The Rise
The Berlin Wall was one of the most iconic and powerful symbols of the Cold War, being erected by the Eastern Bloc to prevent the prodigious emigration and defection from East to West Berlin, and to protect the Eastern population from fascist, socialist influences. Premier Nikita Khrushchev was a major impact in the rise of the Wall, as he was always at the centre of tensions between the East and the West, issuing the West an ultimatum to get out of Berlin, promoting communism and his idea of ‘peaceful coexistence’, and ultimately giving the orders for the building of the Berlin Wall. Khrushchev was also a part of multiple negotiations and conferences that contributed to the rise of the Berlin Wall. The principal negotiations, not all including Khrushchev, but Stalin, were the Potsdam Conference, Yalta Conference, the formation of NATO, and the Vienna Conference. The Wall was successful in preventing a war, but it did increase tensions between the opposing sides. The East achieved what they set out for regarding the rise of the Berlin Wall, although eventually desiring a democracy by the time the reign of the Wall was coming to an end.
The Berlin Wall then and now