Why did the government want to separate west Berlin and east Berlin with the wall?

Answer 1

After world war two Russia and the US divided Berlin into two parts as part of the treaties that were signed. People in East Berlin began to realize that their families and friends in West Berlin had more freedoms and enjoyed a better lifestyle than they had under communist rule. They began moving to the west. As a result in 1961 Russia built the wall to keep them from fleeing to the west.

Answer 2

The East German Border Police built the Berlin Wall in 1961. In August 1961, the Border Police were part of the Ministry of the Interior, not the Ministry of Defense; they were subordinated to the Ministry of Defense a month after the Wall was established. (Having said that, the Wall didn't exactly go up overnight like the history books claim it did; therefore, MoD troops built almost all of it.)

The reason they built the Wall was in the late 1950s and early 1960s there were a LOT of defections from East Germany to West Berlin. General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchev called First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Walter Ulbricht and told him to fix his defection problem or the 350,000 Soviet troops already stationed in East Germany would. Ulbricht told Secretary for Security Matters Erich Honecker (who later became First Secretary) to do what Khrushchev ordered, and Honecker decided to build a huge impenetrable fence around West Berlin.

Answer 3

Berlin was a divided city in the Eastern sector. The wall was extended to prevent residents of East Germany from simply driving or walking around to the Western side of Berlin, and entering from that side.

Answer 4

To stop its citizens from fleeing to the West .

Answer 5

It was built because the soviet union running east Berlin wanted to stop the 'brainy' and skilled people escaping to west Berlin (which ruled itself)