1989: Remembering the Fall of the Berlin Wall
November 8, 2009 marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. On the streets that November night in 1989, Germans celebrated the demise of the barrier, but had no way of knowing what political and cultural fallout would follow. On NPR All Things Considered Host Guy Raz recaps the events from 20 years ago and talks with Mary Sarotte, author of 1989: The Struggle to Create Post-Cold War Europe, about the fall of the wall and what came after.
GUY RAZ, host:
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR
News. I'm Guy Raz.
On this day 20 years ago, our world was
ordered into three __________ - the West and the countries aligned with the
United States, the Eastern Bloc and its allies under the Soviet Union, and the ____________
movement, which included countries like India.
Now, that world order had begun to
___________ years before 1989. Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev ____________
his perestroika policy in 1987. There was the solidarity movement in Poland, and in the Baltic
states, people were openly challenging Russian influence. And all
of these movements seem to find expression in Berlin the night of November 9th, 1989.
Unidentified Woman: It's a great day for Berlin and for all
German people. The __________ is finally opened
Unidentified Man #1: There are thousands of
people here in front of the wall at the Brandenburg Gate at this hour. The West Berlin police are keeping the crowd away from the
wall but the sense of excitement is ____________.
Unidentified Man #2: This just in to the
newsroom: Associated Press is reporting that East Germany has thrown all of its
border open to its citizens to travel anywhere they wish.
RAZ: November 9th happens to be a
___________ date in German history. In 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated. In 1923,
the fledgling Nazi movement, under the young Adolph Hitler, attempted a
_________ in Munich.
And in 1938, the Nazis ordered an anti-Jewish pogrom known as Kristallnacht.
But there was nothing planned for 1989 - it
was an accident of history. For months, East Germans had been ___________
protests calling for economic and political liberalization. The night of
November 9th, an inexperienced East German spokesman announced that travel
restrictions would soon be relaxed. When will that begin, asked a reporter?
The spokesman, Gunter Schabowski,
__________ his papers and said _____________, immediately. And so over the next
few hours, East and West Berliners began to gather on opposite sides of the
wall.
KEY
GUY RAZ, host:
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR
News. I'm Guy Raz.
On this day 20 years ago, our world was
ordered into three spheres - the
West and the countries aligned with the United States, the Eastern Bloc and its
allies under the Soviet Union, and the
non-aligned
movement, which included countries like India.
Now, that world order had begun to
unravel years before 1989. Soviet
Premier Mikhail Gorbachev
unveiled
his perestroika policy in 1987. There was the solidarity movement in Poland, and in the Baltic
states, people were openly challenging Russian influence. And all
of these movements seem to find expression in Berlin the night of November 9th, 1989.
Unidentified Woman: It's a great day for Berlin and for all
German people. The
border is finally
opened
Unidentified Man #1: There are thousands of
people here in front of the wall at the Brandenburg Gate at this hour. The West Berlin police are keeping the crowd away from the
wall but the sense of excitement is
undeniable.
Unidentified Man #2: This just in to the
newsroom: Associated Press is reporting that East Germany has thrown all of its
border open to its citizens to travel anywhere they wish.
RAZ: November 9th happens to be a
pivotal date in German history. In
1918, Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated. In 1923, the fledgling Nazi movement, under the
young Adolph Hitler, attempted a
coup
in Munich. And
in 1938, the Nazis ordered an anti-Jewish pogrom known as Kristallnacht.
But there was nothing planned for 1989 - it
was an accident of history. For months, East Germans had been
mounting protests calling for economic
and political liberalization. The night of November 9th, an inexperienced East
German spokesman announced that travel restrictions would soon be relaxed. When
will that begin, asked a reporter?
The spokesman, Gunter Schabowski,
fumbled his papers and said
offhandedly, immediately. And so over
the next few hours, East and West Berliners began to gather on opposite sides
of the wall.
Historian Mary Sarotte picks it up from
here.
