Berlin wall

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For the chess opening variation, sometimes known as Berlin Wall, see Berlin Defence. View from the West Berlin side of graffiti art on the wall in 1986. The wall's infamous "death strip", on the east side of the wall, here follows the curve of the long closed Luisenstadt Canal. Map of the location of the Berlin Wall, showing checkpoints Satellite image of Berlin, with the wall's location marked in yellow The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls,[1] which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period. The Berlin Wall was officially referred to as the "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart" (German: Antifaschistischer Schutzwall) by GDR authorities, implying that neighbouring West Germany had not been fully de-Nazified.[2] The West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the "Wall of Shame"—a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt—while condemning the Wall's restriction on freedom of movement. Along with the separate and much longer Inner German border (IGB) that demarcated the border between East and West Germany, both borders came to symbolize the "Iron Curtain" that separated Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. Before the Wall's erection, 3.5 million East Germans circumvented Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions and defected from the GDR, many by crossing over the border from East Berlin into West Berlin, from where they could then travel to West Germany and other Western European countries. Between 1961 and 1989, the wall prevented almost all such emigration.[3] During this period, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the wall, with estimates of the resulting death toll varying between 100 and 200. In 1989, a radical series of political changes occurred in the Eastern Bloc, associated with the liberalization of the Eastern Bloc's authoritarian systems and the erosion of political power in the pro-Soviet governments in nearby Poland and Hungary. After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, a euphoric public and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the wall; the governments later used industrial equipment to remove most of the rest. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on 3 October 1990. Contents  [hide]  1 Background 1.1 Post-war Germany 1.2 The Eastern Bloc and the Berlin airlift 1.3 Emigration westward in the early 1950s 2 Erection of the inner German border 2.1 The Berlin emigration loophole 2.2 Brain drain 3 Construction begins, 1961 3.1 Immediate effects 3.2 Secondary response 4 Structure and adjacent areas 4.1 Layout and modifications 4.2 Surrounding municipalities 5 Official crossings and usage 5.1 Who could cross 5.2 Defection attempts 6 "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." 7 The Fall 7.1 Demolition 7.2 Opposition 7.3 Celebrations 7.4 20th Anniversary Celebrations 8 Legacy 8.1 Museum 8.2 Cultural differences 8.3 Wall segments around the world 8.4 50th Anniversary commemoration 9 See also 9.1 Media relating to the wall 10 Notes 11 References 12 External links 12.1 Images and personal accounts Background Post-war Germany After the end of World War II in Europe, what remained of pre-war Germany west of the Oder-Neisse line was divided into four occupation zones (per the Potsdam Agreement), each one controlled by one of the four occupying Allied powers: the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union. The capital of Berlin, as the seat of the Allied Control Council, was similarly subdivided into four sectors despite the city's location fully within the Soviet zone.[4] Within two years, political divisions increased between the Soviets and the other occupying powers. These included the Soviets' refusal to agree to reconstruction plans making post-war Germany self-sufficient and to a detailed accounting of the industrial plants, goods and infrastructure already removed by the Soviets.[5] Britain, France, the United States and the Benelux countries later met to combine the non-Soviet zones of the country into one zone for reconstruction and approve the extension of the Marshall Plan. The Eastern Bloc and the Berlin airlift Further information: Eastern Bloc and Berlin Blockade Eastern Bloc Annexed into SSRs[show] Satellite states[show] Annexing SSRs[show] Related organisations[show] Revolts and opposition[show] Cold War events[show] Conditions[show] Decline[show] v d e Following World War II, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin headed a union of nations on his Western border, the Eastern Bloc, that then included Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, which he wished to maintain alongside a weakened Soviet-controlled Germany.[6] As early as 1945, Stalin revealed to German communist leaders that he expected to slowly undermine the British position within the British occupation zone, that the United States would withdraw within a year or two, and that nothing then would stand in the way of a united communist Germany within the bloc.[7] The major task of the ruling communist party in the Soviet zone was to channel Soviet orders down to both the administrative apparatus and the other bloc parties, which in turn would be presented as internal measures.[8] Property and industry was nationalized in the East German zone.[9][10] If statements or decisions deviated from the described line, reprimands and, for persons outside public attention, punishment would ensue, such as imprisonment, torture and even death.[8] Indoctrination of Marxism-Leninism became a compulsory part of school curricula, sending professors and students fleeing to the West. The East Germans created an elaborate political police apparatus that kept the population under close surveillance,[11] including Soviet SMERSH secret police.[9] In 1948, following disagreements regarding reconstruction and a new German currency, Stalin instituted the Berlin Blockade, preventing food, materials and supplies from arriving in West Berlin.[12] The United States, Britain, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several other countries began a massive "Berlin airlift", supplying West Berlin with food and other supplies.[13] The Soviets mounted a public relations campaign against the western policy change. Communists attempted to disrupt the elections of 1948, preceding large losses therein,[14] while 300,000 Berliners demonstrated for the international airlift to continue.[15] In May 1949, Stalin lifted the blockade, permitting the resumption of Western shipments to Berlin.[16][17] The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was declared on 7 October 1949. By a secret treaty, the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs accorded the East German state administrative authority, but not autonomy. The Soviets penetrated East German administrative, military and secret police structures and had full control.[18][19] East Germany differed from West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany), which developed into a Western capitalist country with a social market economy ("Soziale Marktwirtschaft" in German) and a democratic parliamentary government. Continual economic growth starting in the 1950s fuelled a 20-year "economic miracle" ("Wirtschaftswunder"). As West Germany's economy grew and its standard of living steadily improved, many East Germans wanted to move to West Germany. Emigration westward in the early 1950s Main articles: Eastern Bloc emigration and defection and Eastern Bloc After Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe at the end of World War II, the majority of those living in the newly acquired areas of the Eastern Bloc aspired to independence and wanted the Soviets to leave.[20] Taking advantage of the zonal border between occupied zones in Germany, the number of GDR citizens moving to West Germany totaled 187,000 in 1950; 165,000 in 1951; 182,000 in 1952; and 331,000 in 1953.[21][22] One reason for the sharp 1953 increase was fear of potential further Sovietization, given the increasingly paranoid actions of Joseph Stalin in late 1952 and early 1953.[23] 226,000 had fled in just the first six months of 1953.[24] Erection of the inner German border Further information: Inner German border and Eastern Bloc emigration and defection By the early 1950s, the Soviet approach to controlling national movement, restricting emigration, was emulated by most of the rest of the Eastern Bloc, including East Germany.[25] The restrictions presented a quandary for some Eastern Bloc states that had been more economically advanced and open than the Soviet Union, such that crossing borders seemed more natural—especially where no prior border existed between East and West Germany.[26] Up until 1952, the lines between East Germany and the western occupied zones could be easily crossed in most places.[27] On 1 April 1952, East German leaders met the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in Moscow; during the discussions Stalin's foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov proposed that the East Germans should "introduce a system of passes for visits of West Berlin residents to the territory of East Berlin [so as to stop] free movement of Western agents" in the GDR. Stalin agreed, calling the situation "intolerable". He advised the East Germans to build up their border defenses, telling them that "The demarcation line between East and West Germany should be considered a border—and not just any border, but a dangerous one ... The Germans will guard the line of defence with their lives."[28] Consequently, the inner German border between the two German states was closed, and a barbed-wire fence erected. The border between the Western and Eastern sectors of Berlin, however, remained open, although traffic between the Soviet and the Western sectors was somewhat restricted. This resulted in Berlin becoming a magnet for East Germans desperate to escape life in the GDR, and also a flashpoint for tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1955, the Soviets gave East Germany authority over civilian movement in Berlin, passing control to a regime not recognized in the West.[29] Initially, East Germany granted "visits" to allow its residents access to West Germany. However, following the defection of large numbers of East Germans under this regime, the new East German state legally restricted virtually all travel to the West in 1956.[27] Soviet East German ambassador Mikhail Pervukhin observed that "the presence in Berlin of an open and essentially uncontrolled border between the socialist and capitalist worlds unwittingly prompts the population to make a comparison between both parts of the city, which unfortunately, does not always turn out in favor of the Democratic [East] Berlin."[30] The Berlin emigration loophole Further information: Eastern Bloc emigration and defection With the closing of the inner German border officially in 1952,[30] the border in Berlin remained considerably more accessible then because it was administered by all four occupying powers.[27] Accordingly, Berlin became the main route by which East Germans left for the West.[31] On 11 December 1957, East Germany introduced a new passport law that reduced the overall number of refugees leaving Eastern Germany. It had the unintended result of drastically increasing the percentage of those leaving through West Berlin from 60% to well over 90% by the end of 1958.[30] Those caught trying to leave East Berlin were subjected to heavy penalties, but with no physical barrier and subway train access still available to West Berlin, such measures were ineffective.[32] The Berlin sector border was essentially a "loophole" through which Eastern Bloc citizens could still escape.[30] The 3.5 million East Germans who had left by 1961 totalled approximately 20% of the entire East German population.[32] Brain drain Further information: Eastern Bloc emigration and defection The emigrants tended to be young and well-educated, leading to the "brain drain" feared by officials in East Germany.[20] Yuri Andropov, then the CPSU Director on Relations with Communist and Workers Parties of Socialist Countries, wrote an urgent letter on 28 August 1958, to the Central Committee about the significant 50% increase in the number of East German intelligentsia among the refugees.[33] Andropov reported that, while the East German leadership stated that they were leaving for economic reasons, testimony from refugees indicated that the reasons were more political than material.[33] He stated "the flight of the intelligentsia has reached a particularly critical phase."[33] By 1960, the combination of World War II and the massive emigration westward left East Germany with only 61% of its population of working age, compared to 70.5% before the war.[32] The loss was disproportionately heavy among professionals: engineers, technicians, physicians, teachers, lawyers and skilled workers.[32] The direct cost of manpower losses to East Germany (and corresponding gain to the West) has been estimated at $7 billion to $9 billion, with East German party leader Walter Ulbricht later claiming that West Germany owed him $17 billion in compensation, including reparations as well as manpower losses.[32] In addition, the drain of East Germany's young population potentially cost it over 22.5 billion marks in lost educational investment.[34] The brain drain of professionals had become so damaging to the political credibility and economic viability of East Germany that the re-securing of the German communist frontier was imperative.[35] Construction begins, 1961 East German Combat Groups of the Working Class close the border on 13 August 1961 in perparation of the Berlin Wall construction. East German construction workers building the Berlin Wall, 20 November 1961 On 15 June 1961, First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party and GDR State Council chairman Walter Ulbricht stated in an international press conference, "Niemand hat die Absicht, eine Mauer zu errichten!" (No one has the intention of erecting a wall!). It was the first time the colloquial term Mauer (wall) had been used in this context. The record of a telephone call between Nikita Khrushchev and Ulbricht on 1 August in the same year, suggests that it was Khrushchev from whom the initiative for the construction of the wall came.