Fall of the Berlin Wall

The fall of the Berlin Wall (German: ) occurred on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was one of the biggest and most important events leading to the collapse of the Iron Curtain and also marked one of the events led to the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, before this event it was Solidarity in Poland. The German border was also collapsed later. The Cold War was declared over at the 1989 Malta Summit three weeks later and Germany was unified on October a year later.

 Background 
 Political shift in East Germany 
On 18 October 1989, the long-term leader of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) Erich Honecker resigned and replaced with Krenz. Honecker was sick, and those who want to replace him wanted a "biological solution", but in October, reports indicated that the political and economic situations were desperated. Honecker accepted and named Krenz in his resignation speech, and Volkskammer selected him. Although Krenz promised to reform in his first public speech, he was accused of following the same policy of his predecessor by the East Germans, and many protested to force him to resign. Despite his claim to reform, the opposition still continued against the regime.

On 1 November, Krenz allowed to open the border with Czech Republic, which was under lockdown to prevent East Germans from entering West Germany. On 4 November, the Alexanderplatz demonstration took place.

On 6 November, the Interior Ministry published a draft regarding new travel regulations, it was different than during the Honecker era, making the draft vague and the possibility of using currency uncertain. The draft caused mass oppositions and angers among people and West Berlin mayor Walter Momper criticized the draft as "complete trash". Hundreds of refugees crossed through the West German embassy in Prague, the Czech were angry and threatened to close the border with East Germany.

On 7 November, Krenz accepted the resignation offered by Prime Minister Willi Stoph and a 2/3 members of Politburo; however, Krenz was re-elected as General Secretary by the Central Committee.

 References 

Category:Berlin Wall
Category:1989 events
Category:1989 in Europe