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The '''Berlin Wall''' was a heavily guarded police wall in [[Berlin]], [[Germany]] that separated [[Communist]] East Berlin from [[democracy|democratic]] West Berlin. It was one of the most visible symbols of the [[Iron Curtain]]. The wall was built in 1961 by the government of the [[German Democratic Republic]] (East Germany) in order to stop the tide of emigration to West Berlin. President [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1987 demanded it be torn down, to the astonishment of the world.  To even greater disbelief, it was torn down in November, 1989, thus ending the [[Cold War]]  and bringing freedom to East Germany and (within days) to the rest of the satellites in East Europe which now threw off Communism.  

The '''Berlin Wall''' was a heavily guarded police wall in [[Berlin]], [[Germany]] that separated [[Communist]] East Berlin from [[democracy|democratic]] West Berlin. It was one of the most visible symbols of the [[Iron Curtain]]. The wall was built in 1961 by the government of the [[German Democratic Republic]] (East Germany) in order to stop the tide of emigration to West Berlin. President [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1987 demanded it be torn down, to the astonishment of the world.  To even greater disbelief, it was torn down in November, 1989, thus ending the [[Cold War]]  and bringing freedom to East Germany and (within days) to the rest of the satellites in [[Central Europe]] which now threw off Communism.  

Because of dissatisfaction with the economic and political conditions (forced collectivization of agriculture, repression of private trade, supply gaps), an increasing number of people left the GDR. From January to the beginning of August 1961, about 160,000 refugees were counted. <ref>http://userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/BIW/wall.html</ref>

Because of dissatisfaction with the economic and political conditions (forced collectivization of agriculture, repression of private trade, supply gaps), an increasing number of people left the GDR. From January to the beginning of August 1961, about 160,000 refugees were counted. <ref>http://userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/BIW/wall.html</ref>