Professor MARY SAROTTE (International
Relations, University of Southern California; Author, "1989: The Struggle
to Create Post-Cold War Europe"): The individual border guards decided
that once 20,000 people showed up, they had no alternative but to open the border
because they would just be overwhelmed. So, this actually happens for the first
time at the Bornholmer Street
crossing at about 11:30 p.m., and that is the end of the division of Germany.
RAZ: Mary Sarotte is the author of
"1989: The Struggle to Create Post-Cold War Europe." She explains
that leaders on both sides of the iron curtain were caught by surprise.
West German Chancellor Helmut Cole was in Warsaw; Mikhail Gorbachev was asleep in Moscow. And President George H.W. Bush in Washington reacted
soberly. Aren't you excited, asked a reporter? I'm just not an emotional kind
of guy, Mr. Bush said.
Prof. SAROTTE: That was a moment where what
President George H.W. Bush was doing was right on substance, which is to say he
didn't want to in any way make an already volatile situation more volatile, so
he was trying to be calm and show restraint. But the problem is that it was
also a moment of great celebration and he missed acknowledging that in his
remarks.
RAZ: Mary Sarotte, when did it become
clear, how long after the events of November 9th, 1989 - did it become clear
that the Federal Republic of Germany, West Germany, and the GDR, East Germany,
would unify?
Prof. SAROTTE: It was not immediately
apparent. Indeed, the first thing Chancellor Helmut Cole did was announce that
there should be a confederation of West Germany
and East Germany.
And then over some longer period of time, he and his aides guessed internally
that it will be a minimum of a decade but probably a lot more that the two Germanys would
gradually merge.
What happens is that it becomes apparent
that the East Germans are not happy with that outcome. And when Helmut Cole
goes to East Germany
in December 1989 to give a speech, he's just overwhelmed by the desire for
national unity. And he realizes, wait a minute, I actually can be the
chancellor of German unity, and decides to push very, very quickly for rapid
German unity. And he enjoys the very strong support of George H.W. Bush.
RAZ: Washington
also saw it as an opportunity to expand NATO. That riled the Soviets. How did
they manage to convince Mikhail Gorbachev that this was going to work out?
Prof. SAROTTE: Well, basically with a lot
of money.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Prof. SAROTTE: Robert Gates, who at this
time was at the National Security Council - of course, he's now the defense
secretary - was very clear about this in him memoir. He said we were trying to
bribe the Soviets out of East
Germany. And so basically at the end of
1990, Helmut Cole agrees to give a very large sum of credits and other forms of
support to Mikhail Gorbachev, and in return, Gorbachev agrees that the Soviet
troops will leave East Germany
and that the united Germany
will be able to go into NATO.
RAZ: Now, of course, not everybody was in
favor of this united Germany,
particularly Britain's
Margaret Thatcher and France's
Francois Mitterrand.
Prof. SAROTTE: Yes. They are two very
interesting characters. Both Margaret Thatcher and Francois Mitterrand were
very surprised when the wall came down and initially, very, very anxious. But
Francois Mitterrand realizes fairly early in 1990 that the smart move is to get
on board with German unification, since it's coming, and see what percentage
there is for France
in it.
Thatcher has a bit of a more emotional
reaction (unintelligible).
RAZ: She initially calls it an
(unintelligible) - dry comparisons between the Nazi unification of Germany and Austria in 1938.
Prof. SAROTTE: It's interesting though when
you look at Thatcher. But she had at least three good reasons for worrying
about rapid German unification. And history has borne(ph) her out on these.
Her first worry is that driving forward too
quickly to German unification would weaken Gorbachev's position at home. And
she felt very strongly that Gorbachev was the best possible leader of the Soviet Union from the Western point of view.
Secondly, she worried about the long-term
economic consequences, both within Germany
but for Europe as a whole of rapid fire
unification, funded largely by West German borrowing. And there was a currency
crisis, a severe currency crisis in 1992 with dramatic consequences for the
British pound that shows that these were not unwarranted concerns.
