Monday, May 16, 2011

Reaserch Essay « Nathan's Blog

The Berlin Wall, a huge wall put in place between East and West Berlin to keep the East Berlin people inside, and to keep West Berlin people out. The Wall was put in to place after World War 2, when the Soviet Union defeated the Germans. Instead of pulling out of Eastern Europe, they stayed (Rosenburg 3, B). Shortly later they built the wall. The people of East Berlin were ruled harshly, and had very controlled societies. He wall did not stand forever; November 9, 1989 was the last night it ever stood. Due to Democratic pressure and constant rebellion for freedom from the people of East Berlin, the iconic Berlin Wall fell (Mirable, 141, C).
After living twenty eight years under the shadow of the wall, the people of East Berlin started rebelling. "We are the people!" read the famous banner, In autumn, 1989, people in East Berlin started to raise their voices and they were being heard (Rosenburg 3, B). The people were constantly rebelling and demanding freedom. The communist leaders were getting weak; they could not hold back the people. The people were so desperate to get out they even risked their lives to cross the wall. A West Berlin reporter was once asked to marry a random East Berliner! Dumbfounded she asked why, her answer was simple, "If I marry a West Berliner, then I'm aloud out." A East Berlin reporter asked one of the communist leaders when the wall was coming down due to the constant rebellion by the people, the leader replied, "As far as I can see, immediately, right away!" That was asked the night of 9th, November 1989 (Rosenburg, 2, B).
Ever since the Soviet Union kept East Berlin, there was constant pressure from the outside Democratic countries to step out of East Berlin, and to give the people freedom. They were ignored. In 1987 the president of the United States of America, Ronald Reagan, said his famous speech, "Mr. Gorbashev, tear down this wall!" He was ignored (McElvoy, 4, A). Then in 1986, a Soviet run nuclear power plant in Chernobyl exploded killing hundreds and ensuring the deaths of thousands more (Mirable, 173, C). This event displayed the issues surrounding weakness in the Soviet government, therefore sparked even more demand from democratic countries to tear down the wall.
Pressure to tear down the Berlin Wall and rebellion from the people finally succeeded and on November 9th, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell after twenty eight years of standing. Thousands of people flocked to the Wall to demand the guards to let them through. (Rosenburg 2, B). Even though the Wall fell it still took many years for the two Berlins to be fully reunited as one Berlin. Despite the Wall falling, problems were not over. It took millions of dollars to repair East Berlin and to bring its economy up. In the end Ronald Reagan was the one credited for the Wall coming down due to his famous speech (McElvoy, 4, A).