“Walls in the 20th century”

Marina BertunaCarolina Lux

Language and Culture II"Instituto Superior Palomar de Caseros“

Teacher Training Programme

A separation barrier is a wall or fence constructed to limit

the movement of people across a certain line or border, or to separate two populations.

These structures vary in placement with regard to international borders and

topography.

Probably the most famous examples of a separation

barrier are:

Berlin Wall

• The Berlin Wall was placed in Berlin, Germany.

•It was put there to separate East Germany from West Germany .

The wall divided East and West Berlin for 28 years, from the day construction began, on August

13th 1961, until it was dismantled in 1989.

During the years 1953 to 1989, some people on the Eastern side who lived in houses near the wall spent their nights digging tunnels under the wall from their basements

trying to escape to freedom in the West.

When the Western side found this out, they placed guards on the wall, and if they saw an escapee, that person would be shot. Friends and even family were separated. People

would peer over the wall to see their friends. Even soldiers would cross over the wall.

When on 9th November the East German government announced

that entering West Berlin would be permitted, crowds of East Germans

climbed and crossed the wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in

a celebratory atmosphere.

When it began, the wall was just rolls of barbed wire.  Later they added cement walls with guard

towers. Many people died trying to escape over or under the Berlin Wall. When the wall came down

one section was left in memory of those who died.

Belfast Wall

• This wall was built in order to separate Catholics and Protestants neighbourhoods in Belfast, Derry and elsewhere in Northern Ireland.

The barriers themselves consist of iron, brick, and steel walls up to 7.6 m. high, topped with metal netting, or simply a white line painted on

the ground similar to a road marking.

The first barriers were constructed in the early

1970s, Originally few in number, they have

multiplied over the years, from 18 in the early 1990s

to 40 today. Most are located in Belfast.

In 2008 a public discussion began about how and when the barriers could be

removed. Many of the residents who live in the communities have expressed their

anger at any suggestion that they will be taken down.

The US Mexico border

The United States has constructed a separation barrier along 130

kilometers, border with Mexico to prevent unauthorized immigration into

the United States and to deter smuggling of contraband, particularly

illegal drugs.

Due to concerns about environmental impacts,Obama said: "I think that the key is to

consult with local communities, whether it's on the commercial interests or the environmental stakes of creating any kind of barrier”. (The New York Times April 16, 2009)

There has been legislation in the U.S. Congress on lengthening the

barrier, but progress has been slow, both from lobbying and lack

of funding.

Korean Wall

The Korean wall is a concrete barrier that is allegedly built along the

length of the DMZ in South Korea

The Korean wall is 248 kilometres long and

separates North- and South Korea.

.

The wall itself is 5 to 8 metres high.

It was built between 1977 and 1979.

 

“The world became a better place

to live in after the fall of the Berlin Wall, because

each outbreak of freedom stimulated another

outbreak”Thomas Friedman

(American journalist)

“There are many people in the world who really don’t

understand what is the great issue between the free world and the communist world. Let

them come to Berlin”J.F.Kennedy (1963)

Sources:• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_barrier• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States%E2%80%93M

exico_barrier• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Demilitarized_Zone• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/images/hist_berlin_wall.jpg

• http://image.absoluteastronomy.com/images/encyclopediaimages/t/th/the_korean_wall_in_the_dmz.jpg

• http://www.lindsayfincher.com/gallery/d/893-2/belfast_mural_wall_8_001.jpg

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace...

John Lennon (1971)