  (dramatic synthesizer music)
   - [Voiceover] Number five:
the Berlin Wall.
  As far as walls go,
the Berlin Wall had worked
pretty well for nearly 28 years.
  Before the creation
  of the Berlin Wall,
  some two-and-a-half
  million people
   escaped from East Germany.
This constant stream of refugees
  was an embarrassment
  to the Soviet Bloc.
 So the Communist
 Party of East Germany
  responded by
  frantically erecting
 a border wall in 1961.
  The Berlin Wall consists of
12-foot high barricades
made of concrete.
In addition, the Berlin Wall had
   more than 300 watchtowers,
 a network of bunkers,
  and 65 miles of
  anti-tank trenches.
   After the wall was
   successfully constructed,
 the number of defections from
 Communist East Germany
 dramatically fell,
  meaning, the Berlin
  Wall accomplished
  exactly what it
  was designed to do.
   It is true that the Berlin
   Wall eventually fell,
  but for a time, it did keep
  the Soviet Bloc together.
 Number four: the walls
 of Constantinople.
   During the Middle Ages,
   the city of Constantinople
was one of the grandest
cities on the planet.
   During its time it served
as the seat of power in
the Byzantine Empire.
  What helped the Byzantine
  Empire survive for centuries
was the immense fortified walls
   that surrounded their
   capital of Constantinople.
  Constantinople's
  walls were so strong
   that they repelled
   Attila the Hun,
   Bulgarian nomads,
and even dozens of Arab sieges.
  The walls of Constantinople
 protected the Byzantine Empire
 for a thousand years.
  In fact, the empire was only
  finally toppled in 1453.
  And by all accounts,
  if it hadn't been
for the walls of Constantinople,
   they would have been wiped
   out centuries earlier.
In fact, the only reason why
Constantinople fell prematurely
during the final siege in 1453,
   is because a Greek
   soldier forgot
  to lock the Kerkoporta gate,
and as a result, the city fell.
 Number three: the Cyprus Wall.
   Cyprus is an island nation
in the Mediterranean Sea
  that has been
  divided for decades.
 The north of Cypress
 is primarily Turkish,
   while the south of Cypress
   is primarily Greek.
   In 1964, violence between
   the Turks and Greeks
   of Cypress reached
   a boiling point.
   These divisions
   were only deepened
   when Cyprus was invaded by
   Turkey's military in 1974.
 As a result, Cypress
 was split between the
   internationally-recognized
   Greek government
of Cypress in the south,
and the Turkish Republic
of Northern Cypress,
 which is only
 recognized by Turkey.
After the 1974 invasion,
   the two sides of Cypress
   were kept at arms' length
  by a UN-administered
  demilitarized zone,
  and by many accounts
  the barriers between
  the two groups
   prevented a mass
   ethnic cleansing.
  Number two: the
  Belfast Peace Wall.
  During what is known
as the Time of Troubles,
Belfast was stricken
  with riots and
  sectarian violence.
  As a result, massive
  walls were erected
   to separate the Protestant
   Unionists of Belfast,
   who wanted to remain part
   of the United Kingdom,
from the Catholic
nationalists who desired
  to join the Irish Republic.
  The Belfast Peace
  Wall now segregates
 these conflicting communities,
   and because of this,
   Catholics and Protestants
   in Northern Island rarely
   clash with each other.
  Arguably, the Belfast Peace
  Wall has been a success,
because it stood for 17
years longer than even
  the Berlin Wall did.
   Number one: the
   West Bank barrier.
  The creation of
  the state of Israel
 has always been
 mired in controversy.
 Clashes between the Israelis
 and Palestinians were common,
and Israel found itself
frequently at war
  with its neighbors.
Eventually, in the face
of almost unsolvable
  ethnic differences,
 the Israeli government
 began constructing
a massive barrier on
the West Bank of Israel.
  the West Bank walls
  are surrounded
by layers of barbed wire fences,
 and it consists of massive
 26-foot-high concrete blocks.
   These blocks are so thick
   that it has been reported
that the West Bank wall
has taken RPG fire,
   and has not been breached.
 After the wall was completed,
 and despite an
 international outcry,
 Israel noticed a sharp decline
  in terrorist attacks
  and suicide bombings
 within their borders.
  In 2003, there were
  73 suicide bombings
   inside of Israel.
 And after the wall
 was finished in 2010,
 there were just nine.
 It remains to be seen
 if the West Bank wall
  will stand the test of time
  and prevent the destruction
  of the state of Israel.
 But in the meantime,
 it cannot be disputed
 that this massive wall
 has protected Israel
from terrorist attacks.
  Thank you all for watching.
 I hope you enjoyed this video.
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