Before the Berlin Wall was built in 1961, as many as 1,000 people a day emigrated from East Germany to escape Communist rule and seek a better standard of living in the West. The East German government built the Berlin Wall to stop this tremendous drain of its people--many of whom were from its educated and professional classes. <NP> Berlin quickly became a divided city--first with barbed wire, then with massive stone walls. The wall did not stop everyone. Desperate escape attempts made many Cold War headlines. Some were successful and some were not. Over 170 people died trying to cross the wall, most shot to death by border guards. <NP> During the 1970's and 1980's, relations between East and West Germany improved, slightly. In 1989, popular protests in East Germany against travel and emigration restrictions forced the East German government to open the wall. Most of the wall was torn down. But a few sections remain as memorials.
<BR><P>
World Book video</P>
</BODY></P>
<!-- <PT>NO -->
<!-- <AR>From the World Book Mulitmedia Encyclopedia (TM) (c) «date» World Book, Inc., 525 W. Monroe, Chicago, IL 60661. All rights reserved. -->
