The iron curtain monument on the bottom right is located in Budapest Hungary. Its inscriptions are in English on one end and Hungarian on the other end. It serves as a reminder of the iron curtain and all that it stood for. As the inscriptions strive to point out, life on the Soviet dominated side of the divider was anything but ideal. The Soviets ruled with an iron fist. The words on the monument like slaves, isolated, tormented, humiliated, captivity, fear and the phrase took away our freedom are all very pointed and uneasy. These words do however serve justice to the darkness that fell over Eastern Europe when it came under the control of the ruthless Soviets. Hungarians know from first-hand experience how violently brutal the Soviets were. The Soviets took any and all resources that they wanted and shipped them back east to Moscow leaving the Hungarians with whatever was left. In 1956 Hungarians decided to protest in what became known as the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. The protest was eventually brutally crushed leaving as many as 30,000 dead and another 200,000 fleeing for their lives.
The photo on the bottom left illustrates and commemorates the fall of the iron curtain. The broken piece of barbed wire symbolizes the fall of the iron curtain but also the breaking of Soviet power in the east. The areas that had been under the control of the Soviets are illustrated with pictures while the rest of that was not is merely in red symbolizing just how divided the continent was after WWII. The pictures in the east are hard to make out but appear to be photos of rejoicing at the fall of the iron curtain.
The Solidarnoc photo stands for the Polish trade union that formed in Poland in 1980. It was the first workers union that formed in Poland under the Communist controlled government. Solidarity was a strong contender for workers’ rights as well as leader in the fight for social change. Within the first year of its establishment Solidarity encompassed nearly one third of Polish workers with a membership of 10 million. Solidarity was opposed by the Communist government but true to its name it stuck around and forced social change and its members were elected in the late 80s and early 90s to run the government after the breakup of the Soviet bloc.
To say that important things have happened in German history on November 11 might be an understatement. It is probably fitting that this was the date that the Berlin wall came down. The photo on the top left shows the Berlin wall right in front of the iconic Brandenburg gate. This picture could have many meanings but the one that I see is that when the wall comes down Germans who had been stuck in East Germany were now welcome to come through the Brandenburg gate and rejoin their Western counterparts to reunite their country and the world.
Finally the middle picture on the left shows the foreign ministers from Austria and Hungary cutting a hole in the fence that marked the border of their country on June 27th 1989. This is just another example of how Europe and the world were ready to end the partition and come together to make Europe whole and strong again.
The falling of the Iron Curtain as we have noted in class is of extreme importance to European history. It is in my opinion it is of the same importance and significance as the Black Death, World Wars I and II and the establishment of the European Union.
Philip Gardner http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/hungarian_uprising_1956.htm https://thevieweast.wordpress.com/tag/hungary/
Reblogged this on Neverending Wanderlust and commented:
These images all focus on the fall of the Iron Curtain in Europe in the late 1980s. The top right image is the logo of the Polish Solidarity union, which served as a catalyst in bringing down the Iron Curtain. Solidarity was not a part of the Communist Party, which was extremely unusual for a trade union in the Soviet sphere of influence. A huge portion of Poland’s population joined Solidarity, and it quickly became an opposition movement. In the early 1980s, the Polish government implemented martial law in an attempt to crack down on Solidarity’s popularity and criticism of the government. Eventually, the Polish government realized that Solidarity was too big to quash and was forced to negotiate. These negotiations led to elections that were partially free in 1989. In the 1989 elections, the Polish people voted resoundingly for Solidarity and against communism. After that, it was only a matter of time until the rest of Eastern Europe would follow Poland’s lead.
The middle left image shows Hungarian and Austrian officials bringing down part of the physical Iron Curtain. In the summer of 1989, the Austrians and Hungarians staged a “Pan-European Picnic” on their border, where they would temporarily take down the fencing separating East and West and let people cross back and forth freely during lunch. However, East Germans in Hungary also heard about the plans for the picnic and decided to take advantage of the opportunity. East Germans faced extremely heavy restrictions on travel to the West, but could travel much more freely behind the Iron Curtain, including to Hungary. On the day of the picnic, hundreds of East Germans arrived and crossed through the open border into Austria and the West.
The top left image shows East German soldiers standing on top of the Berlin Wall after the border between East and West Germany had been opened. After the Pan-European Picnic, thousands of East Germans were able to escape to Austria through Hungary. However, the East German government eventually caught on and banned travel to Hungary. After this, many traveled to Hungary (and then Austria) through Czechoslovakia or simply went to the West German embassy in Czechoslovakia. The East German government eventually decided to open the border between East and West Germany, but due to a miscommunication, border guards were completely uninformed. Masses of East Germans arrived at the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 wanting to leave, but faced resistance from the guards. Eventually, the guards gave in and opened the border, ending the physical separation of West and East Germany.
The bottom right image shows an Iron Curtain monument in Budapest, which serves as a reminder of the terrible times of the Iron Curtain. For people in Eastern Europe, the Iron Curtain isolated them, separated them from the West, oppressed them, and humiliated them. However, the people who lived behind it did not simply accept its presence. They fought to tear down the Iron Curtain, and they were ultimately successful. Europe is no longer divided between East and West, and many of the countries that used to be behind the Iron Curtain have now joined the ultimate Western club – the European Union.
All of these pictures demonstrate the affects of the iron curtain and the Berlin Wall and the opposition against both by the people who did not approve of it. The iron curtain was a divider between the countries united by the Soviet bloc and those against them on the western side and the rest of Europe. This occurred after World War II in hopes of keeping communism alive by the Soviet Union and keeping those against them and for democracy out of sight. This went on from 1949 until 1989.
The top right picture symbolizes the term Solidarity which is a polish organization. It was one of the first resistant movements that successfully were able to have a hand in participating in the free elections in the Soviet bloc. They were most concerned with the workers being able to have appropriate rights and they were dedicated to the social movement in general. The government tried to destroy them because at the time they were seen as radicals. The government did declare the solidarity movement and organization illegal but then they fought back and continued on until the laws were lifted and they could continue being heard.
The top left corner picture represents guards keeping people outside of the Berlin Wall. It was built because people were still angry about the berlin blockade and soviets decided to keep East German’s out. It fell in 1989. Gyula Horn was the man cutting the wire fence in the picture below the wall taken in 1989. He was the leader of Hungary and just recently passed away. This was a huge moment because it was the start of the breaking down of communism in the Soviet Union and led to their ultimate defeat and disappearance.
