Berlin

Here is a fascinating article from the BBC about Berlin, to mark the 25th Anniversary of the wall coming down on 9 November 2014. It examines how Berlin has changed since then, becoming more united in many ways but still retaining some distinct differences between East and West. One of the most famous of these was taken by NASA, noting how West Berlin mainly has white streetlights, while East Berlin has retained its sodium yellow ones.

You may also enjoy these photographs taken on 9 November 1989, this attempt to retrace the route of the wall, this "secret history" of the Berlin Wall, and this article about the significance of Berlin in the Cold War, the last two both from "History Today".

Egypt and Lessons from History

Here is an interesting article from the BBC's John Simpson putting the events in Egpyt into historical context. He examines other popular uprisings, such as the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the revolutions in Eastern Europe in 1989, and the events in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the same year. Massive crowds of people gathered to make their feelings known in each case, but they weren't always successful. In Iran the Shah resisted for some time but then gave up and escaped. In Eastern Europe the communist governments lost the backing of the Soviet Union and swiftly folded, but in China Deng Xiaoping found army generals prepared to use force against the people, leading the deaths of thousands but the survival of his regime. If a leader can guarantee the support of his military and police forces there is a reasonable chance that they can hang on, but this may not be the case for Mubarak. We will have to wait and see what the outcome will be.

PS: Now that President Mubarak has been successfully removed, this article by Professor Mark Almond compares the events in Egypt with previous revolutions, including Indonesia and Ukraine, looking for particular patterns. He writes:

"What collapses a regime is when insiders turn against it. So long as police, army and senior officials think they have more to lose by revolution than by defending a regime, then even mass protests can be defied and crushed. Remember Tiananmen Square in 1989. But if insiders and the men with guns begin to question the wisdom of backing a regime - or can be bought off - then it implodes quickly."

German Reunification

Sunday 3 October was an important day in Germany for 2 reasons. It was the 20th anniversary of reunification, which was marked by an official ceremony in Bremen and other events across the country. However it also is the day that Germany will make its final reparations payment for its debts from the 1st World War, 92 years after the War ended. The reason it has taken so long is that Germany was allowed to wait until it was unified before it needed to pay the final interest charges, a process that was spread out over 20 years. The anniversary has sparked plenty of articles, including this analysis of Germany's changing role in Europe, and this article from Der Spiegel about the behind-the-scenes negotiations between Germany and France 20 years ago. It also contains a useful "road to reunification" timeline.

The End of the Cold War

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the "End of the Cold War". On 3 December 1989 George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev held a summit meeting aboard a storm-lashed Russian cruise ship off the coast of Malta. It was the first time the two had met since the sequence of events in Eastern Europe that had led to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Gorbachev said, "we are at the beginning of a long road to a lasting peaceful era" and assured Bush that he would never start a "hot war" against the USA. More details of the summit can be found here. December 3 also marked the date that the entire East German government resigned, paving the way for reunification with the West.

The Velvet Revolution

On 17 November 1989 a group of students in Prague began demonstrating for freedom and democracy in Czechoslovakia. Thousands of people joined them and 12 days later the Communist Party gave up its power. The anniversary was marked in Prague yesterday with rather more low key celebrations than were seen in Berlin, but Vaclav Havel, the playwright who became the figurehead of the revolution and later the president of the Czech Republic, was there to retrace the steps of the first demonstrators. There is BBC footage of the celebrations here and archive film of the events in 1989 here and here. John Simpson shares his opinions here. For the local perspective, here is the Prague Post.

More on the wall

Here is a Berlin Wall quiz, courtesy of German magazine "Der Spiegel". There is also an interesting interview with Lieutenant-Colonel Harald Jäger, the first border guard to allow East Germans to cross into the west. He explains why he made that decision, revealing the chaos and confusion of the East German government that evening.

Der Spiegel also takes a closer look at the significance of 9 November in German history, which also marks 1918 German Revolution which brought down the Kaiser, Adolf Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch in 1923, and Kristallnacht in 1938.

PS: 9 November was also the date of the execution Robert Blum, one of the leaders of the 1848 Revolution in Germany, and was the date of the foundation of the SS in 1925. It is therefore referred to in Germany as the "Day of Fate" (Schicksalstag)

PPS: Here's Pravda's take on the anniversary. Apparently the fall of the wall triggered "the largest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th Century"...

Fall of the Wall: 20 Years Today

Today marks the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Here is a video showing the incidents that led to its collapse, and if you didn't see it, we recommend you watch the BBC documentary about the Wall which you can see here.

