why was the berlin wall built? THE STORY OF THE WALL USING GALE PRIMARY SOURCES An East German worker lays some of the first stone blocks of the Berlin Wall, August 1961, shortly after the border between East and West Berlin was sealed. © AP Images.
The Berlin Wall was built by the German Democratic Republic during the Cold War to prevent its population from escaping Soviet-controlled East Berlin to West Berlin, which was controlled by the major Western Allies. It divided the city of Berlin into two physically and ideologically contrasting zones.
Mar 4, 2010 · Two days after sealing off free passage between East and West Berlin with barbed wire, East German authorities begin building a wall—the Berlin Wall—to permanently close off access to the West.
In 1960s Berlin, the USSR controlled the East and the USA offered freedom in the West. In 1961 Khrushchev closed the border and ordered the construction of a wall to stop people leaving.
Nov 9, 2022 · The beginning of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, which allowed East Germans to cross into the West, marked a new epoch in world history. Sign up to receive This Happened straight to your inbox each day!Amid revolutions that led to the collapse of the Soviet-led communist bloc, the tearing down the ...
Dec 15, 2009 · Before the wall was built, Berliners on both sides of the city could move around fairly freely: They crossed the East-West border to work, to shop, to go to the theater and the movies.
Sep 28, 2021 · Why did the Soviet Union build the Berlin Wall. On November 10, 1958, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev delivered a speech in which he demanded that the Western powers of the United States, Great Britain, and France pull their forces out of West Berlin within six months.