A Country Divided: The Berlin Wall

Tony Nguyen Senior Division Individual Website

Process paper
1. How did you choose your topic? Why?
I chose my topic on the Berlin Wall, which divided Germany into East and West Germany during the Cold War by looking for an interesting topic on the NHD topic list for History Fair 2014. I chose it because I am not familiar with the Berlin wall and the effects that it caused. I wanted to learn more about the Berlin wall and why it constructed and what was the purpose. The standard five Ws (who, what, where, when, why). Also because I was limited by my World History teacher restricted the regions that we could do our project on. The region I conducted my restricted us to not make it all about North America. Our topic could include North America, but could not be specifically focused on it.

2. How did you conduct your research?

I did my research on the Berlin wall by using the following search engines; Google (scholar), EPSCO, and other sources that I could pull valid documents from.

3. How did you select your presentation category and create your project?
I selected my presentation category by what I believe that I could do best. The three options for displays for are a website, exhibit, and a documentary. I chose to do a website for my project because I feel most comfortable creating a website. I followed the parameters that NHD has provided for me. Meaning I used the weebly that they have provided. I created my project electronically, using weebly. Which is an online, free website creator. The NHD weebly is no different than the regular weebly, but you must use the NHD weebly to be able to submit your website to them and be judged and graded.

4. How does your project relate to the NHD theme?

My project relates to the 2014 NHD theme by it concerns the rights and responsibilities of the people in Germany and those countries involved with Germany in the time that the Berlin wall was built. Right and Responsibilities is the topic of the 2014 History Fair. The Berlin wall was built during the Cold War. Which was a time of suffering, and it was not called the Cold War because it was cold. The wall was built in Germany to divide the country into two sectors. East Germany and West Germany. When the wall was built, it prohibited people from West Germany to move or go into East Germany, and vice versa. The East was controlled by the Soviet Union, which was still together at the time, and the West was split into 3 sectors in which America, UK, and France. Political relationships between these countries were rocky and unstable, since the end of World War II. In my project, I will attempt to dive into the depths of the Berlin wall, and how it affected the rights and responsibilities the people, and the state.
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