And third and finally, she speculates
internally if the Germans start changing borders in Europe, then we have to
worry about Yugoslavia.
And tragically, history showed that she was right in that regard as well. So,
Thatcher actually had some substantive reasons for worrying about German
unification on top of just an emotional reaction.
RAZ: At the beginning of 1989, would
anybody have predicted that the end of the year would have brought about the
collapse of communism, the beginnings of the collapse of communism?
Prof. SAROTTE: I doubt that very much. I
think that it was clear that the long-term trend was downward. But if you said
that at the end of the year the wall will be down, I think people would have
thought you were crazy.
RAZ: Mary Sarotte is a professor of
international relations at USC and the author of the new book, "1989: The
Struggle to Create Post-Cold War Europe."
Professor Sarotte, thank you so much.
Prof. SAROTTE: Thank you very much.
RAZ: And one quick question before we let
you go.
Prof. SAROTTE: Sure.
RAZ: I've heard that the man who really
brought down the wall was David Hasselhoff. Any truth to that?
(Soundbite of laughter)
Prof. SAROTTE: No comment
KEY
GUY RAZ, host:
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR
News. I'm Guy Raz.
On this day 20 years ago, our world was
ordered into three spheres - the West and the countries aligned with the United
States, the Eastern Bloc and its allies under the Soviet Union, and the
non-aligned movement, which included countries like India.
Now, that world order had begun to unravel
years before 1989. Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev unveiled his perestroika
policy in 1987. There was the solidarity movement in Poland,
and in the Baltic states, people were openly
challenging Russian influence. And all of these movements seem to find
expression in Berlin
the night of November 9th, 1989.
Unidentified Woman: It's a great day for Berlin and for all
German people. The border is finally opened
Unidentified Man #1: There are thousands of
people here in front of the wall at the Brandenburg Gate at this hour. The West Berlin police are keeping the crowd away from the
wall but the sense of excitement is undeniable.
Unidentified Man #2: This just in to the
newsroom: Associated Press is reporting that East Germany has thrown all of its
border open to its citizens to travel anywhere they wish.
RAZ: November 9th happens to be a pivotal
date in German history. In 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated. In 1923, the
fledgling Nazi movement, under the young Adolph Hitler, attempted a coup in Munich. And in 1938, the
Nazis ordered an anti-Jewish pogrom known as Kristallnacht.
But there was nothing planned for 1989 - it
was an accident of history. For months, East Germans had been mounting protests
calling for economic and political liberalization. The night of November 9th,
an inexperienced East German spokesman announced that travel restrictions would
soon be relaxed. When will that begin, asked a reporter?
The spokesman, Gunter Schabowski, fumbled
his papers and said offhandedly, immediately. And so over the next few hours,
East and West Berliners began to gather on opposite sides of the wall.
Historian Mary Sarotte picks it up from
here.
Professor MARY SAROTTE (International
Relations, University of Southern California; Author, "1989: The Struggle
to Create Post-Cold War Europe"): The individual border guards decided
that once 20,000 people showed up, they had no alternative but to open the
border because they would just be overwhelmed. So, this actually happens for
the first time at the Bornholmer
Street crossing at about 11:30 p.m., and that is
the end of the division of Germany.
RAZ: Mary Sarotte is the author of
"1989: The Struggle to Create Post-Cold War Europe." She explains
that leaders on both sides of the iron curtain were caught by surprise.
West German Chancellor Helmut Cole was in Warsaw; Mikhail Gorbachev was asleep in Moscow. And President George H.W. Bush in Washington reacted
soberly. Aren't you excited, asked a reporter? I'm just not an emotional kind
of guy, Mr. Bush said.
Prof. SAROTTE: That was a moment where what
President George H.W. Bush was doing was right on substance, which is to say he
didn't want to in any way make an already volatile situation more volatile, so
he was trying to be calm and show restraint. But the problem is that it was
also a moment of great celebration and he missed acknowledging that in his
remarks.
