How Far Do You Agree That, for the Gdr, the Results of the Building of the Berlin Wall Proved to Be Mainly Negative?

929 Words4 Pages
In 1961 the Berlin Wall was built, ten years after the division of Germany. It was the result of mass emigration from East to West and rising tensions between the USA and Russia. Many dispute over whether the outcomes of the physical divide benefited or disadvantaged East Germany, I think that the results of the Berlin Wall were mainly negative for the GDR and held them back further from post war recovery; the West recovered quickly whilst the Eastern economy and living conditions were poor for several years and the Berlin Wall did not help matters, the East was never as successful as the West. One of the many negative results of the Berlin Wall was the fact that it finally separated the East from the West, and this split friends and families immediately. Phone lines were cut and people had to stay on the side they ended up on when the wall was built; emigration was near impossible because of high security levels, and gaining access by means of a visa was also difficult as well as expensive. People were devastated; this was the first sign that they were losing their freedom in terms of travel and many panicked citizens tried to escape before the Wall was finished and fully guarded. This negatively affected the GDR as their people felt trapped, they were unhappy with the government system thrust upon them purely because of the district they happened to be in. Another negative impact of the Berlin Wall was that the GDR had to constantly strengthen the wall and its defences as they felt threatened by the West's increased military forces. The initial barbed wire barrier soon transformed into a concrete wall with weaponry and military forces defending the inner German border; so many military resources were devoted to the defence of the wall, a constant drain of the GDR's time, money, and work force, which could have been used elsewhere if the wall did not exist.

More about How Far Do You Agree That, for the Gdr, the Results of the Building of the Berlin Wall Proved to Be Mainly Negative?

Open Document