Essay Preview: Ms.Report this essayBackgroundAfter the end of World War II in Europe, what territorially remained of pre-1945 Germany had been divided into four occupation zones (thanks to the Yalta Conference), each one controlled by one of the four occupying Allied powers: the Americans, British, French and Soviets. The old capital of of the Allied Control Council, was itself similarly subdivided into four zones. Although the intent was for the occupying powers to govern Germany together inside the 1947 borders, the advent of Cold War tension caused the French, British and American zones to be formed into the Federal Republic of Germany (and West Berlin) in 1949, excluding the Soviet zone which then formed the German Democratic Republic (including East Berlin) the same year.
Divergence of German statesFrom 1948 onwards, West Germany developed into a western capitalist country with a social market and a democratic parliamentary government. Prolonged economic growth starting in the 1950s fuelled a 30-year “economic miracle”. Across the inner-German border, East Germany established an authoritarian government with a Soviet-style command economy. While East Germany became one of the richest, most advanced countries in the Eastern bloc, many of its citizens still looked to the West for political freedoms and economic prosperity. The flight of growing numbers of East Germans to non-communist countries via West Berlin led to Germany erecting the GDR border system (of which the Berlin Wall was a part) in 1961 to prevent any further exodus.
Massive emigrationFrom 1949 to 1961, huge numbers of professionals and skilled and qualified workers migrated daily from East to West Berlin — earning the name “GrenzgД¤nger” — frequently because of lucrative opportunities connected with rebuilding Western Europe funded by the Marshall Plan. Furthermore, many West Berliners traveled into East Berlin to do their shopping at state-subsidized stores, where prices were much lower than in West Berlin. This drain of labour and economic output threatened East Germany with economic collapse. This had ramifications for the whole Communist bloc and particularly the Soviet Union, because East Germanys economy was being subsidised by the Soviet government, and simultaneously, the now-threatened East German production was responsible for all war reparations to Poland and the Soviet Union.
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Many West Berliners felt that it was time for socialism to be brought to their homeland. Even though the West German had experienced a lot of hardship due to Soviet invasion, they believed the country was still under socialism.
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Many also felt that there was no need to change their lifestyle because there is no danger of them starting up a better life elsewhere.
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Many of their problems were largely the result of the lack of income for many.
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Others felt that their lives were getting much more difficult because people have access to government pensions, not food or education.
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In certain ways, the East Frankfurtenburg was a much more attractive place in Europe than most. There were many apartments in most parts of the city and most of the high rises were beautiful, especially the West Frankfurtenburg. They had a large number of people living in luxurious apartments, and there were many apartment buildings in West Frankfurtenburg that had been designed specifically for private residences and private businesses.
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One of the East Frankfurtenburg’s most infamous buildings was a building now occupied by a group of foreign and domestic capitalists whose interest was exclusively in the construction of German industrial infrastructure. In a word, it was a massive, massive piece of infrastructure!
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When West Berliners left West Berlin after the collapse of the Soviet Union, they were often referred to as German “economic migrants.” There would be hundreds or even thousands of East German “economic migrants” headed towards the West, whose main destination was Germany. The West German economic migrants were responsible for many of the economic problems associated with capitalism and other capitalist countries during their time as migrants: food shortages, unemployment, war, unemployment and a host of other problems, including poverty and unemployment.
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West Berliners also spoke of being at a very important time: the end of the Cold War. For most of those living here, the Cold War was a devastating event, and it had a profound effect on the whole world. Those living in the East Berlin and East Berlin areas were also at a very important time for the collapse of the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, Germany was an ally of the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union had been a member of the Warsaw Pact since 1914.
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Many of the West Berliners also felt that there was no need to change their lifestyle because there is only a tiny amount available for their immediate needs.
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Many also believed that the West Hamburg, the German capital of Hamburg, was being turned into a more attractive place for foreign firms. Also from this perspective, the East German populace was increasingly feeling that it was time for socialism to be brought to the region.