The picture below that in the bottom left hand corner shows a long barbed wire that has already been cut and the pictures in color are those countries in the shape of the former soviet bloc. The broken chain is very influential because the moment the chain was broken people saw their chance at freedom and the reality of Soviet Union being taken down.
The bottom right picture is a monument of part of the iron curtain that has been left in Budapest and Hungary and is there to help people remember what they went through and to tell the story to new generations about what went on and ultimately what they were able to conquer. On the side there are words that have been applied to tell the story of what the monument symbolizes. It starts out by saying, “Shall we live as slaves or free men? It isolated the East from the West”. The words are powerful especially to those who lived it because they lived through a time when they did not feel free but now have been able to come out on the other side and realize they are now not only free but are no longer cut off from the rest of Europe. There is no longer a division and the continent may still have its disagreements because there are so many countries but they do not have walls or iron curtains holding them back and preventing them from leaving or coming in. They are free. These pictures demonstrate everything that has been discussed and show how far Europe has come and how many obstacles they have overcome and the positives that have come out of it by getting rid of the Soviet Union and preventing the spread of communism throughout Europe.
The five images in this week’s blog post focus on the Iron Curtain which separated the Eastern Bloc from the rest of Europe, and its downfall. The picture that best summarizes this theme is in the bottom-left. It shows a map of Europe, with the communist states filled in with photographs and images depicting key events from the end of the Cold War.
The top-right image is the logo of the Polish trade organization Solidarity. Solidarity was one of the most visible signs of the coming downfall of the Eastern bloc. Solidarity, or Solidarność in Polish, was a movement that coordinated various labor unions in Poland and was able to exert considerable influence on the Polish government. It began in the northern shipyards, but soon spread until its membership was almost half of the entire Polish population. It was at its strongest in 1980 and 1981, and in December of 1981 the Polish government, under pressure from the Soviet Union, shut it down and imposed martial law on Poland. In the late 1980’s, Solidarity reappeared, and its influence eventually resulted in multi-party elections in Poland.
The Berlin wall, shown in the top left picture, was one of the most concrete and well known symbols of the division between the East and West during the Cold War. Construction was begun on the wall in 1961 as a barrier separating “fascist” West Berlin from East Germany, and by the time it was demolished in 1989 it had become a formidable fortification designed to make it impossible to defect to West Berlin. Although many East Berliners died attempting to make it past the wall, thousands were able to cross it by various means. The wall did more than simply remove all movement between East and West Germany; it separated Berliners from their jobs, families, and friends, and the cultural divide created by communism and represented by the wall still exists to some extent today.
Although the Berlin wall was the most famous section of the iron curtain, a barbed-wire fence stretched across the borders between the communist countries of Eastern Europe and the capitalist countries of Western Europe. Shown in the middle-left image are the foreign ministers of Hungary and Austria symbolically cutting the fence between their countries. In 1989 a section of the border between Austria and Hungary was opened for a short amount of time to allow Austrians and Hungarians to participate in what would be called the “Pan-European Picnic.” At the appointed time, the gate was opened and some six-hundred East Germans began to pour across the border. The Hungarian border guard who was in charge of opening the gate quickly chose to let the Germans into Austria, instead of following protocol and opening fire. According to an article I read on the Pan-European Picnic, he remains in contact with the gaurd from the Austrian side of the fence.
The bottom-right image seems like the most appropriate image with which to end this discussion. It is of a monument in Budapest, which reminds the population of the division and isolation caused by the Iron Curtain, and celebrates its downfall. Inscriptions on the monument in Hungarian and English concisely and poetically describe the Iron Curtain’s effects, ending with the phrase: “and finally we tore it DOWN.”
As World War II drew to a close, the Soviet Union under Stalin began envisioning its postwar aims in full force. From the “Western” perspective, led by the Anglo-American alliance, the USSR posed a significant threat to postwar global security. Quickly the consensus grew that Stalin, as the leader of the Soviet Union, would want to permanently occupy the areas of Eastern and Central Europe that the Red Army had de facto control of by May, 1945. While revisionist historians have examined the overzealous foreign policy directives of NATO towards the Soviet Union (NATO being analogous to United States, to some degree, considering the emergence of American hegemony post-1945,) the perspective of the Soviets has not proliferated Cold War scholarship. In the monograph, Inside the Kremlin’s Cold War, the theory that the Soviets were acting defensively rather than aggressively in their Cold War policy is substantial defended. To consider the harsh and absolute division of Germany, which was originally supposed to have been temporary, and the division of Berlin, we must understand the perspective of the Soviets. In terms of its brutality, the American experience of the war paled in comparison to the events along the Eastern front. The Soviets thus had the simultaneous tasks of creating a series of buffer states and satellites between itself and Western Europe, and putting in place a Communist government in East Germany. East Germany quickly became the iconic vestige of Communism in Western Europe. According to historian Dr. Randall Woods, the German Democratic Republic adopted a “Holier-than-the-Pope” attitude towards the operation of its Communist government, relative to its counterpart in the Kremlin. While the division of Germany was a pawn in the complex game of international affairs, we must not lose sight of human element of the situation; millions of people were affected by the partition of Germany and Berlin. As tensions grew between the U.S and the Soviet Union, the tightness of border security was increased, and eventually the borders were closed, severing families and friendships. Cut off from the rest of Germany, West Berlin was even supplied by air during the Berlin Airlift of the early Cold War. As the policies of Glasnost and Perestroika were realized and began to be carried out by Gorbachev, the voices for removal of the Berlin wall grew louder. The culmination of this movement was witnessed by the world, when in November of 1989, President Ronald Reagan told the Soviet Premier to “tear down this wall!” Throughout the Cold War, the divided Germany served as a microcosmic version of the international geopolitical climate. The Americans and Soviets maintained military bases in their respective spheres, and untold amounts of espionage was carried out, especially in the city of Berlin. A good friend of mine was part of the 38th Tactical Air Wing, a USAF detachment tasked with the deployment of tactical (not strategic) nuclear weapons in West Germany. The remnants of two Germanies are still to be found today, with a significant in departure between the infrastructure and architecture in the reunified city of Berlin.
Our last blog is representative of the disintegration of the soviet block and the end of the iron curtain that maintained millions of people in an oppressive and very control environment since established at the end of War World II. Most countries in the Eastern Block under the control of the now gone Soviet Union were kept isolated from the Western world in fear of introduction, development and expansion of the capitalism “threat”. The former Soviet Union had made claims to territories that aided in the industrial and agricultural development of said nation. Control over these lands meant an increase in resources —manpower, minerals, timber, ore, fossil fuels, land for agriculture, access to warmer ports, trading, etc.
