East German troops sealed what would become the Berlin Wall on this day, cutting West Berlin off from East Berlin for the first time.

Train services were cut and road traffic prevented between what had effectively become two separate cities over night.

Protests started on the West Berlin side with a crowd trying to breach the 6ft tall (1.8m) barbed wire fences. They were repelled by East German forces armed with bayonets.

The decision to raise the fence was made, at least in part, due to the massive increase of migration from East to West Germany. 12,500 had left the east in the previous 7 days, 2,000 more than the previous week.

In the 24 hours before the border was sealed, rumors of the move had circulated, and 3,000 people had fled to West Germany.

The Communist Party's Central Committee has announced a "new leap forward" to spread the word of Chairman Mao Zedong and purge the country of capitalism.