The+Fall+of+the+Berlin+Wall

By Jennifer B.    The Berlin Wall was a barrier separating West Berlin from East Berlin and the rest of East Germany. The wall separated East Berlin and West Berlin for 28 years, from the day it was constructed on August 13, 1961 until it was destroyed in 1989. During this Period at least 133 people were killed trying to cross the wall in to West Berlin. However, at least 200 people were killed trying to flee from East to West Berlin. When the East German government announced on November 9, 1989 the visits in West Berlin and West Germany would be permitted and crowds of East Germans climbed onto and crossed the wall joining West Berlin for victory. Over the next few weeks’ parts of the wall was chipped away by the public and hunters, industrial equipment was later used to remove almost all of it. 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 communist Czechoslovak government. On [|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. Protest demonstrations broke out all over East Germany in September 1989. This was the start of what the East Germans called a “Peaceful Revolution” in the late 1989’s. The protester’s wanted to create “Socialism with a human face” and by November 4,1989 the protesters had significantly completed it. The Fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for [|German reunification] which concluded on October 3,1990.

[|Buckley, William F., Jr.]  (2004). The Fall of the Berlin Wall. [|Hoboken], [|New Jersey] : [|John Wiley and Sons]. [|ISBN 0-471-26736-8]. Cate, Curtis (1978). The Ides of August: The Berlin Wall Crisis—1961. [|New York City] : M. Evans. Catudal, Honoré M. (1980). [|Kennedy] and the Berlin Wall Crisis. [|West Berlin] : Berlin Verlag. [|Kennedy, John F.] . [|July 25] , [|1961]  speech. [|Maclean, Rory]  (1992). Stalin's Nose: Across the Face of Europe. [|London] : HarperCollins. [|Schneider, Peter]  (2005). The Wall Jumper. [|London] : Penguin Classics. Friedrich, Thomas (writer),and Harry Hampel (photos) (1996). Wo die Mauer War/Where was the Wall?. Berlin: Nicolai. [|ISBN 3875846958]. Taylor, Frederick. The Berlin Wall: 13 August 1961 - 9 November 1989. Bloomsbury 2006

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