Having a large and sustainable military force —either local or imported from the Soviet Union— solidified the strongholds and created societies that were indoctrinated into believing that non-consequentialism normative ethical behavior was the norm. It helped that the idea of “doing things for a greater cause” —the nation and not the individual— was the way to achieve greatness as a whole. Of course, as westerners had glimpses at how the government conducted its businesses in those nations, it was obvious that the Iron Curtain was a restricted and dangerous form of repression that gave no priority to the value of the individual. Only those at the top of the power chain enjoyed a great lifestyle while the ones at the bottom struggled to make ends meet.
In order to maintain this control over the Eastern Block the Former Soviet union depended heavily , as before mentioned, on military pretense and constant intimidation. All changed when the U.S.S.R. got itself involved in a military conflict that proved too costly and produced nothing but a constant headache and repetitive losses: Afghanistan.
Afghanistan proved to be the USSR’s achilles heel. It distracted and forced all the attention into that part of the world while the Eastern Block slowly realized that this was the opportunity to break free from the soviet yoke.
Slowly but surely control was lost and, one by one, nations broke away from the communist repression. Some transitions were peaceful while other were ridden with conflict and civil unrest and war. New nations were formed, old ones were broken apart and split into smaller countries. While at least one, Germany was re-unified. In the end, Germany, Poland, , Hungary Slovenia, Latvia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Cze Republic, Slovakia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, and others did not waste time in applying to be part of the European Union and be recognized by other nations of the world.
As these nations transitioned from one form of government—soviet rule— to a more westernized style, some found themselves struggling to continue to supply social services to the population. Infrastructures collapsed and needed to re re-structured. Poverty and unemployment rose as many sources of employment was removed or dismantled. Pensions disappeared and a level of discontent settled amongst those in the older population who encountered this changes difficult to adapt to. A younger generation, on the other hand, saw these changes as new beginnings and a hope for better opportunities and brighter futures.
Each of these images signifies the fall of the communism in Eastern Europe, as the Soviets internally fell economically, stretching themselves too thin to control the communist sphere of influence in Europe. When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, they put too much time and money into this foreign war to focus on the fall of communism surrounding them. Since they could not control their own domestic failures, they were too preoccupied leading to the inevitable fall around them.
The Solidarnosc were a polish trade union, who represented the first country in the Warsaw Pact to engage in a trade union outside of the Communist Party. This resistance sought to use solidarity as a slogan to overcome political repression imposed by the communist government. The US supported this group, helping them form a viable opposition to the communist government, and promoting talks to transfer power following the fall of communism. The government the Pols created allowed for the communists to have a seat at the table, knowing that they would not be able to attain strong power in the future. This showed the democratic nature of the 3rd Polish Republic as it was inclusive, and accepted its past in hopes for change.
The middle left picture shows leaders in Eastern Europe cutting down the physical barriers that encroached on their borders. These walls had previously encased communism in a physical sense, reminding people of their suppression from freedom, and encapsulating the idea of being cut off from the rest of the outside world. By cutting down this fence, there was a large sense of a potential new beginning: new governments, new economy, and a new social structure. The physical continuity of land called for a reintroduction to the globalized community, and the possibility of a new life.
The top right photo shows East German soldiers standing on the Berlin Wall to ensure security with the social unrest that ensued during communism and throughout the fall of communism. The Berlin Wall also marked a physical boundary that became a reminder of oppression during the period of communism. The wall was multifaceted, as it wanted to ensure that no East Germans would make it into West Germany. The guards played a key role in prohibiting travel to West Germany, and also to neighboring countries when there became a clear negative net migration out of East Germany. The wall fell on November 9th, 1989 after much resistance, and the guards eventually had to give up their patrol and allow for travel to West Germany. The fall of the Berlin Wall eventually led to reunification of Germany in October of 1990, highlighting the importance of continuity of the physical landscape. The reunification allowed for people to integrate ideas, and support a common cause, which would lead to a better Germany.
The bottom right picture shows the overall impact of communism, and the political movements created to overcome the physical and psychological destruction that culminated with communism. The breaking of the fence, amongst the names of political parties and historical pictures, emphasizes that this was an important time in history for change.
The Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall affected the world in very drastic ways, alienating the East from the West and making the sides polarized. The fight between democratic states and communist states shaped the cultures and the approach to the world stage in both foreign policy and in domestic affairs. In the picture on the bottom right side, the words that describe what the wall symbolized and the feelings the wall brought to those specifically on the east side symbolized the pain, the humiliation and the fear that the lack of freedom brought by the presence of this dominating wall. The lack of travel allowed, the threat of armed guards at the top of the wall, the barbed wired, all were very real terrorizing. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many smaller countries were formed, attempting to break free and develop into stable and independent states, that did things differently from their former leader state.
The issues the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall brought to foreign policy were very obvious in the dividing of nations into democratic states working together to fight against democracy and the communist states unifying to work against western democratic states. The fear that was brought into the mentality of communism is shown in the bottom right picture, in the fear of speech against the authority of a communist state. The breaking of the wall in 1989 brought a new era of unifying Europe while allowing the independence of small countries in eastern Europe. Europe still faces problems today with the working together on foreign and domestic issues, especially in the Ukraine/Crimea/Russia conflict, but the cutting of the barbed wire fences brought hope to both the East and the West letting walls down and dialogue to occur.
The fall of the Soviet Union was only twenty five years ago, but so much has changed since then. Germany is now unified and not only prospering economically but also a leader in the European Union. Eastern Europe still struggles in many areas but is making strives in progress in the efforts of creating jobs, urbanizing and rebuilding. While there is progress, it still is relatively a short time span since the fall, and much of the oppression is still felt in these places. Humanitarian issues still are ramped in these countries, and there is still a lack of trust between the people and the government in these states affecting the domestic policies and foreign decisions. Part of Ukraine, for example still identifies with Russia in a very legitimate way, while the other part desires to stay Ukraine, as they identify with an independent state that is more European. The issue of the conflict is the deep and long history of the two countries that not only dates back from the Iron Curtain, but long before this as well. This is not the only country that has a complex history with the Soviet Union or now Russia, or even the ideology of communism, but many of these Eastern European States do as well. The breaking down of the barrier of the Berlin Wall was one step in the direction of a more peaceful East and West, but how current conflicts in these places will be key in defining the future in ensuring that a new wall is not built.
