And the Wall Came Tumbling Down...Now What?

Twenty years ago this month--November 9, 1989—ordinary people began to take down the Berlin Wall using hammers, pickaxes, and any tool they could find. In the U. S. today, many give the late President Regan full credit, or at least the lion's share of it, for single-handedly ending the Cold War. And while he did play a part, it is disingenuous to assume he did it alone. In the process of ending the Cold War as well as reunifying Germany, President Regan had significant help, not the least of which was the ineptitude of the East German Communist Party Politburo's rule highlighted by Guenter Schabowski's press conference and announcement about the easement of travel restrictions. Other people and events of import include: Gorbachev's implementation of perestroika; Hungarians marching to demand democracy months earlier; Lech Walesa's Solidarity Movement in Poland in 1980, and the courage of the Czech people from Prague Spring to the Velvet Revolution. Equally important, President George H. W. Bush--or "Father Bush" as some in Europe call him to differentiate between him and his son—had the wisdom to encourage the unification of Germany, even though some European leaders feared the repercussions of this.

The relationship between Regan and Gorbachev was an important page in this history. Their friendly yet candid relationship took us from détente to perestroika, or openness. Just as a woman cannot be a little bit pregnant, a Communist country quickly learned that it could not be a little bit open. Regan, always an eloquent speaker, made his famous "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall" speech on June 12, 1987, but others were working to achieve democracy in Eastern Europe before that, some, long before that.

In August of 1980, Lech Walesa organized the ship workers at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, and they went on strike. This was the birth of the Solidarity Movement which led to a democratic election making Walesa president in 1990. On that day in August, 1980, around 17,000 ship builders stopped work and rallied for a right to form an independent union. Solidarity achieved that goal 17 days later. And while the Soviet Union cracked down on Poland after this, Walesa's winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 reignited the underground. These rebels continued their work toward a free Poland, even while Walesa was in prison. Walesa, Solidarity, and the Polish people may not have chinked the Berlin Wall literally, but that movement sparked others, including those in East Germany as well as Hungary, to seek their own freedoms.

About eight months before the fall of the Berlin Wall, courageous Hungarians marched to demand democracy, ignoring the memory of a bloody and brutal put-down of a similar revolt by the Soviets in 1956. Because of their effort, 150 miles of barbed wire fencing came down to allow open the border between Austria and Hungary.

Even before these events, the Czech people continued to work to remove the yoke of repression that had been strengthened when Soviet tanks and troops rolled into Prague on August 20, 1968 (Prague Spring). This invasion resulted in the ouster of the Czechoslovakian leader, Alexander Dubcek and years of oppressive Communist rule. The efforts of the Czech people finally resulted in what has been called the Velvet Revolution that saw Dubcek reinstated on November 24, 1989. Their courage gave heart to others behind the Iron Curtain, and they should not be dismissed when we in the U. S. recall the end of the Cold War and take full credit for it.

Yes, on November 9, 1989, a concrete 12 foot wall topped with electrified barbed wire stretching 100 miles around West Berlin did come down, and history changed when it did. Today, former members of the Warsaw Pact—Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Czech Republic and Slovenia (formerly Czechoslovakia)—are among the 28 members of NATO. When they left the Pact, the only country remaining was the former USSR.

What most people do tend to forget is that the historic event's occurring on the exact date of November 9th was more or less a fluke. Travel restrictions from East Berlin to West Berlin had already been easing due to perestroika as well as work between Helmut Kohl of West Germany and Eric Honecker of the East. Significant travel restrictions were lifted by November 4th and trains were taking East German people into West Germany by the thousands. West and East Berliners and others continued to demand more clarification on the restrictions which resulted in a press conference led by, perhaps, one of the more inept speakers on behalf of the East German Communist Party Politburo. As reporters asked Guenter Schabowski exactly when these new eases in travel would occur, he stammered around, searching for the right words, and said what was translated to mean "immediately." Reporters and others rapidly communicated this to their embassies in Germany as well as to radio and television stations, and the news spread rapidly. People came out in droves, eventually dancing in the streets and taking down the wall themselves. To this day, many may remember the pictures of young people standing atop the wall in exultation. Remarkably, not a shot was fired.

The wall was down, but there remained much work to do, the most pressing of which was: Should the two Germanys remain separate countries or should there be a unified Germany? Germans, as a whole, wanted the latter, but for some European leaders, the memories of Hitler and Kaiser Wilhelm ruling a unified Germany that began two World Wars were still painfully present. Mitterand of France was especially leery, and both Margaret Thatcher and her successor, John Major, had reservations. Had it not been for the leadership of President George Herbert Walker Bush, the unification might not have occurred when it did. Bush, Sr. was able to talk with other leaders and to show them that the advantages of a unified Germany far outweighed the disadvantages. The most remarkable thing to me is that the Bush, Sr. team did not gloat about their role in this. Did their willingness to work toward the greater good of the project mean that history should forget? Republicans seem to have forgotten this because I have yet to hear a GOP pundit mention anyone other than Regan. Bush 41 was not eloquent, and I did not agree with many of his domestic policies, but his international vision should not be forgotten by any of us, Democrats or Republicans. Had Bush 43 had that kind of vision, we would not be in Iraq, and Afghanistan would have been fought more decisively.

And so on this date, November 9, 2009, let us not forget that many brave people as well as President Regan helped to end the Cold War. Nameless people were jailed and/or died to end Communist oppression; furthermore, these small and large rebellions exposed a weak and failing economic and political system that was already in a state of decay. Instead of our bragging that we in the U. S. won the Cold War, it might be more correct to say, as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright put it in an NPR interview today, to say that the USSR "lost the Cold War because the system did not work, and in time, the people knew it."

A further extrapolation of history—particularly noting 20th century events in Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia that ended Communist domination of their countries-- should help us learn that revolutions are most successful if the people themselves rise up to demand it. Our system of government is not a one-size-fits-all model, and we need to be mindful of that. I still do not think we had any business going into Iraq, but I supported our going into Afghanistan after 9/11. In spite of that, I remain fearful that we are damned if we do and damned if we don't when it comes to Afghanistan. The war was fought haphazardly for seven years, and now things are indeed a mess. If the Afghan people are too fearful or uninterested in changing their country, how can we expect to be successful? I do fear what will happen if we pull out with a nuclear and unstable Pakistan on its border, yet I do not know how we can control or pacify a huge and rugged country ruled by a tribal structure with an economic and political system that is Third World, if that. We need only to recall the former British Empire and the former USSR to know what could happen.

Today, we remember a significant historical event: the Berlin Wall came down. Today and tomorrow and the days that follow, we need to recall other historical events. Let them teach us what walls can come down, and whether the people themselves even want them to fall. Two quotations come to mind here: 1). George Santayana--"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." 2). David McCullough—"History is a guide in perilous times."

Some facts were heard on NPR/s WMNF in Naples Florida, today. Other information came from Making History by Howard Sargent: "Cold War International History Project Documents and Papers," and www.historyquotes.com.