By Paul Whitelock
The Berlin Wall "fell" 35 years ago on 9 November 1989. Soviet guards stood and watched as hundreds, if not thousands, of East Germans walked across borders unchallenged in Berlin and elsewhere on the Oder-Neisse-Linie, the border between the DDR (German Democratic Republic - surely the greatest misnomer in the history of mankind) and the BRD (Federal Republic of Germany).
What happened on 9 November 1989?
After several days of confusion, the Chancellor of East Germany, Erich Honicker, bowed to the inevitable and, under pressure from Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, a fan of perestroika and glasnost keen to "buddy up" to the West, instructed his police and troops to do nothing to prevent this mass exodus.
Photo courtesy of CNN Photo courtesy of the BBC
The Berlin Wall had been built overnight in 1961 and divided the city into two, splitting up families and friends.
The collapse of the Wall after nearly 30 years was the start of the Wiedervereinigung Deutschlands, the re-unification of Germany.
What happened next?
Pushed through relatively quickly by West German chancellor Helmut Kohl, it has not been a happy "coming together". The East German infrastructure and economy were in a poor state, so bringing together two economies and two currencies was always going to be difficult.
L to R: Helmut Kohl, Mikhail Gorbachev and Olaf Scholz [Photos courtesy of the BBC]
Those 35 years have led to increasing discontent in the former East, culminating in the rise of the far right AfD (Alternative for Germany).
With a snap German general election, probably in February, forced by the collapse last week of the Ampel-Koalition, the three-way coalition of socialists, liberals and greens led by chancellor Olaf Scholz, it remains to be seen whether the AfD gains more support and more seats in the Bundestag (German parliament).
Image courtesy of Wikipedia
Watch this space!
© Paul Whitelock
Links:
Berlin Wall anniversary: What was the Berlin Wall? - BBC Newsround
Is the German government about to collapse?
Photos and images:
BBC
CNN
Wikipedia
Tags:
1961, 1989, 35 years, 9 November 1989, AfD, Alternative for Germany, Ampel-Koalition, Berlin Wall, BBC, BRD, Bundestag, CNN, DDR, Federal Republic of Germany, German Democratic Republic, glasnost, Gorbachev, Honicker, Kohl, Oder-Neisse Linie, perestroika, re-unification of Germany, Scholz, Wiedervereinigung Deutschlands, Wikipedia