All of the pictures refer to the iron curtain, the split of Europe and how this division influenced countries in Europe. The eastern countries of the iron curtain were bounden by the Soviet Union and the idea of communism. The Western Countries were bounden by the idea of democracy and capitalism.
The picture in the right top shows the sign for the polish trade union Solidarność, which arose in 1980 from a striker’s movement of workers. The strikes were set off by a prize increase on food. The movement was supported by regime critical intellectuals but also by the Catholic Church. Solidarność position was against the Soviet Union. The movement spread very fast and soon nearly half of the polish inhabitants were member. Solidarność started to influence polish politics to evoke change and their protest led to resistance against the Soviet Union Therefore the Soviet Union tried to shut the union down by the martial law of 1981. The Union was suppressed for several years till 1989, when the government started to negotiate with Solidarność. Those negotiations led to semi-free multi-party elections. Although Solidarność influenced the time in the 80s decisively, today they have very little influence in polish politics.
The picture on the left bottom shows a monument to the iron curtain in Budapest. It is a fence with several statements about the effects of the division between Eastern and Western Europe. Also the statements refers to the situation and feelings of the people in the Eastern countries.
The picture in the middle left shows the Pan-European Picnic. Till the Austrian State Treaty in 1955 was signed there was also the possibility of a division of the county into an eastern and western part. Austria had fences along its eastern borders (so with Hungary and Czechoslovakia).
The Pan-European picnic took place on 19th of August 1989 at the border between Austria and Hungary (Sankt Margarethen and Sopronkőhida) pushed and organized by the Pan- European Union, a movement for the unification in Europe, and Hungarian Democratic Forum. It was one of the first official openings between Eastern and Western Europe since the creation of the iron curtain. It was a peace demonstration with the approval of both countries. They opened the borders and allowed movement from the East to the West. 600-700 people from the DDR used the open border to escape to West Europe through Hungary.
The first picture shows the Berlin wall at the Brandenburger Tor and officials standing on it. The Wall was built by the Soviet Union in 1961 and divided Berlin (and Germany) into East (DDR) and West (BRD). The border was very well protected, people who tried to cross the border to the West without a permission were shot. The Wall fell on November 9th 1989, about three months after the Pan-European Picnic took place.
After the fall of the iron curtain and the collapse of the Soviet Union countries try to overcome and eliminate the differences between east and west. Many former eastern countries already part of the European Union. But there is still a lot of work, even Germany still experience structural, financial and cultural differences between east and west.
All of the images in the blog post this week focus on the Iron Curtain, its fall and the Berlin wall. The picture on the top left shows guards keeping people out of the Berlin wall. They are there to keep everyone safe because at this time a lot of citizens were unhappy, this being during the fall of communism in the country. They played an important role in keeping people out of West Germany and out of other neighboring countries. During this time there was a very negative migration out of East Germany. This wall was what showed the division between the east and the west. People were still upset about the Berlin blockade so they were keeping East Germany out. The guy cutting the fence in the picture under that one is Guyla Horn, who was a European leader at this time. The cutting of the fence was what symbolized the start of ending communism in the Soviet Union. If you look at the picture underneath that it shows again how the broken fence is very symbolic because it showed the freedom and the actually possibility of the Soviet Union finally being taken down. Also since the right side is in color it symbolizes hope for the left side that soon they too can be free and live a more colorful life, hoping to escape communism.
The top right photo is the logo of the polish Solidarity Union. The government in Poland was worried about how many of the citizens of their country were joining the group, because it was a very large amount. They actually put martial law in place to try and control Solidarity. The group was considered a radical group to the government; they mainly focused on workers’ rights. This kind of group was considered rare because it was not communist; this was more of an opposition movement. However even with the martial law in place they could not fully control the group. They had to give in on somethings, one of these being a semi free election in 1989. This led to the Polish people voting for the Solidarity and against the communism which had currently been in power. T did not take long after that until the rest of the east side of Europe followed their led.
The picture on the bottom/ middle right is the monument that is meant to remind both the west and the east citizens about what happened during these hard times and how the Iron Curtain was a horrible thing for their country. It humiliated the east, isolated them, and made the citizens lives much harder. You can read how on the monument it talks about how it was a hard and long battle for these citizens, but eventually they were able to tear it down and overcome the Iron Curtain. If they had not have been able to do this they most likely would not have been given the chance to join the European Union. Also communism would be more prominent in their area.
All of these images are grouped together to show one thing that had a major event, the fall of the Iron current. The bottom left image is using as barbed wire to show the separation of the east and west part of Europe. But this image is also showing that the barbed wire has been cut and is there is now information poring from one side to the other showing what the other side has been missing out on. Not only did this breaking of the help eastern Europe that was stuck behind this, but at the same time it helped out the western part of Europe because it was whole again.
The image above the last picture, middle left, is a very interesting image if you do some research into it. The two men that are cutting the barbed with are doing so for an event know as the ‘Pan-European Picnic”. What this was was an event to was held between Austria and Hungarian delegations that represented both of the parties. One interesting thing that happened during this was that Germans had heavy restrictions on them as to where they were aloud to travel. They could move more freely behind the Berlin Wall but not much if any to the west of the wall. So when the Germans herd about this hundreds of people came to this area in order to cross into Austria. About six hundred passed through the fence, which marked the large-scale exodus of East German people to the west sense the Berlin was built in 1961.
The image on the top left side is showing East German Boarder guards standing on top of the wall looking into west Germany, and you can tell this because only the west side of the wall had graffiti on it. I would say that this is not to watch out for people trying to get into the eastern side of Germany, but as a form and a showing of power due to the fact that the wall had just gone up and that this side is and will be more powerful that the west. This would end up being a huge fail because this was build more of a propaganda tool and it showed that the Russians wanted to control there people and restrict what they can do and where they can travel to. This was also bad because the guards were orders to shoot at anybody that tried to cross and it showed that the Eastern would not mind shooting their own people.
As for the bottom right image, this is representing the iron curtain and an actual curtain mad out of iron and has writing on the dies of it telling what this is doing to the people that are impacted by this. Showing that the people are feeling like they could not do anything with any other groups of people. It also says “It Split Europe and the World in two” and it really did. Most of the areas east of the wall started to go down as opposed to the rest of Europe. These are all representing a time that had and has changed the lives of many people in Europe and the rest of the World.
