# data[].attributes.body
The U.S. decided to help countries to whom were in danger of falling to communism, starting with Greece and Turkey. This made the U.S. more involved in the worlds politics and led to future wars like Korea and Vietnam. Even today, the U.S. still helps other countries fight against threats to democracy.

# data[].attributes.body
After World War II, many countries in Europe were struggling. The U.S. gave them money to help rebuild so they wouldn’t turn to communism. This made the U.S. and Europe strong allies and helped American businesses grow. Today, the U.S. still gives money and aid to other countries in need.

# data[].attributes.body
North Korea, supported by the Soviet Union and China, attacked South Korea. The U.S. stepped in to help South Korea fight back. The war ended with Korea still divided, and U.S. troops are still there today. This was the first war where the U.S. tried to stop communism by fighting, leading to future wars like Vietnam.

# data[].attributes.body
During this time, people in the U.S. were scared of communists secretly living among them. Senator Joseph McCarthy accused many people of being communists, even without proof. This ruined lives and made people afraid to speak out. Today, the fear of threats still affects laws about security and privacy.

# data[].attributes.body
The Soviet Union shocked the world by launching the first satellite, Sputnik. The U.S. didn’t want to fall behind, so it created NASA and worked hard to beat the Soviets in space. This led to the Moon landing in 1969. Because of this, we have things like GPS, better computers, and today’s space programs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Follow the U.S. and U.S.S.R. as they space-race to the Moon.

# data[].attributes.body
For 13 days, the world was on the edge of nuclear war when the Soviet Union put missiles in Cuba, very close to the U.S. After tense talks, both sides made a deal to remove their missiles. A direct phone line was set up between the U.S. and Soviet leaders to avoid future conflicts. This event changed how the U.S. deals with nuclear threats.

# data[].attributes.body
The U.S. fought in Vietnam to stop communism from spreading, but the war lasted a long time and many Americans started to protest. People lost trust in the government after they learned it had been hiding the truth about the war. This made Americans more careful about supporting future wars.

# data[].attributes.headline
(1950s-1960s) The Civil Rights Movement & Cold War Politics

# data[].attributes.subject
(1950s-1960s) The Civil Rights Movement & Cold War Politics

# data[].attributes.body
During the Cold War, the U.S. wanted to prove that democracy was better than communism. But all the racism and segregation made the country look bad. The government pushed and fought for civil rights, helping to pass laws that ended segregation and protected voting rights. The fight for equality still continues today.

# data[].attributes.wish_content.attachment_props.alternative_text
The Civil Rights Movement & Cold War Politics

# data[].attributes.body
For years, the Berlin Wall separated communist East Berlin from democratic West Berlin. When it was finally torn down, it showed that communism was failing. This event helped end the Cold War and proved that democracy was stronger.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The fall of the Berlin Wall ( German: Mauerfall, pronounced [ˈmaʊ̯ɐˌfal] ) on November 9, 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, marked the beginning of the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain, as East Berlin transit restrictions were overwhelmed and discarded. Sections of the wall were breached, and planned deconstruction began the following June. It was one of the series of events that started the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe. The fall of the inner German border took place shortly afterward. An end to the Cold War was declared at the Malta Summit in early December, and German reunification took place in October the following year.

This section of the Wall's "death strip" featured Czech hedgehogs, a guard tower and a cleared area, 1977.

The opening of the Iron Curtain between Austria and Hungary at the Pan-European Picnic on 19 August 1989 set in motion a peaceful chain reaction, at the end of which there was no longer an East Germany and the Eastern Bloc had disintegrated. After the picnic, which was based on an idea by Otto von Habsburg to test the reaction of the USSR and Mikhail Gorbachev to an opening of the border, tens of thousands of media-informed East Germans set off for Hungary. Erich Honecker dictated to the Daily Mirror for the Pan-European Picnic: "Habsburg distributed leaflets far into Poland, on which the East German holidaymakers were invited to a picnic. When they came to the picnic, they were given gifts, food and Deutsche Mark, and then they were persuaded to come to the West." The leadership of the GDR in East Berlin did not dare to completely block the borders of their own country and the USSR did not respond at all. Thus the bracket of the Eastern Bloc was broken.

Following the summer of 1989, by early November refugees were finding their way to Hungary via Czechoslovakia or via the West German embassy in Prague. On 30 September, following negotiations with East Germany and the Soviet Union, then-West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher went to the Prague embassy to personally inform the thousands of refugees that they have been allowed to leave for West Germany. His speech from the embassy's balcony, which included the line, "Wir sind zu Ihnen gekommen, um Ihnen mitzuteilen, dass heute Ihre Ausreise..." ("We came to you, to let you know that today, your departure...") was met with loud cheers and jubilations. The next day, the first of the embassy refugees left Prague for Bavaria.

