The fall of the wall
I grew up with the Berlin Wall and the cold war with Soviet Empire as a fact of life. No one really thought that the Berlin Wall would ever come down. In fact most people thought there was a greater than even chance of a global nuclear war ending life on the planet.
Even a year before the wall came down, you would have been thought mad if you had predicted its peaceful demise.
The fall of the wall (and eventual collapse of the Soviet Empire) remain the most significant global events of my lifetime.
But it was also the end of a tragic era for many families. Some parents gave away their children to friends West Berlin, so they could grow up free. Siblings were not able to see each other for almost 30 years. An entire country was locked up behind the wall – the only way the communist state could keep its citizens from fleeing the so called workers paradise.
A few years ago I was fortunate to meet Ronald Reagan’s speech writer, who penned the immortal line:
Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
We often refer to the Holocaust, saying “We must never forget”. For me the same maxim applies to Eastern Europe – we must never forget. Hundreds of millions in effective state slavery. No rights to vote. No rights to leave. Basically no rights at all.
I personally have special reason to celebrate the fall of the wall. One of the most special people in my life was born in East Germany, and I would have never met her if Germany had remained divided.
The UN has days for everything – World Children’s Day, World Agriculture Day etc. I propose that the 9th of November should be World Freedom Day. That would be a day worth celebrating.
November 10th, 2009 at 6:33 am
Novermber 9, 1938 is the date of Kristallnacht, so I doubt your last suggestion would get much traction, I’m afraid.
Which really sucks, because the sentiment of a World Freedom Day is awesome.
November 10th, 2009 at 7:35 am
Yes, my wife who is German pointed this out to me and why German’s have a great deal of difficulty celebrating this day. There is the very real fear that extremist groups might hijack the day and embarrass everyone.
Cheers, Chris W.
November 10th, 2009 at 7:40 am
BKD, a good point- but perhaps we would see it adopted as the day which overturned Kristallnacht. For those who are interested, aldaily.com has a very good collation of references to different articles on the phenomenon.
November 10th, 2009 at 7:57 am
“A few years ago I was fortunate to meet Ronald Reagan’s speech writer, who penned the immortal line:
Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
Didn’t he write lyrics for Pink Floyd as well?
November 10th, 2009 at 8:22 am
I was living in London at the time of the wall coming down however in August of that year I was in Berlin and crossed over into the DDR at Check Point Charlie. A very depressing place the DDR was. Although I had seen similar places having just finished travelling through Russia and Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe. Communists have a lot to answer for.
The camp ground I was staying at in Berlin had the wall running right through it and my tent was literally only a few meters from the wall. We did climb up to have a look over and the ground was barren for about 1000meters back to a forest. One night while staying there all hell broke loose with gun fire. It sounded like the invasion had begun. Again we climb up onto the wall and could see a small amount of tracer fire. I was so pleased to see that wall come down.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:23 am
It really would be a good sentiment. However, the Europeans would make a ho-hum about it and most ‘free’ countries are trying to make their own workers paradises…
November 10th, 2009 at 8:25 am
…but perhaps we would see it adopted as the day which overturned Kristallnacht.
A good point too, but risks overshadowing Kristallnacht, which would be unfortunate.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:36 am
May I remind that it started in the Poland when Gdansk shipyard workers went on strike in August 1980?
November 10th, 2009 at 8:38 am
Got warm fuzzies reading that. Its a pity I cant remember this tremendous event, I was only 7!
November 10th, 2009 at 8:48 am
Indeed David, the symbolic end of communism cannot be understated. That it was had without true bloodshed actually diminishes the significance (sadly). Before the end of the 80′s, WW3 was always a possibility on the cards. I think now the new threat towards Western civilization, that of Islamism (the “terror” aspect, not the religion) is actually small fry in comparison to communism. Not that I mean to diminsh the hurt caused so far, but lets compare like with like. We’re not exactly talking about WW3 with the motley crews that roam the valleys of southern Afghanistan. I know some people see Iran as a threat, but not to the major cities of Europe and the US. I guess only time will tell.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:48 am
Were that true…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Freedom_Day
November 10th, 2009 at 9:02 am
“May I remind that it started in the Poland when Gdansk shipyard workers went on strike in August 1980?”
