The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an independent U.S. Government
agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to
senior US policymakers.
Erected literally overnight, the building of the Berlin Wall was the culmination of over a decade of escalating confrontations and contentious blockades contrived to encourage the west to abandon Berlin to the Communist Bloc. The wall was East Germany's ultimate attempt to isolate and destroy an island of freedom. Instead of expelling the west, Berlin became ground zero in a contest of tit-for-tat brinksmanship with a serious risk of erupting into nuclear war. War was averted, but the wall dividing Berlin became a corrosive global symbol of bitter oppression that would last for nearly three decades. Listed below are the documents, essays and overviews from the eleven U.S. Government organizations that provide the background and the political ramifications of the Wall's construction.
Contributors of documents other than CIA are indicated in the title by the following initials:
HST - Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum
DDE - Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum
ISL - Ike Skelton Library, Joint Forces Staff College
JFK - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
LBJ - Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library
NARA - National Archives and Records Administration
STATE - Department of State, Office of the Historian