[36][37] However, other sources suggest that Khrushchev had initially been wary about building a wall, fearing negative Western reaction. What is beyond dispute, though, is that Ulbricht had pushed for a border closure for quite some time, arguing that East Germany's very existence was at stake.[38] Khrushchev had been emboldened by US President John F. Kennedy’s tacit indication that the US would not actively oppose this action in the Soviet sector of Berlin.[39] On Saturday, 12 August 1961, the leaders of the GDR attended a garden party at a government guesthouse in Döllnsee, in a wooded area to the north of East Berlin. There Ulbricht signed the order to close the border and erect a wall. At midnight, the police and units of the East German army began to close the border and, by Sunday morning, 13 August, the border with West Berlin was closed. East German troops and workers had begun to tear up streets running alongside the border to make them impassable to most vehicles and to install barbed wire entanglements and fences along the 156 kilometres (97 mi) around the three western sectors, and the 43 kilometres (27 mi) that divided West and East Berlin. The barrier was built slightly inside East Berlin or East German territory to ensure that it did not encroach on West Berlin at any point. Later, it was built up into the Wall proper, the first concrete elements and large blocks being put in place on 17 August. During the construction of the Wall, National People's Army (NVA) and Combat Groups of the Working Class (KdA) soldiers stood in front of it with orders to shoot anyone who attempted to defect. Additionally, chain fences, walls, minefields and other obstacles were installed along the length of East Germany's western border with West Germany proper. A huge no man's land was cleared to provide a clear line of fire at fleeing refugees.[40] Immediate effects With the closing of the East-West sector boundary in Berlin, the vast majority of East Germans could no longer travel or emigrate to West Germany. Many families were split, while East Berliners employed in the West were cut off from their jobs. West Berlin became an isolated exclave in a hostile land. West Berliners demonstrated against the wall, led by their Mayor (Oberbürgermeister) Willy Brandt, who strongly criticized the United States for failing to respond. Allied intelligence agencies had hypothesized about a wall to stop the flood of refugees, but the main candidate for its location was around the perimeter of the city. In 1961, Secretary of State Dean Rusk proclaimed, "The Wall certainly ought not to be a permanent feature of the European landscape. I see no reason why the Soviet Union should think it is—it is to their advantage in any way to leave there that monument to Communist failure."[40] US President John F. Kennedy visiting the Berlin Wall on 26 June 1963 In a speech on 26 July 1963, US President John F. Kennedy had acknowledged[41] that the United States could only hope to defend West Berliners and West Germans; to attempt to stand up for East Germans would result only in an embarrassing downfall. Accordingly, the administration made polite protests at length via the usual channels, but without fervour. The Wall violated postwar Potsdam Agreements, which gave the United Kingdom, France and the United States a say over the administration of the whole of Berlin. A few months after the barbed wire was erected, the U.S. government informed the Soviet government that it accepted the Wall as "a fact of international life" and would not challenge it by force. From the East-Side 1968 the "Baby Wall" with flowers was the nearest point for visitors Ich bin ein Berliner (I am a Berliner) speech "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech from the Rathaus Schöneberg by John F. Kennedy, 26 June 1963. Duration 9:01. Ich bin ein Berliner (I am a Berliner) speech (audio) Audio-only version (Duration 9:22) Problems listening to these files? See media help. US and UK sources had expected the Soviet sector to be sealed off from West Berlin, but were surprised by how long the East Germans took for such a move. They considered the wall as an end to concerns about a GDR/Soviet retaking or capture of the whole of Berlin; the wall would presumably have been an unnecessary project if such plans were afloat. Thus they concluded that the possibility of a Soviet military conflict over Berlin decreased.[42] The East German government claimed that the Wall was an "anti-fascist protective rampart" (German: "antifaschistischer Schutzwall") intended to dissuade aggression from the West.[43] Another official justification was the activities of western agents in Eastern Europe.[44] The Eastern German government also claimed that West Berliners were buying out state-subsidized goods in East Berlin. East Germans and others greeted such statements with skepticism, as most of the time, the border was only closed for citizens of East Germany traveling to the West, but not for residents of West Berlin travelling to the East.[45] The construction of the Wall had caused considerable hardship to families divided by it. Most people believed that the Wall was mainly a means of preventing the citizens of East Germany from entering or fleeing to West Berlin. An East German SED propaganda booklet published in 1955 dramatically described the serious nature of 'flight from the republic': Both from the moral standpoint as well as in terms of the interests of the whole German nation, leaving the GDR is an act of political and moral backwardness and depravity. Those who let themselves be recruited objectively serve West German Reaction and militarism, whether they know it or not. Is it not despicable when for the sake of a few alluring job offers or other false promises about a "guaranteed future" one leaves a country in which the seed for a new and more beautiful life is sprouting, and is already showing the first fruits, for the place that favours a new war and destruction? Is it not an act of political depravity when citizens, whether young people, workers, or members of the intelligentsia, leave and betray what our people have created through common labour in our republic to offer themselves to the American or British secret services or work for the West German factory owners, Junkers, or militarists? Does not leaving the land of progress for the morass of an historically outdated social order demonstrate political backwardness and blindness? ... [W]orkers throughout Germany will demand punishment for those who today leave the German Democratic Republic, the strong bastion of the fight for peace, to serve the deadly enemy of the German people, the imperialists and militarists.[46] Secondary response This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2011) Kennedy appointed retired General Lucius D. Clay, who had been the Military Governor of the US Zone of Occupation in Germany during the period of the Berlin Blockade and had ordered the first measures in what became the Berlin Airlift, as his special advisor, sending him to Berlin with ambassadorial rank. Clay was immensely popular with the residents of West Berlin, and his appointment was an unambiguous sign that Kennedy would not compromise on the status of West Berlin. Clay and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson arrived at Tempelhof Airport on the afternoon of Saturday, 19 August 1961. They arrived in a city defended by three Allied brigades—one each from the UK, the US, and France (the Forces Françaises à Berlin). On 16 August, Kennedy had given the order for them to be reinforced. Early on 19 August, the 1st Battle Group, 18th Infantry (commanded by Colonel Glover S. Johns Jr.) was alerted.[47] On Sunday morning, U.S. troops marched from West Germany through East Germany, bound for West Berlin. Lead elements—arranged in a column of 491 vehicles and trailers carrying 1,500 men, divided into five march units—left the Helmstedt-Marienborn checkpoint at 06:34. At Marienborn, the Soviet checkpoint next to Helmstedt on the West German/East German border, US personnel were counted by guards. The column was 160 kilometres (99 mi) long, and covered 177 kilometres (110 mi) from Marienborn to Berlin in full battle gear. East German police watched from beside trees next to the autobahn all the way along. The front of the convoy arrived at the outskirts of Berlin just before noon, to be met by Clay and Johnson, before parading through the streets of Berlin in front of a large crowd. At 04:00 on 21 August, Lyndon Johnson left West Berlin in the hands of Gen. Frederick O. Hartel and his brigade of 4,224 officers and men. Every three months for the next three and a half years, a new American battalion was rotated into West Berlin; each traveled by autobahn to demonstrate Allied rights. The creation of the wall had important implications for both German states. By stemming the exodus of people from East Germany, the East German government was able to reassert its control over the country: in spite of discontent with the wall, economic problems caused by dual currency and the black market were largely eliminated. The economy in the GDR began to grow. But, the wall proved a public relations disaster for the communist bloc as a whole. Western powers used it in propaganda as a symbol of communist tyranny, particularly after East German border guards shot and killed would-be defectors. Such fatalities were later treated as acts of murder by the reunified Germany. Structure and adjacent areas Layout and modifications Position and course of the Berlin Wall and its border control checkpoints (1989) The Berlin Wall was more than 140 kilometres (87 mi) long. In June 1962, a second, parallel fence some 100 metres (110 yd) farther into East German territory was built. The houses contained between the fences were razed and the inhabitants relocated, thus establishing what later became known as the Death Strip. The Death Strip was covered with raked sand or gravel, rendering footprints easy to notice, easing the detection of trespassers and also enabling officers to see which guards had neglected their task;[48] it offered no cover; and most importantly, it offered clear fields of fire for the wall guards. Through the years, the Berlin Wall evolved through four versions: Wire fence (1961) Improved wire fence (1962–1965) Concrete wall (1965–1975) Grenzmauer 75 (Border Wall 75) (1975–1989) The "fourth-generation wall", known officially as "Stützwandelement UL 12.11" (retaining wall element UL 12.11), was the final and most sophisticated version of the Wall. Begun in 1975[49] and completed about 1980,[50] it was constructed from 45,000 separate sections of reinforced concrete, each 3.6 metres (12 ft) high and 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) wide, and cost DDM 16,155,000 or about US$3,638,000.[51] The concrete provisions added to this version of the Wall were done so to prevent escapees from driving their cars through the barricades.[52] At strategic points the wall was constructed to a somewhat weaker standard so that East German and Soviet armored vehicles could break through easily in the event of war.[53] The top of the wall was lined with a smooth pipe, intended to make it more difficult to scale. It was reinforced by mesh fencing, signal fencing, anti-vehicle trenches, barbed wire, dogs on long lines, "beds of nails" under balconies hanging over the "death strip", over 116 watchtowers,[54] and 20 bunkers. This version of the Wall is the one most commonly seen in photographs, and surviving fragments of the Wall in Berlin and elsewhere around the world are generally pieces of the fourth-generation Wall. The layout came to resemble the inner German border in most technical aspects, except the Berlin Wall had no landmines and no spring-guns.[48] Surrounding municipalities Besides the sector-sector boundary within Berlin itself, the wall also separated West Berlin from the present-day state of Brandenburg. The following present-day municipalities, listed in counter-clockwise direction, share a border with former West Berlin: Oberhavel : Mühlenbecker Land (partially), Glienicke/Nordbahn, Hohen Neuendorf, Hennigsdorf Havelland : Schönwalde-Glien, Falkensee, Dallgow-Döberitz Potsdam (Urban district) Potsdam-Mittelmark : Stahnsdorf, Kleinmachnow, Teltow Teltow-Fläming : Großbeeren, Blankenfelde-Mahlow Dahme-Spreewald : Schönefeld (partially) Official crossings and usage See also: Berlin border crossings There were nine border crossings between East and West Berlin, which allowed visits by West Berliners, West Germans, Western foreigners and Allied personnel into East Berlin, as well as visits by GDR citizens and citizens of other socialist countries into West Berlin, provided that they held the necessary permits. Those crossings were restricted according to which nationality was allowed to use it (East Germans, West Germans, West Berliners, other countries). The most famous was the vehicle and pedestrian checkpoint at the corner of Friedrichstraße and Zimmerstraße, also known as Checkpoint Charlie, which was restricted to Allied personnel and foreigners.[55] Several other border crossings existed between West Berlin and surrounding East Germany. These could be used for transit between West Germany and West Berlin, for visits by West Berliners into East Germany, for transit into countries neighbouring East Germany (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Denmark), and for visits by East Germans into West Berlin carrying a permit. After the 1972 agreements, new crossings were opened to allow West Berlin waste to be transported into East German dumps, as well as some crossings for access to West Berlin's exclaves (see Steinstücken). The famous You Are Leaving sign at a border of the American sector Travel orders to go to Berlin as used by U.S. forces in the 1980s Four autobahns connected West Berlin to West Germany, the most famous being the Berlin-Helmstedt autobahn, which entered East German territory between the towns of Helmstedt and Marienborn (Checkpoint Alpha), and which entered West Berlin at Dreilinden (Checkpoint Bravo for the Allied forces) in southwestern Berlin. Access to West Berlin was also possible by railway (four routes) and by boat for commercial shipping via canals and rivers. Non-German Westerners could cross the border at Friedrichstraße station in East Berlin and at Checkpoint Charlie. When the Wall was erected, Berlin's complex public transit networks, the S-Bahn and U-Bahn, were divided with it.