Berlin then & now

Fülszöveg

From the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century, Berlin rapidly became one of the most prosperous cities in Europe. The innovation and commercial success of the Germán economy generated a popular desire to flex the nation's imperial muscles. The city's history was dramatically altered by the events of World War I-widespread unemployment and a weak currency following defeat brought political chaos. Out of this disorder came the government of the Weimar Republic, steadily undermined by the Nazi party, which drew on popular resentment of the unfavorable settlement terms of World War I. Adolf Hitler was to lead Germany once again into a devastating war. In the wake of Allied bombing and the Russian advances in World War II, this once-beautiful city was left in ruins. Berlin was officially split into four zones for each of the victorious powers-the United States, Britain, Francé, and the Soviet Union. In June 1948, the three Western Allies made West Berlin a unified... Tovább

Fülszöveg

From the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century, Berlin rapidly became one of the most prosperous cities in Europe. The innovation and commercial success of the Germán economy generated a popular desire to flex the nation's imperial muscles. The city's history was dramatically altered by the events of World War I-widespread unemployment and a weak currency following defeat brought political chaos. Out of this disorder came the government of the Weimar Republic, steadily undermined by the Nazi party, which drew on popular resentment of the unfavorable settlement terms of World War I. Adolf Hitler was to lead Germany once again into a devastating war. In the wake of Allied bombing and the Russian advances in World War II, this once-beautiful city was left in ruins. Berlin was officially split into four zones for each of the victorious powers-the United States, Britain, Francé, and the Soviet Union. In June 1948, the three Western Allies made West Berlin a unified zone with its own administration. The East Germán government, in a response to the exodus of East Germán residents from Berlin to the West, built the Berlin Wall in August 1961. Checkpoints, such as the famous Checkpoint Charlie between the U.S. and Soviet sectors, allowed the movement of the Western Allies into East Berlin and became a wellused route for espionage during the Cold War. On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall was removed and Berlin once more became the official capital of Germany. In April 1999, the renovated Reichstag opened and the capital was once again the stable, confident city it had been in 1914. Vissza