The Fall of the Berlin Wall: Symbolism and Historical Significance

The fall of the Berlin War (November 9, 1989) is one of the most significant events during the era of the Cold War. The wall divided the nation into two divisions for 41 years. The divide happened after the loss of Germany in the World War 2. It was more of an ideological divide than a demographic divide. East and West Germany were established to serve different purposes. The allied countries (US, France, and the UK) had capitalist ideologies, and they instilled that ideology in the area of West Germany, where they ruled. The communist ideology was instilled in the Soviet Union's East Germany. Due to high unemployment in East Germany, by August 1961, almost 3.5 million East Germans had migrated to West Germany in search of a livelihood. The city of Berlin entirely lies in East Germany, but due to the authoritarian power of the US, UK, and France, which was also certain, they demanded that Berlin be divided into two parts too. Soon after, in 1961, East Germans started building a wall that divided Berlin into two parts, east and west Berlin. It was all chaos; people were illegally trying to climb the wall to get on the other side; the barbed wire that was installed was cut down by locals; and those whose houses were near the wall just continued to jump directly from their houses to reach the other side of the wall. The people on both sides wanted to reunite. The West Germans were quite active in helping East Germans escape. As time went by, the wall became stronger and bigger.

The situation began to transform when the newly appointed Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, encouraged and implemented policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) that advocated for political freedom and liberty. These reforms empowered East Germans to challenge the administration that had ruled them for years. On November 9, 1989, a miscommunication spread in which the government of East Germany announced that its borders were open to everyone. Following this news, thousands of thrilled East Berliners assembled on the Berlin Wall, where they were welcomed by West Berliners with champagne and flowers. It marked the end of the Cold War, and on 3rd October 1990, East Germany and West Germany were reunified.