The Cold War began in 1947 and terminated in 1991. The Cold War was the international confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union by using the economy and diplomatic information without military power. The capitalism of the United State and communism of the Soviet Union were completely different ideas, which led to the Cold War. Capitalism means the system performed by private owners for production and trade for-profit purposes benefit the companies, not the nation. Communism is the system wherein the nation manages the salary of the peoples and make everyone equal.
From there, the world began to divide into two groups, centered on the United States and the Soviet Union, and the Cold War began. Related to the Cold war was the building of the Berlin Wall to cut off the relationship between East Berlin and West Berlin. East Berlin had communism while West Berlin had capitalism. In 13th August 1961, the East Berlin border guard broke a paved road in Berlin, made a barricade with stones and put up barbed wires. The Berlin Wall had 155 km length and 5 meters of height (National Cold War Exhibition). The building of the Berlin Wall and the Cold War were related because the Cold War was included as one of the reasons for making the Berlin Wall. Thus, it is important to know about “What were the impact of building the Berlin Wall on the lives of people in East Berlin?”. This research paper discusses that before and after the construction of the Berlin Wall, people in East Berlin were restricted, their quality of life was affected and political parties dominated.
One effect of the building of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961 to the people who lived in East Berlin was restriction because they couldn’t go to West Berlin after the building up of the wall. The motivation of construction of the Berlin Wall started in the Yalta conference on 4 Feb 1945 to 11 Feb 1945. During the Yalta conference, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Franklin D. Roosevelt decided that Germany should be divided and ruled by four countries, which were the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union (CES). The Berlin Blockade happened in from June 24 to May 12, 1948 because the relationship between the Soviet Union with communism and the United States, Britain, and France with capitalism became worse (History.com). The Berlin Blockade was an attempt by the Soviet Union to limit the movement of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States into East Berlin under Soviet Union occupation. East Germany blocked all railways, roads, and water communication between East Berlin and West Berlin (Encyclopaedia Britannica).
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After that in 1949, Germany has become two separate countries, the Federal Republic of Germany which was West Germany operated by the Allies and the Democratic Republic of Germany which was East Germany operated by the Soviet Union (Independent). West Germany has a capitalist and liberal regime, while East Germany has a communist and socialist regime. Due to this, in East Germany, the economy was sluggish and there were restrictions on individual freedom. In 1949 to 1961, before the building of the Berlin Wall, approximately 2.6 million people who lived in East Germany moved to West Berlin because the East German people reached the limit for a repressive living environment and they wished to leave the country (Berlin Wall Online). East Germany lost workforce and workers because the people who moved from East Germany to West Berlin were young people, skilled workers, experts and knowledgeable people in order to support the country.
On 15 June 1961, Walter Ulbricht who was a German communist politician said “Nobody has any intention of building a wall” when the journalist asked him about Berlin (footage berlin). However, after two months later from this interview, the East German border guards built Berlin Wall at the border between East and West Berlin because the lost workforce and worker had a big impact on East Berlin, and to stop the population decline. Although, after the construction of the Berlin Wall, people in East Germany tried to get over the wall and go to West Berlin. In 1961 to 1988, more than 1 hundred thousand peoples in East Germany were shot dead because East Germany still had personal freedom restrictions (Berlin.de). A man who lived in East Berlin heard from his neighbors about the impact from the building of the Berlin Wall. “They had relatives in East Berlin – they had tried to contact them, but couldn’t – that no one knew what was happening.” (The Guardian). All in all, the one effect of the Berlin Wall was a restriction for the people in East Berlin.
Another effect of the building of the Berlin Wall was on the quality of life in East Berlin. Before making the Berlin Wall, the quality of life was very bad in East Berlin compared to West Berlin. In East Berlin, the removal work of the rubble from the war has not been done yet and the rubble remained (Isaacs and Downing 167). In the 1950s, the number of medical personnel such as doctors decreased and was insufficient because most medical personnel who lived in East Berlin moved to West Berlin (country-data.com). After the Berlin Wall was built, the quality of life of people in East Berlin improved under the communist regime. People in East Berlin were given free transportation and excellent medical facilities.
In addition, most citizens were able to receive the Health Care program free of charge. The medical system is advanced and there were 584 hospitals in East Berlin. The critic said, “the system here is better than what you have in the United States.”. On the other hand, the Medical personnel said about the effect to them, “They get payments from the state, on a patient‐per‐day basis, but it’s not enough to invest in new equipment or to pay’ the staff decently.” (The New York Times). The number of medical personnel increased from the 1960s to the 1970s because new doctors, nurses, and dentists began to receive training. The people of East Berlin were satisfied with their lives because employment, meals, and rent were appropriate. Also, the people could spend at ease because the industrial production was rising. However, the worker had to pay $10 each month that 10% of their monthly salary for social security which was health insurance and pension contributions (Pressbooks). All in all, despite the monthly contribution, the Berlin Wall has generally benefited the people in East Berlin because of stable jobs and free medical and transportation.
Another effect of the building of the Berlin Wall was on the political parties in East Berlin. East Germany had a one-party dictatorship political system by Soviet-type socialism (Office Of The Historian). Before the construction of the Berlin Wall, only Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED), Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands (LDPD), and Christlich-Demokratische Union Deutschlands (CDU) had political party activities that were allowed. The sovereignty of East Germany was limited by the Soviet Union because East Germany was under Soviet rule.
After building the Berlin Wall, East Berlin consisted of 5 different parties which were Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED), Christlich-Demokratische Union Deutschlands (CDU), Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands (LDPD), Demokratische Bauernpartei Deutschlands (DBD), and Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NDPD). SED was the combination of the East German Communists and Socialist merged in 1946. It was an open and independent policy. CDU was a politician for Christians. LDPD originally defended the liberal and recognized the leading role of SED in 1953. DBD found in 1948 by the SED to represent rural interests and agriculture. Lastly, NDPD found in 1948 by the SED for German nationalist and NSDAP members. (Germany and Austria since 1814, 154).
In democratic parliamentary elections, the election law was that voters voted for or against the candidate list. So it was not something that the will of the people reflected and it was a way that would certainly be advantaged to the government-controlled party. The voter turnout rate has always been close to 99%, among which 99% are in favor (German Propaganda Archive). In the main parliament of East Germany in 1986, SED got the 127 seats and DBD, CDU, LDPD, and NDPD got 52 seats (The GDE: Moscow’s German Ally, 131). On the other hand, people in East Berlin lacked freedom of speech and ability of voting (Pressbooks). It turns out that people’s choices increased, but it is rare for people’s opinions to be taken in because political parties were communist parties. All in all, although people’s opinions were not taken in, politics became better after the building of the Berlin Wall.
In conclusion, the question of the impact of building the Berlin Wall on the lives of the people in East Berlin were answered in this research paper. The body of the evidence clearly shows that the building of the Berlin Wall had a positive and negative impact on the people living in East Berlin. The people were restricted, the quality of life generally improved and political parties dominated. It can also be said that the Cold War and the Berlin Wall were closely related because the Cold War was one of the reasons for the construction of the Berlin Wall.
