I’m tired of the myth that Ronald Reagan drove in on an eagle-shaped bulldozer and dismantled the Berlin Wall all by himself. A lot of the credit actually goes to the protestors who vigilantly pressured the government.
Also, the beginning of the Wall Fall was the result of an incompetent bureaucrat.
“When the wall started to fall on November 9th, it was a mistake. In the face of mass protests against the regime in 1989 and thousands of East Germans seeking refuge at West German embassies in Eastern Europe, East German leaders waived the old visa rules stating that citizens needed a pressing reason for travel, such as a funeral or wedding of a family member.
East Germans would still have to apply for visas to leave the country, but they would supposedly be granted quickly and without any requirements. Yet the Communist Party official who announced these changes, Guenter Schabowski, missed most of the key meeting about the travel procedures and went unprepared to a news conference. In response to reporters’ questions about when the new law would take effect, he said, “Immediately, without delay.” Schabowski left the impression that people could immediately cross the border, though he meant to say they could apply for visas in an orderly manner.
Over the next several hours, thousands of East Berliners gathered at the checkpoints along the wall. Since the country’s leaders hadn’t intended to completely open the border, the supervisors at the crossing points had received no new orders. The chief officer on duty at the Bornholmer Street checkpoint, Harald Jaeger, kept calling his superiors for guidance on how to handle the growing mass of increasingly angry East Berliners expecting to be let through. Jaeger finally gave up around 11:30 p.m. and allowed people to pass through en masse. Guards at other crossing points soon followed suit. The East German regime never fully regained control.”
Perhaps instead of Reagan, we should build a statue of Guenter Schabowski worriedly looking at his watch. The plaque can have the caption, “I hope I didn’t miss anything important at that meeting.”
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