1989: Berlin Wall is demolished and East Germany allows unrestricted migration to West Germany

DATE: November 9, 1989

DESCRIPTION: On November 9, 1989, an announcement was made by Günther Schabowski stating that permanent relocations between East and West Germany could be done at all border checkpoints between the two. The gates were very quickly flooded by people from both sides and a huge celebration ensued. After the gates were opened, people came and chipped pieces of the wall off with sledgehammers and chisels, which demolished lengthy portions of the wall.

BLAME: Politics in Germany definitely played a role in the fall of the Berlin wall, as demonstrations took place in 1989 asking for it to come down; the new prime minister of East Germany after the resignation of the Politburo, Hans Modrow, also helped by promising to ease travel restrictions to the West. It’s worth mentioning that Reagan, the president of the United States also made a speech demanding Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall in order to prove that he truly wanted to increase freedom in the Eastern Bloc, but it didn’t play much of a role in the wall actually coming down.

TENSION INCREASE: The destruction of the Berlin wall definitely decreased tensions between the US and the USSR, as it was essentially the fall of the physical Iron Curtain between East and West Germany. However, the fall of the wall also helped to lessen tensions between both sides of Germany, as this event would help lead to Germany reuniting in the future. -1

<< back to home