‘THE BERLIN WALL’ by Frederick Taylor
When someone writes a book about a historical event, it is very difficult to be objective in the sense that it is very difficult to explain the thoughts of both the victors and victims of the event. However, in the case of the Berlin Wall, the author, Frederick Taylor was almost successful in valuing the opinions and thoughts of both the commoners and the rulers. In the introduction of the book the author says ‘This book explores how, through blood and sand and then barbed wire and cement, this bizarre, closed world came into being. It tells how the leaders of the worlds reacted to this, and how ordinary people suffered, fought against and survived the trauma’. He wrote about the history of a squalid violent episode in the post war period on the basis of official history, archival materials and personal accounts . For the reader, the book seems to be lucid and forthright. The book begins with an account of Germany before the construction of the wall especially about the events that happened at the end of world war which led to the division of Germany. In the book, the author talks about why some people believed that the wall was necessary, the most important reason is to create a division between the west’s capitalist ideology and east’s socialist ideology. He points out that because of the economic growth of west Germany, the people of east Germany became fascinated by the west’s growth and they started migrating, this included the young people. The drainage of young people affected the economy of east Germany. Because of this, the leader of GDR Walter Ulbricht (German Democratic Party, East Germany) framed a plan known as ‘Operation rose’ that is to create a barrier which separates east and west Germany to prevent the migration of people. The plan was very secret and was kept hidden even from the citizens of East Germany and their other allies including USA. But after that, he also says that the west wasn’t aware of this secret operation; they knew that something was going to happen. After the wall came into existence, even though it violated the allies’ agreement, the US, France and England didn’t react against it. They were aware that a war might take place. Taylor, especially talks about the stand of Kennedy, who was the president of USA then, and how he didn’t act against the wall. Kennedy thought that ‘wall is better than war’. When the east German Mayor asked for assistance, he responded to it only by sending a troop of 1500 men to face a great force about million who are standing to protect the wall. The author talks about the crisis faced by the people of east Germany in great detail. He further describes the morning when east Berlin came to know about the existence of the new barrier. He describes how the ‘familiar streets, parks, even individual buildings, were turned into perilous human traps, in which the squirming, helpless captives were often the western’s friends and relatives. And the west Berliners were forced to stand and watch’. It should be noted that the author himself visited the city as a schoolboy. The author follows the wall from its rise to fall. Taylor, through his book ‘Berlin Wall’ is trying to narrate the story of one of the most important international crises in the post war era (actually it is the first international crisis which is properly televised) by looking at it from all possible angles.
Contributed by Aparna H, 2B
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY 