Editing Inner German border (section)

==Border guards of the inner German border==
{{further|Border guards of the inner German border}}
The guards of the inner German border comprised tens of thousands of military, paramilitary and civilian personnel from both East and West Germany, as well as from the United Kingdom, the United States and initially the Soviet Union.

===East Germany===
{{multiple image
| align    = right
| image1   = Grenztruppen der DDR.JPEG
| width1   = 290
| alt1     = Three uniformed men, armed with assault rifles, walking in a column through a grassy landscape with dense trees in the background. A canvas-sided truck is visible in the left background and part of another vehicle is seen on the right in a stretch of ploughed-up ground.
| caption1 = Border Troops of the GDR (''Grenztruppen'') guarding border maintenance workers in 1979. The workers would be shot if they crossed the red "cord of death" in the foreground.
| image2   = Grenzaufklärungszug.jpg
| alt2     = Armed East German guard standing in a grassy field taking a photograph of the photographer. A border fence and a truck are visible in the background, some distance behind the soldier.
| width2   = 128
| caption2 = Border Reconnaissance (''Grenzaufklärungszug'') soldier, 1979
}}

Following the end of the Second World War, the East German side of the border was guarded initially by the Border Troops (''Pogranichnyie Voiska'') of the Soviet [[NKVD]] (later the [[KGB]]). They were supplemented from 1946 by a locally recruited paramilitary force, the German Border Police (''Deutsche Grenzpolizei'' or DGP), before the Soviets handed over full control of the border to the East Germans in 1955/56. In 1961 the DGP was converted into a military force within the National People's Army (''[[Nationale Volksarmee]]'', NVA). The newly renamed [[Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic|Border Troops of the GDR]] (''Grenztruppen der DDR'', commonly nicknamed the ''Grenzer'') came under the NVA's Border Command or ''Grenzkommando''. They were responsible for securing and defending the borders with West Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Baltic Sea and West Berlin. At their peak, the ''Grenztruppen'' had up to 50,000&nbsp;personnel.<ref name="Rottman-42">[[#Rottman|Rottman (2008)]], p. 42.</ref>

Around half of the ''Grenztruppen'' were conscripts, a lower proportion than in other branches of the East German armed forces. Many potential recruits were screened out as potentially unreliable; for instance, actively religious individuals or those with close relatives in West Germany. They were all subjected to close scrutiny to assure their political reliability and were given intensive ideological indoctrination.<ref>[[#Rottman|Rottman (2008)]], p. 43.</ref> A special unit of the Stasi secret police worked covertly within the ''Grenztruppen'', posing as regular border guards, between 1968 and 1985, to weed out potential defectors.<ref name="Morgenpost-Zögern">[[#Kellerhoff|Kellerhoff; Banse (2007-08-11)]].</ref> One in ten officers and one in thirty enlisted men were said to have been recruited by the Stasi as informers. The Stasi regularly interviewed and maintained files on every guard. Stasi operatives were directly responsible for some aspects of security; passport control stations at crossings were manned by Stasi officers wearing ''Grenztruppen'' uniforms.<ref name="Rottman-48">[[#Rottman|Rottman (2008)]], p. 48.</ref>

The ''Grenztruppen'' were closely watched to ensure that they could not take advantage of their inside knowledge to escape across the border. Patrols, watchtowers and observation posts were always manned by two or three guards at a time. They were not allowed to go out of each other's sight in any circumstances. If a guard attempted to escape, his colleagues were under instructions to shoot him without hesitation or prior warning;<ref name="Rottman-48" /> 2,500 did escape to the West, 5,500 more were caught and imprisoned for up to five years,<ref name="BBC-Scale">[[#BBCScale|BBC (2001-08-07)]].</ref> and a number were shot and killed or injured in the attempt.

