Why did a large number of East Germans flock to West Germany during the division of Germany?

On June 17, 1953, the entire eastern Germany, except Berlin, Tenfeld, Halle, Leipzig, Meseburg, Brandenburg, Dresden, G?rlitz and other places There were strikes one after another. 300,000 people from nearly 272 districts of the General Assembly participated in the strike. Some intellectuals, demobilized soldiers and police also joined the strike team. Even some factories in West Berlin broke through police lines to support the workers in the east. Several people climbed to the Brandenburg Gate to replace the red flag with the flag of the Federal Republic of Germany. As a result, the Soviet army declared martial law and did not allow more than three people to gather on the streets. Violators were punished according to the wartime laws of the occupying power. An armored division was dispatched to break up the parade. During the conflict, the military and police opened fire, resulting in bloody conflicts.

On August 13, 1961, the former East Germany (GDR) built the "Anti-Fascist Defense Wall" to separate East and West Berlin. From then on, the two Berlins inside and outside the Brandenburg Gate became two worlds. The wall's mission was defensive, but its role was to prevent the exodus of East Germans.

East Germany established the "Stasi", the most powerful intelligence agency in the world, and established secret files for more than 6 million people in East Germany's 18 million people. One out of three must be People are monitored. In the 1980s, when "informant politics" became popular, snitching became the daily life of East German residents. The Stasi was established on February 8, 1950, and its official name was the "Ministry of State Security of the German Democratic Republic". During the Cold War, East and West Germany belonged to two camps. The Stasi was an East German spy agency established with the support of the Soviet Union. Its main tasks were to monitor and suppress opposition internally, and to conduct various espionage activities externally, especially against the Soviet Union. West Germany launched an espionage operation. The first Stasi minister was Zeisel. Under his leadership, the Stasi became the second-largest espionage agency in the socialist camp, after the Soviet KGB. Due to its powerful espionage technology, the Stasi has always been a major exporter of espionage technology within the socialist camp. In the late 1950s, the Stasi's "Technical Operations Service" shipped a large number of telephone listening and indoor surveillance equipment to North Vietnam. As the Vietnam War escalated, the two sides cooperated more closely. East Germany provided many cutting-edge technologies to North Vietnam for use in fighting "U.S. imperialism." North Vietnam was very interested in East Germany's poison analysis technology, secret writing technology, and dog training technology, and the Stasi was very generous in these aspects and taught them all. In addition, East Germany was also a major exporter of spy equipment to Cuba, including miniature cameras, telescopes, periscopes and infrared communication equipment.

West Germany’s economic situation is obviously much better than that of East Germany. The Americans quickly handed over the management of West Germany to the Germans. In 1947, the United States implemented the "Marshall Plan" and injected a large amount of funds into West Germany. In June 1949, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany was adopted, and West Germany established a "social market economy" and "welfare state" system that not only brought into play the vitality of market competition but also paid attention to social equality and welfare protection. In 1950, the Federal Republic of Germany's industry exceeded the pre-war level. From 1950 to 1965, the Federal Republic of Germany invested a total of US$228.1 billion, which contributed to rapid economic growth and began the 15-year "Rhine Miracle". From 1950 to 1965, West Germany's average annual import and export volume increased by 13.3% and 15.8% respectively. The trade volume in 1965 was eight times that of 1950. In the 1960s, West Germany's gross national product exceeded that of Britain and France. In the 1980s, West Germany has become the third largest economic country in the world. As early as 1971, West Germany's foreign exchange reserves reached 18.657 billion US dollars, surpassing the United States and becoming the first in the world.

What is more important than the economic growth rate is the actual life of the people. After the war, both the East and the West implemented rationing systems to cope with the difficulties. However, West Germany abolished the rationing system in 1950. Soon supermarkets of your choice filled the streets, and the market was prosperous and consumption was strong. East Germany did not abolish rationing until 1958, but the scarcity and singleness of goods remained. In all aspects of life, housing, employment, and medical care, the west is strong and the east is weak. To this end, East Germany put forward the slogan "Produce well first, live well later", which made people pin their hopes on the vague future. However, West Germany did not need slogans. The obvious "life is good" has strongly proved that its production is not bad.