The Berlin Wall Collection: A City Torn Apart: Building of the Berlin Wall

Erected literally overnight, the building of the Berlin Wall was the culmination of over a decade of escalating confrontations and contentious blockades contrived to encourage the west to abandon Berlin to the Communist Bloc. The wall was East Germany's ultimate attempt to isolate and destroy an island of freedom. Instead of expelling the west, Berlin became ground zero in a contest of tit-for-tat brinksmanship with a serious risk of erupting into nuclear war. War was averted, but the wall dividing Berlin became a corrosive global symbol of bitter oppression that would last for nearly three decades. Listed below are the documents, essays and overviews from the eleven U.S. Government organizations that provide the background and the political ramifications of the Wall's construction.

View the Conference Release [external link disclaimer]

View the Conference Booklet  [external link disclaimer]

Contributors of documents other than CIA are indicated in the title by the following initials:

• HST - Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum
• DDE - Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum
• ISL - Ike Skelton Library, Joint Forces Staff College
• JFK - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
• LBJ - Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library
• NARA - National Archives and Records Administration
• STATE - Department of State, Office of the Historian

Table of Contents

Overview

1945-1960

1961-Winter

1961-Spring

1961-Summer

1961-Fall

Bulletins

Essays

NIE-SIE