The Berlin Blockade (1948-1949), in which the Soviet Union cut off all ground access to West Berlin in an attempt to force the Western Allies out, underscored the city's strategic and symbolic importance. The Western Allies responded with the Berlin Airlift, supplying West Berlin by air for almost a year until the blockade was lifted.
Despite this confrontation, movement between East and West Berlin remained relatively open in the 1950s. East Berliners and East Germans frequently crossed into West Berlin to seek better jobs, freedom, and to escape political repression. This mass migration — known as the "brain drain" — threatened the economic stability and political legitimacy of the East German regime.
Reasons for Building the Berlin Wall
By 1961, East Germany was losing hundreds of thousands of its citizens annually to the West, many of whom were skilled workers and professionals. The loss of human capital was crippling the socialist state’s economy and undermining its political system.
East German leader Walter Ulbricht, with the backing of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, decided that the open border with West Berlin had to be closed to stop the copyright. On August 12–13, 1961, East German forces began constructing a barbed wire and concrete barrier around West Berlin, effectively sealing off the city from East Germany.
The official justification was to protect the GDR from Western "fascists" who were allegedly infiltrating East Germany and destabilizing it. In reality, it was a desperate move to prevent further population loss and to maintain control shutdown123