[50] Some lines were cut in half; many stations were shut down. Three western lines traveled through brief sections of East Berlin territory, passing through eastern stations (called Geisterbahnhöfe, or ghost stations) without stopping. Both the eastern and western networks converged at Friedrichstraße, which became a major crossing point for those (mostly Westerners) with permission to cross. Who could cross This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2011) West Germans and citizens of other Western countries could in general visit East Germany. Usually this involved application of a visa at an East German embassy several weeks in advance. Visas for day trips restricted to East Berlin were issued without previous application in a simplified procedure at the border crossing. However, East German authorities could refuse entry permits without stating a reason. In the 1980s, visitors from the western part of the city who wanted to visit the eastern part had to exchange at least DM 25 into East German currency at the poor exchange rate of 1:1. It was forbidden to export East German currency from the East, but money not spent could be left at the border for possible future visits. Tourists crossing from the west had to also pay for a visa, which cost DM 5; West Berliners did not have to pay this. West Berliners initially could not visit East Berlin or East Germany at all. All crossing points were closed to them between 26 August 1961 and 17 December 1963. In 1963, negotiations between East and West resulted in a limited possibility for visits during the Christmas season that year (Passierscheinregelung). Similar, very limited arrangements were made in 1964, 1965 and 1966. In 1971, with the Four Power Agreement on Berlin, agreements were reached that allowed West Berliners to apply for visas to enter East Berlin and East Germany regularly, comparable to the regulations already in force for West Germans. However, East German authorities could still refuse entry permits. East Berliners and East Germans could at first not travel to West Berlin or West Germany at all. This regulation remained in force essentially until the fall of the wall, but over the years several exceptions to these rules were introduced, the most significant being: Elderly pensioners could travel to the West starting in 1965 Visits of relatives for important family matters People who had to travel to the West for professional reasons (for example, artists, truck drivers, musicians, writers and so on.) However, each visit had to be applied for individually and approval was never guaranteed. In addition, even if travel was approved, GDR travellers could exchange only a very small amount of East German Marks into Deutsche Marks (DM), thus limiting the financial resources available for them to travel to the West. This led to the West German practice of granting a small amount of DM annually (Begrüßungsgeld, or welcome money) to GDR citizens visiting West Germany and West Berlin to help alleviate this situation. Citizens of other East European countries were in general subject to the same prohibition of visiting Western countries as East Germans, though the applicable exception (if any) varied from country to country. Allied military personnel and civilian officials of the Allied forces could enter and exit East Berlin without submitting to East German passport controls, purchasing a visa or being required to exchange money. Likewise, Soviet military patrols could enter and exit West Berlin. This was a requirement of the post-war Four Powers Agreements. A particular area of concern for the Western Allies involved official dealings with East German authorities when crossing the border, since Allied policy did not recognize the authority of the GDR to regulate Allied military traffic to and from West Berlin, as well as the Allied presence within Greater Berlin, including entry into, exit from, and presence within East Berlin; the Allies held that only the Soviet Union, and not the GDR, had authority to regulate Allied personnel in such cases. For this reason, elaborate procedures were established to prevent inadvertent recognition of East German authority when engaged in travel through the GDR and when in East Berlin. Special rules applied to travel by Western Allied military personnel assigned to the Military Liaison Missions accredited to the commander of Soviet forces in East Germany, located in Potsdam. Allied personnel were restricted by policy when travelling by land to the following routes: Transit between West Germany and West Berlin Road: the Helmstedt-Berlin autobahn (A2) (Checkpoints Alpha and Bravo respectively). Soviet military personnel manned these checkpoints and processed Allied personnel for travel between the two points. Military personnel were required to be in uniform when traveling in this manner. Rail: Western Allied military personnel and civilian officials of the Allied forces were forbidden from using commercial train service between West Germany and West Berlin, due to the fact of GDR passport and customs controls when using them. Instead, the Allied forces operated a series of official (duty) trains that traveled between their respective duty stations in West Germany and West Berlin. When transiting the GDR, the trains would follow the route between Helmstedt and Griebnitzsee, just outside of West Berlin. In addition to persons traveling on official business, authorized personnel could also use the duty trains for personal travel on a space-available basis. The trains traveled only at night, and as with transit by car, Soviet military personnel handled the processing of duty train travelers. Entry into and exit from East Berlin Checkpoint Charlie (as a pedestrian or riding in a vehicle) As with military personnel, special procedures applied to travel by diplomatic personnel of the Western Allies accredited to their respective embassies in the GDR. This was intended to prevent inadvertent recognition of East German authority when crossing between East and West Berlin, which could jeopardize the overall Allied position governing the freedom of movement by Allied forces personnel within all Berlin. Ordinary citizens of the Western Allied powers, not formally affiliated with the Allied forces, were authorized to use all designated transit routes through East Germany to and from West Berlin. Regarding travel to East Berlin, such persons could also use the Friedrichstraße train station to enter and exit the city, in addition to Checkpoint Charlie. In these instances, such travelers, unlike Allied personnel, had to submit to East German border controls. Defection attempts Further information: Deaths at the Berlin Wall NVA soldier Conrad Schumann defecting to West Berlin during the wall's early days in 1961 During the years of the Wall, around 5,000 people successfully defected to West Berlin. The number of people who died trying to cross the wall, or as a result of the wall's existence, has been disputed. The most vocal claims by Alexandra Hildebrandt, Director of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and widow of the Museum's founder, estimated the death toll to be well above 200.[56][57] A historic research group at the Center for Contemporary Historical Research (ZZF) in Potsdam has confirmed 136 deaths.[58] Prior official figures listed 98 as being killed. The East German government issued shooting orders (Schießbefehl) to border guards dealing with defectors, though such orders are not the same as "shoot to kill" orders. GDR officials denied issuing the latter. In an October 1973 order later discovered by researchers, guards were instructed that people attempting to cross the wall were criminals and needed to be shot: "Do not hesitate to use your firearm, not even when the border is breached in the company of women and children, which is a tactic the traitors have often used".[59] Early successful escapes involved people jumping the initial barbed wire or leaping out of apartment windows along the line, but these ended as the wall was fortified. East German authorities no longer permitted apartments near the wall to be occupied, and any building near the wall had its windows boarded and later bricked up. On 15 August 1961, Conrad Schumann was the first East German border guard to escape by jumping the barbed wire to West Berlin.[60] On 22 August 1961 Ida Siekmann was the first casualty at the Berlin Wall: she died after she jumped out of her third floor apartment at 48 Bernauer Strasse.[61] The first person to be shot and killed while trying to cross to West Berlin was Günter Litfin, a twenty-four year old tailor. He attempted to swim across the Spree Canal to freedom in West Germany on 24 August 1961, the same day that East German police had received shoot-to-kill orders to prevent anyone from escaping.[62] Another dramatic escape was carried out on April 1963 by Wolfgang Engels, a 19-year-old civilian employee of the Nationale Volksarmee. Engels stole a Soviet armored personnel carrier from a base where he was deployed and drove it right into the wall. He was fired at and seriously wounded by border guards. But a West German policeman intervened, firing his weapon at the East German border guards. The policeman removed Engels from the vehicle, which had become entangled in the barbed wire.[63] Memorial to the Victims of the Wall, with graffiti, 1982 East Germans successfully defected by a variety of methods: digging long tunnels under the wall, waiting for favorable winds and taking a hot air balloon, sliding along aerial wires, flying ultralights, and in one instance, simply driving a sports car at full speed through the basic, initial fortifications. When a metal beam was placed at checkpoints to prevent this kind of defection, up to four people (two in the front seats and possibly two in the boot) drove under the bar in a sports car that had been modified to allow the roof and windscreen to come away when it made contact with the beam. They lay flat and kept driving forward. The East Germans then built zig-zagging roads at checkpoints. The sewer system predated the wall, and some people escaped through the sewers, in a number of cases with assistance from the Girmann student group. An airborne escape was made by Thomas Krüger, who landed a Zlin Z 42M light aircraft of the Gesellschaft für Sport und Technik, an East German youth military training organization, at RAF Gatow. His aircraft, registration DDR-WOH, was dismantled and returned to the East Germans by road, complete with humorous slogans painted on by RAF airmen such as "Wish you were here" and "Come back soon". DDR-WOH is still flying today, but under the registration D-EWOH. If an escapee was wounded in a crossing attempt and lay on the death strip, no matter how close they were to the Western wall, Westerners could not intervene for fear of triggering engaging fire from the 'Grepos', the East Berlin border guards. The guards often let fugitives bleed to death in the middle of this ground, as in the most notorious failed attempt, that of Peter Fechter (aged 18). He was shot and bled to death, in full view of the Western media, on 17 August 1962. Fechter's death created negative publicity worldwide that led the leaders of East Berlin to place more restrictions on shooting in public places, and provide medical care for possible “would-be escapers”.[64] The last person to be shot and killed while trying to cross the border was Chris Gueffroy on 6 February 1989. The Wall gave rise to a widespread sense of desperation and oppression in East Berlin, as expressed in the private thoughts of one resident, who confided to her diary "Our lives have lost their spirit…we can do nothing to stop them."[65] "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Ronald Reagan at the Berlin Wall, June 1987: "Tear down this wall!" Tear down this wall Complete speech by Ronald Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate, 12 June 1987 Problems listening to this file? See media help. Main article: Tear down this wall! In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin[66] on 12 June 1987, Ronald Reagan challenged Mikhail Gorbachev, then the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to tear down the wall as a symbol of increasing freedom in the Eastern Bloc: We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall![67] The Fall Germans standing on top of the wall in the days before it was torn down. Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate, 10 November 1989 Juggling on the Berlin Wall on 16 November 1989 "Mauerspecht" (November 1989) After allowing for loopholes throughout the summer, Hungary effectively disabled its physical border defenses with Austria on 19 August 1989 and, in September, more than 13,000 East German tourists escaped through Hungary to Austria.[68] This set up a chain of events. The Hungarians prevented many more East Germans from crossing the border and returned them to Budapest. These East Germans flooded the West German embassy and refused to return to East Germany. The East German government responded by disallowing any further travel to Hungary, but allowed those already there to return. This triggered a similar incident in neighboring Czechoslovakia. On this occasion, the East German authorities allowed them to leave, providing that they used a train which transited East Germany on the way. This was followed by mass demonstrations within East Germany itself. (See Monday demonstrations in East Germany.) The longtime leader of East Germany, Erich Honecker, resigned on 18 October 1989 and was replaced by Egon Krenz a few days later. Honecker had predicted in January of that year that the wall would stand for 50 or 100 more years[69] if the conditions that had caused its construction did not change. Protest demonstrations broke out all over East Germany in September 1989. Initially, protesters were mostly people wanting to leave to the West, chanting "Wir wollen raus!" ("We want out!"). Then protestors began to chant "Wir bleiben hier", ("We're staying here!"). This was the start of what East Germans generally call the "Peaceful Revolution" of late 1989.