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The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was constructed on August 13, 1961, by<br />
the German Democratic Republic (East Berlin). It was<br />
built overnight and was originally made of barbed wire,<br />
encircling West Berlin. On August 15, 1961, the concrete<br />
(more permanent) reconstruction of the wall began.<br />
The government allowed people to cross the wall for<br />
the first time on November 9, 1989.<br />
East German workers building the wall<br />
Woman fleeing East Berlin August 12, 1961
After World War II, the Potsdam Conference was held<br />
to discuss the treaties of the war. It was decided that<br />
the United States, the Soviet Union, France and Britain<br />
would each occupy a portion of Germany and that<br />
Berlin itself (the capital), would also be divided into 4<br />
sections.<br />
Allied occupation of Germany<br />
after WW II<br />
From left to right, Winston Churchill,<br />
Harry Truman and Josef Stalin at the<br />
Potsdam Conference in the summer of<br />
1945<br />
Berlin
From 1948 - 1961, more than 3 million East German<br />
citizens travelled to the West through Berlin. This was<br />
one-fifth of the East German population and was<br />
mostly the young and well-educated. Many Eastern<br />
Germans crossed into the West each day to work for<br />
higher wages and did not contribute to the East economy,<br />
resulting in the Western Deutsche Mark being<br />
worth 4- 6 times more than the Eastern Deutsche Mark.
The wall had a perimeter of 155 km, 302 watchtowers,<br />
259 dog runs, 20 bunkers and more than 11,000 soldiers<br />
on guard.<br />
Watchtower along the Berlin Wall