After World War II, Germany was divided into separate zones by the victorious Allies. The German capital Berlin was also divided into zones, although it was located deep within the Soviet zone.

As the Cold War developed, relations between the West and the Soviet Union deteriorated. The parts of Germany under the control of Western countries (United States, Britain, and France) became democratic, capitalist West Germany while the zone under Soviet control became communist East Germany.

But what of Berlin? Officially, West Berlin was part of West Germany, but disconnected from it. In 1948, the Soviet Union began a blockade to force the West to surrender West Berlin. The British and Americans responded by resupplying West Berlin through the air. The Berlin airlift was successful and the Russians were forced to acknowledge that West Berlin would be an island of capitalism in communist East Germany.

For the next thirteen years, people could move freely between the two halves of the city. But East Germany was hemorrhaging. The best and brightest were fleeing to the West for a better life and one only had to walk to the other side of Berlin to officially be on West German soil. In 1961, the communists built a wall around West Berlin to stop dissatisfied East Germans from escaping.

Of course, this was a propaganda coup for the West. After all, how well can communism be working if you have to literally build a wall to keep people living under it? The Berlin Wall soon became a symbol of the Cold War and of everything that was wrong with communism.