Berlin wall

Student Name Instructor’s Name Course Section Date Title In the center of Berlin, against the backdrop of the vibrant streets and the faint murmurs of history lay an imposing construction that symbolized the ideological gap dividing a city as well as the political brawl of the Cold War period. The Berlin Wall which was put up in 1961 not only had the function of representing the physical division but it importantly reflected the foundations on which the society was built (Brandel; Major 23). Given that I understand it as the unavoidable result of the worsening tensions during a decade between the Eastern Bloc, led by the Soviet Union, and the Western alliance headed by the United States, it is hard not to see it like this. After World War II, Germany found itself divided into four occupation zones controlled by the Allies: the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. I was then in Berlin, once again in the Soviet zone, and this time it was split among Allies again into West Berlin, a capitalist enclave surrounded by East Germany which was controlled by the Soviets (Major 23). Here in Berlin, where the geopolitical dividing lines were so visible to everyone, it just could not be that you would not have any feelings of history and its consequences. Ironically, the contrast of these ideologies seemed to have haunted the city, the tension being in the atmosphere. West Berlin, with its busy streets and colorful democracy, represented a detached point, when the socialist reality of East Germany looked grey and depressive. It was a symbol of freedom in the middle of repressive sea, a reflection of democracy and unique economy. Yet the fact that East Berlin was a part of the Western Bloc while at the same time being within the Eastern Bloc was a constant issue. It symbolized everything that the USSR rejected – a West symbol, standing for its might and passion against the Communist worldview. And due to the fact that an increasing number of East Germans tried to flee to the West, this situation was increasingly becoming unbearable. Standing here, my vision was filled with the plights of those who were taking huge risks to cross over to the other side – with everything that they loved and had worked so hard for left behind and a dream of a better life in the far West. The great number of the refugees who fled, prompted the East German government, with the Kremlin support, to take extreme steps in order to minimize the number of emigrants. When the day of August 1961, witnessed the speedy installation of barbed wires by the German forces, backed by the Soviet army (Major 56), I stood amid the confusion and had the chill from the wind touch my skin till the sense of foreboding unconsciously filled me. These turned off the lights, I was sure that they were just the precursors of something truly evil – the coming about of the Berlin Wall. Consequently, I was able to witness the evolution of those shabby constructions into a better-equipped structure, namely the Berlin Wall, in the span of a few days and weeks. Concrete walls, towers, and myriad checkpoints came up erecting East and West Berlin as a physical representation of the divide in Cold War and further sealing it. Life for those living on the other side of the wall was completely distinct from the way it was on my side of the wall. In West Berlin, where I had been wandering, a colorful democracy was taking shape. The streets were teeming with activity, the economy thrived, and the air reverberated with the sounds of free speech and diverse cultures. The situation was an extreme contrast from the one in the East Berlin where suppression of dissent was ruthless and personal freedom was an alien idea under the power of the socialist regime. As I strolled along the barrier, my heart was full of grief because of the things the families lost, the dreams that were crushed, the friendships that were rui...