Older Languishites: When did you realise the USSR/Eastern Bloc was over?

[Grey Fox]

Too young. But this was a very interesting thread. Great idea.

[Solmyr]

I was a teen at the time, living in Leningrad. I remember that ideological indoctrination at our school steadily fell off during the late 1980s, as communist paraphernalia were increasingly ignored, teachers started speaking more bravely and openly, etc. Overall, the rise of Yeltsin felt like it was bringing something new, and everything culminated with the 1991 coup which made him the hero of Russia. At that point, the Soviet Union became just an abstract afterthought.

[Monoriu]

The 1991 coup.  There was no internet then.  One day I sorta overheard my mother's radio that something was happening in the USSR.  A few hours later I was in a car, and was as usual forced to listen to the radio.  I paid attention, and someone said something like "Gorbachev is in charge of the USSR...err...supposedly.  Not sure who is in charge now." 

I had always assumed that throughout my entire life, WWIII would loom over my head and the Soviet tanks would always be a few hours from rushing over the border.  That was the moment when I realised that the world would change. 

[Josephus]

The Berlin Wall for sure; and seeing all the East Berliners/Germans streaming to the west in their Trabants and not being shot. I remember watching a lot of that live on TV and thinking "Holy shit, everything is changing."

[viper37]

Too young. But this was a very interesting thread. Great idea.

he did say "older Languishites".  He meant specifically to exclude kids like you!

[Barrister]

I had no grand foresight in this area.  I remember watching all the news of 1989, starting with the Chinese Tianamen protests, then leading into eastern Europe and the fall of the Berlin Wall.  But even then I could scarcely believe the USSR would fall 2 years later.

Or that even after the USSR fell, I then believe that the PRC would probably fall / reform soon, which is yet another prediction that has failed to come true.

[Oexmelin]

I kept the newspaper the day the wall fell. I still have it.

[11B4V]

Slightly prompted by talk in the China thread but also been reading a fair bit about the end of history moment - and what's striking is how sudden the end of the USSR is and how unexpected it was for most people including participants in East and West.

So I was wondering for the older Languishites who remember it, when did you realise it was all over and the USSR/Eastern Bloc was collapsing irreversibly? And before then did you even realy think it was likely that it would end?

I was stationed in West Germany at the time.

It's never over with the Russians.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=bul69OK0P5k

[Josephus]

I kept the newspaper the day the wall fell. I still have it.

I have a Toronto Star front page with the headline "Gorbachev Ousted"

[mongers]

Slightly prompted by talk in the China thread but also been reading a fair bit about the end of history moment - and what's striking is how sudden the end of the USSR is and how unexpected it was for most people including participants in East and West.

So I was wondering for the older Languishites who remember it, when did you realise it was all over and the USSR/Eastern Bloc was collapsing irreversibly? And before then did you even realy think it was likely that it would end?

I was stationed in West Germany at the time.

It's never over with the Russians.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=bul69OK0P5k

Says the man who plays SSI's 'Fulda Gap 83'* once a month.




* I made up the name, don't know if it's real.

[Josquius]

I actually remember the Russian coup.
I was sleeping over at my friend's place and we had a plan to stay up late and watch eurotrash (purely from a boobies tee hee perspective) on the TV his parents had wisely put in his room.
All night reporting of this Russia thing sort of ruined that.

It was an odd period of history just before. I've got a kids atlas from the time which calls that part of the world the CIS and presents it as a viable thing....

[PDH]

I thought it was still around just with a different name?  Man, am I out of touch...

[DGuller]

One vivid memory I have is watching some new report with Romanians waving their flags with holes in the middle.  I was interested in flags at that time, and that super complicated crap in the middle of the Romanian flag always annoyed me, so I was happy to see people cutting it out.  I liked simple tricolor flags.  It wasn't until much later than I understood the significance of the hole in the flag.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Yeah, I remember a discussion with a friend about the Romanian flag; we agreed that they should keep the hole in the middle as a commemoration.

[The Brain]

One vivid memory I have is watching some new report with Romanians waving their flags with holes in the middle.  I was interested in flags at that time, and that super complicated crap in the middle of the Romanian flag always annoyed me, so I was happy to see people cutting it out.  I liked simple tricolor flags.  It wasn't until much later than I understood the significance of the hole in the flag.

When you came to America and saw a donut, did you go "whoa!"?