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It Was Twenty Years Ago Today

Posted by PATRICK EDABURN in Education, Politics, Society.
Nov 9th, 2009 | Comments

Today marks the 20th anniversary of one of the seminal moments of the 20th century as the Berlin Wall fell. This event marked the beginning of the end for not only the Warsaw Pact but also the collapse of the Soviet Union.

For those readers who were not alive at the time I am not sure if you can fully comprehend the incredulity of the moment. For forty years the East and West had been divided. For myself, for my parents, for my grandparents it was a reality that we had all known and accepted in the same way we today accept that China is ruled by the Communist party.

Indeed perhaps it would be apt to compare the two places and ask you to consider what it would be like today if in a matter of weeks or months the entire Communist system in China collapsed.

For myself I remember watching with stunned awe at the images on television. I was working in an internship at the time and part of my job was to track the newsprint assigned to various stories. I remember the stories on Eastern Europe going from nothing to covering entire sections. Indeed many papers took to publishing a special section each day devoted to the massive rush of events.

And here is one of the people who helped bring about that day.

I think it would be quite interesting for our readers to share their own memories of those amazing times

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Father_Time

Reagan didn't have much to do with the Berlin Wall coming down. He merely restated America's position spanning three decades. The German people get the credit in my book. Mikhail Gorbachev get some credit for not invading, as had previously occurred in other similar east-block political liberalizations. Reagan can only share an equal percentage of credit with each and every president back to John F Kennedy. However stanch opposition to the Iron Curtain goes even farther back to Harry S Truman.

I was among the Austrians when the wall came down and was quite a novelty among East Germans, being an American. It was a great time.

AustinRoth

Today marks the 20th anniversary of one of the seminal moments of the 20th century

How can that be true? I mean, our President didn't even bother to go, so I guess he feels differently about its importance.

Or maybe he just shares the view of the deniers of history like FT, who believe it "just happened to occur while Reagan was President, the lucky bastard".

Father_Time

Why you dum dum AR.

The Berlin Wall fell under George H.W.Bush, not Reagan. Which the German people give credible thanks to for his support during a difficult time. Which again is more than Reagan did. All Reagan did was give a speech. Oh I'm sure the whole thing fell because of Reagan's speech. Get Real.

AustinRoth

The Berlin Wall fell under George H.W.Bush
Brain fart. You are of course correct.

But to say neither the Reagan speech nor his political strategies against the USSR were the final driving force is ludicrous. Did other events over time help lead to a point where his efforts did have the effect they did? Of course. All history is interconnected. Very little, if anything, happens in pure isolation for previous events.

GreenDreams

Saint Reagan, I'll once again remind you, was a confessed traitor to the United States, not a hero. Deal with it.

He sold weapons to our enemy, the very definition of treason. He has admitted this. He is still revered by the GOP. A confessed traitor. Go figure.

ProfElwood

Russia fell because of their own ineptness - they overspent themselves, a fall which was foreseen before he took office. If Reagan's buildup helped push that over the edge, it was only by pushing ourselves over the edge as well. Mutual suicide isn't something to celebrate.

DLS

"our President didn't even bother to go, so I guess he feels differently about its importance"

Some critics had a good laugh at the President's expense. Gee, who wouldn't want to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall (leaving aside the credit associated with this, that Reagan gets routinely)? Those who aren't happy would be the Communists and those of similar tendencies. [chuckle]

As one critic noted last week: "Maybe Obama will go there if the Wall gets rebuilt. He might even put his autograph on it."

[chuckle]

Additionally, the more pertinent political explanation is that Obama is just being a childish elitist again, and choosing not to go as retaliation for not being permitted to speak earlier at the Brandenberg Gate or somewhere, where first one needs to have actually done something to qualify for this privilege. (In turn, it leads one to wonder if this is part of the motive behind the non-achievement award the Nobel Committee gave to Obama this year.)

Father_Time

What “strategies”? Reagan continued the same policies toward the Soviet Union and their east block allies as had been continued since Kennedy. No notable change at all really. The policy had it’s base in the security policy of Harry S Truman. . In fact his own chief of staff said in a documentary that the Reagan administration debated even giving the speech for fear of spooking the Soviets and damaging the ongoing liberalizations created under Mikhail Gorbachev. Fact is, there was nothing we were capable of doing beyond starting, WWIII, that would have affected the changes occurring under Mikhail Gorbachev. The Russians did this on their own and Mikhail Gorbachev is probably the bravest world leader of that entire century.

Patrick E

Interesting debate here but...

Could we actually celebrate the fall of the wall too ?

I'm assuming that we all liked the wall falling

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