The Berlin Wall was built by the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in 1961 to prevent people from fleeing Soviet-controlled East Berlin to West Berlin, which was controlled by the Western Allies. Its construction was ordered by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to stop the mass emigration and defection from East to West Germany through the divided city of Berlin. The Wall was a physical and ideological barrier symbolizing the division of Germany and Europe during the Cold War. It was initially built quickly with barbed wire and fencing but later reinforced with concrete walls, guard towers, and minefields to prevent escapes. The Berlin Wall became a powerful symbol of the division between East and West and the broader conflict between socialism and capitalism until it fell in 1989.