In many parts of the country, there was a huge desire for the wall to come down, but very little hope, because we were very much aware that the Soviet Union had rudely crushed an uprising in all of East Germany in More than 10 percent of the East German population then had turned to the streets and had demonstrated for freedom, unity, and justice. The same had happened in in Hungary and in in Czechoslovakia.
There was very little hope that the Soviet Union would ever allow Germany to reunite. What was the immediate impact of the barrier coming down, in German society and German politics? There was of course unlimited travel. The East had already lost, before then, two million people.
That was one reason why the wall was built, to stop that. Immediately after it came down, another million left East Germany for the West. Also it led to the all-German election on December 2, , when those who had argued for German unification won an overwhelming victory. It changed everything in German politics. The legacy is that a peaceful revolution can make a difference.
I say courageous because it was quite likely that the police would clamp down on these demonstrations and all these people demonstrating would be beaten and would end up in jail. They made it a little bit more likely that this would happen. Then later on, we have the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. It was the end of the Iron Curtain in Europe.
That had been totally unforeseeable. It was a huge historical development. Was there difficulty as well, unifying a relatively poor East Germany with a much more prosperous West Germany? Yes, and to a certain extent that still exists. The latest figures are for —salaries in the East are now Unemployment went down from fifteen years ago, 18 percent in the East to now 6 percent, still a bit higher than in the West, but only marginally. At the time of unification, only 18 percent of East Germans had a telephone, which is just amazing.
Three days later, the government resigned. But there was no intention to give way to democracy and Egon Krenz remained head of the Communist Party and the country's de facto leader.
He would not be there long. Five days later, Mr Schabowski gave his world-changing press conference. Earlier in '89, Beijing demonstrators in Tiananmen Square who had called for democracy in China were crushed in a major military crackdown. The USSR had used its military to put down rebellions before. So why not now? Within the Soviet Union itself, it did, killing 21 pro-independence protesters in the Soviet republic of Georgia. But elsewhere in the communist bloc, they did not.
In a break with Soviet policy, Mikhail Gorbachev decided against using the threat of military might to quell mass demonstrations and political revolution in neighbouring countries. Student demonstrators in Prague clashed with police, triggering the Velvet Revolution which overthrew Czechoslovak communism within weeks.
In Romania, demonstrations ended in violence and saw the fall of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. A new government took over as the ousted leader fled his palace and angry crowds stormed it. He and his wife Elena were captured and executed on Christmas Day. More than 1, people were killed in unrest before and after the revolution, setting Romania apart from the largely bloodless events elsewhere.
In , Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia took advantage of their new-found political freedoms to vote out their communist governments and make moves towards independence. The Soviet Union was falling apart, but Mr Gorbachev made one last ill-fated attempt to reform it by calling together the leaders of the 15 Soviet republics. Hardline communists opposed to his reforms pre-empted him, attempting a coup while he was on holiday in Crimea in August and putting him under house arrest.
The coup was defeated in three days as pro-democracy forces rallied round Boris Yeltsin, president of the Russian republic. But it was the death knell for the USSR, and one by one its constituent republics declared independence. By the end of the year the Soviet flag had flown for the last time.
Newsnight: Fall of the Berlin Wall. This effort, known as the Berlin Airlift , lasted for more than a year and delivered more than 2. The Soviets called off the blockade in After a decade of relative calm, tensions flared again in Summits, conferences and other negotiations came and went without resolution.
Meanwhile, the flood of refugees continued. The following month, 30, fled. In the first 11 days of August, 16, East Germans crossed the border into West Berlin, and on August 12 some 2, followed—the largest number of defectors ever to leave East Germany in a single day. That night, Premier Khrushchev gave the East German government permission to stop the flow of emigrants by closing its border for good.
In just two weeks, the East German army, police force and volunteer construction workers had completed a makeshift barbed wire and concrete block wall —the Berlin Wall—that divided one side of the city from the other. Before the wall was built, Berliners on both sides of the city could move around fairly freely: They crossed the East-West border to work, to shop, to go to the theater and the movies.
Trains and subway lines carried passengers back and forth. Eventually, the GDR built 12 checkpoints along the wall. At each of the checkpoints, East German soldiers screened diplomats and other officials before they were allowed to enter or leave. Except under special circumstances, travelers from East and West Berlin were rarely allowed across the border. Why it's so hard to treat pain in infants.
This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city Caracals have learned to hunt around the urban edges of Cape Town, though the predator faces many threats, such as getting hit by cars. India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big.
Environment Planet Possible India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big Grassroots efforts are bringing solar panels to rural villages without electricity, while massive solar arrays are being built across the country.
Go Further. Animals Climate change is shrinking many Amazonian birds. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city. Animals This frog mysteriously re-evolved a full set of teeth.
Animals Wild Cities Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London. Animals Wild Cities Morocco has 3 million stray dogs. Meet the people trying to help.
Environment COP26 nears conclusion with mixed signals and frustration. Environment Planet Possible India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big. Environment As the EU targets emissions cuts, this country has a coal problem.
0コメント