The Young Chronicle: For 4th Graders November 14th, 2014 | Page 3
YOUNG CHRONICLE
November 14th, 2014
TIMELINE OF THE BERLIN WALL
1945: Following the end of World War II, Germany is divided into 4 sectors:
the American, British, French in the West and
the Soviet in the East.
1949: The U.S., British and French zones of occupied Germany become the Federal Republic of Germany. Shortly after, East
Germany would of>icially become the German Democratic Republic,
1961: Between 1949 and 1961, more than 2 million people East Berliners >led to the West as refugees. The East German
government’s solution was a drastic one:, troops erect a barbed‐wire barricade between the two sides. Construction began
on the Berlin Wall on August 13th, 1961. By the morning of 15th August, East Berlin was closed off ‐ initially by barbed
wire and various obstuctions, and remained so for the next 28 years.
1962: In June 1962 a second wall was built to prevent people escaping to the West. This was then further strengthened by a
third wall in 1965, and yet again by a fourth wall in 1975.
1963: The then President of United States of America, John F. Kennedy, visits Berlin and says: "Ich bin ein Berliner." ("I am a
Berliner.")
1987: US President Ronald Reagan visits Berlin and urges Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
1989: At an evening press conference, an East German of>icial mentions that the government has decided to allow citizens
of East Berlin to cross into West Berlin. As the news spreads in both Berlins, crowds gather at the wall. At midnight, guards
begin allowing East Berliners to cross into the West.
1990: The >lag of the Federal Republic of Germany is raised at the Reichstag building in Berlin to mark the reuni>ication of
Germany. October 3 becomes the country’s national holiday.
2014: 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall is celebrated across the world.
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