Germany: Construction of the Berlin Wall 1962
During the 50s and early 60s the situation in Eastern Germany didn't improve. People kept leaving the state because they were unhappy about the conditions and weren't allowed to change anything or even utter criticism. This "exodus" was a huge problem for Eastern Germany because especially its well educated and young population kept leaving which further damaged their economy. Western Germany was about to bring Eastern Germany "to its knees" simply by existing and by being more attractive.
Between 1945 and 1961 around 3,5 million people fled from the Soviet occupation zone/the GDR towards the West. This diagram shows the population loss of East Germany. (Left: "Citizens in millions". Vertical text: "construction of the Wall") It was an existential crisis for East Germany, the years 1959–1961 were even worse than those of 1952/1953 (when ultimately protests by discontent workers broke out at June 17th 1953). The GDR was bleeding dry, there was the danger that there wouldn't be enough people left to keep the economy running. Economic problems became worse and worse because of this.
Besides Eastern German citizens there were also many people from Poland and Czechoslovakia who used their access to Berlin to escape into the West. It wasn't only East Germany which was affected, many people from Eastern Europe were unhappy about the conditions. They survived years of brutal Nazi reign and now they had to live under Soviet leadership which meant little personal freedom. There were many economic problems and shortages.
The Soviet Union tried to push the Western Block to transform West Berlin into a "free city". This meant that the city would be way more independent from the West and also without any military forces. Essentially the western powers would have to retreat from the city. If the Allies didn't comply the Soviet Union threatened to transfer control over all communication lines to the government of the GDR which meant the western powers would only have access to West Berlin if the GDR permitted it. Yet the West refused once again to give up the city.
Tensions grew higher and the USA, GB and France made a secret plan on how to respond to any aggression on West Berlin. The name of this plan was "Live Oak". Live Oak intended to have the western forces break through to West Berlin. Using nuclear weapons was also being discussed. Yet this plan was never used.
The military forces in West Berlin itself were next to meaningless compared to the huge size of the surrounding Eastern German and Warsaw Pact forces. They wouldn't be able to last very long. Yet West Berlins safety was guaranteed by the NATO who promised to treat any attack on the city as an attack on the whole NATO. The NATO partnership meant showing solidarity between its members. West Berlin couldn't defend itself on its own and Western Germany wasn't able to protect it either. Only because the whole Western Block promised to stand by their side they were safe, they formed a "safe heaven", an enclave within the Soviet Union.
A Soviet attack on West Berlin could quickly escalate into nuclear war which was another important deterrent. The Soviets were extremely unhappy about the current situation but they weren't able to do much about it.
Because their diplomatic attempts and threats had failed the Soviets changed their tactics. They couldn't attack West Berlin so they chose something else.
The Soviet leadership planned to "secure their borders" by building a wall. This would end the "food voting" that was endangering Eastern Germany. The plan to construct a wall was kept a strict secret. The GDR government tried to keep their preparations hidden as long as possible.
At a press conference at June 15th 1961 a journalist asked the head of the GDR government Walter Ulbricht: "Mr. Chairman, do you think the formation of a free city means that the state border will be built at the Brandenburg Gate? And are you determined to take this fact into account with all the consequences?"
This meant that there would be a strictly guarded border at the Brandenburg Gate with all the consequences that came with it.
Ulbricht responded: "I understand your question in such a way that there are people in West Germany who want us to mobilize the construction workers of the GDR capital to erect a wall, right? I am not aware that [such] intention exists, as the construction workers in the capital are mainly occupied with housing construction and their workforce is fully exploited. Nobody has the intention to build a wall."
This last sentence was about to become famous because it became clear to both the societies of West and East Germany that the Eastern German government blatantly lied to the public.
The Western Block knew that there were "drastic measures" about to happen to close off West Berlin. Yet they didn't expect them to happen in this size and at this specific time.
Ultimately the final decision by the Eastern German government was done. In the night of August 12th to 13th thousands of NPA soldiers, German Border Police (which would later become Border Troops) as well as police forces and Combat Groups of the Working Class were working together to close off roads and railways to West Berlin. Soviet troops were in combat-readiness and positioned at the allied border crossings. Subway and S-Bahn lines were affected as well. The concerning stations were closed off and "western" subways and S-Bahnen would keep driving through those stations without making a stop.
At August 13th Eastern German forces interrupted any connection between both parts of the city. They put up fences, barbed wire and a number of walls yet what we know as the "Berlin Wall" was only constructed in the years to come.
This new line of separation followed the old "sector border" and cut straight through streets, sidewalks and even houses. Sometimes one half of a street was in West Berlin, the other was in East Berlin. Eastern German forces bricked up the entrances (doors and windows) of selected houses. Their inhabitants now only had access to their houses over the backyards.
The people of both parts of Berlin were absolutely surprised and shocked about this development. During this time there were many last desperate escape attempts by Eastern German citizens. People were fleeing out of windows because the doors were already bricked up. They grabbed as little as they could carry and had to leave everything else behind. Another picture. Sometimes people were only able to help their own child into the West. People were handing over babies to their relatives on the other side because they weren't able to escape themselves.
A lot of Berlin citizens had family members in both sides of the city and regularly visited each other. Now this had stopped completely. In the following years it would become very difficult to legally visit the other side.
It wasn't just civilians who tried to escape. Until September 1961 85 people from the Eastern German forces who were supposed to construct and protect the wall deserted into the West. One famous picture is of the Eastern German soldier Conrad Schumann who jumped over the barbed wire while simultaneously dropping his rifle.
The Western Block protested against the construction of the wall but they were unable to do anything about it. In one way the wall cemented the status quo. West Berlin would remain a part of the Western Block and an enclave within soviet territory. The only thing that changed was that it became much harder to flee into the city. The GDR depicted the wall as "anti-fascist protective barrier". Officially it didn't lock Eastern German citizens in, it would keep spies, agents and provocateurs out.
The Berlin Wall and the wall between West and East Germany now seperated both blocks. There was now a heavily guarded border running through Europe which seperated the ties people from different nations were having in the past. This border eventually was called "the Iron Curtain", a term that was already being used in the past but now was used as a way to both describe the new physical border as well as the ideological conflict between both sides.
A series of pictures about the construction of the Berlin Wall.
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