PS: Here's a link to the article from The Times reporting events from that day and another explaining why celebrations will be slightly muted as 9 November also marks the anniversary of Kristallnacht.
PPS: Here's footage from the BBC reports from that night, and explanation from Brian Hanrahan about its significance (Recommended!)

1989: Year of Revolutions

The Guardian has set up a page where important figures debate the importance and significance of the events of 1989. So far Mikhail Gorbachev (Leader of the USSR in 1989)and Timothy Garton-Ash (political historian) have made contributions.

Fall of the Wall

The Berlin Wall was breached on 9 November 1989. The celebrations that followed effectively marked the end of the Cold War, leading to the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and the unification of Germany. It was an exceptionally dramatic and exciting time to live through and it seems difficult to believe for many people that 20 years have passed since then.

There is lots of information about to mark this anniversary. The BBC has created an archive of material about the history of the wall. Jeremy Vine has made a radio programme which includes interviews with Germans who tried to escape over and under the wall. The Times has created an archive of its reports on the Wall's history, and also includes reports about modern Germans' attitudes to the wall in both east and west.

Berlin Wall video

Here is an interesting 5 minute video from the Guardian about the Berlin Wall, with residents of the city describing what it was like to live in its shadow. Several people who attempted to escape are also interviewed.

PS: The Guardian is publishing new videos all of this week. Here is a link to them and other interesting articles.

East German jokes

West Germany's intelligence service has released a collection of jokes made in East Germany during the Cold War. You can read some of the here, such as,
"If Christmas had happened in East Germany, it would have been cancelled. Mary would't find any napppies for the baby Jesus, Joseph would be called up to the army and the three kings wouldn't get a travel permit."
Or, "What would happen if the desert became communist? Nothing for a while, and then there would be a sand shortage."
The humour is pretty dry, but it reveals the way many East Germans coped with the repressive regime and their dreary surroundings - through cynicism and sarcasm. Of course, the penalty for being caught telling such jokes could be very high. The Stasi had 189,000 informants who reported any criticsm of mockery of the government, and many people were arrested and sent to labour camps.

The report is published by Der Spiegel, a German news magazine, and you can find further coverage (in English) of the events marking the anniversary of 1989 here.

Gorbachev defends his legacy

Mikhail Gorbachev was interviewed by the BBC over the weekend about his role in the events of 1989 that led to the removal of communism in Eastern Europe. He was remarkably relaxed about it, saying that he though that, "1989 was certainly change for the better - no doubt about it. We did not have… the necessary freedom, particularly freedom of speech."

He admits some western leaders, including Margaret Thatcher and President Mitterand, were against German unification, but expected him to block the process on their behalf. Further comments, including his concerns about Vladimir Putin, can be found here.

Berlin Wall Exhibition

The Imperial War Museum in Manchester has an exhibition running until March about the Berlin Wall and how it affected the city. There are lots of photographs as well as a Trabant, a searchlight and a piece of the wall itself. Here are a selection of images from the wall's 28 year history, and here is the Times' review of the exhibition, plus other interesting articles, including the Jewish history of the city, and a visit to the headquarters of the Stasi.

1989: Hungary opens its borders

20 years ago today on 10 Sep 1989, the Hungarian government agreed to allow the thousands of East German refugees who had been flooding into the country to leave for West Germany. This in effect was the beginning of the removal of the Iron Curtain, and the event was the catalyst for the collapse of East Germany and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Mr Coy was living in West Germany at the time, and remembers there being a big street party when his neighbours welcomed their East German and Hungarian friends. Lots of East German cars called Trabants suddenly appeared, often causing traffic jams because they were so slow, had broken down, or had crashed.

More information can be found in this BBC article. Here is a timeline of key events in 1989, and here is some more Hungarian history.

Time Magazine on 1989

Here is an excellent collection of articles from Time Magazine on the events of 1989, including Tiananmen Square, events in Eastern Europe, the Satanic Verses controversy and the creation of the Simpsons.

Polish elections

On 4 June 1989 Solidarity won the first free elections in Poland since the Second World War. It was hugely significant for Eastern Europe, showing that a democratic party could be allowed to triumph against the ruling communist government and influenced many of the events that followed in Hungary, East Germany and elsewhere.
More information here and here.

Tiananmen

Today is the 20th Anniversary of the Chinese crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square. It is still unclear what exactly happened that night or how many people lost their lives, but it marked the end of the Chinese democracy movement and shocked the world. More information from the BBC, including a timeline, can be found here. There is no reference to the anniversary at the China People's Daily Website.

We will look at other important anniversaries from 1989 in the months to come.