ENGL 015 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Ich Bin Ein Berliner, Berlin Wall, Plaintext
Document Summary
In the midst of the cold war, tensions between military and political powers in eastern and western europe were at an all time high. The united states were allied with the west while super powers such as the communist soviet union were allied with the east. The source of the tension was, in large part, due to both political and economic differences. German democratic republic (gdr, or eastern germany) constructed a wall, known as the. Berlin wall, which completely divided and cut off west berlin by land. The wall was designed to prevent emigration and defection from eastern germany; this was a popular practice after the end of world war ii. It was also meant to protect the east from the western fascists. for about 30 years the wall was a success in terms of its purpose and function but at a great cost.