[70] The protest demonstrations grew considerably by early November. The movement neared its height on 4 November when half a million people gathered at the Alexanderplatz demonstration, a rally for change in East Berlin's large public square and transportation hub. (Henslin, 07) Meanwhile, the wave of refugees leaving East Germany for the West had increased and had found its way through Hungary via Czechoslovakia (or via the West German Embassy in Prague), tolerated by the new Krenz government and in agreement with the communist Czechoslovak government. To ease the complications, the politburo led by Krenz decided on 9 November to allow refugees to exit directly through crossing points between East Germany and West Germany, including West Berlin. On the same day, the ministerial administration modified the proposal to include private travel. The new regulations were to take effect the next day. Günter Schabowski, the party boss in East Berlin and the spokesman for the SED Politburo, had the task of announcing this; however he had not been involved in the discussions about the new regulations and had not been fully updated.[71] Shortly before a press conference on 9 November, he was handed a note announcing the changes, but given no further instructions on how to handle the information. These regulations had only been completed a few hours earlier and were to take effect the following day, so as to allow time to inform the border guards—however, nobody had informed Schabowski. He read the note out loud at the end of the conference. One of the reporters—by most accounts, NBC's Tom Brokaw--asked when the regulations would take effect. After a few seconds' hesitation, Schabowski assumed it would be the same day based on the wording of the note and replied, "As far as I know effective immediately, without delay".[38] After further questions from journalists he confirmed that the regulations included the border crossings towards West Berlin, which he had not mentioned until then.[72] Walking through Checkpoint Charlie, 10 November 1989 Excerpts from Schabowski's press conference were the lead story on West Germany's two main news programs that night—at 7:17 PM on ZDF's heute and at 8 PM on ARD's Tagesschau; this of course meant that the news was broadcast to nearly all of East Germany as well. Later that night, on ARD's Tagesthemen, anchorman Hans Joachim Friedrichs proclaimed, "This is a historic day. East Germany has announced that, starting immediately, its borders are open to everyone. The GDR is opening its borders ... the gates in the Berlin Wall stand open."[38][71] After hearing the broadcast, East Germans began gathering at the wall and at the six checkpoints between East and West, demanding that border guards immediately open the gates.[71] The surprised and overwhelmed guards made many hectic telephone calls to their superiors about the problem. At first, they were ordered to find the "more aggressive" people gathered at the gates and stamp their passports with a special stamp that barred them from returning to East Germany—in effect, revoking their citizenship. However, this still left thousands of people demanding to be let through "as Schabowski said we can."[38] It soon became clear that no one among the East German authorities would take personal responsibility for issuing orders to use lethal force, so the vastly outnumbered soldiers had no way to hold back the huge crowd of East German citizens. Finally, at 10:45 pm, the guards finally yielded, opening the checkpoints and allowing people through with little or no identity checking. As the Ossis swarmed through, they were greeted by Wessis waiting with flowers and champagne amid wild rejoicing. Soon afterward, a crowd of West Berliners jumped on top of the wall, and were soon joined by East German youngsters. They danced together to celebrate their new freedom. Demolition This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2011) An East German guard talks to a Westerner through a broken seam in the wall. Late November 1989. A crane removing a section of the Berlin Wall near Brandenburg Gate on 21 December 1989 The date on which the Wall fell is considered to have been 9 November 1989 but the Wall in its entirety was not torn down immediately. Starting that evening and in the days and weeks that followed, people came to the wall with sledgehammers or otherwise hammers and chisels to chip off souvenirs, demolishing lengthy parts of it in the process and creating several unofficial border crossings. These people were nicknamed "Mauerspechte" (wall woodpeckers). The East German regime announced the opening of ten new border crossings the following weekend, including some in historically significant locations (Potsdamer Platz, Glienicker Brücke, Bernauer Straße). Crowds on both sides waited there for hours, cheering at the bulldozers which took parts of the Wall away to reinstate old roads. Photos and television footage of these events is sometimes mislabelled "dismantling of the Wall", even though it was merely the construction of new crossings. New border crossings continued to be opened through the middle of 1990, including the Brandenburg Gate on 22 December 1989. West Germans curiously peer at East German border guards through a hole in the wall West Germans and West Berliners were allowed visa-free travel starting 23 December. Until then, they could only visit East Germany and East Berlin under restrictive conditions that involved application for a visa several days or weeks in advance and obligatory exchange of at least 25 DM per day of their planned stay, all of which hindered spontaneous visits. Thus, in the weeks between 9 November and 23 December, East Germans could actually travel more freely than Westerners. Almost all of the remaining sections of Berlin Wall were rapidly chipped away. Photo December 1990 Television coverage of citizens demolishing sections of the wall on the evening of 9 November and the new border crossings opened weeks later, led some foreigners to think the Wall was torn down quickly. Technically, the Wall remained guarded for some time after 9 November, though at a decreasing intensity. In the first months, the East German military even tried to repair some of the damages done by the "wall peckers". Gradually these attempts ceased, and guards became more lax, tolerating the increasing demolitions and "unauthorized" border crossing through the holes. On 13 June 1990, the official dismantling of the Wall by the East German military began in Bernauer Straße. On 1 July, the day East Germany adopted the West German currency, all de jure border controls ceased, although the inter-German border had become meaningless for some time before that. The dismantling continued to be carried out by military units (after unification under the Bundeswehr) and lasted until November 1991. Only a few short sections and watchtowers were left standing as memorials. Short section of Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz, March 2009 The fall of the Wall was the first step toward German reunification, which was formally concluded on 3 October 1990. Opposition In some European capitals at the time there was a deep anxiety over prospects for a reunified Germany. In September 1989, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher pleaded with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev not to let the Berlin Wall fall and confided that she wanted the Soviet leader to do what he could to stop it.[73][74] "We do not want a united Germany. This would lead to a change to postwar borders and we cannot allow that because such a development would undermine the stability of the whole international situation and could endanger our security", Thatcher told Gorbachev.[73] After the fall of the Berlin Wall, French President François Mitterrand warned Thatcher that a unified Germany could make more ground than Adolf Hitler ever had and that Europe would have to bear the consequences.[75] Celebrations On 25 December 1989, Leonard Bernstein gave a concert in Berlin celebrating the end of the Wall, including Beethoven's 9th symphony (Ode to Joy) with the word "Joy" (Freude) changed to "Freedom" (Freiheit) in the lyrics sung. The orchestra and choir were drawn from both East and West Germany, as well as the United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States.[76] Roger Waters performed the Pink Floyd album The Wall just north of Potsdamer Platz on 21 July 1990, with guests including Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Bryan Adams, Sinéad O'Connor, Thomas Dolby, Joni Mitchell, Marianne Faithfull, Levon Helm, Rick Danko and Van Morrison. David Hasselhoff performed his song "Looking for Freedom", which was very popular in Germany at that time, standing on the Berlin wall. Over the years, there has been a repeated controversial debate[77] whether 9 November would make a suitable German national holiday, often initiated by former members of political opposition in East Germany such as Werner Schulz.[78] Besides being the emotional apogee of East Germany's peaceful revolution, 9 November is also the date of the end of the Revolution of 1848 and the date of the 1918 abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II and declaration of the Weimar Republic, the first German republic. However, 9 November is also the anniversary of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch and the infamous Kristallnacht pogroms of the Nazis in 1938. Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel criticized the first euphoria, noting that "they forgot that 9 Nov. has already entered into history—51 years earlier it marked the Kristallnacht."[79] As reunification was not official and complete until 3 October, that day was finally chosen as German Unity Day. 20th Anniversary Celebrations On 9 November 2009, Berlin celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall with a "Festival of Freedom" with dignitaries from around the world in attendance for an evening celebration around the Brandenburg Gate. A high point was when over 1,000 colourfully designed foam domino tiles, each over 8 feet (2.4 m) tall, that were stacked along the former route of the wall in the city center were toppled in stages, converging in front of the Brandenburg Gate.[70] A Berlin Twitter Wall was set up to allow Twitter users to post messages commemorating the 20th anniversary. Masses of Chinese users have used it to protest the Great Firewall of China. Berlin Twitter Wall was quickly blocked by the Chinese authorities.[80][81][82] In the United States, the German Embassy coordinated a public diplomacy campaign with the motto "Freedom Without Walls", to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The campaign was focused on promoting awareness of the fall of the Berlin Wall among current college students. Students at over 30 universities participated in "Freedom Without Walls" events in late 2009. First place winner of the Freedom Without Walls Speaking Contest Robert Cannon received a free trip to Berlin for 2010.[83] An international project called Mauerreise (Journey of the Wall) took place in various countries. Twenty symbolic wall bricks were sent from Berlin starting in May 2009. Their destination: Korea, Cyprus, Yemen and other places where everyday life is characterised by division and border experience. In these places, the bricks will become a blank canvas for artists, intellectuals and young people to tackle the 「wall」 phenomenon.[84] To commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Twinity reconstructed a true-to-scale section of the wall in virtual Berlin.[85] The MTV Europe Music Awards, on the 5 November, had U2 and Tokio Hotel perform songs dedicated to, and about the Berlin Wall. U2 performed at the Brandenburg Gate, and Tokio Hotel performed "World Behind My Wall". Palestinians in the town of Kalandia, West Bank pulled down parts of the Israeli West Bank barrier, in a demonstration marking the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.[86] The International Spy Museum in Washington DC hosted a Trabant car rally where 20 Trabants gathered in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Rides were raffled every half hour and a Trabant crashed through a Berlin Wall mock up. The Trabant was the East German people's car that many used to leave DDR after the collapse. The Allied Museum in the Dahlem district of Berlin hosted a number of events to mark the Twentieth Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. The museum held a Special Exhibition entitled "Wall Patrol – The Western Powers and the Berlin Wall 1961–1990" which focused on the daily patrols deployed by the Western powers to observe the situation along the Berlin Wall and the fortifications on the GDR border.[87] A sheet of "Americans in Berlin" Commemorative Cinderella stamps designed by T.H.E. Hill, the author of Voices Under Berlin, was presented to the Museum by David Guerra, Berlin veteran and webmaster of the site www.berlinbrigade.com. The stamps splendidly illustrate that even twenty years on, veterans of service in Berlin still regard their service there as one of the high points of their lives.[88] Legacy Remaining stretch of the Wall near Ostbahnhof in Friedrichshain called East Side Gallery, August 2006 Remains of the Wall adjacent to the Topography of Terror, August 2007 A memorial of over a thousand crosses and a segment of the wall for those who died trying to cross. The memorial stood for ten months in 2004 and 2005 before it was removed. A "BERLINER MAUER 1961–1989" plaque near Checkpoint Charlie signifying where the wall stood Little is left of the Wall at its original site, which was destroyed almost everywhere. Three long sections are still standing: an 80-metre (263 ft) piece of the first (westernmost) wall at the Topography of Terror, site of the former Gestapo headquarters, half way between Checkpoint Charlie and Potsdamer Platz; a longer section of the second (easternmost) wall along the Spree River near the Oberbaumbrücke, nicknamed East Side Gallery; and a third section that is partly reconstructed, in the north at Bernauer Straße, which was turned into a memorial in 1999. Some other isolated fragments and a few watchtowers also remain in various parts of the city. None still accurately represents the Wall's original appearance. They are badly damaged by souvenir seekers. Fragments of the Wall were taken and some were sold around the world. Appearing both with and without certificates of authenticity, these fragments are now a staple on the online auction service eBay as well as German souvenir shops. Today, the eastern side is covered in graffiti that did not exist while the Wall was guarded by the armed soldiers of East Germany. Previously, graffiti appeared only on the western side. Along the tourist areas of the city centre, the city government has marked the location of the former wall by a row of cobblestones in the street. In most places only the "first" wall is marked, except near Potsdamer Platz where the stretch of both walls is marked, giving visitors an impression of the dimension of the barrier system. Museum 15 years after the fall, a private museum rebuilt a 200-metre (656 ft) section close to Checkpoint Charlie, although not in the location of the original wall. They temporarily erected more than 1,000 crosses in memory of those who died attempting to flee to the West. The memorial was installed in October 2004 and demolished in July 2005.