All the bairns o' Adam 
The iron curtain monument on the bottom right is located in Budapest Hungary. Its inscriptions are in English on one end and Hungarian on the other end. It serves as a reminder of the iron curtain and all that it stood for. As the inscriptions strive to point out, life on the Soviet dominated side of the divider was anything but ideal. The Soviets ruled with an iron fist. The words on the monument like slaves, isolated, tormented, humiliated, captivity, fear and the phrase took away our freedom are all very pointed and uneasy. These words do however serve justice to the darkness that fell over Eastern Europe when it came under the control of the ruthless Soviets. Hungarians know from first-hand experience how violently brutal the Soviets were. The Soviets took any and all resources that they wanted and shipped them back east to Moscow leaving the Hungarians with whatever was left. In 1956 Hungarians decided to protest in what became known as the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. The protest was eventually brutally crushed leaving as many as 30,000 dead and another 200,000 fleeing for their lives.
The photo on the bottom left illustrates and commemorates the fall of the iron curtain. The broken piece of barbed wire symbolizes the fall of the iron curtain but also the breaking of Soviet power in the east. The areas that had been under the control of the Soviets are illustrated with pictures while the rest of that was not is merely in red symbolizing just how divided the continent was after WWII. The pictures in the east are hard to make out but appear to be photos of rejoicing at the fall of the iron curtain.
The Solidarnoc photo stands for the Polish trade union that formed in Poland in 1980. It was the first workers union that formed in Poland under the Communist controlled government. Solidarity was a strong contender for workers’ rights as well as leader in the fight for social change. Within the first year of its establishment Solidarity encompassed nearly one third of Polish workers with a membership of 10 million. Solidarity was opposed by the Communist government but true to its name it stuck around and forced social change and its members were elected in the late 80s and early 90s to run the government after the breakup of the Soviet bloc.
To say that important things have happened in German history on November 11 might be an understatement. It is probably fitting that this was the date that the Berlin wall came down. The photo on the top left shows the Berlin wall right in front of the iconic Brandenburg gate. This picture could have many meanings but the one that I see is that when the wall comes down Germans who had been stuck in East Germany were now welcome to come through the Brandenburg gate and rejoin their Western counterparts to reunite their country and the world.
Finally the middle picture on the left shows the foreign ministers from Austria and Hungary cutting a hole in the fence that marked the border of their country on June 27th 1989. This is just another example of how Europe and the world were ready to end the partition and come together to make Europe whole and strong again.
The falling of the Iron Curtain as we have noted in class is of extreme importance to European history. It is in my opinion it is of the same importance and significance as the Black Death, World Wars I and II and the establishment of the European Union.
Philip Gardner
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/hungarian_uprising_1956.htm
https://thevieweast.wordpress.com/tag/hungary/
Reblogged this on Neverending Wanderlust and commented:
These images all focus on the fall of the Iron Curtain in Europe in the late 1980s. The top right image is the logo of the Polish Solidarity union, which served as a catalyst in bringing down the Iron Curtain. Solidarity was not a part of the Communist Party, which was extremely unusual for a trade union in the Soviet sphere of influence. A huge portion of Poland’s population joined Solidarity, and it quickly became an opposition movement. In the early 1980s, the Polish government implemented martial law in an attempt to crack down on Solidarity’s popularity and criticism of the government. Eventually, the Polish government realized that Solidarity was too big to quash and was forced to negotiate. These negotiations led to elections that were partially free in 1989. In the 1989 elections, the Polish people voted resoundingly for Solidarity and against communism. After that, it was only a matter of time until the rest of Eastern Europe would follow Poland’s lead.
The middle left image shows Hungarian and Austrian officials bringing down part of the physical Iron Curtain. In the summer of 1989, the Austrians and Hungarians staged a “Pan-European Picnic” on their border, where they would temporarily take down the fencing separating East and West and let people cross back and forth freely during lunch. However, East Germans in Hungary also heard about the plans for the picnic and decided to take advantage of the opportunity. East Germans faced extremely heavy restrictions on travel to the West, but could travel much more freely behind the Iron Curtain, including to Hungary. On the day of the picnic, hundreds of East Germans arrived and crossed through the open border into Austria and the West.
The top left image shows East German soldiers standing on top of the Berlin Wall after the border between East and West Germany had been opened. After the Pan-European Picnic, thousands of East Germans were able to escape to Austria through Hungary. However, the East German government eventually caught on and banned travel to Hungary. After this, many traveled to Hungary (and then Austria) through Czechoslovakia or simply went to the West German embassy in Czechoslovakia. The East German government eventually decided to open the border between East and West Germany, but due to a miscommunication, border guards were completely uninformed. Masses of East Germans arrived at the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 wanting to leave, but faced resistance from the guards. Eventually, the guards gave in and opened the border, ending the physical separation of West and East Germany.
The bottom right image shows an Iron Curtain monument in Budapest, which serves as a reminder of the terrible times of the Iron Curtain. For people in Eastern Europe, the Iron Curtain isolated them, separated them from the West, oppressed them, and humiliated them. However, the people who lived behind it did not simply accept its presence. They fought to tear down the Iron Curtain, and they were ultimately successful. Europe is no longer divided between East and West, and many of the countries that used to be behind the Iron Curtain have now joined the ultimate Western club – the European Union.
All of these pictures demonstrate the affects of the iron curtain and the Berlin Wall and the opposition against both by the people who did not approve of it. The iron curtain was a divider between the countries united by the Soviet bloc and those against them on the western side and the rest of Europe. This occurred after World War II in hopes of keeping communism alive by the Soviet Union and keeping those against them and for democracy out of sight. This went on from 1949 until 1989.
The top right picture symbolizes the term Solidarity which is a polish organization. It was one of the first resistant movements that successfully were able to have a hand in participating in the free elections in the Soviet bloc. They were most concerned with the workers being able to have appropriate rights and they were dedicated to the social movement in general. The government tried to destroy them because at the time they were seen as radicals. The government did declare the solidarity movement and organization illegal but then they fought back and continued on until the laws were lifted and they could continue being heard.
The top left corner picture represents guards keeping people outside of the Berlin Wall. It was built because people were still angry about the berlin blockade and soviets decided to keep East German’s out. It fell in 1989. Gyula Horn was the man cutting the wire fence in the picture below the wall taken in 1989. He was the leader of Hungary and just recently passed away. This was a huge moment because it was the start of the breaking down of communism in the Soviet Union and led to their ultimate defeat and disappearance.
