The Fall of the Berlin Wall essays

The Fall of the Berlin Wall essays Following the war in 1945, the United States of America, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union divided the city of Berlin into sectors. Each sector was under the control of a different country. The United States, Britain, and France joined their sections together to form a democratic state on May 24, 1949. This state was called the Federal Republic of Germany or West Germany. The Russian or Soviet part became a communist state. This state was called The German Democratic Republic or East Germany, formed on March 19th, 1949. This division between East Germany, West Germany, and across all Europe is what Winston Churchill classified as the "Iron Curtain" that was falling across Europe. The city of Berlin was deep within the Soviet-controlled area. Because Berlin was the capital city, in Russia's sector, the Allies (United States, Britain, and France) believed that this gave the Soviets an unfair advantage. Part of the agreement between the former allies was that Berlin was to be divided into four sectors. The Soviet part was called East Berlin and was the capital city of East Germany. The fact that the Allied part of Berlin was completely surrounded by Soviet land would become an increasingly difficult situation. There was a ten-week period while Berlin was solely under the Soviet control. The Allies needed time to gather the resources to start governing Berlin. During this time Russia removed much machinery from Berlin and transported it to Russia, which gave them the upper hand and allowed them to cripple the allies and their economy, and not have them have the upper hand using their own machinery. Over eighty-five percent of Berlin's machinery was removed. Th is machinery included factory machines, telephone exchanges, buses, and streetcars. In addition to debilitating the East German economy, Russia also immediately set up a government. They placed the city under the control of an appointed magistrate. The main executive body cons...