The emigration was initially tolerated because of long-standing agreements with the communist Czechoslovak government, allowing free travel across their common border. However, this movement of people grew so large it caused difficulties for both countries. In addition, East Germany was struggling to meet loan payments on foreign borrowings; Egon Krenz sent Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski to unsuccessfully ask West Germany for a short-term loan to make interest payments.

The Berlin Wall was made up of two walls instead of one. Both walls were 4 metres tall, had a length of 155 kilometres and were separated by a mine corridor called the 'death strip.'

It was heavily guarded and consisted of 302 watchtowers, and was monitored by guards who had authorisation to shoot down anyone who attempted escaping to West Berlin.

On 18 October 1989, longtime Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) leader Erich Honecker stepped down in favor of Krenz. Honecker had been seriously ill, and those looking to replace him were initially willing to wait for a "biological solution", but by October were convinced that the political and economic situation was too grave. Honecker approved the choice, naming Krenz in his resignation speech, and the Volkskammer duly elected him. Although Krenz promised reforms in his first public speech, he was considered by the East German public to be following his predecessor's policies, and public protests demanding his resignation continued. Despite promises of reform, public opposition to the regime continued to grow.

On 1 November, Krenz authorized the reopening of the border with Czechoslovakia, which had been sealed to prevent East Germans from fleeing to West Germany. On 4 November, the Alexanderplatz demonstration took place.

On 6 November, the Interior Ministry published a draft of new travel regulations, which made cosmetic changes to Honecker-era rules, leaving the approval process opaque and maintaining uncertainty regarding access to foreign currency. The draft enraged ordinary citizens, and was denounced as "complete trash" by West Berlin Mayor Walter Momper. Hundreds of refugees crowded onto the steps of the West German embassy in Prague, enraging the Czechoslovaks, who threatened to seal off the East German-Czechoslovak border.

On 7 November, Krenz approved the resignation of Prime Minister Willi Stoph and two-thirds of the Politburo; however, Krenz was unanimously re-elected as General Secretary by the Central Committee.

On 19 October, Krenz asked Gerhard Lauter to draft a new travel policy. Lauter was a former People's Police officer. After rising rapidly through the ranks he had recently been promoted to a position with the Interior Ministry ("Home Office" / "Department of the Interior") as head of the department responsible for issuing passports and the registration of citizens.

On November 7th, the East German Politburo enacted a portion of the draft travel regulations addressing permanent emigration immediately. Initially, the Politburo planned to create a special border crossing near Schirnding specifically for this emigration. However, Interior Ministry officials and Stasi bureaucrats charged with drafting the new text concluded the proposal was not feasible, and instead crafted new text relating to both emigration and temporary travel. The revised text stipulated East German citizens could apply for permission to travel abroad, without having to meet the previous requirements for those trips. To ease the difficulties, the Krenz-led Politburo decided on November 9th refugees could exit directly through crossing points between East Germany and West Germany, including between East and West Berlin. Later the same day, the ministerial administration modified the proposal to include private, round-trip, travel. The new regulations would take effect the next day.

VVS b2-937/89

Text of the regulation

Zur Veränderung der Situation der ständigen Ausreise von DDR-Bürgern nach der BRD über die CSSR wird festgelegt:

1) Die Verordnung vom 30. November 1988 über Reisen von Bürgern der DDR in das Ausland (GBl. I Nr. 25 S. 271) findet bis zur Inkraftsetzung des neuen Reisegesetzes keine Anwendung mehr.

2) Ab sofort treten folgende zeitweilige Übergangsregelungen für Reisen und ständige Ausreisen aus der DDR in das Ausland in Kraft:

a. Privatreisen nach dem Ausland können ohne Vorliegen von Voraussetzungen (Reiseanlässe und Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse) beantragt werden. Die Genehmigungen werden kurzfristig erteilt. Versagungsgründe werden nur in besonderen Ausnahmefällen angewandt.

b. Die zuständigen Abteilungen Paß- und Meldewesen der VPKÄ in der DDR sind angewiesen, Visa zur ständigen Ausreise unverzüglich zu erteilen, ohne daß dafür noch geltende Voraussetzungen für eine ständige Ausreise vorliegen müssen. Die Antragstellung auf ständige Ausreise ist wie bisher auch bei den Abteilungen Innere Angelegenheiten möglich.

c. Ständige Ausreisen können über alle Grenzübergangsstellen der DDR zur BRD bzw. zu Berlin (West) erfolgen.

d. Damit entfällt die vorübergehend ermöglichte Erteilung von entsprechenden Genehmigungen in Auslandsvertretungen der DDR bzw. die ständige Ausreise mit dem Personalausweis der DDR über Drittstaaten.

