The division of berlin

THE DIVISION OF BERLIN

In June 1961 a reporter asks East German leader Walter Ulbricht how he planned to stop the flood of refugees. He answers “No one intends to build a wall.”

• In June 1961 a reporter asks East German leader Walter Ulbricht how he planned to stop the flood of refugees. He answers “No one intends to build a wall.”

The Iron Curtain Personified

Cold War Battleground

Two Sides-One Story

The Revolutionary

The Iron Curtain Unravels

• Hungary opens its borders with Austria. Moscow does nothing to stop them. Within six months 220,000 East Germans cross this border into the west.

40th Anniversary of East Germany

• On October 7, 1989 Gorbachev is the guest of honor even though Honecker opposes his liberal policies.

• The celebration turns into a protest march. The people chant “Gorbi, help us!”

November 9, 1989

“Die Mauer im Kopf”

• By December almost one million East Germans had moved to the West

• No one wants Eastern goods causing mass unemployment.

• The West sees Easterners as a burden and the Easterners feel like second class citizens.

• Germany is officially reunited on October 3, 1990, but the divisions run deeper than just geography.

• The reunification effort costs $200 billion by 1993

• Many from the East feel like they have been given no voice in their future, but instead have been peacefully taken over by the West Germans.

Ossies und Wessies

A Country United; A People Still Divided

After reunification Berlin quickly becomes known as the biggest construction site in the world as the city tries to remove it’s scars. By 2000 Berlin has become one of the most modern cities in the world.

• After reunification Berlin quickly becomes known as the biggest construction site in the world as the city tries to remove it’s scars. By 2000 Berlin has become one of the most modern cities in the world.

10th Anniversary of Nov. 9

15 Years Later

• Today the feelings haven’t really changed from East to West. In 2004 the former West Berlin districts voted for the Christian Democrats. The Eastern districts voted for the Democratic Socialist party, which succeeded the communists.

• A few recent polls show some Germans wouldn't mind seeing the Wall return; Easterners would like to return to their former job security, generous social benefits and a slower, less consumer-oriented way of life. Westerners would like to stop supporting the East.

Bibliography

• http://www.andreas.com/berlin.html

• http://www.maaa.org/exhi_usa/exhibitions/berlin/berlin.html

• http://www.mikhailgorbachev.org/

• http://www.wall-berlin.org

• http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/rreaganbrandenburggate.htm

• http://www.wall-berlin.org/gb/ciel.htm

• http://www.berlinwall.itgo.com/climb.htm