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30 Years ago, the Berlin Wall came down

Started by Zanza, November 09, 2019, 04:10:46 AM

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Zanza

Today is the 30th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, 81st of the Reichskristallnacht, and 101st of the First German Republic. Also named 'German Day of Fate'.

Good article:
https://m.dw.com/en/the-day-the-berlin-wall-came-down/a-51099267
QuoteThe day the Berlin Wall came down

The Cold War, a global power struggle between dictatorship and democracy, ended in Berlin on November 9, 1989. The course of history, however, was set in motion by decisive events outside the country long before that.

It was the global symbol of the division between East and West, for the battle between communism and capitalism: the Berlin Wall, erected by the dictatorship of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), better known as East Germany, in 1961.

That all changed in an instant on November 9, 1989, when a new East German travel policy was announced at a press conference live on state TV. The law announced that — effective immediately — all East German citizens were free to travel to the West. Thousands of people ran straight to the guarded border crossings in the heart of Berlin, which would be opened just hours later.

...

I lived in a city near the border and can remember the Trabants coming over and visiting the grey village just across the border.

The Brain

Women want me. Men want to be with me.

celedhring

#2
It was one of those things that I remember quite well, but at the same time I was too little to fully grasp its significance. I was staying at my grandma's, and my grandfather (staunch anti-commie until his dying breadth) was immensely happy watching the afternoon news. "Communism has fallen!" he was yelling to grannie.

I remember footage of west germans welcoming the easterners with flowers and drink. Have I imagined that?

garbon

 :swiss: :punk:

On a personal note, I can't believe it has been a decade since I was at the 20 year commemoration in Berlin.
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Richard Hakluyt

I was cycling in Germany in 1988 and entered an area where the roads slowly got quieter and quiter, but we were in the heart of Germany, there was an end of the world feeling. Spent the weekend in a place called Reiffenhausen, just a few hundred yards from the frontier with the DDR. We cycled alongside the frontier for a while; it was pretty oppressive to our spirit, barbed wire and watchtowers. Three years later we were in the Harz and crossed over to the former Eastern side; the only evidence being a deterioration in road quality.

We were so happy when we saw the wall coming down on our tv; that and the collapse of the communist despotisms throughout Eastern Europe  :cool:

Eddie Teach

I remember seeing people celebrating on the news. Later I remember seeing chunks of the wall on sale. Yay capitalism.  :D
To sleep, perchance to dream. But in that sleep of death, what dreams may come?

Razgovory

I remember it.  I was in grade school at the time.  The teacher brought in a radio to class.  None of us students understood what going on except it was important.
I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

Monoriu

My habit of watching the news every day started with Tiananmen, and pretty much continued all the way through the Berlin Wall, Romania, Gulf War and the Fall of the Soviet Union.  Berlin Wall happened only a few months after Tiananmen.  So I was very surprised that it turned out that way.  I was initially quite sure that the army would intervene and open fire. 

The Brain

Ronald 'Jericho' Reagan's greatest triumph.
Women want me. Men want to be with me.

Zoupa

Quote from: The Brain on November 09, 2019, 01:13:30 PM
Ronald 'Jericho' Reagan's greatest triumph.

A case could be made that it was Carter's insistence on human rights violation that started the demise of communism  :sleep:

Valmy

That was a shocking day to me in 1989. The Cold War seemed like an eternal reality that would always be with us and suddenly it was obvious it would be over soon. It was an amazing moment full of promise of a better tomorrow.

After the Tiananmen Square protests earlier that year to.

[somebody on this board]You mean the Tiananmen Square riots! But we took care of them  :showoff:[/somebody on this board]

Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

The Brain

Quote from: Zoupa on November 09, 2019, 01:29:09 PM
Quote from: The Brain on November 09, 2019, 01:13:30 PM
Ronald 'Jericho' Reagan's greatest triumph.

A case could be made that it was Carter's insistence on human rights violation that started the demise of communism  :sleep:

Trump's insistence on human rights violation will hopefully have a lesser impact on world affairs. :(
Women want me. Men want to be with me.

Valmy

I am pretty sure the failures of the Soviet Union were mostly to blame.
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

The Brain

Quote from: Valmy on November 09, 2019, 01:56:10 PM
I am pretty sure the failures of the Soviet Union were mostly to blame.

Haters gonna hate.
Women want me. Men want to be with me.

Eddie Teach

To sleep, perchance to dream. But in that sleep of death, what dreams may come?