3) Über die zeitweiligen Übergangsregelungen ist die beigefügte Pressemitteilung am 10. November 1989 zu veröffentlichen.

To change the situation with regard to the permanent exit of East German citizens to the West Germany via CSSR, it has been determined that:

1. The decree from 30 November 1988 about travel abroad of East German citizens will no longer be applied until the new travel law comes into force.

2. Starting immediately, the following temporary transition regulations for travel abroad and permanent exits from East Germany are in effect:

a) Applications by private individuals for travel abroad can now be made without the previously existing requirements (of demonstrating a need to travel or proving familial relationships). The travel authorizations will be issued within a short period of time. Grounds for denial will only be applied in particularly exceptional cases.

b) The responsible departments of passport and registration control in the People's Police district offices in East Germany are instructed to issue visas for permanent exit without delays and presentation of the existing requirements for permanent exit. It is still possible to apply for permanent exit in the departments for internal affairs [of the local district or city councils].

c) Permanent exits are possible via all East German border crossings to West Germany and (West) Berlin.

d) The temporary practice of issuing (travel) authorizations through East German consulates and permanent exit with only an East German personal identity card via third countries ceases.

3. The attached press release explaining the temporary transition regulation will be issued on 10 November.

Press release

Verantwortlich: Regierungssprecher beim Ministerrat der DDR

Berlin (ADN)

Wie die Presseabteilung des Ministeriums des Innern mitteilt, hat der Ministerrat der DDR beschlossen, daß bis zum Inkrafttreten einer entsprechenden gesetzlichen Regelung durch die Volkskammer folgende zeitweilige Übergangsregelung für Reisen und ständige Ausreisen aus der DDR ins Ausland in Kraft gesetzt wird:

1. Privatreisen nach dem Ausland können ohne Vorliegen von Voraussetzungen (Reiseanlässe und Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse) beantragt werden. Die Genehmigungen werden kurzfristig erteilt. Versagungsgründe werden nur in besonderen Ausnahmefällen angewandt.

2. Die zuständigen Abteilungen Paß- und Meldewesen der VPKÄ in der DDR sind angewiesen, Visa zur ständigen Ausreise unverzüglich zu erteilen, ohne daß dafür noch geltende Voraussetzungen für eine ständige Ausreise vorliegen müssen. Die Antragstellung auf ständige Ausreise ist wie bisher auch bei den Abteilungen Innere Angelegenheiten möglich.

3. Ständige Ausreisen können über alle Grenzübergangsstellen der DDR zur BRD bzw. zu Berlin (West) erfolgen.

4. Damit entfällt die vorübergehend ermöglichte Erteilung von entsprechenden Genehmigungen in Auslandsvertretungen der DDR bzw. die ständige Ausreise mit dem Personalausweis der DDR über Drittstaaten.

Responsible: Government spokesman of East Germany; Council of Ministers

As the Press Office of the Ministry of the Interior has announced, the East German Council of Ministers has decided that the following temporary transition regulation for travel abroad and permanent exit from East Germany will be effective until a corresponding law is put into effect by the Volkskammer:

1) Applications by private individuals for travel abroad can now be made without the previously existing requirements (of demonstrating a need to travel or proving familial relationships). The travel authorizations will be issued within a short period of time. Grounds for denial will only be applied in particularly exceptional cases.

2) The responsible departments of passport and registration control in the People's Police district offices in East Germany are instructed to issue visas for permanent exit without delays and without presentation of the existing requirements for permanent exit. It is still possible to apply for permanent exit in the departments for internal affairs [of the local district or city councils].

3) Permanent exits are possible via all East German border crossings to West Germany and (West) Berlin.

4) This decision revokes the temporary practice of issuing (travel) authorizations through East German consulates and permanent exit with only an East German personal identity card via third countries ceases.

The press conference on 9 November 1989 by Günter Schabowski (seated on stage, second from right) and other East German officials which led to the fall of the Wall. Riccardo Ehrman is sitting on the floor of the podium with the table just behind him.[1]

The announcement of the regulations which brought down the Wall took place at an hour-long press conference led by Günter Schabowski, the party leader in East Berlin and the top government spokesman, beginning at 18:00 CET on 9 November and broadcast live on East German television and radio. Schabowski was joined by Minister of Foreign Trade Gerhard Beil and Central Committee members Helga Labs and Manfred Banaschak.

Schabowski had not been involved in the discussions about the new regulations and had not been fully updated. Shortly before the press conference, he was handed a note from Krenz announcing the changes, but given no further instructions on how to handle the information. The text stipulated that East German citizens could apply for permission to travel abroad without having to meet the previous requirements for those trips, and also allowed for permanent emigration between all border crossings-including those between East and West Berlin.