[89] Cultural differences For many years after reunification, people in Germany talked about cultural differences between East and West Germans (colloquially Ossis and Wessis), sometimes described as Mauer im Kopf (The wall in the head). A September 2004 poll found that 25 percent of West Germans and 12 percent of East Germans wished that East and West should be separated again by a "Wall".[90] A poll taken in October 2009 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall indicated, however, that only about a tenth of the population was still unhappy with the unification (8 percent in the East; 12 percent in the West). Although differences are still perceived between East and West, Germans make similar distinctions between North and South.[91] A 2011 poll conducted by Russia's VTsIOM, found that more than half of all Russians do not know who built the Berlin Wall. Ten percent of people surveyed thought Berlin residents built it themselves. Six percent said Western powers built it and four percent thought it was a "bilateral initiative" of the Soviet Union and the West. Fifty-eight percent said they did not know who built it, with just 24 percent correctly naming the Soviet Union and its then-communist ally East Germany.[92] Wall segments around the world Main article: List of Berlin Wall segments Not all segments of the wall were ground up as the wall was being torn down. Many segments have been given to various institutions around the world. They can be found, for instance in presidential and historical museums, lobbies of hotels and corporations, at universities and government buildings, and in public spaces around the world. 50th Anniversary commemoration On 13 August 2011, Germany marked the 50th anniversary of East Germany beginning the erection of the Berlin Wall. Chancellor Angela Merkel joined with President Christian Wulff and Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit at the Bernauer Straße memorial park to remember lives and liberty. Speeches extolled freedom and a minute of silence at noon honored those who died trying to flee to the West. "It is our shared responsibility to keep the memory alive and to pass it on to the coming generations as a reminder to stand up for freedom and democracy to ensure that such injustice may never happen again," entreated Mayor Wowereit. "It has been shown once again: Freedom is invincible at the end. No wall can permanently withstand the desire for freedom,” proclaimed President Wulff."[93][94][95][96] See also Brandenburg Gate Chapel of Reconciliation Checkpoint Charlie stand-off Stand-off between US and Soviet Tanks, October 1961 Dissolution of the Soviet Union, 1991 History of Solidarity List of walls Operation Gold Ostalgie Panmunjom, the Korean equivalent of the wall and the last standing front of the Cold War Paradigm shift Postmodernity Removal of Hungary's border fence The Berlin Wall (video game) The Wall – Live in Berlin, a rock opera/concert by Roger Waters Media relating to the wall Some films specifically about the Berlin Wall: The Tunnel, a NBC News Special documentary film broadcast in December 1962 The Boy and the Wall Spanish-Mexican co-production, 1965[97] The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, 1965 – Cold War classic set on both sides of The Wall, from the book by John le Carré, directed by Martin Ritt Funeral in Berlin, 1966 – Spy movie starring Michael Caine, directed by Guy Hamilton The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz, 1968 – Cold War spy farce about an Olympic athlete who defects. Director George Marshall Berlin Tunnel 21, 1981 – A made-for-TV movie about a former American officer leading an attempt to build a tunnel underneath The Wall as a rescue route Something To Do With The Wall, 1991 – Documentary shot just before and after the Wall came down, by Ross McElwee and Marilyn Levine The Innocent, 1993 – About the joint CIA/MI6 operation to build a tunnel under East Berlin in the 1950s. Directed by John Schlesinger The Tunnel, 2001 – Dramatization of a collaborative tunnel under the wall. Film by Roland Suso Richter Some novels specifically about the Berlin Wall: John le Carré, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, 1963 – Classic Cold War spy fiction Len Deighton, Berlin Game, 1983 – Classic Cold War spy fiction T.H.E. Hill, The Day Before the Berlin Wall: Could We Have Stopped It? – An Alternate History of Cold War Espionage, 2010 – based on a legend told in Berlin in the 1970s John Marks, The Wall, 1999 NYT Review – an American spy defects to the East just hours before the Wall falls Marcia Preston, West of the Wall (published as Trudy's Promise in North America), 2008 – Left behind in East Berlin, the heroine waits for news of her husband after he makes his escape over the Berlin Wall View the author’s website Peter Schneider, The Wall Jumper, 1984 (German: Der Mauerspringer, 1982) – the Wall plays a central role in this novel set in Berlin of the 1980s Music related to the Berlin Wall "Holidays In The Sun", a song by the English punk rock band The Sex Pistols prominently mentions the wall, specifically singer Johnny Rotten's fantasy of digging a tunnel under it. Over de muur, a 1984 song by Dutch pop band Klein Orkest, about the differences between East and West Berlin during the period of the Berlin Wall.[98] Art related to the Berlin Wall In the year 1982 the West-German artist ELSNER created about 500 artworks along the former border strip around West-Berlin as part of his work series "Border Injuries". On one of his actions he even tore down a large part of the wall,[99] installed a prepared foil of 3x2m in it and finished the painting there before the border soldiers on patrol could detect him. This performance was even recorded on video.[100] His actions are well-documented both in newspapers from that time and in recent scientific publications.[101] Notes ^ Jack Marck "Over the Wall: A Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience" American Heritage, Oct. 2006. ^ [1][dead link] ^ Monday, 20 Nov. 1989 (20 November 1989). "Freedom! – TIME". TIME

Woodbridge hospital

Woodbridge Hospital By Chia, Joshua Yeong Jia written on 29-Apr-2010 National Library Board Singapore Comments on article: InfopediaTalk   Woodbridge Hospital is the only state mental hospital in Singapore. It is presently housed in a very modern building complex off Hougang Street 51.The hospital moved into these premises in April 1993, a site very near to the old Woodbridge Hospital off Jalan Woodbridge which had since been demolished. Woodbridge was thought to be named after a wooden bridge at a nearby stream of Seletar River. The new hospital complex which consists of nine blocks, each from two to six storeys high, cost $200 million to build. The 45-ha site also houses the newly established Institute of Mental Health (IMH). It is much more compact compared to the old Woodbridge hospital which sprawled on an 80-ha land. However, the gross floor area was increased by 55%. Woodbridge Hospital was also the largest hospital in Singapore in terms of bed numbers at 2,200. The new hospital contrasted to the previous one where floors were mainly stark cement and grilles were corroded. Modern facilities with state-of-the-art technology, complemented by well-kept courtyards and lush green environment, injected a vibrancy to the new hospital. The name Woodbridge Hospital is retained for the inpatient facilities (ward blocks) while the outpatient facilities are called IMH. However, both share the same administration. History and development of Woodbridge Hospital In the early days, those who were mentally ill did not receive any medical treatment. They were described as insane and jailed with convicts in a filthy overcrowded Convict Gaol, looked after by convicts. It was only when a mentally disturbed killed another person in prison in October 1840 that the colonial government paid attention. A 30-bed Insane Hospital was built in 1841 at the corner of Bras Basah Road and Bencoolen Street. The care of the mentally ill was administered by medical practitioners and some expatriate nurses. A decade later, the hospital was enlarged and by 1860, the number of patients increased to 131. Treatment continued to be purgatives given once a month with tartar antimony, counter-irritation drugs, Belladona and morphia administered as sedatives. In May 1861, the Insane Hospital was moved to a site near the Kandang Kerbau Maternity Hospital and renamed Lunatic Asylum. It moved again in 1887 to College Road this time to accomodate up to 300 beds. The British continued to consider isolation as therapeutic for mentally-ill patients. When a cholera outbreak occurred in August 1887 in the asylum, the removal of the mental patients into the newly-built asylum at Sepoy Lines was hastened. The approach at this new asylum was more holistic and focused on the lifestyle of patients. There were fewer restrictions and when Dr William Ellis was appointed psychiatrist and medical superintendent, he did away with straightjackets and wanted physicians to treat mentally-ill patients with more dignity. In 1928, the Mental Hospital was built at Yio Chu Kang and took in all mental patients. Treatment began to include farm work as rehabilitation. When the Japanese occupied Singapore in February 1942, the Japanese occupied the building. Some patients were sent home while 500 patients were transferred to St John's Island. Many of these 500 patients died of starvation and those who remained were returned to the hospital at the end of 1942. After Singapore's surrender to the Japanese, 800 civilian casualities were tramsferred to the Mental Hospital. This hospital later became the Japanese Civilian and Military Hospital.     When the British took over the hospital after the war, the female section became the Royal Air Force Hospital while the male section became the Japanese POW Hospital. Troops were soon gradually evacuated and the Mental Hospital re-opened on 15 April 1946 and the building was restored. In 1951, the Mental Hospital was renamed Woodbridge Hospital and by 1958, it could accommodate up to 2,000 patients. It expanded to include a social works department in 1955. New drugs and effective procedures were introduced. By the 1970s, the Ministry of Health realised the need to cater specifically to children and adolescents with psychological and emotional problems. A Child Guidance Clinic, later re-named Child Psychiatric Clinic was set up at Outram Road General Hospital. In 1982, Woodbridge Hospital opened a child psychiatric in-patient unit with 18 beds for children. Moving to current premises Talks of building a new hospital was already underway in 1984 as the 65-year old hospital was no longer adequate for modern treatment requirements. Psychiatric hospitals and centres in the United States, Canada and Hong Kong were studied in preparation for the new hospital. By April 1989, construction began. On April 1993, the hospital moved to new, modern premises which were suitable for modern psychiatry practice. The old site were slated for the development of apartments. The hospital occupies 45 ha of land of which 30 ha have been developed. To facilitate the operation and implementation of the programme, Woodbridge Hospital was organised and the Institute of Mental Health/ Woodbridge Hospital was established. The cost of running the hospital is high. One of the reasons being is that there are many long-term patients who have no family support. The hospital was in the red for $7 million in 2001. To cut cost, 900 stable patients were transferred to homes or care centres where there would also be better opportunities for these patients to obtain group therapy and work for an allowance, while helping them to reintegrate into society. In 2005, IMH/WH became the first mental health institution in Asia to receive the Joint Commission International accreditation which benchmarks standards of care at IMH/WH with international standards. IMH/WH has since there received several accolades.   Author Joshua Chia   References Liang, H. T. (2002, December 30). Woodbridge to move out 900 patients. The Straits Times. Retrieved January 3, 2005, from Factiva database. Ng, B. Y. (2001). Till the break of day: A history of mental health in Singapore 1841-1993. Singapore: Singapore University Press. (Call No.: RSING 362.2095957 NG) Ng, B. Y. (n. d.). History of psychiatry in Singapore. Retrieved January 3, 2005, from www.med.nus.edu.sg/pcm/book/2.pdf Old Woodbridge Hospital site slated for flats. (1993, June 5). The Straits Times, p. 48. Retrieved January 3, 2005, from Factiva database. Soh, F., & Soo, V. (2008). Heartening minds. Singapore: Institute of Mental Health/Woodbridge Hospital, c2008 Retrieved May 24, 2010, from http://www.imh.com.sg/downloads/80th_Commemorative_Book.pdf (Call No.: RSING 362.21095957 HEA) Woodbridge Hospital and Institute of Mental Health. (1993, October 30). The Straits Times, Life, p. 3. Retrieved January 3, 2005, from Factiva database. Woodbridge Hospital in state of dilapidation. (1991, March 21). The Straits Times, p. 26. Retrieved January 3, 2005, from Factiva database.   The information in this article is as valid as at 2008 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic. Subject Politics and Government>>Health Architecture and Landscape>>Building Types>>Commercial Buildings Psychiatric hospitals--Singapore Law and government>>Health services Health and medicine Arts>>Architecture>>Public and commercial buildings All Rights Reserved. National Library Board Singapore 2010.

