciled October 3rd, 1990

8. Pictures of the wall being built

9. The finished wall

10. Where? The Berlin wall was located in Germany. The wall ran through the center of and all around West Berlin.

11. Why? Why was the wall torn down? The Berlin wall was torn down because East Berlin wanted to be one free country with West Berlin. The destruction of the wall was celebrated all over the world. Why was the Berlin Wall Built? As a symbol of the Cold War and to separate East and West Berlin. To prevent emigration from East Berlin into West Berlin or any other part of Germany.

12. Target Question How did the wall keep people out? The wall went through four transitions. It was first made out of barbed wire and concrete posts. A few days after it was built, it changed to a stronger structure made out of concrete blocks and barbed wire. It was then made into a concrete wall with steel girders. The last transformation was consisted of concrete slabs almost twelve feet high and four feet wide. To keep people from scaling the wall, it was topped with a smooth pipe.

13. Points of view East: The East side of Berlin was run by Communists. Because of the damage World War II did on the Soviet Union, East Berlin had to keep sending their equipment to them to help rebuild. Doing this took a lot from East Berlin and there wasn’t much for them. This made the people want to leave, which led to the building of the Berlin Wall. In 1989, the East Berliners decided to tear down the wall and make Berlin on free country. West: The West side was run by Capitalists and Democrats. Their economy was rising drastically. They were able to travel wherever they wanted and whenever they wanted. They had plenty of materials for all of their people. After the wall was built, West Berliners hated the wall just as much as the East. They tried to help a lot of the East Berliners over the wall but a lot got caught.

15. Our View We didn’t agree with the Berlin wall. Why?... We think it was a waste of money to build a huge wall just because two countries have different political views. Instead of building a huge wall they should have just acted like adults and worked the problem out. The Government should have thought about what it was going to do to the people that lived there, on both sides of the wall. But instead they built the wall and didn’t even bother to think about how it affected the peoples lives who live around it.

16. Conclusion Ronald Reagan was the first to address the idea that the Berlin Wall needed to be torn down. He said in his speech, in 1987, right in front of the Berlin Wall, “Mr. Gorbachev , tear down this wall!” The thoughts and writing on the Berlin Wall will remain in our hearts forever.

17. Works Cited www.newseum.org www.about.com http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/ http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/history/berlinwall-timeline.htm Book(s): When the Wall Came Down. Serge Schmemann.