What was the Berlin Wall?

Question

When and why was it erected and when and how was it torn down?

Answer 1

The Berlin Wall was just that: a wall which circled West Berlin.

The wall was constructed by the East German government in 1961 they claimed as a "barrier to fascism". The real purpose was to stop the mass exodus of its population from the communist east to the democratic west.

The wall became symbolic of the cold war and of the failure of the communist system. President Kennedy delivered his famous "Ich bin ein [sic] Berliner" speech there.

The wall's destruction began in November of 1989 when the East German government - following weeks of civil unrest - announced that they would no longer attempt to stop their citizens from leaving. Euphoric citizens began climbing over the wall and chipping away at it; later construction equipment was used to tear it down.

Formal German reunification was achieved in October of 1990. A section of the Berlin wall decorates the grounds of the CIA headquarters in Virginia.

Answer 2

The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 to separate East and West Berlin (East Berlin was under the communist control of East Germany, while West Berlin was under the democratic/free market control of West Germany). The wall went down the middle of some streets, and divided neighborhoods. It was usually topped with barbed wire, and there were guard towers every kilometer or so.

The East German government said they built the wall to protect East Berlin from the "criminal elements" of the West. In reality, the wall was built to keep East Germans from escaping to the West. It was very embarrassing to the government of East Germany to have so many citizens who wanted to leave...

The wall was torn down as the result of popular protests in East Germany in 1989. Germans on both sides of the wall demanded its destruction, and when the crowds got too large to control--and the risk of world wide condemnation if forced was used to disperse them was too high--the police backed off and the wall came down. People used sledge hammers, axes, and large machinery to do this.

Check out the website below for more info.

Answer 3

A wall. In Berlin. Strangely

Answer 4

Germany was defeated by three powers, US, UK and USSR plus a token of France. Germany and Berlin were divided by the 3 powers (France was given a section of the US sectors). At first they got along well enough. THe USSR had plenty of goodwill on its side at first, except in Germany. As time went on the western powers (US & UK) started rebuilding their sectors and improving the lot of the people. In the east the USSR continued to punish Germany for WWII. People left the east for the west. Eventually too many people started leaving and the best place to go from east to west was Berlin, cross a street and you are in the west, so the USSR had to stop it and thus built a wall seperating West Berlin from East Berlin.

Answer 5

When Russia liberated Berlin at the end of the second World War they established Communist rule on the east side and built a wall between the east and west so the people in the east couldn't make it to the west.

Answer 6

It was torn down after the east and west germany united together, there's actualyl a picture of that wall located in one of Las Vegas Restroom. (In the Strip)

Answer 7

it was torn down when germany united. my uncle was supposedly there when it was torn down.

Answer 8

it was the wall that humpty dumpty fell off of

Answer 9

To separate the german