Defensive Walls
Defensive walls are an important security feature for several countries. Building
defensive walls helps to protect a country from aggressors and unexpected attacks. In
China, legalist Shi Huangdi forced his people to build a defensive wall now known as the
famous Great Wall of China. The wall’s purpose was originally to keep out the nomadic
Xionghu people and was later needed to protect China from northern invaders, like the
Mongols. Overall, the Great Wall served its purpose except for the invasion of the
Mongols, who ended up taking control of China. Berlin was another country famous for
its defensive wall. Its purpose was to contain East Berliners on the east side of Berlin
because Nikita Khruschev believed that the East Berliners needed protection from
capitalists that belonged to West Berlin. It was also successful because guards patrolled
the wall and stopped thousands of people from crossing the border. It has been said that
if 10,000 East Berliners attempted to cross over to West Berlin, approximately 5,000
would actually make it to the other side of Berlin. Although Berlin was one country this
wall separated families, and caused much suffering in Berliners. People who tried to
cross this border were shot by the patrolling guards and if it targeted them, no one was
allowed to help them; they were left there to die. The Berlin Wall caused various
conflicts and problems that could have been prevented. Depending on how countries use
their defensive walls along their borders, the walls can protect many people of that
country, even if they are not in favor of the wall itself.
Building defensive walls helps to control a country’s population and economy. If
the United States has too large of a population, it can negatively affect the economy of
the U.S.’s government. Money that would typically be used for citizens of our country
would be spent on the increased “alien” population. This could happen in any country
and illegal immigration is a contributing factor. Along the southern border of the U.S.A.,
a defensive wall (fence) is being built. The Department of Homeland Security hopes to
have roughly 650 miles of this fence along our country’s border by the end of 2009. In
the future, this “wall” will help protect our country from foreign intruders. Right now,
illegal immigration is an economical, health, educational, criminal and national security
issue. Illegal immigrants are taking jobs intended for Americans, causing health care
expenses to increase, over populating our schools and causing the schools to become
overtaxed because of the immigrant child’s needs. Crime is also a major concern for our
country as gangs originating from other countries affect our crime rate and increase
potential threats to the safety of our country and our people. In closing, over the years
defensive walls have served the purpose of security for different countries of the world.