The building of the Berlin Wall and The Role of Hungary in the Fall of the Wall

The Building of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin wall was up for a total of 28 years. It was created on the night of August 12-13, 1961. Overnight, German soldiers laid down barbed wire in between the western and eastern halves, separating one country, basically, into two. The Soviets could not take the amount of people fleeing Eastern Berlin. Skilled professions were leaving Eastern Germany to have better lives in the West, causing Eastern Germany to decline even further as its people’s satisfaction and economy went down the tubes. Around 2000 people were leaving East Berlin per day. So, Khruschev closed access between East and West Germany, starving his people, was defeated by the West’s perseverance, but he built the wall anyways. From barbed wire to 15 feet high guarded walls, the separation extended 28 miles through Berlin and 75 miles around Berlin.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/berlin-wall-built

The Role of Hungary in the fall of the Wall

                Once Hungary dropped its borders, people quickly moved through Hungary down through to West Berlin. Thousands of people fled the East everyday now that they were free to travel through Hungary. This border had never been opened until now. People began to protest more and more, encouraging this movement for change in the East. Eventually, the Eastern soldiers allowed the massive movement to surge trough, reunifying Germany.

http://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-events/berlin-wall5.htm