Essay Sample on The Fall of The Berlin Wall

Introduction

The Collapse of the Berlin wall, as well as the death of Communism in Europe, bore the turbulent changes which were however worth. The collapse of that wall which was had solid barbed wires and ghastly concrete brought a division to the capital of German. When the Berlin Wall opened it ignited a series of activities which made the United Republic of German be united, which comprised of the German Republic of East German and West German in 1990. When German was defeated in the Second World War, the erection of the Berlin Wall followed immediately (Williams, 2007). This meant that the country was divided between the part that was supported by the Western allies which were West German and the portion which was supported by the Soviet Union was referred to as the Democratic Republic of East German.

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The Capital of German was also divided into two when the government of East German erected a wall in 1961 with the sole purpose of preventing the Eastern citizens from migrating to Western German. This activity completed a wall which was sealed between the two countries When eventually the wall was opened it was due to a long and tedious process that began earlier but eventually gathered its utmost momentum in 1989. The opening was after consistent peaceful demonstrations as well as very peaceful marches which were made by the civil rights movements. The protests continued until the government felt its impact (Williams, 2007). Later the government got tired of breaking the demonstrations and allowed the protests to continue without being prevented by the armed security forces.

After the government realized that the pressure was too much to bear, the wall was eventually opened, and the opening led to a series of events which affected both Europe and the rest of the world. A few weeks after the wall had been opened; there was a change in the government of Czechoslovakia. The leaders in this country had been autocratic ruling with an iron fist, but after the Fall of the Berlin wall, they embraced the transition from autocracy to a democratic government which was ready to listen to the grievances of its citizens. Late peaceful transitions of governments happened in Bulgaria and Romania. This took place when it was made clear that the Soviet Union will not be willing to support the Communist governments which hardline stands. After the collapse of the wall, the East German economy collapsed in the middle of 1990s the democratically elected leaders of East German were left with very little leverage(Williams, 2007). In July 1990, the Deutsche Mark got introduced in East German as the currency of the union.

The companies in East German which had already been left vulnerable by the disintegration of the two countries left East German too weak to compete. The unification between west and East German was due to the collapse of the wall. The Germans needed huge financial transfers emanating from the West going to the East. These states in Eastern German required significant adjustments in their daily lives so that the union could work because the two countries had reached different economic levels before their transformation and unification (Williams, 2007). The West Germans were forced to incur considerable taxes to accommodate their brothers from the East who had not reached the economic status which their country had already reached. In the global scale, the Berlin Wall fall led to the end of the Cold War. Berlin for long had been used as the epicenter of the conflicts concerning the cold war. The fall of the wall made many leaders all over the world to believe that the world would have peace more especially Eastern Europe but still, Western Europe has not experienced the peace which was expected, and that is why the NATO troops are permanently stationed in the areas formerly under the USSR. After the Berlin wall, the United States began putting its authority by putting itself as the world police however the anticipated peace has not been got. After the fall of the wall neoliberal capitalism emanated which of late has come under questions more especially after the financial crisis of 2008 (Williams, 2007). Finally, the fall of the Soviet Union brought about the fall of all the political, economic and social structures of the union which also affected the other countries which were aligned to it.

Reference

Williams, B. (2007). The fall of the Berlin Wall: 10 November 1989. Slough: Cherrytree.