On the night of November 9, 1989 confused East German border guards opened several checkpoints in East Berlin and allowed citizens of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) free passage into West Berlin for the first time since 1961. The East Germans were ecstatic; world-wide response was both joyful and incredulous. And on the following day... November 10th... the wall began coming down in earnest and the partying lasted for days. Some background:
To say the fall of the Berlin Wall was a momentous occasion is massive understatement. I watched my teevee in a combination of amazement and wonder, thinking to myself that I never thought I would see the day... yet there it was, big as life and twice as natural.
I like to think this event... which happened about two years earlier in the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate... had something to do with the wall coming down:
Opinions vary on this subject, but I believe President Reagan was a catalyst in bringing the wall down. President Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher... along with General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev... were the primary actors responsible for the demise of the Soviet Union, as well... an event that occurred a little over two years after the Berlin Wall came down.
It all began 20 years ago tonight... and this date marks an anniversary that should be celebrated by free peoples everywhere.
To say the fall of the Berlin Wall was a momentous occasion is massive understatement. I watched my teevee in a combination of amazement and wonder, thinking to myself that I never thought I would see the day... yet there it was, big as life and twice as natural.
I like to think this event... which happened about two years earlier in the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate... had something to do with the wall coming down:
Opinions vary on this subject, but I believe President Reagan was a catalyst in bringing the wall down. President Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher... along with General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev... were the primary actors responsible for the demise of the Soviet Union, as well... an event that occurred a little over two years after the Berlin Wall came down.
It all began 20 years ago tonight... and this date marks an anniversary that should be celebrated by free peoples everywhere.
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