The 1960s ~ Lesson 3 The Berlin Wall
The Soviets were unhappy with people leaving the Soviet part of Berlin to go to the western part of the city. Over the time period from 1949 to 1959 over 2 million people had left East Berlin. On August 12 and 13, 1961 the Soviets brought trucks into Berlin with bricks, wood, and heavy barbed wire. Workmen began building a wall to separate East and West Berlin. At first the wall was just barbed wire. Later it was rebuilt with concrete blocks making the wall 12 feet high and four feet wide. After the wall was built, nobody could leave East Berlin. The United States could do nothing to prevent this from taking place.
Guard towers were built along the wall. Guards were ordered to shoot anyone attempting to escape. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan gave a speech asking for the wall to come down. On November 9, 1989 the announcement was made that the borders would open so that people could move between East and West Berlin. In the 28 years of the Berlin Wall, an estimated 5000 people escaped over the wall and around 200 were killed attempting to escape.