The Berlin Wall


The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Constructed by the German Democratic Republic, starting on 13 August 1961, the Wall completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin until government officials opened it in November 1989. Its demolition officially began on 13 June 1990 and finished in 1992. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, accompanied by a wide area that contained anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc portrayed the Wall as protecting its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that had marked East Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.

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The Warsaw Pact

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Gorbachev

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Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985 when it was on a crisis and its economy was very weak. Gorbachev seemed to be different to other leaders. Citizens had no longer loyalty to the government or they did not even care. Gorbachev was very worried about alcoholism since life expectancy of Soviet men decreased from 67 in 1964 to 62 in 1980 and it also meant a decline in Soviet industry. Gorbachev knew that to solve the problems, Communist slogans were not enough. In 1987 his perestroika programme (restructuring programme) allowed markets forced to be introduced into the Soviet economy. For the first time in 60 years it was no longer illegal to buy and sell for profit. He began to cut spend on defense since it was an enormous drain on the Soviet economy. Two years later, the USA and the USSR signed a treaty to remove most of their missiles from Europe. Gorbachev also withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan. However all his policies were not successful. In 1990,
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