What prompted the East German government to construct the wall in 1961?
Professor Stein: Between 1949, when Germany was formally divided, and 1961, when the Berlin Wall was built, more than 3 million East Germans “voted with their feet” by moving to West Germany. The East German ruling party never enjoyed popular support, and the regime never trusted its citizens. Refugees left East Germany for economic as well as political reasons, and this “brain drain” of young, educated workers had a destabilizing effect on the East German economy. The only way to stop the flow of refugees was to close the border between East and West Berlin. Professor Harrison: The rest of the border between East and West Germany had been sealed off in 1952, which meant that the only place in all of Germany where there was free movement back and forth was Berlin. The East German regime had asked Soviet leaders repeatedly to let them seal off the border in Berlin. Until 1961, the Soviets said no, arguing that not only was it technically impossible but also that closing the border would
