aug 13, 1961 - Construction of the Berlin Wall- Katie Q
Description:
The Berlin wall was built by East Germany with a goal of decreasing mass immigration and aiming to stabilize their economy. East Germany decided the wall was a necessary action after roughly 3.5 million of their people fled to Western Germany (Berlin) which threatened the economic stability of the German Democratic Republic. However, the construction of the wall became a major symbol of the cold war due to how it divided families and separated communist East Germany from Democratic West Germany. The Soviet Union greatly supported the creation of the wall and its way of asserting control over German citizens; it also protected the East as a satellite state for the Union, and prevented Western influence from getting in. The Berlin wall acted as a barrier to freedom until 1998 towards the end of the Cold War when it fell.Works Cited
The Berlin Wall Foundation. “The Berlin Wall.” Berlin Wall Foundation, 2024,
www.stiftung-berliner-mauer.de/en/topics/berlin-wall.
“The Berlin Crisis, 1958–1961.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State,
history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/berlin-crises. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
“Fall of Berlin Wall: How 1989 Reshaped the Modern World.” BBC News, BBC, 5 Nov. 2019,
www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50013048.
Added to timeline:
Date:
aug 13, 1961
Now
~ 64 years ago