McKenna HuntzingerPeriod-1 Honors English 11- Larson The Berlin Wall President Reagan’s statement “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”(Famous Quotes) is a phrase that will forever live in the minds of the world. This statement signified a new devotion to freedom and the promotion of democracy. The Berlin Wall had stood as a symbol of communism and oppression for decades and its fall represented a new world, new freedom and new opportunities. The significance of the Berlin wall is often a difficult thing to put into words as it was such a revolutionary moment in history. The fall of the Berlin Wall was one of the most important events to occur in the modern world. The wall was important in, what brought about the creation of the wall, how the wall and the principles it was built upon were destroyed, and the impact that the Berlin Wall had on world history and modern society. The Second World War was a conflict between the allied nations (The United States of America, The United Kingdom, France and The Soviet Union) and the Germans, Italians, and Japanese. WWII ended in the mid-1940’s and as a result of the axis loss, Germany and her allies were punished. Germany’s primary punishment was the reduction of the size of their nation and the division of German Territory between the allied powers to ensure proper reconstruction of Germany into a democratic power (History.com Staff). All the allied nations followed the format and attempted to revive Germany and help the people recover except for the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union attempted to punish the German people by starving them and forcing their nation into poverty. The USA reacted to this crime by airlifting food and supplies into East Berlin in an attempt at relieving the civilians. This marks the beginning of tensions between the Soviets and the Americans. These tensions escalated into the Cold War, Missile Crisis, and the Arms Race. The practice and expansion of communism by the soviets developed into a major enemy of the free nations of the world, threatening to expand into democratic nations and destroy their republican policies and ideals. There was nothing that the United States feared more than communism as seen in the Red Scare and the fear of communist infiltration. The Eastern Germans who had been oppressing their people and putting down labor unions and protests for better working conditions began to notice a decline in their economy as Eastern Berliners fled to the west, as shown when Mr. Ulbricht stated “We must create the conditions so that the GDR economy will not be vulnerable to our enemies. We didn’t know that the GDR was so vulnerable to West Germany. This is not good; we must correct this now” (W. Ulbricht). The communist resolution was to create a wall that would disable East Berliners from fleeing the nation and seeking refuge in the West (The National Security Archive). The free world suspected the communists of building a blockade but were met with Walter Ulbricht’s response, “Nobody intends to put up a wall!”(Famous Quotes). However the Berlin Wall was constructed on August 13 th 1961 and marked the beginning of a full scale conflict between democracy and communism referred to as the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was met by opposition and resentment by the Americans. The Americans, a democratic nation believed in the concept of self determination and the right of the people to hold the power not the dictator. When the wall was first created President Kennedy believed that it was harmless and would not impact the world negatively, President Kennedy stated “A wall is a hell of lot better than a war” (Famous Quotes). The true severity of communist impact is displayed by his change in perspective on The Wall, only two short years later Kennedy made the famous proclamation, “All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words, Ich bin ein Berliner.” (Famous Quotes)(Meaning I am a Berliner), by saying this Kennedy displayed his dedication and belief in the liberation of Berlin, changing the US role from an observer to an activist. The construction of the Berlin Wall would impact the world for the next three decades, and change politics in the United States as well as in the rest of the free world. The events leading to the construction of the Berlin Wall alone make it one of the most influential events in world history. The fall of the Berlin Wall was brought about by the ending of the Cold War, in the late 1980’s the cold war began to dwindle away in Europe leading to the liberation of Berlin. The Cold War began to end in the mid1980’s following the Arms Race. The Soviet Union and the other communist powers were beginning to weaken and fall, new leaders were more reasonable and willing to make a deal with the free world. The democratic powers took advantage of this moment of communist weakness to manipulate their leader Mr. Gorbachev to destroy the Berlin Wall and begin the reconstruction of Europe. Ronald Reagan stated “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” beginning a new Europe, uniting families, and promoting democracy. The fall of the Soviet Union is greatly attributed to President Reagan, Reagan instituted a policy known as Reaganomics, thought to strengthen America economics, cutting taxes for the very wealthy