The picture below that in the bottom left hand corner shows a long barbed wire that has already been cut and the pictures in color are those countries in the shape of the former soviet bloc. The broken chain is very influential because the moment the chain was broken people saw their chance at freedom and the reality of Soviet Union being taken down.
The bottom right picture is a monument of part of the iron curtain that has been left in Budapest and Hungary and is there to help people remember what they went through and to tell the story to new generations about what went on and ultimately what they were able to conquer. On the side there are words that have been applied to tell the story of what the monument symbolizes. It starts out by saying, “Shall we live as slaves or free men? It isolated the East from the West”. The words are powerful especially to those who lived it because they lived through a time when they did not feel free but now have been able to come out on the other side and realize they are now not only free but are no longer cut off from the rest of Europe. There is no longer a division and the continent may still have its disagreements because there are so many countries but they do not have walls or iron curtains holding them back and preventing them from leaving or coming in. They are free. These pictures demonstrate everything that has been discussed and show how far Europe has come and how many obstacles they have overcome and the positives that have come out of it by getting rid of the Soviet Union and preventing the spread of communism throughout Europe.
The five images in this week’s blog post focus on the Iron Curtain which separated the Eastern Bloc from the rest of Europe, and its downfall. The picture that best summarizes this theme is in the bottom-left. It shows a map of Europe, with the communist states filled in with photographs and images depicting key events from the end of the Cold War.
The top-right image is the logo of the Polish trade organization Solidarity. Solidarity was one of the most visible signs of the coming downfall of the Eastern bloc. Solidarity, or Solidarność in Polish, was a movement that coordinated various labor unions in Poland and was able to exert considerable influence on the Polish government. It began in the northern shipyards, but soon spread until its membership was almost half of the entire Polish population. It was at its strongest in 1980 and 1981, and in December of 1981 the Polish government, under pressure from the Soviet Union, shut it down and imposed martial law on Poland. In the late 1980’s, Solidarity reappeared, and its influence eventually resulted in multi-party elections in Poland.
The Berlin wall, shown in the top left picture, was one of the most concrete and well known symbols of the division between the East and West during the Cold War. Construction was begun on the wall in 1961 as a barrier separating “fascist” West Berlin from East Germany, and by the time it was demolished in 1989 it had become a formidable fortification designed to make it impossible to defect to West Berlin. Although many East Berliners died attempting to make it past the wall, thousands were able to cross it by various means. The wall did more than simply remove all movement between East and West Germany; it separated Berliners from their jobs, families, and friends, and the cultural divide created by communism and represented by the wall still exists to some extent today.
Although the Berlin wall was the most famous section of the iron curtain, a barbed-wire fence stretched across the borders between the communist countries of Eastern Europe and the capitalist countries of Western Europe. Shown in the middle-left image are the foreign ministers of Hungary and Austria symbolically cutting the fence between their countries. In 1989 a section of the border between Austria and Hungary was opened for a short amount of time to allow Austrians and Hungarians to participate in what would be called the “Pan-European Picnic.” At the appointed time, the gate was opened and some six-hundred East Germans began to pour across the border. The Hungarian border guard who was in charge of opening the gate quickly chose to let the Germans into Austria, instead of following protocol and opening fire. According to an article I read on the Pan-European Picnic, he remains in contact with the gaurd from the Austrian side of the fence.
The bottom-right image seems like the most appropriate image with which to end this discussion. It is of a monument in Budapest, which reminds the population of the division and isolation caused by the Iron Curtain, and celebrates its downfall. Inscriptions on the monument in Hungarian and English concisely and poetically describe the Iron Curtain’s effects, ending with the phrase: “and finally we tore it DOWN.”
Article referenced: http://www.dw.de/the-picnic-that-changed-european-history/a-4580616
As World War II drew to a close, the Soviet Union under Stalin began envisioning its postwar aims in full force. From the “Western” perspective, led by the Anglo-American alliance, the USSR posed a significant threat to postwar global security. Quickly the consensus grew that Stalin, as the leader of the Soviet Union, would want to permanently occupy the areas of Eastern and Central Europe that the Red Army had de facto control of by May, 1945. While revisionist historians have examined the overzealous foreign policy directives of NATO towards the Soviet Union (NATO being analogous to United States, to some degree, considering the emergence of American hegemony post-1945,) the perspective of the Soviets has not proliferated Cold War scholarship. In the monograph, Inside the Kremlin’s Cold War, the theory that the Soviets were acting defensively rather than aggressively in their Cold War policy is substantial defended. To consider the harsh and absolute division of Germany, which was originally supposed to have been temporary, and the division of Berlin, we must understand the perspective of the Soviets. In terms of its brutality, the American experience of the war paled in comparison to the events along the Eastern front. The Soviets thus had the simultaneous tasks of creating a series of buffer states and satellites between itself and Western Europe, and putting in place a Communist government in East Germany. East Germany quickly became the iconic vestige of Communism in Western Europe. According to historian Dr. Randall Woods, the German Democratic Republic adopted a “Holier-than-the-Pope” attitude towards the operation of its Communist government, relative to its counterpart in the Kremlin. While the division of Germany was a pawn in the complex game of international affairs, we must not lose sight of human element of the situation; millions of people were affected by the partition of Germany and Berlin. As tensions grew between the U.S and the Soviet Union, the tightness of border security was increased, and eventually the borders were closed, severing families and friendships. Cut off from the rest of Germany, West Berlin was even supplied by air during the Berlin Airlift of the early Cold War. As the policies of Glasnost and Perestroika were realized and began to be carried out by Gorbachev, the voices for removal of the Berlin wall grew louder. The culmination of this movement was witnessed by the world, when in November of 1989, President Ronald Reagan told the Soviet Premier to “tear down this wall!” Throughout the Cold War, the divided Germany served as a microcosmic version of the international geopolitical climate. The Americans and Soviets maintained military bases in their respective spheres, and untold amounts of espionage was carried out, especially in the city of Berlin. A good friend of mine was part of the 38th Tactical Air Wing, a USAF detachment tasked with the deployment of tactical (not strategic) nuclear weapons in West Germany. The remnants of two Germanies are still to be found today, with a significant in departure between the infrastructure and architecture in the reunified city of Berlin.
Our last blog is representative of the disintegration of the soviet block and the end of the iron curtain that maintained millions of people in an oppressive and very control environment since established at the end of War World II. Most countries in the Eastern Block under the control of the now gone Soviet Union were kept isolated from the Western world in fear of introduction, development and expansion of the capitalism “threat”. The former Soviet Union had made claims to territories that aided in the industrial and agricultural development of said nation. Control over these lands meant an increase in resources —manpower, minerals, timber, ore, fossil fuels, land for agriculture, access to warmer ports, trading, etc.