In part thats why I had to be reminded of the date because to me the wall coming down was really a culmination of a whole lot of events spearheaded by Walesa, the Pope, Reagan, Gorbachev and Thatcher.
Still a sense of wonder that “Its finally happening” though.
JC
November 10th, 2009 at 9:03 am
“Were that true…”
But if the length of the Wikipedia article is anything to go by, it probably doesn’t have much traction. Not that I’m say its a bad idea though.
November 10th, 2009 at 9:04 am
In which I learn a valuable lesson: Google and Wiki before commenting.
Never mind: I’m quite accustomed to looking like an idiot…
November 10th, 2009 at 9:31 am
I was working in London this time 20 years ago and aware that history was in the making I flew to Berlin and watched the wall come down. It was incredible and one of those moments etched in my memory. Also etched in my memory is waking up in my hotel room and finding the nice German girl who I had met at the wall and who had shown me the sights (so to speak) had decamped with my camera and my wallet.
[DPF: But was she worth it?
]
November 10th, 2009 at 9:33 am
So right, November 9th should be declared World Freedom Day. Seeing the wall coming down in realtime TV was a defining moment in my life, I think the other one was watching the moon landing in June 1969.
November 10th, 2009 at 9:44 am
“World freedom day” sounds a bit overblown IMHO. Millions of Africans might ask wtf you are talking about.
North-East European Freedom Day???
November 10th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Here is an interesting take on the anniversary of the fall of the wall.
It seems out of the frypan into the fire for Europeans perhaps.
http://www.melaniephillips.com/articles-new/?p=692
November 10th, 2009 at 9:54 am
A link to the Tear Down This Wall speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjWDrTXMgF8&feature=player_embedded
November 10th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Isn’t it funny (in a sad way) though that Pravda the other day said that the EU was the new Soviet Union.
November 10th, 2009 at 10:59 am
Interestingly, while some think the Catholic Church is an irrelevant institution in the modern world (whatever that is), it was Pope John Paul II who was instrumental, if not pivotal, in the fall of the Berlin Wall.
November 10th, 2009 at 11:29 am
David posted: I propose that the 9th of November should be World Freedom Day. That would be a day worth celebrating.
Well, I wouldn’t get too worked up about it David. The Wall coming down was only one element in a series of developments that resulted in the crumbling of the Eastern Bloc.
Even the Wall itself wasn’t unique. Ask the Protestants and Catholics on each side of the Green Line in Belfast, or the Turkish and Greek Cypriots on either side of the Green Line in Nicosia.
Guess it all comes down to how old you are. Those of us who saw WW2 – culminaing in the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – really appreciate what a World shaking event really is.
November 10th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Dang spelling – and hopeless spell-checker-corrector!! Its ‘culminating’ of course!!
November 10th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Well, I wouldn’t get too worked up about it David. The Wall coming down was only one element in a series of developments that resulted in the crumbling of the Eastern Bloc.
It’s the symbolic value that’s valuable here, IMHO.
November 10th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Could we stop quoting the Reagan line as if it were somehow the most important thing that happened?
Trade unionists, dissidents, intellectuals and ordinary people drove the events that led to the wall opening. Only months before it happened, Georgian protesters were shot in the street by their own security forces. I think it’s much more important to remember them than Reagan, who merely read a catchy line.
November 10th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
The Fall of One Wall
It turns out that in the contest between freedom and totalitarianism, freedom does pretty well.
November 10th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Trade unionists and intellectuals…I almost choked on that one. In the West they’ve spent the last 20 years trying to ressurect the Wall at every opportunity. Are you claiming the East European union movement and academics were the first true globalists?
November 10th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Those that like to talk about freedom at University often site the summer of 69, yet here we have the late 1980s.