The work of the guards involved carrying out repair work on the defences, monitoring the zone from watchtowers and bunkers and patrolling the line several times a day. Border Reconnaissance (''Grenzaufklärungszug'' or GAK) soldiers, an elite reconnaissance force, carried out patrols and intelligence-gathering on the western side of the fence. Western visitors to the border were routinely photographed by the GAKs, who also oversaw work detachments maintaining the fence. The workers would be covered by machine guns to discourage them from attempting to escape.
<ref name="Rottman-52-53">[[#Rottman|Rottman (2008)]], pp. 52–53.</ref>

===West Germany===
[[File:Inner german border herrnburg.jpg|right|thumb|300px|alt=View of a road terminating in a red and white horizontal barrier, with trees on either side. Four people, two in uniform, are standing on the near side of the barrier. On the far side is another uniformed man standing in a grassy field. In the far background is a high metal fence and a tall watchtower with an octagonal cabin at its top.|West German ''Bundesgrenzschutz'' personnel, civilians and an East German border guard on opposite sides of the border line at Herrnburg near Lübeck]]
A number of West German state organisations were responsible for policing the western side of the border. These included the ''Bundesgrenzschutz'' (BGS, Federal Border Protection), the ''Bayerische Grenzpolizei'' (Bavarian Border Police) and the ''Bundeszollverwaltung'' (Federal Customs Administration).<ref name="Rottman-20"/> [[German Army|West German Army]] units were not allowed to approach the border without being accompanied by BGS personnel.<ref name="Faringdon, p. 284"/>

The BGS, established in 1951, was responsible for policing a zone {{convert|30|km|mi}} deep along the border.<ref>[[#Moncourt|Moncourt; Smith (2009)]], p. 22.</ref> Its 20,000 personnel were equipped with armoured cars, anti-tank guns, helicopters, trucks and jeeps. The BGS had limited police powers within its zone of operations to tackle threats to the peace of the border.<ref name="Shears-96-97">[[#Shears|Shears (1970)]], pp. 96–97.</ref>

The ''Bundeszollverwaltung'' (BZV) was responsible for policing much of the inner German border and manning the West German crossings. Its personnel lived with their families in communities along the border and carried out regular policing tasks in a zone about {{convert|10|km|mi}} deep along the border. They had the power to arrest and search suspects in their area of operations with the exception of the section of border in Bavaria.<ref>[[#Shears|Shears (1970)]], pp. 90–92.</ref> The BZV's remit overlapped significantly with that of the BGS, which led to a degree of feuding between the two agencies.<ref name="Shears-96-97" />

The ''Bayerische Grenzpolizei'' (BGP) was a border police force raised by the [[Bavaria]]n government to carry out policing duties along the inner German border's {{convert|390|km|mi}} in Bavaria. By the late 1960s, the BGP had 600&nbsp;men patrolling its sector of the border, alongside the BZV, BGS and US Army. Its duties were very similar to those of the BZV, leading to turf wars between the two agencies.<ref>[[#Shears|Shears (1970)]], pp. 94–95.</ref>

===Western Allies===
{{multiple image
| align    = right
| image1   = Us army bundesgrenzschutz.jpg
| width1   = 208
| alt1     = Group of three United States soldiers, one armed with a rifle, and two West German Bundesgrenzschutz officers standing by two vehicles parked on a narrow asphalted road in a rolling landscape with fields and hills visible behind them.
| caption1 = United States Army personnel meet with ''Bundesgrenzschutz'' officers, 1979.
| image2   = British army inner german border.jpg
| alt2     = Two British soldiers carrying rifles standing behind a pair of Land-Rover vehicles, one of which has a "British Frontier Service" plate. Behind them is a high mesh fence, behind which is a tall watchtower with an octagonal cabin at its top.
| width2   = 212
| caption2 = Joint British Army{{snd}}British Frontier Service patrol near Helmstedt, early 1970s
}}
The [[British Army]] conducted only relatively infrequent patrols along its sector of the inner German border, principally for training purposes and symbolic value. By the 1970s it was carrying out only one patrol a month, only rarely using helicopters or ground surveillance radar and erecting no permanent observation posts. The British border zone was divided into two sectors covering a total distance of about {{convert|650|km|mi}} along the border.<ref>[[#Stacy|Stacy (1984)]], pp. 263–64.</ref> Unlike the Americans, the British did not assign specific units to border duty but rotated the task between the divisions of the [[British Army of the Rhine]].<ref>[[#Shears|Shears (1970)]], p. 100.</ref>