Having a large and sustainable military force —either local or imported from the Soviet Union— solidified the strongholds and created societies that were indoctrinated into believing that non-consequentialism normative ethical behavior was the norm. It helped that the idea of “doing things for a greater cause” —the nation and not the individual— was the way to achieve greatness as a whole. Of course, as westerners had glimpses at how the government conducted its businesses in those nations, it was obvious that the Iron Curtain was a restricted and dangerous form of repression that gave no priority to the value of the individual. Only those at the top of the power chain enjoyed a great lifestyle while the ones at the bottom struggled to make ends meet.
In order to maintain this control over the Eastern Block the Former Soviet union depended heavily , as before mentioned, on military pretense and constant intimidation. All changed when the U.S.S.R. got itself involved in a military conflict that proved too costly and produced nothing but a constant headache and repetitive losses: Afghanistan.
Afghanistan proved to be the USSR’s achilles heel. It distracted and forced all the attention into that part of the world while the Eastern Block slowly realized that this was the opportunity to break free from the soviet yoke.
Slowly but surely control was lost and, one by one, nations broke away from the communist repression. Some transitions were peaceful while other were ridden with conflict and civil unrest and war. New nations were formed, old ones were broken apart and split into smaller countries. While at least one, Germany was re-unified. In the end, Germany, Poland, , Hungary Slovenia, Latvia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Cze Republic, Slovakia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, and others did not waste time in applying to be part of the European Union and be recognized by other nations of the world.
As these nations transitioned from one form of government—soviet rule— to a more westernized style, some found themselves struggling to continue to supply social services to the population. Infrastructures collapsed and needed to re re-structured. Poverty and unemployment rose as many sources of employment was removed or dismantled. Pensions disappeared and a level of discontent settled amongst those in the older population who encountered this changes difficult to adapt to. A younger generation, on the other hand, saw these changes as new beginnings and a hope for better opportunities and brighter futures.
Each of these images signifies the fall of the communism in Eastern Europe, as the Soviets internally fell economically, stretching themselves too thin to control the communist sphere of influence in Europe. When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, they put too much time and money into this foreign war to focus on the fall of communism surrounding them. Since they could not control their own domestic failures, they were too preoccupied leading to the inevitable fall around them.
The Solidarnosc were a polish trade union, who represented the first country in the Warsaw Pact to engage in a trade union outside of the Communist Party. This resistance sought to use solidarity as a slogan to overcome political repression imposed by the communist government. The US supported this group, helping them form a viable opposition to the communist government, and promoting talks to transfer power following the fall of communism. The government the Pols created allowed for the communists to have a seat at the table, knowing that they would not be able to attain strong power in the future. This showed the democratic nature of the 3rd Polish Republic as it was inclusive, and accepted its past in hopes for change.
The middle left picture shows leaders in Eastern Europe cutting down the physical barriers that encroached on their borders. These walls had previously encased communism in a physical sense, reminding people of their suppression from freedom, and encapsulating the idea of being cut off from the rest of the outside world. By cutting down this fence, there was a large sense of a potential new beginning: new governments, new economy, and a new social structure. The physical continuity of land called for a reintroduction to the globalized community, and the possibility of a new life.
The top right photo shows East German soldiers standing on the Berlin Wall to ensure security with the social unrest that ensued during communism and throughout the fall of communism. The Berlin Wall also marked a physical boundary that became a reminder of oppression during the period of communism. The wall was multifaceted, as it wanted to ensure that no East Germans would make it into West Germany. The guards played a key role in prohibiting travel to West Germany, and also to neighboring countries when there became a clear negative net migration out of East Germany. The wall fell on November 9th, 1989 after much resistance, and the guards eventually had to give up their patrol and allow for travel to West Germany. The fall of the Berlin Wall eventually led to reunification of Germany in October of 1990, highlighting the importance of continuity of the physical landscape. The reunification allowed for people to integrate ideas, and support a common cause, which would lead to a better Germany.
The bottom right picture shows the overall impact of communism, and the political movements created to overcome the physical and psychological destruction that culminated with communism. The breaking of the fence, amongst the names of political parties and historical pictures, emphasizes that this was an important time in history for change.
Geography of Europe Blog 5
The Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall affected the world in very drastic ways, alienating the East from the West and making the sides polarized. The fight between democratic states and communist states shaped the cultures and the approach to the world stage in both foreign policy and in domestic affairs. In the picture on the bottom right side, the words that describe what the wall symbolized and the feelings the wall brought to those specifically on the east side symbolized the pain, the humiliation and the fear that the lack of freedom brought by the presence of this dominating wall. The lack of travel allowed, the threat of armed guards at the top of the wall, the barbed wired, all were very real terrorizing. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many smaller countries were formed, attempting to break free and develop into stable and independent states, that did things differently from their former leader state.
The issues the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall brought to foreign policy were very obvious in the dividing of nations into democratic states working together to fight against democracy and the communist states unifying to work against western democratic states. The fear that was brought into the mentality of communism is shown in the bottom right picture, in the fear of speech against the authority of a communist state. The breaking of the wall in 1989 brought a new era of unifying Europe while allowing the independence of small countries in eastern Europe. Europe still faces problems today with the working together on foreign and domestic issues, especially in the Ukraine/Crimea/Russia conflict, but the cutting of the barbed wire fences brought hope to both the East and the West letting walls down and dialogue to occur.
The fall of the Soviet Union was only twenty five years ago, but so much has changed since then. Germany is now unified and not only prospering economically but also a leader in the European Union. Eastern Europe still struggles in many areas but is making strives in progress in the efforts of creating jobs, urbanizing and rebuilding. While there is progress, it still is relatively a short time span since the fall, and much of the oppression is still felt in these places. Humanitarian issues still are ramped in these countries, and there is still a lack of trust between the people and the government in these states affecting the domestic policies and foreign decisions. Part of Ukraine, for example still identifies with Russia in a very legitimate way, while the other part desires to stay Ukraine, as they identify with an independent state that is more European. The issue of the conflict is the deep and long history of the two countries that not only dates back from the Iron Curtain, but long before this as well. This is not the only country that has a complex history with the Soviet Union or now Russia, or even the ideology of communism, but many of these Eastern European States do as well. The breaking down of the barrier of the Berlin Wall was one step in the direction of a more peaceful East and West, but how current conflicts in these places will be key in defining the future in ensuring that a new wall is not built.
