We pick up from the end of World War II with the downfall or Nazi Germany and the beginning of a new era. Germany has lost its resources from the toll of two world wars and had then been split between the allied victors, namely - France, Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. The German parts controlled by France, Great Britain and the United States unite to form The Federal Republic of Germany, known as West Germany, on May 12, 1949; on May 24,1949 the German Democratic Republic (GDR), known as the East Germany, is formed and controlled by the Soviet Union.
When we talk about the former capital of Germany, Berlin, things were a bit more complicated as the region lay within East Germany but the post war agreement gave all four allied powers joint administration of the region and as a result Berlin was divided into the Western district and eastern district. While the Western Germany prospered with the U.S. and its allies pouring in resources for West Germany’s construction, the Soviet Union extracted resources from Eastern Germany as war reparations making the situation in East Germany even more dire and served a severe blow to the already collapsing economy.
Naturally hundreds of thousands of East Germans began emigrating west in search of new opportunities and better living conditions, in response the GDR, known as East Germany, constructed a barbed wire fence throughout the inner border of East Germany in an attempt to limit the East Germans fleeing to other nations but there was a loophole to this, Berlin. Even with fortification along the border, in Berlin there was no physical barrier dividing the East and the West districts, an East German could simply walk across the street or take a public transport to flee to the other side of Berlin and eventually from West Berlin to Western Germany and beyond. By 1961 about 3.5 million, roughly about 20 percent of the East German population, had left this largely constituted of young professionals. June 26, 1963. U.S. President John Kennedy rides in an open-top limousine through West Berlin. “Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner) he declares in a pledge of solidarity.
The open border of Berlins posed a problem to GDR, and in response the GDR decided to close the border and then began the historic construction of the Berlin war in 1961 dividing Germany and the start of an oppressive regime in East Germany. Some Berliners still managed to escape by leaping over the wall or jumping from windows but by 1965 the walls had expanded and jumping over the walls became even more difficult with the walls now being 3.6 meters high and stretching across a 106 kilometers, concrete barriers had been added with smooth pipe on top to prevent climbing. The wall was further protected by guard dogs, land mines, spike strips, 302 watchtower, 20 bunkers, and a 100 meter parallel strip to the barrier termed as the ‘ Death Strip’ to provide a clear line of sight to the guards who had been ordered to shoot anyone who attempted to cross the wall. Regardless of the wall more than 5000 East Germans managed to flee East Germany, where some were diplomats or athletes who defected while abroad but the rest were ordinary citizens who dug tunnels, swum through canals, flew hot air balloons and in one case crashed a stolen tank through the wall but over 138 people died while attempting shot in view of the West Germans who were powerless to help their fellow East Germans. The wall did help stabilize the economy of East Germany but became a worldwide symbol for Communist Oppression.
"Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" - US President Ronald Reagan, in West Berlin, on June 12th 1987 gives one of the most iconic speeches during the Cold War era. The Communist Oppression of East Germany changes in October 1987, where thousands initially, then tens of thousand and hundreds of thousands of East Germans take to the streets in Leipzig demanding mainly Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Speech. The pressure on GDR to relax travel restrictions grew as the neighbouring countries like Hungary and Czechoslovakia relaxed their border laws and prompted a massive emigration of East Germans in those regions. GDR now overwhelmed with the situation realizes that something had to be done and they decided to lift the Travel Ban to resolve the protests and make the people happy. On November 8, 1989 Gerhard Lauter was tasked with drafting the new travel regulations, the new rules were finalized in less than a day and stated that “Private Trips abroad can be applied for without condition” with special emphasis on without condition.
What happened on November 9, 1987 was the most historic and important day of the era of the Berlin Wall, the greatest mistake that was the biggest blessing for East Germans occurred. In a seemingly boring press conference on November 9, 1987, Gunter Schabowski, the Government Spokesperson for GDR, was tasked with releasing the new Travel Regulation just as he was about to begin a Routine Press Conference, he had no time to review the regulations before sitting before the cameras and has hurriedly scribbled onto his handwritten notes to announce the new updated Travel Regulations for the first time. A journalist asked a simple follow up question but this very question changed the entire situation of Germany, this seemingly simple question was perhaps a show of the most power that a journalist can ever hold. A journalist asked Schabowski when would the regulations come in to affect and Schabowski shuffling through paper replies "It comes into effect, according to my information, immediately", but if he had reviewed it carefully the regulations were supposed to go into effect the next day in an orderly manner and when passport offices were open.
What happens next can only be described as a chain reaction as the news was broadcasted on news channels across the world , ten thousands East Berliners came to the border crossing points of the wall believing that they could now travel, overwhelmed the guards opened the gates allowing East Berliners and West Berliners to unite. People from both the sides danced on top of the wall, both East and West Berliners began to demolish the wall with whatever tools they could find and the iconic David Hasselhoff singing at the Brandenburg Gate. The years of division had come to an end as Germany was formally unified on 3 October 1990. Any barriers put up to impede freedom we can also break down. "The Wall was an edifice of fear. On November 9th, it became a place of joy." - Former German President Horst Köhler, Berlin, November 9th 2009.
“The Wall was not brought down by Washington, Bonn or Moscow. It was razed to the ground by the courageous and intrepid people, from both the East and the West” as famously said by the Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Many small people, who in many small places do many small things, can alter the face of the world, the fall of the Berlin wall is the epitome of this very statement where a group of ordinary citizens through their action showed the entire world what power an average human being hold that can change the entire course of history. This stands true for all the physical as well metaphorical barriers that are placed whether it be race, gender, age, religion, finance, etc. that we normal people doing small things can change the course of history and bring down all barriers that impede freedom.
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