fall of the berlin wall
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© University of Reading 2006 www.reading.ac.uk
The Fall of the Wall Richard M McKenzie MA – Reading University
1
Die Mauer
• 155km long
• 302 Observation
Towers
• 3.6m High
2
Germany Divided
• Europe Divided
• More than 2 million
soldiers based in
Central Europe
• “Iron Curtain” Solid
• No change for 30 years
• “I like Germany so much
that I am glad there are
2 of them…”
3
Cold War Cools Down
• 1979 NATO-Doppelbeschluss
• 1980 Poland in revolt – Solidarity
– 1981 Marshal Law
• 1982 Brezhnev dies
• 1985 Gorbachev – Perestroika
– Glasnost
• 1985-88 Reagan/Gorbachev summits:
– Geneva, Switzerland, Reykjavik, Moscow
• 1986 Chernobyl
• 1989 Opening of Hungarian Borders
• 1989 Tiananmen Square
4
Mikhail S Gorbachev
• “…our common European Home…”
• “…the Sinatra doctrine…”
• “…Those who arrive too late are punished by like itself……”
5
DDR Reaction
“…if your neighbours
was redecorating, did
that mean you have to
as well?...”
6
Growth Of Opposition
• Protestant Church – Space for thought
• Peace Movement – Youth
– Fear of Nuclear destruction
– Opposition to militarisation of East Germany
• Bausoldaten
• Women’s Groups
• Artists
7
The Protestant Revolution
• Breath-taking Change – 1988 Soviet Magazine Sputnik banned
– Jan 1989 Arrests at Rosa Luxemburg demonstration
– May SED falsified local Election results
– May Opening of Hungarian Border
• 6,000 people fled to Hungary
– June Tiananmen Square Massacre
– Summer GDR citizens occupy West German embassies in
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, East Berlin
• 15,000 people escape
– August Hungary recognises escaping GDR citizens as
refugees
– Summer Honecker on leave due to bladder cancer
– September “sealed trains” of refugees from Czechoslovakia
8
The Protestant Revolution
• Breath-taking Change – Oct 1989 40 years of GDR celebrated
– Oct 1989 “Gorby Save us”
– Oct growth of new opposition groups
• New Forum, Democratic Awakening…
– Monday demonstrations in Leipzig 25,000 people
– Military forces despatched to Leipzig while Monday demos spread
– Oct 18th Honecker ousted by Egon Krenz
– “Wir blieben hier….”
– West Germany refuses to extend credits….
– Nov 7th Politburo reorganised and more freedoms discussed
– Nov 9th Wall opens
– 4,000 people leaving GDR a week
– December Politburo Resigns
– December 1989 SED changes name to SED-PDS
9
2 States?
• Helmut Kohl
– Grabs initiative
– 28th Nov 10 Point
Plan
– Calmed European,
US and USSR fears
– Negotiated the
bankers
– Unity Chancellor
10
DDR 1949-1990
• Socialist alternative
to capitalist W
Germany
• Anti Fascist
• SED leading role
• Never really
independent
• Possible to live an
ordinary life
11
www.germanwarfilm.co.uk
12
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