Why was the Berlin Wall constructed?

Why was the Berlin Wall constructed?

It is built to prevent the spread of western ideas to communist's countries in East. When the wall was not in place, the people from the East will feel attracted to the policy of democracy which comes from the West. By having this wall built, the people from the two sides will not know how the standard of living and hence, they won't go to each other's country. They are able to reassert the control over its country. Their economy would also improve as there won't be any dual currency in the both states as there is a wall that separates both of them.

 

It was also built to prevent emigration of East Germans to the West. When the people of East Germany found out that the standard of living were higher in the West (this was the propaganda point of the US.), they started to emigrate to that side. Moreover, the people who migrated were skilled and professionals. By having them there, it would boost the economy in the West and this has upset the communists greatly. This led to them building a wall as they did not want the people to can financially attract to the subsidies by the West.

 

The other factor was the growing tensions after the Hungarian Revolt and the U2 crisis. The Americans sent spies over to USSR and the plane was shot down. The Russians could not trust the Americans anymore as they did not apologize when Khrushchev demanded an apology.  This led to the Russians building a physical barrier to send a message to the Americans not to interfere in their matters