and promoting a very Laizze Faire (business first) economic policy. President Reagan made these domestic changes in an attempt to weaken the Soviets in the Arms Race. Reagan’s plan to win the cold war was to bankrupt the Soviets before they could defeat the United States. President Reagan accumulated a record high national debt but was successful in utterly destroying the Soviet Economy and bringing about the end of the seemingly stalemate Cold War. These policies ended the Cold War and made it possible for the Democratic Nations to demand the freedom of the East Berliners, putting the Soviets in a very weak position and allowed the activists to gain the power to achieve liberation and free themselves from the tyrannical Soviet Union. On November 9 th 1989 the Berlin Wall was destroyed and the long separated East and West were united. The Berlin Wall was torn down by civilians from both sides, they pounded on it with hammers and picks (Meissner). As they destroyed the wall they seemingly destroyed communism, the cold war, and oppression. The destruction of the wall was the final step in ending the Cold War and achieving a temporary state of peace in the world (Cold War Museum). On October 3 rd 1990 Germany was finally formally united and was unified into one nation. The Cold War was finally over nearly 30 years after it had begun, a new hope came alive in the world as people dreamed of peace and prosperity. Gorbachev formally stated that the Cold War was over and the Russians held no grudge against their former enemy, declaring that the world was in a state of peace and people had not fear a third World War. This resulted in relief and celebration throughout the world, people needn’t fear attack by missile and families were being reunited once again. With the fall of the Berlin Wall the threat of “destruction of mankind by war” (Kennedy, Famous Quotes) had been eliminated. In the words of George Bush Sr. “By the grace of God, America won the Cold War”. The fall of the Berlin wall brought about the destruction of communism and the end of a time of fear and oppression making it one of the most influential occurrences in History. The impact of the fall of the Berlin Wall was great in that it united families that had been separated for decades and believed they may never see their loved ones again (Cook). The unification of families strengthened the world’s moral to protect the ideal of family and the right of people to live where they wish and not be held against their free will. The Berlin Wall also brought about a deep rooted hatred of communism and its principles. The world became very anti-communist and would go to any length to ensure the safety of the free world. The free world put forth great effort to contain communism and limit its spread as it still does in modern society. The United States also became extremely dedicated to the protection of democracy and the promotion of self determination in the oppressed countries around the world. The United States abandoned their isolationist policies forever changing how the world functions and how world affairs are carried out. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and the UN (United Nations) promoted freedom and liberation, creating a strong force against anyone who so much as questioned the policies of democracy. The greatest feat of the Berlin Walls destruction was perhaps the renewed faith that with perseverance good could triumph over evil and that oppression can be replaced with liberation if the powerful take a stand for the weak. The Berlin Wall created a lasting impact on the world and how modern day politics work. The Berlin Walls creation, destruction, and impact will live on in history forever because of the effect they had on the world and the change that occurred due to them. The Berlin Wall forever changed the way the world functions and the way society thinks about personal freedom and limitation of power. Some may say that the Berlin wall was a devastating event in history and that no good came from it and they are correct in the sense that it was devastating and hindered the development of nations and peoples lives, however the effect of the fall of Berlin Wall is one that the world cannot wish to rid itself of, the fall of the wall represented the fall of communism and a restored faith in the good in the world, those things are not a disaster but an achievement. The Berlin Wall will continue to impact the future as well as be a moving event of the past if people keep the ideals and concepts derived from the walls destruction close at hand for if the world cannot learn from history it is bound to repeat itself. Work Cited Cook, Jane. “Why Did the Berlin Wall Fall 22 Years Ago?”. Fox News. 9 November 2011. Web. -----14 May 2014. Meissner, Daniel. “The Berlin Wall: Barricades Can Be Broken”.Marquette History Department. -----n.d. Web. 12 May 2014. "Famous Quotes - Cold War - History in an Hour." History in an Hour. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May - ----2014. History.com Staff. “Berlin Wall”. History.com. 2009. Web. 6 May 2014. “The Berlin Wall, Fifty Years Ago.” The National Security Archive. National Security Archive -----Electronic Briefing Book No. 354. 12 August 2011. Web. 12 May 2014. "The Cold War Museum." Cold War Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014.