Western Civilization II / Unit 18 WC2 1708 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Sputnik and the Wall, 1957 to 1961
Captions available
The idea
Sputnik in October nineteen fifty-seven put the first satellite in orbit; the space race and missile claims followed. East Germans kept leaving through Berlin, and in August nineteen sixty-one the East built a wall through the city. It stood until eighty-nine.
In practice
A border guard leapt the wire, the witness's image.
Where people slip
Witness-built; the anchor names only the Wall's fall.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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