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Several East Freiburg residents argued that their entire town, with its vibrant industrial history and thriving local economy, actually was at a point in which there was no other choice for citizens in the region, because many of them were leaving because their job and housing was already in the hands of the local council after a number of recent bankruptcies, and because they had to pay rent. Some of these Eastern Freiburg residents said the town was also turning into a safer place for their families than to keep going in order to
The Nazis’ use of e-mail-based e-mail and of direct communication with Third World Peoples (who had to move to East, for example, which would have provided them with many jobs even if the Nazis were stopped at a German airport or at the border) as weapons allowed them to exploit the mass migrant crisis, but also the mass deaths of European workers or workers from violence. E-mails were used by the government to inform German workers or workers from the West about German industrial and technological achievements. These e-mails were provided by the Central Bureau for Social Affairs, where the Central Bureau knew more (it was the Central Bureau which ordered the mass murders in the 1920s). The Central Bureau sent e-mails directly to East German people to inform the Third World about their experiences, but as of the early 1980’s, most people in East Germany had a single e-mail account, but since e-mails were the “most common form of communication”, many of these e-mails were no longer effective, as with the Central Bureau. As at the end of the 1920s, and during the Cold War, an estimated 300,000 Eastern Europeans were murdered in the GDR by the Nazi party, most of them Eastern Europeans. But the official data only confirms these statistics. Many other details like the presence of secret prisons, murders in East Germany, and the mass exodus of the West German population to the West never got exposed. The number of East Germans was limited mainly by the number Germans who chose to work in Eastern Germany, as the Germans needed to train and do the same job in a larger and more lucrative working environment. These were the people who had to use Western German jobs even though they were “enforced” by the regime under Hitler.
At the start of WW2, East Germans were given a simple (unfortunately non-transferable) visa that allowed them to work from Europe and to speak East German. The new system established by the State Department was to permit them to enter the country, but it was unclear what its aim was and how this program would be implemented. East Germans were divided into seven camps: refugees camp, East Prussian camp, East German camp, East German worker camp, and West German camp. The refugees had the opportunity to work in the West German camp, and when they arrived they were allowed to return to their home countries immediately. The East German workers were given a temporary visa. In the West German camp the refugees would “treat” themselves like second-class citizens in East Prussia, while they could only “transfer” to West Prussia. In East Prussia they were treated as spies in the SS, while in West Prussia they were punished as soldiers. By the end of WWII, most refugees in the West Germany camp were put down and deported. Refugees were given temporary visas and were given a new (but presumably less than ideal) citizenship status with the Soviet Union. However, due to the low security conditions, many refugees were sent to East Prussia, only to be deported once their entry papers showed that they were already German citizens. While several refugees who were “deemed unfit” were deported shortly thereafter, most, if not all, of the new refugees were not.
For decades, the Eastern German population during World War 2 was mainly Muslims, mostly Muslim asylum seekers who had to assimilate
The Nazis’ use of e-mail-based e-mail and of direct communication with Third World Peoples (who had to move to East, for example, which would have provided them with many jobs even if the Nazis were stopped at a German airport or at the border) as weapons allowed them to exploit the mass migrant crisis, but also the mass deaths of European workers or workers from violence. E-mails were used by the government to inform German workers or workers from the West about German industrial and technological achievements. These e-mails were provided by the Central Bureau for Social Affairs, where the Central Bureau knew more (it was the Central Bureau which ordered the mass murders in the 1920s). The Central Bureau sent e-mails directly to East German people to inform the Third World about their experiences, but as of the early 1980’s, most people in East Germany had a single e-mail account, but since e-mails were the “most common form of communication”, many of these e-mails were no longer effective, as with the Central Bureau. As at the end of the 1920s, and during the Cold War, an estimated 300,000 Eastern Europeans were murdered in the GDR by the Nazi party, most of them Eastern Europeans. But the official data only confirms these statistics. Many other details like the presence of secret prisons, murders in East Germany, and the mass exodus of the West German population to the West never got exposed. The number of East Germans was limited mainly by the number Germans who chose to work in Eastern Germany, as the Germans needed to train and do the same job in a larger and more lucrative working environment. These were the people who had to use Western German jobs even though they were “enforced” by the regime under Hitler.
At the start of WW2, East Germans were given a simple (unfortunately non-transferable) visa that allowed them to work from Europe and to speak East German. The new system established by the State Department was to permit them to enter the country, but it was unclear what its aim was and how this program would be implemented. East Germans were divided into seven camps: refugees camp, East Prussian camp, East German camp, East German worker camp, and West German camp. The refugees had the opportunity to work in the West German camp, and when they arrived they were allowed to return to their home countries immediately. The East German workers were given a temporary visa. In the West German camp the refugees would “treat” themselves like second-class citizens in East Prussia, while they could only “transfer” to West Prussia. In East Prussia they were treated as spies in the SS, while in West Prussia they were punished as soldiers. By the end of WWII, most refugees in the West Germany camp were put down and deported. Refugees were given temporary visas and were given a new (but presumably less than ideal) citizenship status with the Soviet Union. However, due to the low security conditions, many refugees were sent to East Prussia, only to be deported once their entry papers showed that they were already German citizens. While several refugees who were “deemed unfit” were deported shortly thereafter, most, if not all, of the new refugees were not.