RAZ: Mary Sarotte, when did it become
clear, how long after the events of November 9th, 1989 - did it become clear
that the Federal Republic of Germany, West Germany, and the GDR, East Germany,
would unify?
Prof. SAROTTE: It was not immediately
apparent. Indeed, the first thing Chancellor Helmut Cole did was announce that
there should be a confederation of West Germany
and East Germany.
And then over some longer period of time, he and his aides guessed internally
that it will be a minimum of a decade but probably a lot more that the two Germanys would
gradually merge.
What happens is that it becomes apparent
that the East Germans are not happy with that outcome. And when Helmut Cole
goes to East Germany
in December 1989 to give a speech, he's just overwhelmed by the desire for
national unity. And he realizes, wait a minute, I actually can be the
chancellor of German unity, and decides to push very, very quickly for rapid
German unity. And he enjoys the very strong support of George H.W. Bush.
RAZ: Washington
also saw it as an opportunity to expand NATO. That riled the Soviets. How did
they manage to convince Mikhail Gorbachev that this was going to work out?
Prof. SAROTTE: Well, basically with a lot
of money.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Prof. SAROTTE: Robert Gates, who at this
time was at the National Security Council - of course, he's now the defense
secretary - was very clear about this in him memoir. He said we were trying to
bribe the Soviets out of East
Germany. And so basically at the end of
1990, Helmut Cole agrees to give a very large sum of credits and other forms of
support to Mikhail Gorbachev, and in return, Gorbachev agrees that the Soviet
troops will leave East Germany
and that the united Germany
will be able to go into NATO.
RAZ: Now, of course, not everybody was in
favor of this united Germany,
particularly Britain's
Margaret Thatcher and France's
Francois Mitterrand.
Prof. SAROTTE: Yes. They are two very
interesting characters. Both Margaret Thatcher and Francois Mitterrand were
very surprised when the wall came down and initially, very, very anxious. But
Francois Mitterrand realizes fairly early in 1990 that the smart move is to get
on board with German unification, since it's coming, and see what percentage
there is for France
in it.
Thatcher has a bit of a more emotional
reaction (unintelligible).
RAZ: She initially calls it an
(unintelligible) - dry comparisons between the Nazi unification of Germany and Austria in 1938.
Prof. SAROTTE: It's interesting though when
you look at Thatcher. But she had at least three good reasons for worrying
about rapid German unification. And history has borne(ph) her out on these.
Her first worry is that driving forward too
quickly to German unification would weaken Gorbachev's position at home. And
she felt very strongly that Gorbachev was the best possible leader of the Soviet Union from the Western point of view.
Secondly, she worried about the long-term
economic consequences, both within Germany
but for Europe as a whole of rapid fire
unification, funded largely by West German borrowing. And there was a currency
crisis, a severe currency crisis in 1992 with dramatic consequences for the
British pound that shows that these were not unwarranted concerns.
And third and finally, she speculates
internally if the Germans start changing borders in Europe, then we have to
worry about Yugoslavia.
And tragically, history showed that she was right in that regard as well. So,
Thatcher actually had some substantive reasons for worrying about German
unification on top of just an emotional reaction.
RAZ: At the beginning of 1989, would
anybody have predicted that the end of the year would have brought about the
collapse of communism, the beginnings of the collapse of communism?
Prof. SAROTTE: I doubt that very much. I
think that it was clear that the long-term trend was downward. But if you said
that at the end of the year the wall will be down, I think people would have
thought you were crazy.
RAZ: Mary Sarotte is a professor of international
relations at USC and the author of the new book, "1989: The Struggle to
Create Post-Cold War Europe."
Professor Sarotte, thank you so much.
Prof. SAROTTE: Thank you very much.
RAZ: And one quick question before we let
you go.
Prof. SAROTTE: Sure.
RAZ: I've heard that the man who really
brought down the wall was David Hasselhoff. Any truth to that?
(Soundbite of laughter)
Prof. SAROTTE: No comment
