The picture is the Berlin Wall. Is that where we are heading?
Over the millennia, empires have resorted to building grand walls to protect their lands and control the flow of people. What has history taught us about the effectiveness of walls?
Controlling the Flow of People
One of the first major walls built was Hadrian’s wall which cuts across northern England. The wall was built around 123 AD under orders from Emperor Hadrian. It was partly for protection and had 14 forts built as part of the structure (Heritage). However, its main function was to control the flow of people, allow for the collection of taxes and made a statement bout imperial power (Smithsonian), It could slow people down and make it easier for fewer troops to guard the wall but it wasn’t tall enough to keep attackers out. (I have walked the wall and even I could have scaled it,) The wall was manned by 3 Roman Legions or about 15,000 men (Wall).
Even Great Walls Crack
Another famous and even bigger wall is the great wall of China. Older than Hadrian’s wall, the great wall was built between 771–476 bc, Similar to Hadrian’s wall, the great wall was manned by soldiers. In fact, during the Ming dynasty one million men manned the wall (Kmmsam). It was very much built with the intent to protect China from Mongolians marauders. As noted, “Although a useful deterrent against raids, at several points throughout its history the Great Wall failed to stop enemies, including in 1644 when the Manchu Qing marched through the gates of Shanhai Pass and replaced the most ardent of the wall-building dynasties, the Ming, as rulers of China” (Wikipedia).
The people are told the wall is for safety
The last wall to consider is the Berlin Wall. Built during the Cold War, the East Germans said the wall was to protect their people from fascism. In fact, it was built to keep East Germans in (History). Again, as with the other walls, the Berlin wall was manned by guards who would shoot anyone who tied to pass without permission. In fact, at the peak, there were 47,000 East German border troop (Wikipedia).
It’s the Soldiers, not the wall
In all three cases, the walls were manned by large numbers of soldiers. The wall, itself, only served, at best, to slow people down. It was the soldiers that prevented people from passing.