"Following the end of World War II in 1945, a defeated Germany was divided into four occupation zones, controlled by the Allied powers: the United States, France, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. In 1949, two states emerged: the democratic Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in the West, and the socialist German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the East, with the latter being under Soviet control. From that point on, Germany was divided."
"People in the GDR lived under a surveillance state, deprived of freedom of expression. Those who failed to follow the socialist regime's line faced persecution and imprisonment. By the late 1980s, the population was increasingly rising up against the government. Citizens longed for the freedom and democracy their neighbors in the Federal Republic of Germany enjoyed. Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of reform were providing encouragement."
"Unlike his predecessors, Gorbachev refrained from using military force to suppress protest movements in the GDR and other Eastern Bloc countries. In 1989, a wave of peaceful demonstrations swept across East German cities, eventually leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall. This cleared the way for reunification between East and West Germany. Why is October 3 German Unity Day? The opening of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, was the turning point for the path towards reunification."
After World War II Germany was divided into four Allied occupation zones and in 1949 became two states: the democratic Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in the West and the socialist German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the East under Soviet control. The GDR restricted travel, imposed heavy border controls and built the Berlin Wall around West Berlin to prevent citizens from leaving. The GDR operated a surveillance state that suppressed free expression, persecuted dissenters and imprisoned opponents. By the late 1980s growing popular protest and desire for freedom combined with Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms and refusal to use force. In 1989 peaceful demonstrations culminated in the fall of the Berlin Wall, opening the path to reunification.
Read at www.dw.com
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