The Berlin Wall, built in August of 1961, was s physical symbol of the political and emotional divisions of Germany. The Wall was built because of a long lasting suspicion among the Soviet Union on one side and Western Europe and the United States on the other. Once World War II was over, these Allies no longer had a common purpose to hold them together. Their differences became less hidden and more irreconcilable. The Western Allies quickly realized they couldn't "kick a dog when its already down", and that Germany was in desperate need of help." Therefore, the Allies' aim was to rebuild Germany's economy. The Soviet Union disagreed with this plan immensely, and instead they became busy with setting up Communist dictatorships in their conquered areas, such as the zone of East Germany. This major difference among these powers marked the beginning of the Cold War. The war was not of physical battle, but of international diplomacy. Germany now became the prize struggle between enemies. In response to the numbers of people who fled the communist world to the free world, East Germany built a wall that cut across the heart of Berlin. It was an improvised structure, thrown up overnight. In the months and years to follow, it would harden into a massive barrier of concrete blocks, barbed wire, machine gun towers, and minefields. The Wall became 103 miles long, and it was approximately ten to thirteen feet high. It cut across 193 roads, and it sealed West Berlin not only from the rest of the city to the east, but from all of East Germany. "A second wall was eventually built 100 miles to the east of the original wall. 293 watchtowers, 66 miles of antivechicle trenches, hundreds of killer guard dogs, countless searchlights, alarms, and self-firing guns were all used to keep East Germans form leaving." (Mirabile 7) In the night of August 12, Walter Ulbricht of East Germany, had his troops unroll their barbed wire "to protect the fronti...