The battle in singapore

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2011) Battle of Singapore Part of the Pacific War (World War II) Lt Gen. Arthur Percival, led by a Japanese officer, walks under a flag of truce to negotiate the capitulation of Allied forces in Singapore, on 15 February 1942. It was the largest surrender of British-led forces in history. Date 8–15 February 1942 Location Singapore, Straits Settlements Result Decisive Japanese victory, Japanese occupation of Singapore Belligerents Malaya Command: III Corps 8th Division 18th Division Malay Regiment Straits Settlements Volunteer Force No. 232 Squadron (limited involvement) 25th Army: Imperial Guards 5th Division 18th Division 3rd Air Division Imperial Japanese Navy Commanders and leaders Arthur Percival (POW)  Gordon Bennett Lewis Heath (POW) Merton Beckwith-Smith (POW) Tomoyuki Yamashita Takuma Nishimura[1] Takuro Matsui Renya Mutaguchi Strength 85,000 36,000 Casualties and losses 85,000 5,000 killed or wounded 80,000 captured 4,485 1,713 killed 2,772 wounded[2] [show] v d e Pacific Campaigns 1940–1942 [show] v d e South-East Asian Theatre [show] v d e Battle of Singapore The Battle of Singapore was fought in the South-East Asian theatre of the Second World War when the Empire of Japan invaded the Allied stronghold of Singapore. Singapore was the major British military base in Southeast Asia and nicknamed the "Gibraltar of the East". The fighting in Singapore lasted from 8–15 February 1942. It resulted in the fall of Singapore to the Japanese, and the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history.[2] About 80,000 British, Australian and Indian troops became prisoners of war, joining 50,000 taken by the Japanese in the Malayan Campaign. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called the ignominious fall of Singapore to the Japanese the "worst disaster" and "largest capitulation" in British history.[3] In just seven days, Singapore, the "Impregnable Fortress", had fallen. Contents  [hide]  1 Background 1.1 Outbreak of war 1.2 Invasion of Malaya 2 Prelude 3 Battle 3.1 Japanese landings 3.2 Air war 3.3 Second day 3.4 Japanese breakthrough 3.5 Alexandra Hospital massacre 3.6 Fall of Singapore 4 Aftermath 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 External links [edit]Background [edit]Outbreak of war See also: Second Sino-Japanese War The Allies had imposed a trade embargo on Japan in response to its continued campaigns in China. Seeking alternate sources of necessary materials for its Pacific War against the Allies, Japan invaded Malaya.[4] Singapore—to the south—was connected to Malaya by the Johor–Singapore Causeway. The Japanese saw it as a port which could be used as a launch pad against other Allied interests in the area, and to consolidate the invaded territory. The Japanese also sought to eliminate those in Singapore who were supporting China in the Second Sino-Japanese War. The ethnic Han Chinese in Malaya and Singapore had through financial and economic means aided the Chinese defence against the Japanese. The effort however suffered from factionalism, as the aid was split between the opposing sides of the ongoing Chinese Civil War. Despite the Xi'an Incident, which had supposedly united both the ruling Nationalist and Communist parties against the Japanese, fighting between them was still common. The funds were further split as some was used for humanitarian relief of the Chinese civilian population in addition to aid to the Nationalist and Communist parties. Such aid had contributed to the stalling of the Japanese advance in China. Tan Kah Kee was a prominent philanthropist within the Singaporean Chinese community, and was a major financial contributor, with many relief efforts organised in his name. Aid to China from the population of Singapore in its several forms became part of Japan's casus belli motivation to attack Singapore through Malaya.[citation needed] [edit]Invasion of Malaya Main article: Malayan Campaign This article is part of the History of Singapore series Early history of Singapore (pre-1819) Founding of modern Singapore (1819–1826) Straits Settlements (1826–1867) Crown colony (1867–1942) Battle of Singapore (1942) Japanese Occupation (1942–1945) Sook Ching massacre (1942–1945) Post-war period (1945–1955) First Legislative Council (1948–1951) Maria Hertogh riots(1950) Second Legislative Council (1951–1955) Anti-National Service Riots (1954) Internal self-government (1955–1962) Hock Lee bus riots (1955) Merger with Malaysia (1962–1965) Merger referendum (1962) Operation Coldstore (1963) Race riots in Singapore (1964) MacDonald House bombing (1965) Republic of Singapore (1965–present) 1969 race riots of Singapore (1969) Operation Spectrum (1987) East Asian financial crisis (1997) Embassies attack plot (2001) SARS outbreak (2003) Timeline of Singaporean history v d e The Japanese 25th Army invaded Malaya from Indochina, moving into northern Malaya and Thailand by amphibious assault on 8 December 1941.[5] This was virtually simultaneous with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which was meant to deter the U.S. from intervening in Southeast Asia. Japanese troops in Thailand coerced the Thai government to let the Japanese use Thai military bases for the invasion of other nations in Southeast Asia and then proceeded overland across the Thai–Malayan border to attack Malaya. At this time, the Japanese began bombing of strategic sites in Singapore, and air raids were conducted on Singapore from 29 December onwards, although anti-aircraft fire kept most of the Japanese bombers from totally devastating the island as long as ammunition was available. The Japanese 25th Army was resisted in northern Malaya by III Corps of the Indian Army. Although the 25th Army was outnumbered by Allied forces in Malaya and Singapore, Japanese commanders concentrated their forces. The Japanese were superior in close air support, armour, coordination, tactics and experience. Moreover, the British forces repeatedly allowed themselves to be outflanked, believing—despite repeated flanking attacks by the Japanese—that the Malayan jungle was impassable. The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force was more numerous, and better trained than the second-hand assortment of untrained pilots and inferior allied equipment remaining in Malaya, Borneo and Singapore. Their superior fighters—especially the Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero—helped the Japanese to gain air supremacy. The Allies had no tanks and few armoured vehicles, which put them at a severe disadvantage. The battleship HMS Prince of Wales, the battlecruiser HMS Repulse and four destroyers (Force Z) reached Malaya before the Japanese began their air assaults. This force was thought to be a deterrent to the Japanese. Japanese aircraft, however, sank the capital ships, leaving the east coast of the Malayan peninsula exposed and allowing the Japanese to continue their amphibious landings. Japanese forces quickly isolated, surrounded, and forced the surrender of Indian units defending the coast. They advanced down the Malayan peninsula overwhelming the defences, despite numerical inferiority. The Japanese forces also used bicycle infantry and light tanks allowing swift movement through the jungle. View of the blown up causeway, with the gap visible in the middle, which delayed Japanese landfall for over a week to 8 February. Although more Allied units—including some from the Australian 8th Division—joined the campaign, the Japanese prevented the Allied forces from regrouping, overran cities, and advanced toward Singapore. The city was an anchor for the operations of the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM), the first Allied joint command of the Second World War. Singapore also controlled the main shipping channel between the Indian and the Pacific Oceans. On 31 January, the last Allied forces left Malaya and Allied engineers blew up the causeway linking Johor and Singapore. Japanese infiltrators—many disguised as Singaporean civilians—crossed the Straits of Johor in inflatable boats soon afterwards. [edit]Prelude Singapore in early February 1942; the disposition of Allied ground forces is in red. The main north–south transport corridor, formed by Woodlands Road and the railway, connecting the city centre (in the southeast) and The Causeway (central north), is the black line running through the centre of the island. Sarimbun is at the north west corner of the island; Bukit Timah is located close to the centre on the transport corridor; Pasir Panjang is between the city centre and the south west corner of the island and; the "Jurong Line" is the bracket-like shape in red, just west of Woodlands Road. During the weeks preceding the invasion, the Allied forces suffered a number of both subdued and openly disruptive disagreements amongst its senior commanders,[6] as well as pressure from the Australian Prime Minister, John Curtin.[7] Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival, commander of the garrison, had 85,000 soldiers, the equivalent, on paper, of just over four divisions. There were about 70,000 front-line troops in 38 infantry battalions—13 British, six Australian, 17 Indian, and two Malayan—and three machine-gun battalions. The newly-arrived British 18th Infantry Division—under Major-General Merton Beckwith-Smith—was at full strength, but lacked experience and appropriate training; most of the other units were under strength, a few having been amalgamated due to heavy casualties, as a result of the mainland campaign. The local battalions had no experience and in some cases no training.[8] Percival gave Major-General Gordon Bennett's two brigades from the Australian 8th Division responsibility for the western side of Singapore, including the prime invasion points in the north-west of the island. This was mostly mangrove swamp and jungle, broken by rivers and creeks. In the heart of the "Western Area" was RAF Tengah, Singapore's largest airfield at the time. The Australian 22nd Brigade was assigned a 10 mi (16 km) wide sector in the west, and the 27th Brigade had responsibility for a 4,000 yd (3,700 m) zone just west of the Causeway. The infantry positions were reinforced by the recently-arrived Australian 2/4th Machine-Gun Battalion. Also under Bennett's command was the 44th Indian Infantry Brigade. The Indian III Corps under Lieutenant-General Sir Lewis Heath—including the Indian 11th Infantry Division, (Major-General B. W. Key), the British 18th Division and the 15th Indian Infantry Brigade—was assigned the north-eastern sector, known as the "Northern Area". This included the naval base at Sembawang. The "Southern Area"—including the main urban areas in the south-east—was commanded by Major-General Frank Keith Simmons. His forces comprised about 18 battalions, including the Malayan 1st Infantry Brigade, the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force Brigade and Indian 12th Infantry Brigade. From aerial reconnaissance, scouts, infiltrators and high ground across the straits such as Istana Bukit Serene, the Sultan of Johor's palace, the Japanese commander—General Tomoyuki Yamashita—and his staff gained excellent knowledge of the Allied positions. Yamashita and his officers stationed themselves at Istana Bukit Serene and the Johor state secretariat building—the Sultan Ibrahim Building—to plan for the invasion of Singapore.[9][10] Although advised by his top military personnel that Istana Bukit Serene was an easy target, Yamashita was confident that the British Army would not attack the palace because it was the pride and possession of the Sultan of Johor. Yamashita's prediction was correct as the British Army did not dare attack the palace. One of Singapore's 15-inch coastal defence guns elevated for firing. From 3 February, the Allies were shelled by Japanese artillery. Japanese air attacks on Singapore intensified over the next five days. Air and artillery bombardment intensified, severely disrupting communications between Allied units and their commanders and affecting preparations for the defence of the island. Singapore's famous large-calibre coastal guns—which included one battery of three 15 in (380 mm) guns and one with two 15 in (380 mm) guns—were supplied mostly with armour-piercing (AP) shells and few high explosive (HE) shells. AP shells were designed to penetrate the hulls of heavily armoured warships and were ineffective against personnel. It is commonly said that the guns could not fire on the Japanese forces because they had been designed only to face south, but this is not so, although the lack of H.E. ammunition was an error of the same sort and possibly due to the belief that an invading army couldn't come from the north. Although placed to fire on enemy ships to the south, most of the guns could turn northwards and they did fire at the invaders. Military analysts later estimated that if the guns had been well supplied with HE shells the Japanese attackers would have suffered heavy casualties, but the invasion would not have been prevented by this means alone. Yamashita had just over 30,000 men from three divisions: the Imperial Guards Division under Lieutenant-General Takuma Nishimura, the 5th Division under Lieutenant-General Takuro Matsui and the 18th Division under Lieutenant-General Renya Mutaguchi. The elite Imperial Guards units included a light tank brigade. [edit]Battle [edit]Japanese landings The Japanese landings on Singapore Island. Main article: Battle of Sarimbun Beach Blowing up the causeway had delayed the Japanese attack for over a week. At 20:30 on 8 February, Australian machine gunners opened fire on vessels carrying a first wave of 4,000 troops from the 5th and 18th Divisions toward Singapore island. The Japanese assaulted Sarimbun Beach, in the sector controlled by the Australian 22nd Brigade under Brigadier Harold Taylor. Fierce fighting raged all day,[11] but eventually the increasing Japanese numbers—and the superiority of their artillery, aircraft and military intelligence—began to take their toll. In the northwest of the island they exploited gaps in the thinly spread Allied lines such as rivers and creeks. By midnight, the two Australian brigades had lost communications with each other, and the 22nd Brigade was forced to retreat. At 01:00, further Japanese troops were landed in the northwest of the island and the last Australian reserves went in. Near dawn on 9 February, elements of the 22nd Brigade were overrun or surrounded, and the 2/18th Australian Infantry Battalion had lost more than half of its personnel.