The border was also patrolled in the British sector by the [[British Frontier Service]], the smallest of the Western border surveillance organisations. Its personnel served as a liaison between British military and political interests and the German agencies on the border.<ref>[[#Stacy|Stacy (1984)]], pp. 261–263.</ref> The BFS was disbanded in 1991 following Germany's reunification.<ref>"Grenzbewacher West". [[#Zonengrenze-Museum|Zonengrenze-Museum]], Helmstedt</ref>

The [[United States Army]] maintained a substantial and continuous military presence at the inner German border throughout the entire period from 1945 to after the end of the Cold War. Regular American soldiers manned the border from the end of the war until they were replaced in 1946 by the [[United States Constabulary]],<ref>[[#Stacy|Stacy (1984)]], p. 22.</ref> which was disbanded in 1952 after policing duties were transferred to the German authorities. It was replaced by two dedicated [[List of US Army armored cavalry regiments|armoured cavalry regiments]] assigned to provide a permanent defence.<ref>[[#Stacy|Stacy (1984)]], pp. 62–63.</ref> The [[2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment]] based at [[Nuremberg]] and the [[14th Armored Cavalry Regiment]] based at [[Fulda]]&nbsp;– later replaced by the [[11th Armored Cavalry Regiment]]&nbsp;– monitored the border using observation posts, ground and air patrols, countering intrusions and gathering intelligence on Warsaw Pact activities.<ref>[[#Shears|Shears (1970)]], pp. 88, 98–99.</ref>

===Cross-border contacts===
{{multiple image
| align    = left
| image1   = East german propaganda mortar.jpg
| width1   = 240
| alt1     = Two metal canisters resting on a glass shelf with a roll of papers, on which a question mark is visible, in between them. A two-euro coin is positioned to the left to provide a scale.
| caption1 = Roll of East German propaganda leaflets in a canister which was fired across the border during the "leaflet war" between East and West Germany
| image2   = Mackenrode border.jpg
| alt2     = Two armed East German soldiers, seen through a barbed-wire fence, walking from right to left through a grassy hilly landscape towards a clump of young trees. Behind them is a very large propaganda sign showing a caricature of West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer clutching a missile while standing on a ladder being propped up by a military officer. The rungs of the ladder are made from the acronym "NATO". The sign is captioned: "Wer hoch hinaus will, fällt tief!"
| width2   = 167
| caption2 = East German border guards near Mackenrode, Thuringia, walking past a propaganda caricature of West German Chancellor [[Konrad Adenauer]]
}}
There was little informal contact between the two sides; East German guards were under orders not to speak to Westerners.<ref>[[#Bailey|Bailey (1983)]], p. 61.</ref> After the initiation of ''détente'' between East and West Germany in the 1970s, the two sides established procedures for maintaining formal contacts through fourteen direct telephone connections or ''Grenzinformationspunkte'' (GIP, "border information points"). They were used to resolve local problems affecting the border, such as floods, forest fires or stray animals.<ref>[[#Bailey|Bailey (1983)]], p. 48.</ref>

For many years, the two sides waged a propaganda battle across the border using propaganda signs and canisters of leaflets fired or dropped into each other's territory.<ref name="Gordon">[[#Gordon|Gordon (1988)]], p. ''passim''.</ref>  West German leaflets sought to undermine the willingness of East German guards to shoot at refugees attempting to cross the border, while East German leaflets promoted the GDR's view of West Germany as a militaristic regime intent on restoring Germany's 1937 borders.<ref name="Shears-propaganda">[[#Shears|Shears (1970)]], pp. 164–65.</ref><ref name="Gordon" />

During the 1950s, West Germany sent millions of propaganda leaflets into East Germany each year. In 1968 alone, over 4,000&nbsp;projectiles containing some 450,000&nbsp;leaflets were fired from East Germany into the West. Another 600&nbsp;waterproof East German leaflet containers were recovered from cross-border rivers.<ref name="Shears-propaganda" /> The "leaflet war" was eventually ended by mutual agreement in the early 1970s as part of the normalisation of relations between the two German states.<ref name="Gordon" />