20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

[Feirefiz]

Twenty years ago the Berlin Wall fell. For obvious reasons that is big news here.
Unfortunately I was only nine years old at the time. That mean that while I remember it I couldn't tell you where exactly I was when I got the news. During the more exciting part of the night I was probably in bed.

It is surprisingly hard to find English-language videos, but here is a news report to get you in the mood:



And an amateur compilation with a little more background:

[What Exit?]

I remember watching it on CNN when CNN was still a good news station and the only 24 hour one. I recall watching in awe. I was old enough and pessimistic enough to think the Cold War would not only not end but that nuclear destruction by the time I was 40 was likely. So to instead see the culmination of the Glasnost in the Berlin Wall come tumblin' down was a great moment in my life. I was happy to see we made it.

[The Original An Gadaí]

I was just about to turn 8. The main things I remember were the mullets on people and the poster my cousin's had on their living room wall of with the date. I've never forgotten it because the memory of the poster is so vivid. A friend of mine still takes pride in the piece of the Berlin Wall that his brother chipped off. It is just so surprising that there wasn't more bloodshed in that epochal transitory period for Central and Eastern Europe. Am I correct in thinking it was only in Ceaucescu's Romania that there was any violence?

[Jeff]

I was only 13 when it came down so I didn't have a lot of context for it except that it was a Big Bad Thing and it factored into some spy movies. But looking back it is very cool, I don't know if the world has ever seen such a rapid and radical (and positive) change of so many governments in such a short time, at so little a cost in lives.

[Feirefiz]

The main things I remember were the mullets on people

Oh, yes. West Germany has hardly innocent in the mullet department, but the East took it to another level.

Am I correct in thinking it was only in Ceaucescu's Romania that there was any violence?

The end of the Soviet Union wasn't always peaceful. Of course you could make the case that Yugoslavia should count as well, even though the issues were a bit different.

[Vox Imperatoris]

Today is the twentieth anniversary of one of the greatest victories for human freedom and triumph against oppression in the history of the world, the fall of the Berlin Wall, followed close after, of course, by the total collapse of Communism and an economic and political system in Europe. Millions of people were suddenly able to cross an imaginary line on a map between East and West Germany, an action that would have gotten them shot dead the day before. The revolution against socialist tyranny was even largely peaceful, with, out of all the Communist leaders, only the Ceauşescus getting what they deserved.

It should be a day to celebrate the triumph of capitalism and political freedom over Communist tyranny, and, to be fair, it is, to a large extent. Nevertheless, we still have people spouting this kind of Stalinist (no exaggeration) drek. And when people on both the left and right do find the time to think about the Cold War, the ones on the right try to make the relatively minuscule threat of terrorism seem equivalent to the terrible danger of nuclear at the press of a button and compare Obama (who is a leftist, but by no means a Communist) to the Soviet dictators, while the ones on the left are constantly scare-mongering about right-wing McCarthyism, which has failed to appear in the faintest way, and the coming Malthusian catastrophe, caused by the evil corporations, and draw insane parallels between the fall of Communism and the "fall of capitalism" allegedly occurring right now. Not to mention the fact that many on the right are convinced that it was the policies of Ronald Reagan (though he didn't hurt, by any means) and America's military might alone that defeated Communism, rather than the forces of the free market and the fact that no country can sustain the inherent contradiction in working towards greater freedom within in the oppressive system of socialism for long (and especially not while trying to keep up ridiculous levels of military spending).

Anyway, it's a great occasion to celebrate, and that's why I made the thread. I just wish that more people were learning the lessons from it.

[Glazer]

I had just been discharged from the Army in June of '89. I was stationed it Germany just a couple of years before. Wile in Germany I got to tour East Berlin and go through Check Point Charley. I remember patrolling the Fulda Gap and staring at Soviet solders only 100 meters away. One of the few times I was issued live ammo that I was not on the firing range.

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the events leading up to the fall of the U.S.S.R. where very happy and exciting times. You could feel the force of history and knew the world was changing in fundamental ways. Watching the world change before my eyes on an almost daily basis made me very proud of my military service and the small part I had in changing the world.

Today very few people younger than What Jim and I can understand the fear of nuclear holocaust that was the background of everyday life for decades before the fall of Communism. And fewer even then understood how close to the brink we actually were in those final years.

For all our problems I like today's world far better.

[What Exit?]

Today very few people younger than What Jim and I can understand the fear of nuclear holocaust that was the background of everyday life for decades before the fall of Communism. And fewer even then understood how close to the brink we actually were in those final years.

For all our problems I like today's world far better.

Amen to that and I am not religious.

I got out at the end of 88' though technically that was leave leadingto my official end of active duty in Jan09.

[Glazer]

'09? Don't you mean '89?

[Zuul]

Moderator note: Merged both 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall threads together.

[What Exit?]

'09? Don't you mean '89?

Yes, yes I did.

[Glazer]

Yes, yes I did.

My how time flies.

[Elendil's Heir]

I should remember it far better than I do, but I was in law school at the time and had a lot going on. Still, I remember being amazed that it all happened so quickly and peacefully, and I enjoyed watching, on CNN, the antics of all the exuberant Berliners dancing atop the Wall and then tearing it down.

A great moment in humanity's march towards freedom for all. Congratulations to the German people on this noteworthy anniversary.

[Orual]

I was a 3rd grader at the time.

I think we got time out of class to watch about it in the school library.

Sadly enough, I have clearer memories of the episode about the Wall than any actual news story.