The Fall of Berlin Wall and Its Impact on the 1989 Revolution - Research Paper Example

Introduction The fall of the Berlin wall was one of the most significant events of the late 20th century, which caused widespread effects across the world. The event initiated a phenomenal shift in the global power alignment, which subsequently led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union and establishment of the new world order. Countries in the Eastern Europe were the most affected by the consequences of the Berlin wall disintegration and most of them embraced democracy and opened their markets to globalization (Michael, 2009). This paper examines the situation in Berlin City during the period and the circumstances that led to the collapse of the war. In addition, the paper examines the relationship between the collapse of the war and the subsequent revolution in 1989. Shortly before the Berlin wall was opened, the East German government had announced in 9 November 1989 that travel restrictions between the East and West Germany would be lifted with immediate effect (Beissinger, 2002). The announcement triggered excitement among the residents on the eastern and western side of the Berlin city and they dashed to the concrete barrier that had prevented interaction and movement of people across the boundary for over two decades. Berlin wall was constructed in 1961 and Peters (2009) indentifies four factors that motivated the construction. These include division of Germany in different administrative sectors, the mass movement of people from the east to the West Germany, rapid development and industrialization in West Germany and tensions between United States and Soviet Union (Peters 2009). Division of Germany into various administrative sectors occurred soon after the end of the Second World War. According to Darden and Anna (2006), the country was divided into four segments which were assigned to the four powers that had played the major role in the defeat of Germany during the war. United States, Britain and the Soviet Union in addition to France were assigned one administrative portion each. Similarly, Berlin which was the capital city was divided into four segments which were allocated to the four foreign powers. Due to the fact that Berlin was within the sector allocated to the Soviet Union, it was major cause of tension between the ideologically different western and the eastern powers. Consequently, Berlin City was polarized into two segments, the western part controlled by United States, France and Britain while the eastern part under the Soviet Union (Michael, 2009). According to Engel (2009), subdivision of Germany into four administrative segments was intended to promote unification of the country after reconstruction. The occupation had four main objectives in Germany which included introduction of democracy, eliminating and dismantling Nazism, disarming and decentralizing the country’s governance structure (Engel, 2009). However, the increasing tensions between the Soviet Union and the western powers in Germany led to establishment of two distinct and independent regions. The three administrative sectors controlled by France, United States and Britain were united to form the Federal Republic of Germany or West Germany in May 1949. In the same year, the soviet controlled eastern sector became German Democratic Republic (DDR), an autonomous country which was informally referred as East Germany. The division of Germany into two distinct regions resulted into entrenchment of distinct political administration and ideologies, which included communism advanced by the soviets and capitalism fronted by the four western powers (Gareth, 2006). The Soviet Union introduced socialist administrative system in East Germany (DDR) and the political system became a dictatorial, oppressive single party regime (Michael, 2009). According to Beissinger (2002), Bonn became the interim administrative headquarter of West Germany, while East Berlin was the capital of East Germany. The status of Berlin, the former capital city of united Germany was controversial in relation to the newly established independent states. Although the city was within the soviet controlled East Germany, it was divided into East and West Berlin. Thus, West Berlin, which was under the control of the western allies, was an enclave within the soviet territory although the residents were practically the citizens of Federal Republic of Germany. Political and economic administration of West Germany was structured in accordance with American and western European countries. Therefore, the country’s economic structure was capitalistic, driven by “social market economy” (Darden and Anna 2006, p96). Consequently, West Germany experienced rapid economic growth because of the economic reforms introduced in 1948 and economic assistance from the United States offered through the Marshall Plan grant. In East Germany, the economy was centralized and the autocratic government suppressed basic human rights, freedom and open market (Peters, 2009). Differences in political and economic policies between the East and West Germany played a major role in the division of the Berlin city. In the Federal Republic of Germany, the governing western allies encouraged decentralization of power and economy. According to Darden and Anna (2006), the occupying western countries in West Germany steadily transferred powers to the German people. To achieve this, the western allies established governing mechanisms that encouraged development of an independent German government in future by formulating central economic councils within the territory. Eventually, this administrative structure enabled the establishment of a constituent assembly in West Germany and a professional legal structure that regulated relations between the German leaders and the western allies in matters pertaining to their economic and political interests in the region (Beissinger, 2002 pp78-109). Democracy founded on the rule of law was further enhanced in West Germany by promulgation of people driven constitution in 1949. In addition, the Petersberg agreement in 1949 created more opportunities of promoting greater independence of West Germany from the occupying western powers while maintaining closer relationship at the same time (Engel, 2009). By 1955, West Germany had attained most of its independence from the occupying western countries and jointed North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as a sovereign country. In addition, the country joined other European powers in several regional agreements to enhance its political and economic integration in the region. Some of the organizations that West Germany joined in Europe included the European Coal and Steel Community, which has since evolved into European Union currently (Gareth, 2006). Thus, the western allies’ occupation in West Germany granted the local citizens the independence to control and determine their political and economic destiny in the decentralized administrative structure. This resulted to improved levels of living standards, increased incomes and more open and democratic society in West Germany. In East Germany, the authoritarian soviet rule banned multiparty democracy in the country and introduced single party political system. The Socialists Unity Party became the only party after