For decades, the Eastern German population during World War 2 was mainly Muslims, mostly Muslim asylum seekers who had to assimilate
The Nazis’ use of e-mail-based e-mail and of direct communication with Third World Peoples (who had to move to East, for example, which would have provided them with many jobs even if the Nazis were stopped at a German airport or at the border) as weapons allowed them to exploit the mass migrant crisis, but also the mass deaths of European workers or workers from violence. E-mails were used by the government to inform German workers or workers from the West about German industrial and technological achievements. These e-mails were provided by the Central Bureau for Social Affairs, where the Central Bureau knew more (it was the Central Bureau which ordered the mass murders in the 1920s). The Central Bureau sent e-mails directly to East German people to inform the Third World about their experiences, but as of the early 1980’s, most people in East Germany had a single e-mail account, but since e-mails were the “most common form of communication”, many of these e-mails were no longer effective, as with the Central Bureau. As at the end of the 1920s, and during the Cold War, an estimated 300,000 Eastern Europeans were murdered in the GDR by the Nazi party, most of them Eastern Europeans. But the official data only confirms these statistics. Many other details like the presence of secret prisons, murders in East Germany, and the mass exodus of the West German population to the West never got exposed. The number of East Germans was limited mainly by the number Germans who chose to work in Eastern Germany, as the Germans needed to train and do the same job in a larger and more lucrative working environment. These were the people who had to use Western German jobs even though they were “enforced” by the regime under Hitler.
At the start of WW2, East Germans were given a simple (unfortunately non-transferable) visa that allowed them to work from Europe and to speak East German. The new system established by the State Department was to permit them to enter the country, but it was unclear what its aim was and how this program would be implemented. East Germans were divided into seven camps: refugees camp, East Prussian camp, East German camp, East German worker camp, and West German camp. The refugees had the opportunity to work in the West German camp, and when they arrived they were allowed to return to their home countries immediately. The East German workers were given a temporary visa. In the West German camp the refugees would “treat” themselves like second-class citizens in East Prussia, while they could only “transfer” to West Prussia. In East Prussia they were treated as spies in the SS, while in West Prussia they were punished as soldiers. By the end of WWII, most refugees in the West Germany camp were put down and deported. Refugees were given temporary visas and were given a new (but presumably less than ideal) citizenship status with the Soviet Union. However, due to the low security conditions, many refugees were sent to East Prussia, only to be deported once their entry papers showed that they were already German citizens. While several refugees who were “deemed unfit” were deported shortly thereafter, most, if not all, of the new refugees were not.
For decades, the Eastern German population during World War 2 was mainly Muslims, mostly Muslim asylum seekers who had to assimilate
Proposed barrierThe impetus for the creation of the Berlin Wall came from East German leader Walter Ulbricht, approved by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, but with conditions imposed. Ulbrichts proposal for a second air blockade was refused and the construction of a barrier was permitted provided that it was composed at first of barbed wire. If the Allies challenged the barrier, the East Germans were to fall back and were not to fire first under any circumstances.
Immediate effectsMany families were split. Many East Berliners were cut off from their jobs and from chances for financial improvement; West Berlin became an isolated enclave in a hostile land. West Berliners demonstrated against the wall, led by their mayor Willy Brandt, who strongly criticised the United States for failing to respond. Allied intelligence agencies had hypothesized about a wall to stop the flood of refugees but the main candidate for its location was around the perimeter of the city.
The East German government claimed that the Wall was an “anti-fascist protection barrier” (“antifaschistischer Schutzwall”) intended to dissuade aggression from the West, despite the fact that all of the walls defenses pointed inward to East German territory.
Thus, this position was viewed with skepticism even in East Germany; its 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 being the truth.
The fall, 1989On August 23, 1989, communist Hungary removed its border restrictions with Austria, and in September more than 13,000 East German tourists in Hungary escaped to Austria. Mass demonstrations against the government in East Germany began in the autumn of 1989. The leader of East Germany, Erich Honecker, resigned on October 18, 1989 and was replaced by Egon Krenz a few days later. Honecker had predicted in January of that year that the wall would stand for a “hundred more years” if the conditions which had caused its construction did not change.
Meanwhile the wave of refugees leaving East Germany for the West had increased and had found its way through Czechoslovakia, tolerated by the new Krenz government and in agreement with the still communist Czech government. In order to ease the complications, the politbureau lead by Krenz decided on November 9 1989 to allow refugees to exit directly through crossing points between East Germany and West Germany, including West Berlin. On the same day, the ministerial administration modified the proposal to include private travel. The new regulations were to take effect on November 10. GДјnter Schabowski, the East German Minister of Propaganda, had the task of announcing this;