[12] [edit]Air war Brewster F2A Buffalo fighters based at Sembawang Airfield. Air cover was provided by only ten Hawker Hurricane fighters of RAF No. 232 Squadron, based at Kallang Airfield. This was because Tengah, Seletar and Sembawang were in range of Japanese artillery at Johor Bahru. Kallang Airfield was the only operational airstrip left; the surviving squadrons and aircraft were withdrawn by January to reinforce the Dutch East Indies.[13] At 04:15 on 8 December 1941, Singapore was subjected to aerial bombing for the first time by long-range Japanese aircraft, such as the Mitsubishi G3M3 "Nell" and the Mitsubishi G4M1 "Betty", based in Japanese-occupied Indochina. The bombers struck the city centre as well as the Sembawang Naval Base and the island's northern airfields. After this first raid, throughout the rest of December, there were a number of false alerts and several infrequent and sporadic hit-and-run attacks on outlying military installations such as the Naval Base, but no actual raids on Singapore City. The next recorded raid on the city occurred on the night of 29/30 December, and nightly raids ensued for over a week, only to be accompanied by daylight raids from 12 January 1942 onward. In the days that followed, as the Japanese army drew ever nearer to Singapore Island, these day and night raids increased in frequency and intensity, resulting in thousands of civilian casualties, up to the time of the British surrender. Firefighters battle the results of a Japanese air raid on 8 February 1942. During December, 51 Hurricane Mk II fighters were sent to Singapore, with 24 pilots, the nuclei of five squadrons. They arrived on 3 January 1942, by which stage the F2A Buffalo squadrons had been overwhelmed. No. 232 Squadron was formed and No. 488 Squadron RNZAF, a Buffalo squadron converted to Hurricanes. 232 Squadron became operational on 20 January and destroyed three Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscar"s that day,[14] for the loss of three Hurricanes. However, like the Buffalos before them, the Hurricanes began to suffer severe losses in intense dogfights. During the period 27 January–30 January, another 48 Hurricanes (Mk IIA) arrived with No. 226 Group (four squadrons) on the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable, from which they flew to airfields code-named P1 and P2, near Palembang, Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies. The staggered arrival of the Hurricanes—along with inadequate early warning systems—meant that Japanese air raids were able to destroy a large proportion of the Hurricanes on the ground in Sumatra and Singapore. Hawker Hurricane of No. 232 Squadron RAF shot down on 8 February, along East Coast Road. On the morning of 8 February, a number of aerial dogfights took place over Sarimbun Beach and other western areas. In the first encounter, the last ten Hurricanes were scrambled from Kallang Airfield to intercept a Japanese formation of about 84 planes, flying from Johor to provide air cover for their invasion force.[13] In two sorties, the Hurricanes shot down six Japanese planes for the loss of one of their own; they flew back to Kallang halfway through the battle, hurriedly re-fuelled, then returned to it.[15] Air battles went on for the rest of the day, and by nightfall it was clear that with the few machines Percival had left, Kallang could no longer be used as a base. With his assent the remaining eight flyable Hurricanes were withdrawn to Palembang, Sumatra, and Kallang became merely an advanced landing ground.[16] No allied aircraft were seen again over Singapore, and the Japanese had achieved complete air supremacy.[17] On the evening of 10 February, General Archibald Wavell ordered the transfer of all remaining Allied air force personnel to the Dutch East Indies. By this time, Kallang Airfield was so pitted with bomb craters that it was no longer usable.[13] [edit]Second day Main article: Battle of Kranji Believing that further landings would occur in the northeast, Percival did not reinforce the 22nd Brigade. On 9 February, Japanese landings shifted to the southwest, where they encountered the 44th Indian Infantry Brigade. Allied units were forced to retreat further east. Bennett decided to form a secondary defensive line, known as the "Jurong Line", around Bulim, east of Tengah Airfield and just north of Jurong. Brigadier Duncan Maxwell's Australian 27th Brigade, to the north, did not face Japanese assaults until the Imperial Guards landed at 22:00 on 9 February. This operation went very badly for the Japanese, who suffered severe casualties from Australian mortars and machine guns, and from burning oil which had been sluiced into the water. A small number of Guards reached the shore and maintained a tenuous beachhead. Command and control problems caused further cracks in the Allied defence. Maxwell was aware that the 22nd Brigade was under increasing pressure, but was unable to contact Taylor and was wary of encirclement. In spite of his brigade's success, and in contravention of orders from Bennett, Maxwell ordered it to withdraw from Kranji in the central north. The Allies thereby lost control of the beaches adjoining the west side of the causeway. [edit]Japanese breakthrough Main articles: Battle of Bukit Timah and Battle of Pasir Panjang The opening at Kranji made it possible for Imperial Guards armoured units to land unopposed there. Tanks with flotation equipment attached were towed across the strait and advanced rapidly south, along Woodlands Road. This allowed Yamashita to outflank the 22nd Brigade on the Jurong Line, as well as bypassing the 11th Indian Division at the naval base. However, the Imperial Guards failed to seize an opportunity to advance into the city centre itself. On the evening of 10 February, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, cabled Wavell, saying: I think you ought to realise the way we view the situation in Singapore. It was reported to Cabinet by the C.I.G.S. [Chief of the Imperial General Staff, General Alan Brooke] that Percival has over 100,000 [sic] men, of whom 33,000 are British and 17,000 Australian. It is doubtful whether the Japanese have as many in the whole Malay Peninsula... In these circumstances the defenders must greatly outnumber Japanese forces who have crossed the straits, and in a well-contested battle they should destroy them. There must at this stage be no thought of saving the troops or sparing the population. The battle must be fought to the bitter end at all costs. The 18th Division has a chance to make its name in history. Commanders and senior officers should die with their troops. The honour of the British Empire and of the British Army is at stake. I rely on you to show no mercy to weakness in any form. With the Russians fighting as they are and the Americans so stubborn at Luzon, the whole reputation of our country and our race is involved. It is expected that every unit will be brought into close contact with the enemy and fight it out ...[18] Wavell subsequently told Percival that the ground forces were to fight on to the end, and that there should not be a general surrender in Singapore.[2] My attack on Singapore was a bluff – a bluff that worked. I had 30,000 men and was outnumbered more than three to one. I knew that if I had to fight for long for Singapore, I would be beaten. That is why the surrender had to be at once. I was very frightened all the time that the British would discover our numerical weakness and lack of supplies and force me into disastrous street fighting. – Tomoyuki Yamashita Shores 1992, p. 383. On 11 February, knowing that Japanese supplies were running perilously low, Yamashita decided to bluff and he called on Percival to "give up this meaningless and desperate resistance". By this stage, the fighting strength of the 22nd Brigade—which had borne the brunt of the Japanese attacks—had been reduced to a few hundred men. The Japanese had captured the Bukit Timah area, including most of the allied ammunition and fuel and giving them control of the main water supplies. The next day, the Allied lines stabilised around a small area in the south-east of the island and fought off determined Japanese assaults. Other units—including the 1st Malaya Infantry Brigade—had joined in. A Malayan platoon—led by 2nd Lieutenant Adnan bin Saidi—held the Japanese for two days at the Battle of Pasir Panjang. His unit defended Bukit Chandu, an area which included a major Allied ammunition store. Adnan was executed by the Japanese after his unit was overrun. On 13 February, with the Allies still losing ground, senior officers advised Percival to surrender in the interests of minimising civilian casualties. Percival refused, but unsuccessfully sought authority to surrender from his superiors. That same day, military police executed a convicted British traitor, Captain Patrick Heenan, who had been an Air Liaison Officer with the Indian Army.[19] Japanese military intelligence had recruited Heenan before the war, and he had used a radio to assist them in targeting Allied airfields in northern Malaya. He had been arrested on 10 December and court-martialled in January. Heenan was shot at Keppel Harbour, on the south side of Singapore, and his body was thrown into the sea.[2] The following day, the remaining Allied units fought on; civilian casualties mounted as one million people crowded into the area still held by the Allies, and bombing and artillery fire intensified. Civilian authorities began to fear that the water supply would give out. [edit]Alexandra Hospital massacre See also: British Military Hospital, Singapore A plaque commemorating the massacre and expanding on the hospital's history after the war. At about 13:00 on 14 February, Japanese soldiers advanced towards the Alexandra Barracks Hospital.[20] A British lieutenant—acting as an envoy with a white flag—approached the Japanese forces but was bayoneted and killed.[21] After the Japanese troops entered the hospital, a number of patients, including those undergoing surgery at the time, were killed along with doctors and members of nursing staff.[22] The following day about 200 male staff members and patients who had been assembled and bound the previous day,[23] many of them walking wounded, were ordered to walk about 400 m (440 yd) to an industrial area. Anyone who fell on the way was bayoneted. The men were forced into a series of small, badly ventilated rooms and were imprisoned overnight without water. Some died during the night as a result of their treatment.[24] The remainder were bayoneted the following morning.[25] Private Haines of the Wiltshire Regiment—another survivor—had been in the hospital suffering from malaria. He wrote a four-page account of the massacre, that was sold by his daughter by private auction in 2008;[26] Haines describes how the Japanese did not consider those who were weak, wounded or who had surrendered to be worthy of life. After surrendering, staff were ordered to proceed down a corridor, where Sergeant Rogers was bayoneted twice in the back and another officer, Captain Parkinson, was bayoneted through the throat. Others killed included Captain Heevers and Private Lewis. Captain Smiley and Private Sutton were bayoneted but survived by playing dead. Many who had not been imprisoned in the tiny rooms in the industrial area were systematically taken away in small groups and bayoneted or macheted to death. This continued for 24 hours, leaving 320 men and one woman dead. Those who lost their lives included a corporal from the Loyal Regiment, who was impaled on the operating table, and even a Japanese prisoner who was perhaps mistaken for a Gurkha.[citation needed] There were only five known survivors, including George Britton (1922–2009) of the East Surrey Regiment,[27] and Private Haines, also Hugo Hughes, who lost his right leg, and George Wort, who lost an arm, both of the Malay Regiment.[28] There may have been others. Haines' account came to light only after his death. Survivors were so traumatised that they rarely spoke of their ordeal. After three days with no food or drink, those unable to walk were taken to Changi on wheelbarrows and carts, no motorised vehicles being available. [edit]Fall of Singapore Lt Gen. Yamashita (seated, centre) thumps the table with his fist to emphasise his terms – unconditional surrender. Lt Gen. Percival sits between his officers, his clenched hand to his mouth. By the morning of 15 February, the Japanese had broken through the last line of defence and the Allies were running out of food and ammunition. The anti-aircraft guns had also run out of ammunition and were unable to repel any further Japanese air attacks which threatened to cause heavy casualties in the city centre. Looting and desertion by Allied troops further added to the chaos in the city centre.[29] At 09:30, Percival held a conference at Fort Canning with his senior commanders. Percival proposed two options: either launch an immediate counter-attack to regain the reservoirs and the military food depots in the Bukit Timah region and drive the enemy's artillery off its commanding heights outside the town; or capitulate. All present agreed that no counterattack was possible. Percival opted for surrender. A deputation was selected to go to the Japanese headquarters. It consisted of a senior staff officer, the colonial secretary and an interpreter. They set off in a motor car bearing a Union Jack and a white flag of truce toward the enemy lines to discuss a cessation of hostilities.