USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Even though Berlin was located entirely within the Soviet part of the country (it sat about 100 miles from the border between the eastern and western occupation zones), the Yalta and Potsdam agreements split the city into similar sectors. The Soviets took the eastern half, while the other Allies took the western.

Detailed explanation-2: -The City of Berlin, located 200 miles inside East Germany, was also divided. Half of the city-West Berlin-was actually part of West Germany. Many East Germans did not want to live in a communist country and crossed into West Berlin, where they could either settle or find transportation to West Germany and beyond.

Detailed explanation-3: -West Berlin was formally controlled by the Western Allies and entirely surrounded by the Soviet-controlled East Berlin and East Germany. West Berlin had great symbolic significance during the Cold War, as it was widely considered by westerners an “island of freedom” and America’s most loyal counterpart in Europe.

Detailed explanation-4: -In 1949, Germany formally split into two independent nations: the Federal Republic of Germany (FDR or West Germany), allied to the Western democracies, and the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany), allied to the Soviet Union.

Detailed explanation-5: -To stop the exodus of its population, the East German government, with the full consent of the Soviets, erected the Berlin Wall, isolating West from East Berlin. West Berlin, then literally an island within the surrounding GDR, became the symbol of Western freedom.