189. When did the German Democratic Republic (GDR) build the Berlin Wall?

Answer options

1. 1919
2. 1933
3. 1961
4. 1990

Explanation

On 13 August 1961, the SED regime sealed the sectoral border and began constructing the Berlin Wall as part of the GDR’s border regime to halt mass emigration ("Republikflucht") and secure its rule. Under Berlin’s Four-Power status the measure was contested in international law; the Western Allies protested the curtailment of freedom of movement between sectors, while the GDR justified it as an "anti-fascist protective rampart." The Wall entrenched the inner-German division and involved lethal border controls (a shoot-to-kill order) that violated basic human rights the GDR proclaimed constitutionally but in practice suspended. Its opening on 9 November 1989 initiated the constitutional path to unity via Article 23 (former version) of the Basic Law, culminating in accession on 3 October 1990.