the existing political parties were forced to merge. The single party rule enabled the soviet led administration to coerce and manipulate the German people into submitting to the centralized political and economic system that was controlled from Moscow. In addition, lack of democracy and the single party rule enabled the soviet administration to advance propaganda pertaining to purported efficiency of its ideologies (Michael, 2009). This situation was particularly evident in Berlin City which was under the control of soviets and the western allies. The authoritarian rule in the eastern part of Berlin City and East Germany at large created widespread resentment and dissatisfaction in the soviet controlled regions. This led to large scale migration of people into West Germany. Moreover, industrial strikes and demonstrations in the East Berlin city increased because employees became increasingly dissatisfied with the working condition. According to Beissinger (2002), employees were compelled to work for longer hours with meager pay and consumer spending was tightly regulated by the state. In order to counter the increasing numbers of industrial strikes and demonstrations in East Germany, the soviet led government resorted to use of armed forces to violently suppress the striking workers. Armored soviet tanks were deployed in the affected cities including Berlin, leading to heavy loss of human lives in the conflicts. The armed response from the soviet government increased the number of people running from the country into West Berlin city. East Germany suffered immensely from the loss of human resources because most people that fled the country were the young and highly skilled employees (Engel, 2009). Besides controlling the economic and political structure of the East Germany, the soviet rule regulated the social affairs of its citizens. The privacy of the German population in the soviet controlled regions was subject to the state’s examination and direction (Gareth, 2006). Freedom of worship was non existent and social events such as weddings were conducted within the precincts of authorized state offices. Heavy punitive measures such as denial to universal education were instituted for people engaging in religious rituals. Moreover, the state controlled and regulated speech and expression in the media (Darden and Anna 2006). A combination of these factors caused massive flight of people from the east to the West German cities. Engel(2009) estimated that by 1961, over 2.6 million people from East Germany had fled the country to the more prosperous neighbor on the west. The massive flight of East Germans demonstrated the failure of soviet policies to promote social justice, economic and political reforms in the country. The violent suppression of striking workers using soviet tanks and military force succeeded only in encouraging more protests and further loss of skilled, educated and young labor force to the West Germany. It is through the desperate attempt to prevent further flight of East Germans to the neighboring country that the idea of constructing the Berlin wall was developed in Moscow in 1961 in order to establish a barrier separating the east part from the western Berlin city (Gareth, 2006). In addition, the rapid development in West Berlin city because of increased investments from the American government and prudent governance through decentralization of power and promotion of democracy was other factors that prompted the soviet government to construct the wall. Moreover, Moscow’s claim that American intelligence were spying on the soviets in East Germany from West Berlin city motivated the construction of the wall (Engel, 2009). The Berlin wall was made of concrete after removal of barbed wire enclosure and it stood 13 feet high (Peters, 2009). According to Peters (2009), the wall measuring about 96 miles surrounded the entire West Berlin city. The wall was strategically constructed to separate the public transport channels, streets and residential areas between the east and West Berlin city. About 302 watchtowers were constructed along the wall and armed guards from the West Germany closely monitored movement of people around the clock. Several checkpoints were established along the wall to check inspect Germans and non Germans entering the West Berlin city. The guards were under authority to shoot and kill anybody from the East Germany attempting to cross to west side of the city without due authority (Peters, 2009). According to Darden and Anna (2006), about 192 East Germans were shot and killed along the Berlin wall and over 200 injured while attempting to flee the oppressive soviet administration in East Germany along the Berlin wall. The wall exacerbated tensions between the West Germany and the east, especially because West Berlin was part of western allies’ jurisdiction but within a territory controlled by the soviets. The peak of the tension occurred at checkpoint called Charlie, when the soviet forces confronted their American counterparts whereby the former restrained the later from gaining access to the West Berlin city without inspection (Peters, 2009). In addition, the wall separated families and friends along the West and East Berlin cities. The wall did not deter immigrants from the east from entering West Germany. More East Germans entered West Germany through the Hungarian borders and other neighboring countries (Engel, 2009). The large number of immigrants from East Germany and widespread mass protests and demonstrations in the country increased the pressure on the East Germany leadership to introduce political, economic and social reforms in the country. These calls were also made by the then soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev (Beissinger, 2002). Eventually, the Berlin wall was opened and later destroyed in 1989. In the following year, East and West Germany reunited and held the first elections as a unified state since 1933. Conclusion The fall of Berlin wall motivated revolutions in other communist countries especially in Eastern Europe in 1989. Revolution in Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria followed the German unification and the communist regimes were replaced by democratic systems. Similarly, successful revolution followed in Romania, one of the countries that had the most oppressive communist regimes under president Ceausecu in Eastern Europe. The revolutions continued in the 1990’s culminating into the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the ultimate conclusion of the cold war in 1991 (Darden and Anna, 2006). References Beissinger, M.(2002). Nationalist mobilization and the collapse of the soviet state. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Darden, K., and Anna, G.(2006). The great divide: Literacy, nationalism and the communist collapse. World Politics, 59(1): 84-115. Engel, J.(2009). The fall of the Berlin wall: The revolutionary legacy of 1989. 1st ed. Oxford, USA: Oxford University Press. Gareth, D.(2006). The East German revolution of 1989. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. Michael, M.(2009). The year that changed the world: The untold story behind the fall of Berlin wall. New York: Scribner. Peters, J.(2009). The Berlin wall. Retrieved on May, 16, 2012 from http://slaviccenter.osu.edu/pdf/Berlin_Wall_Presentation.pdf Read More