Years of Unrest in Berlin

The German Empire collapsed at the end of World War I in 1918, and Berlin became the capital of Germany's new Weimar Republic. Strikes, riots, and inflation plagued the city during the postwar years. But Berlin continued to grow. In 1920, 7 cities, 59 villages, and 27 estates were annexed into Berlin. The 7 cities, which are now residential neighborhoods of Berlin, were Charlottenburg, Köpenick, Lichtenberg, Neukölln, Schöneberg, Spandau, and Wilmersdorf.

Berlin was hard hit by the worldwide economic depression of the 1930's. Hunger, unemployment, and widespread discontent paved the way for Adolf Hitler to seize power in 1933.

World War II nearly wiped out Berlin. About a third of the city was destroyed, and some 1 52,000 civilians lost their lives. The damage and deaths resulted mostly from Allied bombing raids throughout the war, and from an extended land battle for Berlin in 1945.

The victorious Allies took over Berlin in 1945 and divided the city into four sectors. Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States each occupied one sector. They also divided Germany into four zones.

The Soviet blockade. Although Berlin lay within the Soviet zone of occupation, the Western powers expected the Soviet Union to permit them free access to the city. However, in June 1948, the Soviet Union blocked all rail, water, and highway routes through the Soviet zone to the Western sectors of Berlin.

The Soviets hoped the blockade would drive Western troops out of Berlin. But Western nations organized a gigantic airlift to supply West Berliners with needed goods. At the height of this project, called the Berlin Airlift, planes landed in West Berlin at the rate of one every one to two minutes. General Lucius D. Clay, the commander of the U.S. armed forces in Europe, directed the airlift. The Soviets finally ended the blockade in May 1949, and the airlift stopped that September.

A divided city. In late 1948, East and West Berlin established separate governments. Each city had its own police, currency, and public utilities systems. In 1949, the three Western zones of Germany were combined as West Germany, and the Soviet zone became East Germany. East Berlin became East Germany's capital. Bonn was made West Germany's capital. During the 1950's, travel between the two parts of Berlin was generally unrestricted. As a result, West Berlin became a way for thousands of East Germans to escape Communism.

The Berlin Wall. By 1961, more than 1 ,000 East Germans were fleeing to West Berlin every day. On Aug. 13, 1961, East German police began building a wall of concrete and barbed wire to divide the two parts of the city. Some East Germans escaped to West Berlin after the Berlin Wall was built, but more than 170 people died trying to escape. Most of those who died were shot by border guards. Lying deep within Communist East Germany, West Berlin was an isolated outpost of democracy and faced constant threats of cutoffs of supplies.

In 1971, the United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States signed an agreement on the status of Berlin. The pact stated that West Berlin was not part of West Germany. But it also provided for political and economic ties and free movement between West Germany and West Berlin. During the 1970's and 1980's, relations between East and West Berlin improved slightly.

Berlin was divided into American, British, French, and Soviet sectors (districts) after World War II ended in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors became known as West Berlin. The Soviet sector became known as East Berlin.

A united Berlin. In 1989, large numbers of East Germans fled to West Germany by way of Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. Meanwhile, widespread demonstrations demanding greater freedom broke out in East Germany. In November 1989—in response to the protests—the East German government ended all restrictions on travel and emigration by East Germans. As a result, the 28-year-old Berlin Wall was opened.

In March 1990, in free elections in East Germany, non-Communists won control, in October, East and West Germany united into a single nation. Berlin was declared the capital, but Bonn continued to function as the capital. In 1991, the German Parliament voted to move most government offices and activities to Berlin.

One of Berlin's major challenges in the 1990's was to generate greater public revenue and taxes. After reunification, Berlin acquired many of East Berlin's economic problems. As a result, funds were needed for public housing, education, unemployment compensation, higher wages, pensions, social security, and health benefits. Many believed that an increase in government jobs resulting from Berlin's restored role as Germany's capital would help invigorate the economy.

East Berliners hoped a reunified city would achieve the former West Berlin standard of living. But this goal led to conflicts among social and political groups. In 1993, a strike by steelworkers in eastern Germany, including the former East Berlin, won a gradual increase of wages to western German levels.

The Berlin Wall was opened in 1989. It had been built in 1961 to halt escapes from East Berlin to West Berlin. The historic opening included the removal of parts of the wall, shown here.

Recent developments. In 1999, many government offices moved from Bonn to Berlin. The Reichstag, the parliament building of both the German Empire and the Nazis, became the new home of the Bundestag. In 2001 the new offices of Germany's chancellor opened in Berlin. New government buildings stand where the eastern and western downtowns once met, thus symbolically linking the previously divided city.