Why did kruschev build the Berlin Wall?

Answer 1

The U.S.S.R. provoked the Berlin Crisis with an ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of Western armed forces from West Berlin culminating with the city's de facto partition with the East German erection of the Berlin Wall.

Answer 2

After WW2 the Berlin was divided into four sections and Germany into two parts. One section was communist and given to the Russians. The other 3 sections were western sections. The Berlin wall was started by the Russians to keep the two parts apart and to keep Western ideas and people out. Until 1989 when it came down it manage to separate families and ideas from the West into the Eastern section.

Answer 2In short, it was built by the DDR (East German) government to stop its citizens leaving for the BRD (West Germany) via Berlin.

Fuller background:

After the Second World War Germany, and Berlin, were both divided into 4 sectors amongst the 4 victorious allies, France, United Kingdom, USA and USSR. This was meant to be a temporary government until it could be decided what would be the final peace treaty. In Berlin there were 4 sectors, but they were supposed to co-operate in the government of the city.

The allies quickly disagreed on what sort of country Germany should be. The three western allies (France, UK and USA) decided to create the Federal Republic of Germany (BRD) out of their sectors, with a capitalist economy and a multi-party democracy. The USSR decided to create the German Democratic Republic (DDR) out of their sector, with a socialist command economy and one-party rule. They also gave their sector of Berlin to the DDR.

This left the three western sectors of Berlin still under military rule, not part of either Germany, but under the same economic system as BRD.

By the end of the 1950's the BRD was booming, and the economy of the DDR was well behind. This, and political repression, caused a major exodus from the DDR to the BRD. The DDR closed the border to the BRD (the 'Iron Curtain'), but people could still cross into the Western part of Berlin and then to the BRD.

The Berlin Wall was then built by the DDR Government to stop people leaving the country via Berlin.