All of the pictures refer to the iron curtain, the split of Europe and how this division influenced countries in Europe. The eastern countries of the iron curtain were bounden by the Soviet Union and the idea of communism. The Western Countries were bounden by the idea of democracy and capitalism.
The picture in the right top shows the sign for the polish trade union Solidarność, which arose in 1980 from a striker’s movement of workers. The strikes were set off by a prize increase on food. The movement was supported by regime critical intellectuals but also by the Catholic Church. Solidarność position was against the Soviet Union. The movement spread very fast and soon nearly half of the polish inhabitants were member. Solidarność started to influence polish politics to evoke change and their protest led to resistance against the Soviet Union Therefore the Soviet Union tried to shut the union down by the martial law of 1981. The Union was suppressed for several years till 1989, when the government started to negotiate with Solidarność. Those negotiations led to semi-free multi-party elections. Although Solidarność influenced the time in the 80s decisively, today they have very little influence in polish politics.
The picture on the left bottom shows a monument to the iron curtain in Budapest. It is a fence with several statements about the effects of the division between Eastern and Western Europe. Also the statements refers to the situation and feelings of the people in the Eastern countries.
The picture in the middle left shows the Pan-European Picnic. Till the Austrian State Treaty in 1955 was signed there was also the possibility of a division of the county into an eastern and western part. Austria had fences along its eastern borders (so with Hungary and Czechoslovakia).
The Pan-European picnic took place on 19th of August 1989 at the border between Austria and Hungary (Sankt Margarethen and Sopronkőhida) pushed and organized by the Pan- European Union, a movement for the unification in Europe, and Hungarian Democratic Forum. It was one of the first official openings between Eastern and Western Europe since the creation of the iron curtain. It was a peace demonstration with the approval of both countries. They opened the borders and allowed movement from the East to the West. 600-700 people from the DDR used the open border to escape to West Europe through Hungary.
The first picture shows the Berlin wall at the Brandenburger Tor and officials standing on it. The Wall was built by the Soviet Union in 1961 and divided Berlin (and Germany) into East (DDR) and West (BRD). The border was very well protected, people who tried to cross the border to the West without a permission were shot. The Wall fell on November 9th 1989, about three months after the Pan-European Picnic took place.
After the fall of the iron curtain and the collapse of the Soviet Union countries try to overcome and eliminate the differences between east and west. Many former eastern countries already part of the European Union. But there is still a lot of work, even Germany still experience structural, financial and cultural differences between east and west.
Franziska Okolo
Tori Scott
All of the images in the blog post this week focus on the Iron Curtain, its fall and the Berlin wall. The picture on the top left shows guards keeping people out of the Berlin wall. They are there to keep everyone safe because at this time a lot of citizens were unhappy, this being during the fall of communism in the country. They played an important role in keeping people out of West Germany and out of other neighboring countries. During this time there was a very negative migration out of East Germany. This wall was what showed the division between the east and the west. People were still upset about the Berlin blockade so they were keeping East Germany out. The guy cutting the fence in the picture under that one is Guyla Horn, who was a European leader at this time. The cutting of the fence was what symbolized the start of ending communism in the Soviet Union. If you look at the picture underneath that it shows again how the broken fence is very symbolic because it showed the freedom and the actually possibility of the Soviet Union finally being taken down. Also since the right side is in color it symbolizes hope for the left side that soon they too can be free and live a more colorful life, hoping to escape communism.
The top right photo is the logo of the polish Solidarity Union. The government in Poland was worried about how many of the citizens of their country were joining the group, because it was a very large amount. They actually put martial law in place to try and control Solidarity. The group was considered a radical group to the government; they mainly focused on workers’ rights. This kind of group was considered rare because it was not communist; this was more of an opposition movement. However even with the martial law in place they could not fully control the group. They had to give in on somethings, one of these being a semi free election in 1989. This led to the Polish people voting for the Solidarity and against the communism which had currently been in power. T did not take long after that until the rest of the east side of Europe followed their led.
The picture on the bottom/ middle right is the monument that is meant to remind both the west and the east citizens about what happened during these hard times and how the Iron Curtain was a horrible thing for their country. It humiliated the east, isolated them, and made the citizens lives much harder. You can read how on the monument it talks about how it was a hard and long battle for these citizens, but eventually they were able to tear it down and overcome the Iron Curtain. If they had not have been able to do this they most likely would not have been given the chance to join the European Union. Also communism would be more prominent in their area.
All of these images are grouped together to show one thing that had a major event, the fall of the Iron current. The bottom left image is using as barbed wire to show the separation of the east and west part of Europe. But this image is also showing that the barbed wire has been cut and is there is now information poring from one side to the other showing what the other side has been missing out on. Not only did this breaking of the help eastern Europe that was stuck behind this, but at the same time it helped out the western part of Europe because it was whole again.
The image above the last picture, middle left, is a very interesting image if you do some research into it. The two men that are cutting the barbed with are doing so for an event know as the ‘Pan-European Picnic”. What this was was an event to was held between Austria and Hungarian delegations that represented both of the parties. One interesting thing that happened during this was that Germans had heavy restrictions on them as to where they were aloud to travel. They could move more freely behind the Berlin Wall but not much if any to the west of the wall. So when the Germans herd about this hundreds of people came to this area in order to cross into Austria. About six hundred passed through the fence, which marked the large-scale exodus of East German people to the west sense the Berlin was built in 1961.
The image on the top left side is showing East German Boarder guards standing on top of the wall looking into west Germany, and you can tell this because only the west side of the wall had graffiti on it. I would say that this is not to watch out for people trying to get into the eastern side of Germany, but as a form and a showing of power due to the fact that the wall had just gone up and that this side is and will be more powerful that the west. This would end up being a huge fail because this was build more of a propaganda tool and it showed that the Russians wanted to control there people and restrict what they can do and where they can travel to. This was also bad because the guards were orders to shoot at anybody that tried to cross and it showed that the Eastern would not mind shooting their own people.
As for the bottom right image, this is representing the iron curtain and an actual curtain mad out of iron and has writing on the dies of it telling what this is doing to the people that are impacted by this. Showing that the people are feeling like they could not do anything with any other groups of people. It also says “It Split Europe and the World in two” and it really did. Most of the areas east of the wall started to go down as opposed to the rest of Europe. These are all representing a time that had and has changed the lives of many people in Europe and the rest of the World.