Social Effects Of The Berlin Wall example essay topic

Outline THESIS: From research and historical analysts, we can conclude that in many cases the people of Germany have been effected socially and economically by the building and construction of the Berlin Wall. I. Background A. Beginning construction B. Closing borders C. Pre-Berlin Wall II. History A. Cold War B. World War II C. Economy. Post- Berlin Wall effects A. Economic examples B. Political examples Conclusion In the last fifty years the German Democratic Republic has been a nonstop changing country. In Germany, the terms "East" and "West" do not just represent geographically regions.

It runs much deeper than that, and there is still a large gap in the way of life, and political and social conditions of the whole country. While most German's were sleeping on the night of August 13, 1961, the East German government began closing its borders. In the early morning of that Sunday, most of the first work was done: the border to West Berlin was closed. The East German troops had begun to tear up streets and to install barbed wire entanglement and fences through Berlin. Between 1961 and today, the Berlin Wall saw many changes, and so did the people that it entrapped. Prior to the construction of the Berlin Wall, boarders between East and West Germany were closed in 1952 because of tension between Communists and Democratic superpowers and the only open crossing left in Berlin.

West Germany was blockaded by the Soviets and only kept alive because of air drops made by the Western Allies (Time). The Soviets had to do something about the mass amount of people leaving Soviet East Berlin for West Berlin, and the non-communist world. The most visible aspect of the Cold War was the Berlin Wall. Before the wall was constructed, East and West Germans could travel freely between the two states. The number of East Germans fleeing to West was an embarrassment to the Communists, and something had to be done to protect the intr easts of the Communist movement in Germany. The differences between the vibrant economic life of Berlin and the gray, slow growth of a Communist People's Republic was particularly apparent.

The number of trained professionals in particular threatened the economy of East Germany. The Wall changed this. It did stop the flow of people West, but imprisoned the ones living in the west. Since World War II, about half a million people cross the border separating different parts of Belin daily.

East Berliners could attend movie theaters showing Western films, and many had jobs in the strong economy of West Berlin. With the thriving economy, many shopped in the well stocked stores in West Berlin. Items like jeans, fashionable dresses, and seamless panty hoses which were unavailable in East Berlin shops were available in West Berlin shops. In addition, East Berliners and other East Germans could simply take a subway car to flee to West Berlin and on to West Germany.

Even today Germans are seeing the effects of the wall. To Frank Schulz, a 35-year-old Berlin postman is a prime example of the effects. Six days a week, Schulz sets off to deliver 100 kilos of mail heaped into leather bags on his bright yellow Post Office bicycle in a Berlin neighborhood called Kopen ik. Despite the arduous labor, Schulz is paid about $2,400 a year less than most other German mailmen.

Schulz is an Oss i, the German slang for an easterner, and even though the Berlin Wall came down a decade ago, Germans from the eastern part of the country still earn less than their counterparts in the west. 'I feel like a second class citizen now,' he says. 'I'm really disappointed with the way our life turned out' (Wallace). Although many Germans are no enjoying freedom, some miss how things used to be, even ones living in the West, where things were better for Germans during the wall's standing years. In the neat West Berlin neighborhood of Sch " one berg, Kurt Galert frets impatiently in his apartment while his wife is out working to support the family (Wallace). The 52-year-old Galert was pushed into early retirement by an aviation company three years ago, and he blames the Ossis for taking his job.

'They work for less money,' Galert complains. 'It's too late to put the Wall back, but I wouldn't mind if things were like they used to be. ' Ten years after the Wall collapsed, it's difficult to find any physical traces of the concrete and barbed wire barrier that once divided Berlin in half culturally, politically, economically. While Berlin is a united city again, the two distinct worlds that existed on either side of the Wall have proved very resistant to change. As shown in these two men's lives, salaries and attitudes are changing much more slowly than the landscape. In the United States, most would agree that the 18 to 25 year old voters are fairly liberal politically and morally.

However, this is not true in Germany. There has been a notion that only older people in the East would vote for the Party of Democratic Socialism, but in a recent pole, 40% of young people in this area would vote for this party of former communists. In the West however, all of the districts, excluding one voted for the conservative Christian Democratic Union. (Time Nov 20th) Though times were tough for many years for some Germans, things are improving slowly. While the wall was erect, many Germans had high hopes of change and continue to strive towards equality nationwide. In June of 1963 when John F. Kennedy visited Berlin, he gave a very impacting speech to the people of Berlin, 'There are some who say that Communism is the wave of the future.

Let them come to Berlin' (Sidey). Although the wall no longer physically stands, it still today divides Germany and Berlin into two separate states today.

Bibliography

Benjamin, Daniel. "Wall of Shame". Time. November 20, 1989 Canning, Kathleen.
Responses to German Reunification". The Journal of the International Institute. 2000.
The Regents of the University of Michigan. 07 March 05 Sidey, Hugh. "The Presidency". Time. November 20, 1989 Wallace, Charles P.
Across the Great Divide". Time Europe. Nov. 15, 1999.