aug 12, 1961 - The Berlin Wall is established

Description:

"Ulbricht had had plans in place since at least 1952 to stop the flow of emigrants by walling West Berlin off from East Berlin and the rest of East Germany.
The wall went up on the night August 12-13 1961, first as a barbed-wire barrier, but then as a concrete block wall some twelve feet high and almost a hundred miles long, protected by guard towers, minefields, police dogs, and orders to shoot to kill anyone who tried to cross it." (Gaddis 2006, p. 115)

"The wall dramatized the extent to which the Soviet Union had chained itself to a weak ally – who was able to use that weakness to get its way." (Gaddis 2006, p. 138)

Added to timeline:

Date: