The inner German border was the frontier between the German Democratic
Republic (East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (West
Germany) from 1949 to 1990. Not including the similar but physically
separate Berlin Wall, the border was 1,381 kilometres (858 mi) long and
ran from the Baltic Sea to Czechoslovakia. It was formally established
on 1 July 1945 as the boundary between the Western and Soviet
occupation zones of Germany. On the Eastern side, it was made one of
the world's most heavily fortified frontiers, defined by a continuous
line of high metal fences and walls, barbed wire, alarms, trenches,
watchtowers, automatic booby-traps and minefields. The border was a
physical manifestation of Winston Churchill's metaphor of an Iron
Curtain separating the Soviet and Western blocs during the Cold War.
Built by East Germany in phases from 1952 to the late 1980s, the
fortifications were constructed to stop the large-scale emigration of
East German citizens to the West. It caused widespread economic and
social disruption on both sides. On 9 November 1989, the East German
government announced the opening of the Berlin Wall and the inner
German border. The inner German border was not completely abandoned
until 1 July 1990, exactly 45 years to the day since its establishment,
and only three months before German reunification formally ended
Germany's division. Little remains today of the inner German border's
fortifications.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_German_border>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1330:
The Battle of Posada between Basarab I of Wallachia and Charles I
Robert of Hungary began near the present-day border of Oltenia and
Severin, Romania.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Posada>
1861:
The first documented Canadian football match was played at University
College, University of Toronto.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_football>
1938:
Kristallnacht began in Nazi Germany as a part of Adolf Hitler's
anti-Semitic policy, leading to the murder of over 90 Jews, and the
arrest and deportation of over 25,000 others to concentration camps.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht>
1953:
Cambodia gained independence from France and became a constitutional
monarchy under King Norodom Sihanouk.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia>
1967:
Rolling Stone, the American-based magazine devoted to music, liberal
politics and popular culture, was first published.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stone>
1993:
War in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Croatian Defence Council forces
destroyed the Stari most, a 16th-century bridge crossing the river
Neretva in the city of Mostar.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stari_most>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
charabanc (n):
A horse-drawn, and then later, motorized omnibus with open sides and,
often, no roof
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/charabanc>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Every one of us is precious in the cosmic perspective. If a human
disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you
will not find another.
--Carl Sagan
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan>
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