How Did the USSR View the Existence of the Berlin Wall?
The building and life of the Berlin Wall was a very important event during the Cold War. This physical barrier isolated the city of Berlin, and was the very nub of the ideological differences between the two world powers of the time — the Unites States and the Soviet Union. For the West, and specifically America and its friends, the Berlin Wall was a symbol of oppression, a denial of human rights.
1. A Protective Measure
The Soviet Union, which ruled over East Germany, considered the Berlin Wall a safety measure. In the post-World War II years, East Germany to West Germany migration got an enormous spurt via Berlin. This was a major issue for the Soviet Union as they were afraid of losing the highly educated workforce and intellectuals that were crucial for the reconstruction of East Germany.
2. Economic Reasons
The Berlin Wall had also been seen by the Soviet Union as an instrument in controlling the economics. East Germany had been unable to catch up on rebuilding the economy to that of West Germany which was backed by the United States through the Marshall Plan. By keeping East Germans from escaping to the West, the Soviet Union aimed to maintain a valuable labor force and to prevent a further burden to the East German economy.
3. Symbol of Global Politics
Berliner Mauer war für die Sowjetunion ein Instrument eines umfassenderen weltweiten Machtkampfes zwischen Kommunismus und Kapitalismus. The very presence of the wall was an announcement to the world of Soviet power and will to safeguard and spread communism. It had been viewed as a required action to power the tide of capitalist affect in East Germany and keep manage of the Eastern Block.
4. Maintaining Authority
Also, the Berlin Wall helped the Soviet Union in keeping the control and ruling East Germany. The border between East and West Germany was extremely permeable before the wall was erected and people could cross unimpeded between the two. This undermined heavily the control and the legitimacy of the Soviet-backed government in East Germany. Through the construction of the wall the Soviet Union could have oversight over more closely the movement and the activity of East Germans.
5. Preventing Espionage
The Berlin Wall also served as a deterrent to the agents who were involved in espionage. The Soviet Union concerned that that the other Western, particularly United States, intelligence agencies were were spying East Germany for valuable information. The wall served the aim of hindering the operation and intelligence gathering of the spies, and it was fundamental to Soviet national security.
Conclusion
Though one can get more perspectives regarding the Berlin wall by looking at it from partisan ideologies’ viewpoint, know the frame of mind of the Soviet Union. Viewed from their perspective, the wall was an indispensable barrier to safeguard their interests and ensure the retention of East Germany as a buffer state, as well as check further the expansion of capitalism. The Berlin wall may have loomed in the west as oppressive and debilitating, but for Moscow, and for that matter, for much of the esl and for the East German dissenters who longed to be free to choose, it was a tool in the ongoing rivalry for global preeminence with NATO and Washington.
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