Question

What was the Soviet Union’s primary purpose in building the Berlin Wall?

A)to create a symbol of the boundary between Eastern and Western Europe

B)to protect East Germany from US attacks

C)to prevent East Germans from escaping to West Germany

D)to provide construction work to the laborers in East Berlin

Answer 1

C) to prevent East Germans from escaping to West Germany.

With Berlin being located in East Germany, the city provided a quick and easy opportunity for those under Soviet control to move to the democratically controlled portion of Germany.

The Soviet Union were dealing with people in East Germany and the eastern portion of Berlin moving into the democratically controlled West Berlin. The US, France, and Great Britain controlled the western portion of Germany and West Berlin. To prevent this movement, the Soviet Union constructed a wall around West Berlin overnight on August 13, 1961. The wall remained in place until November 9, 1989 when it was torn down.

Answer 2

The Berlin Wall was built to divide communist East Germany from democratic West Germany and to keep East Germans from escaping to West Germany. After World War II, defeated Germany was divided into four zones, each occupied by Allied forces: the United States, France, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. Tension between the communist territory and the democratic territories mounted, and the Berlin Wall was built to separate them.