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Victory in Europe Day marked the formal acceptance by the Allies of WW2 of Nazi Germanys unconditional surrender of its armed forces
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The Big 3 ( Soviet Leader Joseph Stalin, British Priminister Clement Attlee and US Presidant Harry Truman) - Met in Potstam, Germany to negotiate the end of WW2 and the framework for the Allied occupation of Germany. The Conference Lasted 17 days.
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Allies established a court in Nuremburg was created to try over a hundred war criminals.
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Th Berlin Blockade was the first international crisis of the Cold War was an attempt by the Soviet Union to limit the access the allies had to the Soviet Unions sectors of Berlin. The Berlin Blockade lasted for 15 months ( 462 Days) and over 2 million Berliners were kept alive by the western nations who provided food and supplies to Berlin.
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The U.S Begins the "Berlin Airlift" to supply Berlin with food and supplies.
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After 15 Months, the Soviet Untiondecided that the Blockage wasnt succesfully isolating and annexing the city and ended the Blockade.
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The Federal Republic of Germany ( West Germany) is founded
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The German Deomocratic Republic (East Germany) is Founded
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On 11th of December 1957, it becomes illegal to leave East Germany without permission. Violations to this rule would result in prison for up to 3 years. This was in order to stop the youth escaping the East as they were loosing more workers than they could train in a year- this meant that there economy would suffer
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http://www.the-berlin-wall.com/videos/walter-ulbricht-building-a-wall-530/</a> Ulbricht declares at a press conference in Berlin. " No one intends to erect a wall"
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Shortly after midnight on 13th August 1961, East German Soilders started putting up barbed wire and putting down bricks as a barrier between East ( Soviet) and West Allied) Berlin. That Morning many Berliners found themselves cut off from there families and friends who lived in the other part of the city. The Wall was put up to stop the citizens of the East fleeing to the West .Throughout the 1950's many ( most of the workforce) had escaped. Pictured: Two girls look upon the makeshift wall
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Pictured: Rare Photo of the closed Brandenburg Gate before the wall was erected.
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Conrad Schumann, East German Border guard, escapes by jumping over the barbed wire wall to West Berlin. He is captured jumping and his photo becomes one of the most iconic of the Berlin Wall.
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This further improved tentions between the USSR and US.
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There was a standoff at checkpoint charlie between Soviet and US tanks for 16 hours. this was the closest that the two superpowers had come to war ( bar the cuban missile crisis) and increased tentions dramatically .
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A Second wall was build to further prevent escapes into the West.
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18yr old Peter Fecher was the most famous person to die trying to cross the Berlin Wall. Fecher atried to run across the border but was hit meters away from the West Berlin Wall. Badly wounded he screamed for help but the West Berlin officers couldnt help as climbing over the wall would endager there own lives, instead they threw bandages and asked his name. It took 50 minutes before is screaming ceased and the East German troops took him away. His death caused outrage.
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=56V6r2dpYH8U.S Presidant J.F.Kennedy delivered his "Ich Bin ein Berliner" ( I am a Berliner) , his eloquent speech on the steps of the Rathaus Schoeneberg against the backdrop of the Berlin Wall. The Speech was to cast a spotlight on West Belrin as a point of freedom and look upon the Wall as the work of Soviet evil. He predicted that in time Belrin and Germany would reunite and democracy would spread through out Europe.
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The 1st Visitors Permit came into force on the 19th of December- it was vaild unitl the 5th Jan 1964. For the first time in over 2 years West Berliners were allowed over to see their friends and relatives in East Berlin. There were tearful reunions - mostly at Friedrichstrabe Station and Oberbaumbrucke- the GDR built lots of processing huts to deal with so many people.
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Over Christmas in 1964 - and nicknamed 'Operation Guest' . Was precisly planned by the Stasi, Ministry of the interior, and the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications.
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Put in place in over christmas again and set to expire on the 2nd January 1966. Pictured: Example of a Visa for travelling into East Germany.
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Breakdowns in negotiations over further Visitor Permits regulations.
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After a break of 19 long years, Telephone communications between East and West Germany are re-established
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Was Between the US, UK, France and the USSR ( East and West Germany) . This agreement ( also known as the Berlin Agreement) I reestablished ties between the two parts of Berlin, improved travel and communications between the two parts of the city and brought numerous improvements for the residents of the Western Sectors.
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Erection of the first sections of the "Border Wall 75" ( 4th Generation Wall) 15cm thick, 1.2 metres wide, 3.6 metres high ( 4 including steel pipes) The wall got thicker and more industructable to try and diminish the amount of escapes.
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Many international and aclaimed popstars including David Bowie, Genesis and Eurythmicss held a series of widly acclaimed concerts at the Reichstag Building. Some of the speakers were turned to the East so crowds gathered there could hear the spectacle. The Concert continued until the 9th of June. Pictured: David Bowie at the Berlin Wall
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In the early hours of the 9th of June, several hundred youths broke through the barriers and get closer to Brandenburg Gate. A large street battle took place with youths/ rock fans and the police.The youths chanted "The Wall Must Go" and "Gorbachev". Eventually the large crowd dispersed and with force the Stasi Police made 200 arrests. This outburst by youth was a sign of rebellion and challenged the goverment significantly it sparked other protests.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtYdjbpBk6A Presidant Ronanld regan challenges Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the wall. This increased pressure on the Soviets.
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Honecker ( Leader of the German Democratic Republic) announces in East Berlin that the wall "will still exist in 100 years time' if the circustances which led to its erection have not changed
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Chris Gueffroy was the last person that died trying to flee across the border. He was the last East German to die as a resut of the East German policy to shoot upon sight when fleeing
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Hungary's reformist goverment begins dismantiling the barbed-wire fencing that was its 'Iron Curtain'. This encourgaed thousands of East Germans to escape erroding East Germany's Labour force and causes more rebellion amongst the German people
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Mass Demonstration in East Berlin against the SED Goverment in Alexanderplatz in East Berlin. It was against the goverment of the German Democratic Republic . There were between half a million and a million protesters and was wone of the largest demonstrations in East German. This increased pressure on the GDR goverment.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8GzptqhT68 Never had history been changed more casually. On the evening of the 9th of November in 1989 Gunther Schabowski held a press conference that was broadcasted live. He was handed a piece of paper before the conference and was prompted to read it by an italian journalist he mentioned GDR opening its borders and when asked when it would be enforced he stated 'straight away', immediatly"
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After the famous press conference with Gunter Schabowski that evening - word had spread. At 8.30 jolted into action by the news broadcasts, radio and television, hundreds of people had already gathered at the Bornholmerstrabe border crossing point. Pressure on all the border barriers increased as more and more people swarmed chanting "open the gate" At 10.30 officers opened the Bornholmerstrabe border because they couldnt hold them back any longer the others fell and people swarmed through.
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