A Brief History of the Wall

I don’t normally use this blog for political messages but this is the most biased piece I have ever written on this blog.  For the sake of full disclosure I am a Conservative Christian Republican.  And to be honest I don’t like Trump as a presidential candidate for a number of reasons.  The most hilarious of his tirades is probably how he is going to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. What is even more hilarious (in a sad sort of way) is that people believe this could keep America safe or "Make America Great Again!"   Walls actually have a poor success rate throughout history. That being said how about a brief history of border walls!

The Walls of Jericho:

[About 1400 BC] the children of Israel have just finished wandering the wilderness for forty years and begin their invasion of the holy land. When they encounter Jericho.

“2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and it’s fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.” Joshua 6:2-5

Ok! I know someone is crying foul here, “that’s not history! That’s Bible stuff!” You’re right!  I did say I am a Christian. The debate of the historical validity of the Bible can wait. (God helped them anyway.)

The Great Wall of China:

From the 3rd century BC to the 17th century AD approximately 2000 years, a little project called the Great Wall of China was being built and rebuilt! Now that name may seem a little pretentious but here are a few facts curtesy of Wikipedia, the wall spans over 5,500 miles, about 40 feet thick and 30-40 ft. high. It was designed to keep out invaders, barbarians, bandits, you name it.  In about 1206 AD (when the wall was a mere 3,100 miles long) Genghis Khan invaded and sacked most of China.  His son Kublai came back finished the job by establishing the Yuan Dynasty. [http://www.history.com/topics/great-wall-of-china]

Maginot Line:

Fast forward to the twentieth century after the First World War the French built a network of forts and tunnels along the Rhine River all the way to the Italian border. This of course was stop any future incursions by the Germans.  In May 1940, the German army bypassed the Maginot Line in the famous blitzkrieg taking France in about a month.  To the line’s credit it would not be taken until June 1940 around the same time as when Paris fell. [http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/maginot-line]

The Berlin Wall:

In 1961, Germany was split into two countries. East Germany, which was communist and allied with the Soviet Union. Then there was West Germany who was allied to the western nations.  To stem the flow of emigration from East Germany to the West, the East German government began building a wall that literally cut Berlin in half. The wall was called, “Antifascistischer Schutzwall” meaning anti-fascist wall. Also known as the Berlin Wall.  The wall stood for 28 years and to this day it is seen as a symbol of repression. [http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall]

“Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” – Ronald Reagan (http://millercenter.org/president/reagan/speeches/speech-3415)

The Korean Border:

There is yet one more wall that makes this list.  A wall that is a left over an unresolved conflict, a symbol of a never ending war.  Along the thirty-eighth parallel that separates North and South Korea, the Korean Demilitarization Zone (DMZ). A border that is 2.5 miles long and is constantly guarded. As National Geographic stated “anyone trying to cross the MDL (Military Demarcation Line) would likely be shot.” (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/features/world/asia/north-korea/dmz-text/1)

Now most people probably have heard of at least one and probably all of these examples, what the study of history does is take that knowledge of a few facts and teaches us of building an argument.  A wall isn’t going to keep out terrorists or anyone who really wants to get into the United States.  Whenever I hear someone quote Mr. Trump about how he is going to build a wall on the Mexican border it reminds me just how much we need to teach history.  A wall won’t keep out terrorists, drugs, or even illegal immigrants.  Walls are inept at keeping out invaders, symbols of tyranny and represent unending war.