I certainly think we need a day to celebrate it
November 10th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
NZTed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidarity_%28Polish_trade_union%29
November 10th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Are you claiming the East European union movement and academics were the first true globalists?
I’m saying that they were the ones who put their lives on the line, went to prison and took to the streets — and that the ceaseless quoting of Reagan in this context has reached the level of a wingnut wank-fantasy.
November 10th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Wow, Revisionist Russell tries it again… you had to insert “trade unions” into that didn’t you? What bought the wall down was the growing feeling of resentment from the enslaved people of Eastern and Central Europe who were dictated to by Moscow on how they lived their lives every day. What utter nonsense that the unions had that kind of effect on this.
My wife remembers it quite well as she lived just out of Prague and everybody was bloody thrilled to see those events take place. Finally people didn’t have to line up for bananas and oranges once a year at Xmas and watch it as mates of the Commie Party get preferential treatment over everyday citizens. Begrudge President Reagan all you like, but his speech was indeed memorable and monumental.
Note – even under the darkest days of Moscow rule, they still didn’t ban smacking
November 10th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Yeah yea Russell, trade unions – the great collaborators… you go off and have your wank fest fantasy with your “heroic trade unions” and we’ll enjoy the speeches of a great President, the architect of the downfall of the USSR.
November 10th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Lech Wałęsa, the leader of the Polish “Solidarity” Trade Union bears no resemblence to the type of Trade Union Russell and others support these days. Lech famously said “”Liberty is not only a right, but also our common responsibility and duty” which is far removed from what you hear come out of the mouths of the far left trade union leaders in NZ.
So stop rewriting history.
November 10th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Clint Heine Says: “Lech Wałęsa, the leader of the Polish “Solidarity” Trade Union bears no resemblence to the type of Trade Union Russell and others support these days.”
So what? I don’t think he claimed it did. You are the one re-writing 25 minute old Russell Brown history. You are not sounding very calm or rational about it either…
November 10th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Which goes to show that those who compared it to socialist decree didn’t know what they were talking about.
November 10th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Actually, Pope John Paul II had a HUGE influence on the wall coming down and the end of communism there, but of course, his efforts have been conveniently forgotten.
November 10th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
The link between the end of communism in Europe- and Soviet adventurism abroad- and the end of apartheid is often ignored.
The removal of the external threat removed any pretence that apartheid was a defence against communism, and enabled reform to go ahead without a fear of a Soviet takeover. The effects of President Botha’s blaming the violence in the townships on Communist agitators was that even though it was clear to any rational person that the role of apartheid in causing dissent was being ignored, white South Africa tended to fear the ‘rooi gevaar’ [red peril]. President de Klerk, taking over a nation facing bankruptcy, read the writing on the wall while his back was up against it and the rest is history- but if the wall had still been up he would have been unable to take his cabinet- or his voters- with him.
November 10th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
How about Communist Butthurt Day for all the Phools and RRMs and academics in the world?
November 10th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
reagan won the cold
war, cured cancer, and can eat
kryptonite; don’t argue
November 10th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
RRM? What are you talking about? Russell very clearly talked about the role of trade unions in the cold war and the demise of Soviet adventurism in Eastern/Central Europe. However the most prominent one people talk about is the Polish Solidarity movement – who were a different kettle of fish than who you support. Say all you like about it, anybody trying to dillute President Reagans influence during this time are ideologically rewriting history.
The left around the world were hit hard by the end of the Soviet Union. Funding dried up for most of the far left trade unions even in NZ where many of our Green and Labour politicians found themselves shit out of luck.
November 11th, 2009 at 8:29 am
…who were a different kettle of fish than who you support.
I’m fairly sure the only one talking about current day trade unions is yourself.
November 11th, 2009 at 9:56 am
I was merely suggesting that Russells mention of them was a tad mischievous, especially as he discounted the influence of President Reagan.
November 12th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
The collapse of socialism is indeed worth celebrating. The fall of the Berlin Wall was the exclamation mark on the statement “Socialism doesn’t work!”. Too bad state sector employees like Russell still don’t get it.