Perhaps nothing symbolized the Iron Curtain more than the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was a concrete barrier that completely surrounded West Germany and separated it from East Germany. Prior to the Berlin Wall’s erection in 1961, many, perhaps millions of East Germans had immigrated to West Germany and thus to freedom. The wall seriously halted immigration and many East Germans lost their life attempting to escape communism for nearly a quarter of a century.
In 1962, one of the top 40 songs on the hit parade dealt with Berlin Wall. Hardly a dance song. The visuals are excellent, even though you might want to turn your sound down:
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate, along the Berlin Wall and declared:
General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
While Reagan said those words, and is generally thought of as the impetus behind the wall coming down, it actually happened during the presidency of George Herbert Walker Bush.
On Novemeber 9, 1989, After a series of internal revolutionary movements swept through the eatern block, East Germany announced it would tear down the wall. Citizens from both cities came out in force and tore down the wall with great joy while armed guards watched.
Many of us in America sat there spell bound, glued to our TVs, as that wall came down. The Iron Curtain had been there since right after WWII. Most of us knew people who had escaped, often dodging bullets in the process. Retrospectively, the collapse of the Berlin Wall might have been a mistake on the Communists. It could have just been a part of a movement that was the implosion of a system that had failed to function. Different students of global studies have differing opinions. Shortly after that, the entire Soviet Union collapsed as far as being a communist nation.
Today, a unified Germany looks considerably different than the Germany from 1945-1989. Happy Anniversary to a unified Germany. 11/9/09–
Is the threat of communism really over? Is Russia still a threat to world stability? Why are people still quick to throw out communism as the great insult when they politically disagree with people? It seems like those ideas are still lurking about.
Many dignitaries are there at the Brandenburg Gate today. Bon Jovi is entertaining. Not sure of the connection but it sounds like a good time.
From the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/06/AR2009110600084.html?hpid=moreheadlines
Jon Bon Jovi performed the song: We weren’t Born to Follow at tonight’s festivities in Berlin.
Hillary looks wonderful. The dominoes are still falling. The Berlin Wall ended up being 93 miles long.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g-1wRq0zmo
I went through that wall at the old Checkpoint Charlie in 1965, headed into East Berlin. It was an unforgettable experience. In a high point in a building near the check point there was an East German soldier with a machine gun. I looked up at him. He looked down at me. We were about the same age. Our eyes met. The machine gun was pointing down directly at me. Strange feeling — like we were both in a world gone insane.
When I came back through the checkpount later that day, I turned briefly to see if that young East German was still there. He was not. The guard had changed. But what caught my eye was a bright sign which had been painted on the West Berlin side of a nearby section of the wall. That sign said quite simply: “Freedom shall not end here.” Some things you never forget — ever.
What was it like behind the wall? Why did they allow you in?
The Soviets and East Germans made a bit of spare cash on carefully controlled tourist tours. They especially made sure you got an extended look at that huge Soviet war memorial in East Berlin. What they couldn’t avoid was the contrast. Day and night between West Berlin and East Berlin. West Berlin had already become a vibrant and prosperous place. East Berlin was dour and gaunt and antiseptic, almost psychologically lugubrious in some aspects. Except for the tour guides and a few selected people to whom you were introduced, the people looked very mentally closed off, as if they were afraid to show you any emotion in the presumed presence of Stasi personnel. And where the West Berliners had already cleaned up most of the war rubble, leaving a few places as well-maintained memorials, there were important parts of East Berlin, as I recall, which looked like the war had only stopped yesterday. Maybe they did that for effect and reminder, but it seemed rather ghostly to me. That was 1965, not very long after the Wall had gone up. I suppose that changes were made for the better over the subsequent decades. I’ve never been back. Certainly would like, however, to see what “freedom” has done to East Berlin.
@Wolverine
Much of that rebuild is thanks to the United States for sure.
We all heard tales about raincoats being on sale but all of them were olive green and size 16, stuff like that. I knew several people who escaped over the years. Actually, I am not sure if they escaped from East Berlin or East Germany. I just don’t remember. All I remember is them talking about having been shot at.
I wonder how dedicated those shooters were to hitting a target.
Things got so bad, Moon-howler, that the East German and Soviet masters didn’t even fully trust their own contingent of East German Army guards. For good reason. Some of those guards managed to escape themselves. Good point, that last one. I have sometimes wondered myself about how much “dedication” was involved in some of those succesful escapes.
But I do remember vividly one incident in which a very young man (don’t remember if he was a guard or not) tried valiantly to make a run for freedom. He got to the last line of barbed wire, as I recall, before he was shot down. They left him hanging on that barbed wire for what seemed to some to be an ungodly eternity that left much of the outside world with a feeling of horror. And he had been ever so close to freedom. A very happy day when that brick and mortar symbol of inhumanity came down forever.
Good thread. An important remembrance to be sure. Keep up the good work.