兩德統一
2009.11.06 *Fri
The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall
This month marks the 20th anniversary of the day the Berlin Wall came crashing down. For over a quarter of a century, the 155 km-long barrier not only divided an entire city, but also stood as a powerful symbol of the Cold War.
The East German authorities built the Berlin Wall in 1961 to halt mass emigration from their side to the more prosperous West Germany. Over a decade earlier in 1949, Germany-and Berlin-had been split in two following Hitler’s defeat in World War II. Berlin became the sole point of passage between the divided nations, and millions of skilled workers took advantage of its freer status to escape the poorer and repressive East. This brain drain caused huge economic losses, not to mention a political loss of face for the East’s supporters, the Soviet Union.
While the Berlin Wall helped improve the East’s economy, for ordinary citizens, the wall’s construction had disastrous consequences. Almost overnight, families and friends became permanently separated, and people were cut off from their jobs. Even more tragically, up to 200 East German citizens were shot and killed while trying to cross the wall.
The barrier remained in place for the next 28 years until 1989. Two years earlier, in 1987, as the Cold War began to thaw, U.S. President Ronald Reagan had urged in a famous speech that the Soviet leader “tear down this wall.” Around the world, calls for the Berlin Wall’s destruction grew increasingly intense, until eventually, on November 9th, 1989, it was announced live on television that it would come down. Thousands swarmed to the dividing line and, crossing over the once-impenetrable barrier, embraced and celebrated with total strangers on the other side. Fewer than two years after this historic day, Germany was reunified, and the Cold War finally came to an end.
出自空中英語English Digest U5
真是萌爆了ww
This month marks the 20th anniversary of the day the Berlin Wall came crashing down. For over a quarter of a century, the 155 km-long barrier not only divided an entire city, but also stood as a powerful symbol of the Cold War.
The East German authorities built the Berlin Wall in 1961 to halt mass emigration from their side to the more prosperous West Germany. Over a decade earlier in 1949, Germany-and Berlin-had been split in two following Hitler’s defeat in World War II. Berlin became the sole point of passage between the divided nations, and millions of skilled workers took advantage of its freer status to escape the poorer and repressive East. This brain drain caused huge economic losses, not to mention a political loss of face for the East’s supporters, the Soviet Union.
While the Berlin Wall helped improve the East’s economy, for ordinary citizens, the wall’s construction had disastrous consequences. Almost overnight, families and friends became permanently separated, and people were cut off from their jobs. Even more tragically, up to 200 East German citizens were shot and killed while trying to cross the wall.
The barrier remained in place for the next 28 years until 1989. Two years earlier, in 1987, as the Cold War began to thaw, U.S. President Ronald Reagan had urged in a famous speech that the Soviet leader “tear down this wall.” Around the world, calls for the Berlin Wall’s destruction grew increasingly intense, until eventually, on November 9th, 1989, it was announced live on television that it would come down. Thousands swarmed to the dividing line and, crossing over the once-impenetrable barrier, embraced and celebrated with total strangers on the other side. Fewer than two years after this historic day, Germany was reunified, and the Cold War finally came to an end.
出自空中英語English Digest U5
真是萌爆了ww
