After World War II, Germany was divided into four different sectors assigned to the triumphant Allied forces: the United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union. (Wolski) The capital was located one hundred and fifteen miles into Soviet territory. (Kenny) The Western Allies thought this was unfair because Berlin was the only major city at the time. They also agreed to divide Berlin into quadrants. (Wolski) The United States, Great Britain, and France united their sectors to form a democratic state called the Federal Republic of Germany. (Taylor) Meanwhile, Russia kept its separate part and it became known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR). However, this posed a problem because democratic West Berlin was completely surrounded by Soviet territory. (Wolski)The refugee problem in East Germany has its roots in the end of World War II. The nationalization of industry and agriculture under the Soviet government led to many shortages common in communist countries. Citizens lacked food, shoes, housing and other consumer goods. As if the situation couldn't get worse, Moscow demanded reparations in the first decade after the war. They took a large part of East Germany's resources. (Kenny) By 1961, some 2.5 million Germans had fled. This reduced the population of the GDR by around fifteen percent. (Taylor) The massive number of people fleeing caused problems for life in East Germany. Twenty percent of doctors left between 1954 and 1961. Engineers, nurses, teachers and skilled workers also fled. (Kenny) Jens Schöne, a Berlin historian, said: “Normal people had had enough. They didn't want to wait fifteen years to get a car, they didn't want to work in a factory; they wanted to be able to t...... middle of paper ...... on Berlin. By John C. Ausland. Premier Academic Research. Internet. February 21, 2012. .Curry, Andrew. “Before the fall.” Wilson Quarterly 2009: 16-25. MasterFILE First. Internet. February 21, 2012. Kenny, Jack. “The wall that hides shame.” The New American August 22, 2011: 37-40. ProQuest Research Library. Internet. February 21, 2012. .Taylor, Frederick. “The Berlin Wall: a secret history”. History Today February 2007: 43-49. Researcher on SIRS issues. Internet. February 20, 2012. Wolski, Nathan. “Berlin Wall: Past and Present.” Berlin Wall: past and present. Internet. February 21. 2012. .