Samuel Hafner, Joshua Flores, & Alexander Cecil Bryce

Summary  The falling of the physical and symbolic division between East Germany (communism) and West Berlin (democracy) during the Cold War.

Major Roles  Erich Honecker  Head of the Communist Party in East Germany, ruled harshly.  Egon Krenz  Replacement for Honecker decided on November 9 to allow refugees to exit directly through crossing points between East Germany and West Germany, including West Berlin.  Gunter Shabowski  Improvised a mistaken answer to a press conference question, raising popular expectations about the opening of the Berlin Wall.  Mikhail Gorbachev  Soviet leader

U.S. Viewpoint  Ronald Reagan had told Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “Tear down this wall.” Two years later, the wall was gone.

Germany Viewpoint  Honecker had predicted in January that the wall would stand for 50 to l00 more years if the conditions that had caused its construction did not change.

U.S.S.R. Viewpoint Opposing the destruction of the Berlin Wall.

Outcome  Turning point for the entire world. Signaled the beginning of the end of the Cold War, and the Soviet Union.

Key Facts  East Germany and West Berlin were divided by the wall.  Protest demonstrations broke out all over East Germany in September  Gunter Shabowski’s press conference raised expectations  On November 9, the demolition of the wall began.  The Cold War began to draw near to an end

Video  wall/videos#deconstructing-history-berlin- wall wall/videos#deconstructing-history-berlin- wall

Sources  wall/videos#deconstructing-history-berlin- wall wall/videos#deconstructing-history-berlin- wall  berlinwall.htm berlinwall.htm  s-n09.html s-n09.html  all-of-berlinwall.htm all-of-berlinwall.htm