Battle for Berlin

As WWII started coming to a close allied forces led by the US moved eastward from Western Europe and Soviet forces moved westward from Eastern Europe. Stuck in the middle was Germany.

After the war Germany was divided in two as was its capital, Berlin.

While all of Berlin was located within East Germany the city was divided into Eastern and Western sides.

East Germany/East Berlin became part of the Soviet Union and its government was controlled by Russia.

West Germany regained its independence after the war with a heavy allied presence in the country, especially in Berlin. The city and country were actually divided up among different allied nations that worked together but controlled specific regions.

Berlin Airlift

The Soviets did not appreciate the allied presence in the city and changes in the occupation policy of the UK and USA as well as France. So in 1948-1949 the Soviets blocked any goods or supplies from reaching the city by blocking the roads, railroad tracks, and waterways.

The idea behind the tactic was to force the allied nations to hand over full control of the city in exchange for goods and supplies to reach the city.

The allies refused to give in to the Soviets and started airlifting goods into West Berlin for the German citizens.

The airlift became so effective that by the spring of 1949 the Soviets lifted the blockade. However, this would only be the first of many conflicts that would take place between the two sides.

Berlin Wall

Germans who had enjoyed centuries of rich music, art, religion, and intellectual development did not fit into the Soviet system very well. As the Soviet presence continued more and more East Germans tried to escape to the west. This was especially true in East Berlin.

In 1961 in an effort to stop the flow of people going from the east to the west and slow the "Brain Drain" the Soviet Union builds a wall down the middle of Berlin. It becomes known as the Berlin Wall.

The wall became the symbol of the cold war and the oppression suffered by Germans on the Eastern side.

German families were divided and could not see each other. If you wanted to go from one side to the other legally you needed special paper work and had to pass through special check points.

The situation became so desperate for the Soviets that they adopted a policy of shooting wall jumpers.

The wall became such a controversial international symbol that President Kennedy even delivered a speech in front of it only 22 months after its construction.

Ich Ein Berliner

• What was Kennedy's main objective with the speech?
• What ancient civilization does Kennedy draw a connection to in the early part of the speech?
• Why does Kennedy use the phrase "Let them come to Berlin" repetitively?

Springsteen Rocks the Wall

In 1988 Bruce Springsteen plays a concert in front of the Berlin Wall. The concert is aired world wide.

East Germany allowed the concert to be played by the wall because they thought it would sate the hunger of East Germans for American Freedoms.

They were wrong. Instead East Germans became hungrier for Western freedoms and goods.

"MR. Gorbachev tear down this wall!"