Military Intelligence

The construction of the Berlin Wall, which commenced on August 13, 1961, was intended to surround the West Berlin and completely divide the city. During its construction, Combat Groups of the Working Class and soldiers the National People's Army were ordered to stand at its front and shoot any person who tried to cross over it.

During this incident, much happened that was never reported apart from acclamations of the achievements of Berlin Wall construction. However, more studies reveal a lot that happened during the wall’s construction. Firstly, it is obvious that many innocent lives perished during this time. This follows the notion that the wall was intended to prevent people from East Germany from crossing over to West Berlin. The military thought that the defectors were traitors. The nobility thought it was important to prevent movement of people to other regions of Berlin. This reveals the military’s techniques in enforcing policies. Despite the free movement that existed between the Berlin zones, restraint was introduced to stop the migration of people to the West.

The intelligence has limits and sometimes it fails. Some of its limits are more obvious than real and are the consequence of notion that it is hardly understood. Sometimes its supporters make invalid arguments for what it can do, while other inexperienced decision-makers have unrealistic expectations of what it can deliver. In the construction of the Berlin wall, the main aim was to restrict migration of East Germans to other zones of Berlin. However, little about the economy of the area being encircled was put into consideration. It was after the completion of the wall that its effects became manifest. The economic connections between East Berlin and its West counterpart were cut, depriving many East Germans their livelihoods. This failure had contributed to redundancy because East Berlin alone could not provide employment to the entire population. However, there were also beneficiaries of this situation. Stabilized businesses were assured of a constant supply of labor since trained people no longer migrated to other zones.

Alike failures in power, knowledge is also likely to fail between the nobility. The human brain is not genius to foresee the future as it is. In fact, depending on the process of mind development, some alterations and challenges may affect production of the desirable intelligence. Such distortions relate to cognitive limits while others arise during a process. Intelligence is renowned for its secrecy, which keeps it from disclosing information, something that is sometimes deemed as effective for it. During the construction of the wall of Berlin, no one had an idea that it would be destroyed later in 1989. The fact that its demolition occurred did not imply that the intelligence was deluded during its construction. Rather, it is a clear indication that intelligence is not immune to ill fate. The conviction, which compelled prominent decision-makers, like the famous Walter Ulbricht and then the President of East German, attest to the fact that there was no vision of the Wall being demolished.

There were simple blunders that were committed during the wall’s construction. The fact that people were prevented from crossing the wall did not justify the notion that shooting was the best way to stop them. Other better ways could have been used to control migration. However, the intelligence’s decision to punish the defectors severely left many people orphaned and widowed. The situation did not change even after many people’s deaths. Instead, there was a constant reinforcement with dogs, gun towers, and minefields, which made escape riskier. Countless families were also split as East Germans would not interact with other people from other zones. The outcry of such individuals and their demonstrations were responded to by improving the restrictions along the wall. There are some failures that the mind cannot control, and it is bound to abide by hoping that matters will get normal. These arguments reveal that the human mind share some common features with the meteorology department: they predict future trends with much confidence, but they cannot always predict accurately or have the power to change future conditions.