Why Was The Berlin Wall Taken Down ?
The Berlin Wall separated the communist East Berlin from the democratic West Berlin. It was erected by East Germany in an effort to protect itself from hostility from the West. However, it mainly served to prevent free access of the people from one sector of the city to the other. |
Nonetheless, that did not prevent people from trying to escape to West Germany. Though around 5000 did get away safely, some of the others were not so lucky. It is estimated that around 206 were killed while trying to cross the Berlin Wall. The real death toll is not known as the East Germans did not maintain a record. 200 were injured badly.
If people were caught by the East German Border police while trying to run away, they were sentenced to 5 years in prison.
It was time something was done about this brutality. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and opening of the Hungarian border, discontent grew more rapidly. Protesters grew in number in East Germany. Neues Forum (New Forum), a group which cried out for reforms in East Germany, was founded by a group of students and scholars.
The old government led by Erich Honecker, however, refused to give way. It was finally with the commencement of a more liberal communist government that changes started taking place.
In the year 1989, after 28 years of partition, the wall was finally broken down. It was a symbolic end to the Cold War. And finally, Russia, the power of the East, and the United States, the power of the West, started talking with each other. Peace and prosperity could now flourish where there once was darkness and depression.
The Berlin Wall was primarily taken down to unite both the countries, East Germany and West Germany.
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