[2] They returned with orders that Percival himself proceed with staff officers to the Ford Motor Factory, where Yamashita would lay down the terms of surrender. A further requirement was that the Japanese Rising Sun Flag be hoisted over the tallest building in Singapore, the Cathay Building, as soon as possible to maximise the psychological impact of the official surrender. Percival formally surrendered shortly after 17:15. Surrendering troops of the Suffolk Regiment held at gunpoint by Japanese infantry. The terms of the surrender included: The unconditional surrender of all military forces (Army, Navy and Air Force) in Singapore. Hostilities to cease at 20:30 that evening. All troops to remain in position until further orders. All weapons, military equipment, ships, planes and secret documents to be handed over intact. To prevent looting, etc., during the temporary withdrawal of all armed forces in Singapore, a force of 1,000 British armed men to take over until relieved by the Japanese. Earlier that day Percival had issued orders to destroy before 16:00 all secret and technical equipment, ciphers, codes, secret documents and heavy guns. Yamashita accepted his assurance that no ships or planes remained in Singapore. According to Tokyo's Domei News Agency Yamashita also accepted full responsibility for the lives of British and Australian troops, as well as British civilians remaining in Singapore. Bennett—along with some of his staff officers—caused controversy when he handed command of the 8th Division to a brigadier and commandeered a small boat.[30] They eventually made their way back to Australia. [edit]Aftermath The Japanese occupation of Singapore started after the British surrender. Japanese newspapers triumphantly declared the victory as deciding the general situation of the war.[31] The city was renamed Syonan-to (Japanese: 昭南島 Shōnan-tō; literally: Light-of-the-South Island). The Japanese sought vengeance against the Chinese and to eliminate anyone who held anti-Japanese sentiment. The Japanese authorities were suspicious of the Chinese because of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and killed many in the Sook Ching massacre. The other ethnic groups of Singapore—such as the Malays and Indians—were not spared. The residents would suffer great hardships under Japanese rule over the following three and a half years. Victorious Japanese troops marching through Fullerton Square. Many of the British and Australian soldiers taken prisoner remained in Singapore's Changi Prison. Many would never return home. Thousands of others were shipped on prisoner transports known as "hell ships" to other parts of Asia, including Japan, to be used as forced labour on projects such as the Siam–Burma Death Railway and Sandakan airfield in North Borneo. Many of those aboard the ships perished. The Japanese were highly successful in recruiting Indian soldiers taken prisoner. From a total of about 40,000 Indian personnel in Singapore in February 1942, about 30,000 joined the pro-Japanese "Indian National Army", which fought Allied forces in the Burma Campaign.[32] Others became POW camp guards at Changi. However, many Indian Army personnel resisted recruitment and remained POWs. An unknown number were taken to Japanese-occupied areas in the South Pacific as forced labour. Many of them suffered severe hardships and brutality similar to that experienced by other prisoners of Japan during the war. About 6,000 of them survived until they were liberated by Australian and U.S. forces in 1943–45.[32] After the Japanese surrender in 1945, Yamashita was tried by a U.S. military commission for war crimes committed by Japanese personnel in the Philippines earlier that year, but not for crimes committed by his troops in Malaya or Singapore. He was convicted and hanged in the Philippines on 23 February 1946.[2] [edit]See also Malaya Command British Far East Command Japanese order of battle during the Malayan Campaign British Military Hospital, Singapore [edit]Notes ^ L, Klemen (1999-2000). "Rear-Admiral Shoji Nishimura". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942. ^ a b c d e f Smith, Colin (2006). Singapore Burning: Heroism and Surrender in World War II. Penguin Group. ISBN 0-141-01036-3. ^ Churchill, Winston (1986). The Hinge of Fate, Volume 4. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, p. 81. ISBN 0395410584 ^ Thompson, p. 92–94. ^ L, Klemen; Bert Kossen, Pierre-Emmanuel Bernaudin, Dr. Leo Niehorster, Akira Takizawa, Sean Carr, Jim Broshot, Nowfel Leulliot (1999-2000). "Seventy minutes before Pearl Harbor – The landing at Kota Bharu, Malaya, on December 7th 1941". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942. ^ Thompson, p. 103–130. ^ Thompson, p. 60–61. ^ "The Malayan Campaign 1941". Retrieved 7 December 2005. ^ Lee, Singapore: The Unexpected Nation, pg 37 ^ War for the Empire: Malaya and Singapore, Dec 1941 to Feb 1942, Richard Reid, Australia-Japan Research Project ^ P.Elphick in S'pore the pregnable fortress – see bibliography – reports a quite different version ^ P.Elphick, op. cit. explains that this is mainly due to the high level of ... desertion among Australian units ^ a b c Frank Owen (2001). The Fall of Singapore. England: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-139133-2. ^ Cull, Brian and Sortehaug, Brian and Paul. Hurricanes Over Singapore: RAF, RNZAF and NEI Fighters in Action Against the Japanese Over the Island and the Netherlands East Indies, 1942. London: Grub Street, 2004. (ISBN 1-904010-80-6), pp. 27–29. Note: 64 Sentai lost three Ki-43s and claimed five Hurricanes. ^ "Hawker Hurricane shot down on 8 February 1942". Retrieved 11 August 2007. ^ Captured Hurricane, Captured J-Aircraft ^ Percival's Despatches ^ The Second World War. Vol. IV. By Winston Churchill. ^ Peter Elphick, 2001, "Cover-ups and the Singapore Traitor Affair" Access date: 5 March 2007. ^ Thompson, p. 476. ^ Thompson, p. 477. ^ Thompson, p. 476–478. ^ Thompson, p. 477–478. ^ Thompson, p. 478. ^ "Alexandra Massacre". Archived from the original on 18 October 2005. Retrieved 7 December 2005. ^ Daily Express, 14 August 2008 ^ George Britton, personal recollection 2009 ^ Hugo Hughes' war diary, written in Changi ^ Generals At War. Nicholas Rowe, Alistair Irwin. National Geographic Channel, Singapore. 21 September 2009. 60 minutes in. ^ Lieutenant General Henry Gordon Bennett, CB, CMG, DSO an Australian War Memorial article ^ John Toland, The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936–1945 p 277 Random House New York 1970 ^ a b Stanley, Peter. ""Great in adversity": Indian prisoners of war in New Guinea". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 15 February 2008. [edit]References Cull, Brian (2004). Hurricanes Over Singapore: RAF, RNZAF and NEI Fighters in Action Against the Japanese Over the Island and the Netherlands East Indies, 1942. Grub Street Publishing. ISBN 978-1904010807. Cull, Brian (2008). Buffaloes over Singapore: RAF, RAAF, RNZAF and Dutch Brewster Fighters in Action Over Malaya and the East Indies 1941–1942. Grub Street Publishing. ISBN 978-1904010326. Dixon, Norman F. On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, London, 1976 Bose, Romen. SECRETS OF THE BATTLEBOX: The History and Role of Britain's Command HQ during the Malayan Campaign, Marshall Cavendish, Singapore 2005 Bose, Romen. KRANJI:The Commonwealth War Cemetery and the Politics of the Dead, Singapore: Marshall Cavendish (2006) Elphick, Peter, Singapore, the pregnable fortress, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1995, ISBN 0-340-64990-9 Kelly, Terence (2008). Hurricanes Versus Zeros: Air Battles over Singapore, Sumatra and Java. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1844156221. Kinvig, Clifford. Scapegoat: General Percival of Singapore, London (1996) ISBN 0241105838 Leasor, James. Singapore: The Battle That Changed The World UK, USA 1968, 2011. ISBN 978-1-908291-18-9 Smyth, John George. Percival and the Tragedy of Singapore, MacDonald and Company, 1971, ASIN B0006CDC1Q Thompson, Peter. The Battle for Singapore, London (2005) ISBN 0749950684 HB Seki, Eiji. Mrs. Ferguson's Tea-Set, Japan and the Second World War: The Global Consequences Following Germany's Sinking of the SS Automedon in 1940. London: Global Oriental (2006) ISBN 1905246285; (cloth) [reprinted by University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 2007 – previously announced as Sinking of the SS Automedon and the Role of the Japanese Navy: A New Interpretation.] Shores, Christopher F; Cull, Brian; Izawa, Yasuho. Bloody Shambles: The First Comprehensive Account of the Air Operations over South-East Asia December 1941 – April 1942, London: Grub Street (2007) Shores, Christopher F; Cull, Brian; Izawa, Yasuho. Bloody Shambles, The First Comprehensive Account of the Air Operations over South-East Asia December 1941 – April 1942 Volume One: Drift to War to the Fall of Singapore. London: Grub Street Press. (1992) ISBN 094881750X Smith, Colin. Singapore Burning: Heroism and Surrender in World War II Penguin (2005) ISBN 0670913413 Smyth, John George Smyth, Percival and the Tragedy of Singapore, MacDonald and Company, 1971 Thompson, P. The Battle for Singapore, The True Story of the Greatest Catastrophe of World War II, London (2005) ISBN 0749950994 [edit]External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Battle of Singapore National Heritage Board, Battlefield Singapore Bicycle Blitzkrieg – The Japanese Conquest of Malaya and Singapore 1941–1942 Royal Engineers Museum Royal Engineers and the Second World War – the Far East The diary of one British POW, Frederick George Pye of the Royal Engineers. Fred Pye was a POW for 3½ years, including time spent building the Burma Railway. He managed to save, write on and bury scraps of paper, and after the war compiled them into a readable form. Animated History of the Fall of Malaya and Singapore Coordinates: 01°22′N 103°49′E View page ratings Rate this page What's this? Trustworthy Objective Complete Well-written I am highly knowledgeable about this topic (optional) Submit ratings Categories: Conflicts in 19421942 in SingaporeBritish rule in SingaporeWorld War II operations and battles of the Southeast Asia TheatreBattles of World War II involving AustraliaBattles and operations of World War II involving IndiaBattles of World War II involving JapanBattles of World War II involving the United KingdomMilitary of Singapore under British ruleMilitary history of SingaporeMilitary history of Singapore during World War IIMilitary history of India during World War IIIndian National Army Log in / create accountArticleDiscussionReadEditView history

Japanese occupation of Singapore

Japanese Occupation of Singapore The Japanese Occupation of Singapore refers to the point in time in the history of Singapore between 1942 and 1945 when Japanese forces occupied Singapore during World War II, after having defeated the combined British, Indian and Malayan garrison. The occupation was to become a major turning point in the history of several nations, including that of the Japan, the United Kingdom, and to the then colony of Singapore itself. Singapore was renamed Syonan-to (-W� ShMnan-tM, "Light of the South Island" in Japanese) by the Japanese. Contents [hide]  1 Events leading to the Occupation 2 Repression 3 End of the Occupation 4 Consequences 5 See also 6 External links Events leading to the Occupation ....... The Japanese, who sought to gain control of South-east Asia in World War II, had overrun the Malay Peninsula in the Battle of Malaya with the main intent of occupying Singapore to gain greater control over her war-time resource gathering efforts, as it was a strategic port and the lynchpin of the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM). After having taken all of Malaya in under a month, the garrison defending Singapore surrendered only a week after the invasion of Singapore commenced. Winston Churchill called the fall of Singapore to the Japanese on 15 February 1942 the "worst disaster" and "largest capitulation" in British history. Repression The Japanese Occupation is generally regarded by Singaporeans as the darkest period of Singaporean history. The Japanese had claimed that they were liberating Southeast Asia from colonialism, but in reality they were far harsher rulers than the British ever were. In addition to civilian casualties, numerous atrocities were committed by Japanese troops, particularly by the Kempeitai, the Japanese military's secret police, and the Japanese military's use of rape and comfort women. For instance, the Sook Ching Massacre of ethnic Chinese, including civilians who had donated to charities to aid the war effort in China, claimed between 25,000 and 50,000 lives in Malaya and Singapore. End of the Occupation After Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 15, 1945, there was a state of anomie in Singapore, as the British had not arrived to take control, while the Japanese occupiers had a considerably weakened hold over the populace. Incidents of looting and revenge-killing were widespread. Much of the infrastructure had been wrecked, including the harbor facilities and electricity, water, and telephone services. It would take four or five years for the economy to return to pre-war levels. When the British finally arrived, they were met with a cheering crowd and fanfare. Consequences Although the British had been welcomed back into Singapore, the fact remained that the British had failed to defend Singapore, and in the eyes of many Singaporeans this had cost them their credibility as infallible rulers. The decades after the war saw a political awakening amongst the local populace and the rise of nationalist and anti-colonial sentiments. Hence, the Japanese Occupation caused the path to eventual independence to be greatly accelerated, as public confidence in the ability of their British leaders in protecting them and their ways of life crumbled. See also Battle of Singapore History of Singapore External links Fall of Malaya and Singapore A detailed history of the Battle of Singapore.Template:Singapore-stub Category: History of Singapore