BerlinWall

=Berlin Wall = 1. When and why was the Berlin Wall built? (Refer to such things as World War 2, the Cold war and divided Germany.) The Wall was built in 1961. More than 2.6 million East Germans escaped to West Berlin or West Germany from 1949 to 1961 (total population of East Germany was about 17 million!). After 1984, life in the West was much better than that in the East. West Germany including West Berlin had got financial help through the Marshallplan from the USA. In East Germany a communist system was established and many people had to suffer under repressions of the Communist party. 2. What problems did the Wall cause for the people living in Berlin? Some problems the Wall caused for the people living in Berlin were that East Germans could no longer travel into western Germany. Many families were split, many were forced to quit their old jobs this leaved them struggling to make ends meet for their families.

3. What was the Berlin Airlift? The Berlin Airlift was an ingenious solution to a very serious supply problem during the Cold War. Over the period of the blockade, the Berlin Airlift moved over two million tons of food and supplies by plane. At first, the Berlin Airlift did not look like a success. None of the cooperating nations had enough aircraft to meet the supply needs of West Berlin. They were also short on manpower. Flying into Berlin was severely dangerous, as there were limited flight paths available. Once pilots reached Berlin, they landed in one of three airports: Gatow, Tegel, or Tempelhof. The Western nations thought that the blockade would last only a few weeks, but ultimately, West Berlin was served for 15 months by the Berlin Airlift. The Berlin Airlift ended in 1949 when an agreement about open transportation lines was reached between the four occupying nations. The Russian blockade had failed in the face of tremendous cooperation and creativity by the Western powers, but it served as a warning for other events yet to come. A memorial at Temple of Airport commemorates the 54 Allied airmen who lost their lives during the Berlin Airlift.

4. When was the Berlin wall torn down and why? The Berlin wall was torn down on the June 13th 1990. The wall was torn down because Germany was under new leadership, this was he first step to Germany’s reunification since the fall of Hitler.

5. What impact did this have on the residents of Berlin? Many families were split. Many East Berliners were cut ff from their jobs ad from chances for financial improvement; West Berlin became an isolated enclave in a hostile land. It’s construction had caused considerable hardship to families divided by the Wall and the Western View that the Wall was a means of preventing the citizens of East Germany from entering West Berlin was widely seen as the truth.