How Britain saw the Berlin Wall go up
The construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 took many by surprise – not least the British still occupying much of the city. Here's how they reacted.
Image: stock.adobe.com
In the aftermath of World War II, the capitalist United States and communist Soviet Union emerged as the world’s two preeminent superpowers. However, despite their friendship during the war, the two were soon at each other’s throats and appeared to be on the verge of open conflict.
One of the biggest hotspots where this geopolitical tussling would intensify was Berlin. After the war, the US and the Soviets occupied different areas of the German capital. In 1961, communist authorities physically sealed off East Berlin from the rest of the city by erecting the notorious ‘Berlin Wall’.
In amongst all this, it’s easy to forget that British troops also had a front-row view of what was happening in Berlin. The United Kingdom was one of the three Western powers, alongside the US and France, occupying West Berlin as the wall went up. Sky HISTORY explores the fascinating insights revealed when FCDO Historians published British eyewitness accounts of the wall's construction.
The postwar consensus slowly disintegrates
In the late 1940s, the war’s victorious Allied powers of the US, the UK, France and the Soviet Union agreed to collectively occupy Germany. The Soviets occupied a large eastern area of the defeated country, while the other Allies took up designated zones in western Germany. Berlin was carved up in much the same fashion.
Determined to turn Germany communist, Soviet authorities would later make repeated attempts to push the other Allies’ troops out of Berlin. These efforts failed, but in the meantime, millions of East Germans flocked to West Germany via West Berlin. Realising the need to stop this ‘brain drain’, the Soviets gave East German authorities permission to put up a physical barrier demarcating Berlin.
How Brits on the ground saw the wall go up
As the history books indicate, the Berlin Wall went up on 13th August 1961. By this time, Soviet-occupied eastern Germany had been christened the ‘German Democratic Republic’. The first version of the wall was a lengthy string of fencing and barbed wire completely encircling West Berlin. In 2021, FCDO Historians revealed how Brits based in 1960s Berlin reacted to the wall’s surprising emergence.
‘I could feel considerable tension,’
Brigadier L.F. Richards recalled from his time as a member of the British military police in Berlin. Upon entering the eastern half of the city, he saw ‘uniformed men everywhere, all heavily armed. Almost every open space of ground had military vehicles of one sort or another on it.’ He also caught sight of East Berlin residents looking ‘nervous and apprehensive’.
Within days, the British placed barbed wire around the Soviet war memorial in the Tiergarten. At the time, Sir Stephen Barrett was serving as Deputy Political Advisor in the British Military Government Berlin. According to his recollection in 2011, this barbed wire was partly intended as a protest against the wall, but later removed after Soviet complaints.
The British government’s response
In telegrams to diplomats, the UK’s Foreign Secretary, the Earl of Home, admitted to feeling caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, he knew that West Berliners were angry about not only the wall but also the Western Allies’ perceived unwillingness to act. So, Home advocated the West taking countermeasures against the Soviets to avoid looking weak and indecisive.
On the other hand, Home felt that these actions shouldn’t go so far as to risk tipping the Soviets into making rash, drastic retaliations. He particularly feared that the Soviets could seal off Western access to East Berlin altogether. At that time, British, American and French troops were still permitted to patrol Berlin’s Soviet occupation zone as per the quadripartite agreement of the 1940s.
British diplomats concurred that Whitehall needed to tread carefully in its dealings with the Soviets. Hence, one idea to release a public statement condemning the wall’s construction was ultimately abandoned. The British press showed no such reticence. One Pathé newsreel disparaged the ‘Wall of Shame’, adding that East German authorities were resorting to ‘savage methods’ to plug any lingering gaps in it.
The Berlin Wall’s longer-term impact on Britain
The British Army’s Berlin Infantry Brigade was stationed in West Berlin throughout the Cold War. British soldiers grew accustomed to life on German soil, and did not leave until the 1990s. By then, the Berlin Wall had fallen in November 1989, leading to Germany’s reunification the following year.
For more on the Cold War moments that shaped Britain's place in the world, sign up to the Sky HISTORY newsletter. Every week, you'll receive the latest articles, episodes and more delivered straight to your inbox.
