Following their defeat of German forces in World War II, the Allied nations occupied Germany. They divided the country into four zones, with Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States each controlling one zone. The German capital of Berlin, which lay deep within the Soviet zone of occupation, also was divided into four sectors and ruled jointly by the Allied nations.

The Soviet Union soon disagreed with the democratic Allied nations over the terms for reunifying Germany. By 1950, the border between the Soviet zone of occupation (East Germany) and the non-Soviet zones of occupation (West Germany) was closed. The non-Soviet sectors of Berlin (West Berlin) remained a democratic outpost in East Germany. When West Germany enjoyed an economic resurgence as conditions worsened in East Germany, more than 2.5 million East Germans fled to West Berlin.

To stop this flow of refugees, East German authorities sealed off West Berlin. In 1961, they began construction of the Berlin Wall, which ultimately stretched as a series of concrete walls for more than 100 miles, separating West Berlin from the Soviet-controlled East Berlin and East Germany. Standing as a symbol of the Cold War, the Wall, 15 feet tall in places and topped with barbed wire, was fortified by guards and mines. Nearly 200 people were killed attempting to cross the barricade.

PostScript: Following widespread protests demanding democratic reform, the Communist government of East Germany was forced from power in 1989. The borders opened, and the Berlin Wall fell. Within a year, East Germany and West Germany were reunified as a single nation.