Social evaluation of the Berlin Wall

Regarding the construction of the Berlin Wall, the reaction of the Western Allies gradually increased: 20 hours after the construction of the Berlin Wall began, military patrols appeared along the border. Forty hours later, the Allied occupation authorities submitted a letter of protest to the Soviet commander in Berlin. 72 hours later, the Allies formally lodged a diplomatic protest with the Soviet Union.

After the West Berlin border was closed, East German citizens could no longer travel or immigrate freely to West Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany. Many families were separated, and East Berliners working in West Berlin were unable to go to work. West Berlin became An island in a hostile land. Willy Brandt, the mayor of West Berlin at the time, criticized the United States for failing to respond in time and called on West Berliners to hold demonstrations against the construction of the Berlin Wall.

In 1961, US Secretary of State Dean Rusk said: "The wall should not be a permanent landscape in Europe. I don't understand why the Soviet Union would consider its existence. From their perspective, it is undoubtedly a construction project." "A monument to the failure of communism."

The then US President John F. Kennedy made a cautious initial response, saying that Berlin was still a "free city." He immediately reappointed Lucius D. Clay, who had presided over the Berlin Airlift, as his special adviser. He went to West Berlin at the same time as Vice President Lyndon Johnson and met in West Berlin on August 19. The United States increased its military presence in West Berlin. 1,500 soldiers of the 18th Infantry Regiment of the 8th Infantry Division of the US Army set off from Mannheim through the territory of the Democratic Republic of Germany and arrived in West Berlin. Clashes broke out between West Berlin citizens and the GDR border police, before Ivan Stepanovich Konev of the Soviet Army Group in the GDR de-escalated border tensions.

The direct confrontation between the US military and the Soviet army occurred at Checkpoint Charlie on Friedrichstrasse on October 27, 1961. The two sides each deployed 30 main battle tanks to confront each other on both sides of the border line. . However, both sides withdrew their tanks the next day. This action of the US military was intended to declare jurisdiction over West Berlin, but neither side was willing to escalate the Cold War. "Freedom has many difficulties, and democracy is not perfect, but we have never built a wall to keep our people inside, to prevent them from dividing us." "Freedom is indivisible. As long as one is enslaved, all are enslaved. Not free." - John F. Kennedy (June 26, 1963)

"All walls in the world prevent people from outside from breaking in. There is only one kind of wall that prevents people from inside from getting out. "What is that?" - John F. Kennedy

"Mr. Gorbachev, open this door." "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Wall!" - Ronald Reagan (June 12, 1987)

"The fall of the Berlin Wall was a condemnation of tyranny" - Barack Hussein Obama

"Thank you Berliners for your efforts in this troubled world. Africans are still hungry, Zimbabweans are crying with tears. Those in pain do not have to endure forever." -Gordon Brown

"This commemoration is a call to action against oppression and to tear down all the walls that still divide the world. These walls separate cities, regions and countries." - Nicolas Sarkozy

"The era of confrontation has passed, and we should build a unique, new, and better world." - Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev The fall of the Berlin Wall gave rise to The Federal Republic of Germany provided a large amount of labor force, brought advanced technology and funds to the Democratic Republic of Germany, and improved the lives of the people of the Democratic Republic of Germany to a certain extent.

The fall of the Berlin Wall represented a unified Germany as an important part of the European economy. Germany's development can drive the economic development of the entire Europe and make the world economy develop towards a diversified trend.

The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the reunification of Germany and was part of the drastic changes in Eastern Europe. It also promoted the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.

The positive significance of the collapse of the Berlin Wall cannot be denied, but the price paid over the past two decades should be reflected on. The disintegration of the Soviet bloc is indeed a historical leap, but if the world's thinking remains stuck in the strategic interests trope of "the enemy is weakening and we are growing", then the significance of the historical leap will be offset.

On November 9, 1989, as the main symbol of the confrontation between the East and West camps, the Berlin Wall was demolished.

The construction of the Berlin Wall began in 1961. Its construction and collapse marked major changes in modern history. Its construction marked the peak of the Cold War era of confrontation between East and West after World War II. In the 1980s, the Soviet Eastern Bloc experienced the "Solidarity" movement in Poland and the "Charter 77" movement in Czechoslovakia. On October 3, 1990, the second year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the two Germanys were reunified. The entire Soviet Union also officially disintegrated on December 25, 1991.