The Berlin Wall was a symbol of the Cold War and nearly 50 years of long struggle between the capitalist West and communist East. It was a literal manifestation of the Iron Curtain, which was claimed by Winston Churchill because it separated the two regions of Europe. It was built by the Soviet Union in 1961 to prevent the emigration of high-skilled East Berliners to capitalist West Berlin where they could have better lives. The city was divided into the capitalist section (United Kingdom, United States, and France) and communist section (Soviet Union) because the western Allies did not want the traditional seat of German power fully in the hands of the Soviets. When Berlin was divided into four Allied zones, the Soviets were unhappy with the capitalist governments in the middle of their communist zone and instituted a blockade to drive the Allies out. They responded with the Berlin Airlift of 1948 and the blockade was eventually withdrawn.
The wall is a harsh reminder of the people who attempted to escape and the wall itself represents the tensions between the Soviets and Capitalist West that existed during the Cold War. Escape attempts from East Berlin after the wall was built were risky as Soviet soldiers were instructed to shoot on sight anyone coming near the wall. The wall crumbled in 1989 as communist influence in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union ruptured and the economy stagnated.