At 18:53, near the end of the press conference, ANSA's Riccardo Ehrman asked if the draft travel law of 6 November was a mistake. Schabowski gave a confusing answer that asserted it was necessary because West Germany had exhausted its capacity to accept fleeing East Germans, then remembered the note he had been given and added that a new regulation had been drafted to allow permanent emigration at any border crossing. This caused a stir in the room; amid several questions at once, Schabowski expressed surprise that the reporters had not yet seen this regulation, and started reading from the note. After this, a reporter, either Ehrman or Bild-Zeitung reporter Peter Brinkmann, both of whom were sitting in the front row at the press conference, asked when the regulations would take effect. After a few seconds' hesitation, Schabowski replied, "As far as I know, it takes effect immediately, without delay" ( German: Das tritt nach meiner Kenntnis ... ist das sofort ... unverzüglich). This was an apparent assumption based on the note's opening paragraph; as Beil attempted to interject that it was up to the Council of Ministers to decide when it took effect, Schabowski proceeded to read this clause, which stated it was in effect until a law on the matter was passed by the Volkskammer. Crucially, a journalist then asked if the regulation also applied to the crossings to West Berlin. Schabowski shrugged and read item 3 of the note, which confirmed that it did.

After this exchange, Daniel Johnson of The Daily Telegraph asked what this law meant for the Berlin Wall. Schabowski sat frozen before giving a rambling statement about the Wall being tied to the larger disarmament question. He then ended the press conference promptly at 19:00 as journalists hurried from the room.

After the press conference, Schabowski sat for an interview with NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw in which he repeated that East Germans would be able to emigrate through the border and the regulations would go into effect immediately.

DPA bulletin

The news began spreading immediately: the West German Deutsche Presse-Agentur issued a bulletin at 19:04 which reported that East German citizens would be able to cross the inner German border "immediately". Excerpts from Schabowski's press conference were broadcast on West Germany's two main news programs that night-at 19:17 on ZDF's , which came on the air as the press conference was ending, and as the lead story at 20:00 on ARD's Tagesschau. As ARD and ZDF had broadcast to nearly all of East Germany since the late 1950s, were far more widely viewed than the East German channels, and had become accepted by the East German authorities, this is how most of the population heard the news. Later that night, on ARD's Tagesthemen, anchorman Hanns Joachim Friedrichs proclaimed, "This 9 November is a historic day. The GDR has announced that, starting immediately, its borders are open to everyone. The gates in the Wall stand open wide."

In 2009, Ehrman claimed that a member of the Central Committee had called him and urged him to ask about the travel law during the press conference, but Schabowski called that absurd. Ehrman later recanted this statement in a 2014 interview with an Austrian journalist, admitting that the caller was Günter Pötschke, head of the East German news agency ADN, and he only asked if Ehrman would attend the press conference.

St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig has become a famous symbol of the reunification of Germany.[35]

Despite the policy of state atheism in East Germany, Christian pastor Christian Führer regularly met with his congregation at St. Nicholas Church for prayer since 1982. Over the next seven years the church's congregation grew, despite authorities' barricading the adjacent streets, and peaceful candlelit marches took place following its services. The secret police issued death threats and even attacked some of the marchers, but the crowds still continued to gather. On 9 October 1989, the police and army units were given permission to use force against those assembled, but this did not deter the church service and march from taking place, which gathered 70,000 people and in which not a single shot was fired.

After hearing the 9 November broadcast, East Germans began gathering at the Wall, at the six checkpoints between East and West Berlin, demanding that border guards immediately open the gates. The surprised and overwhelmed guards made many hectic telephone calls to their superiors about the problem. At first, they were ordered to find the "more aggressive" people gathered at the gates and stamp their passports with a special stamp that barred them from returning to East Germany-in effect, revoking their citizenship. However, this still left thousands of people demanding to be let through "as Schabowski said we can". It soon became clear that no one among the East German authorities would take personal responsibility for issuing orders to use lethal force, so the vastly outnumbered soldiers had no way to hold back the huge crowd of East German citizens. Mary Elise Sarotte in a 2009 Washington Post story characterized the series of events leading to the fall of the Wall as an accident, saying "One of the most momentous events of the past century was, in fact, an accident, a semicomical and bureaucratic mistake that owes as much to the Western media as to the tides of history."

Finally, at 22:45 (alternatively given as 23:30) on 9 November, Harald Jäger, commander of the Bornholmer Straße border crossing, yielded, allowing guards to open the checkpoints and letting people through with little or no identity-checking. As the swarmed through, they were greeted by waiting with flowers and champagne amid wild rejoicing. Soon afterward, a crowd of West Berliners jumped on top of the Wall and were soon joined by East German youngsters. The evening of 9 November 1989 is known as the night the Wall came down.

Another border crossing to the south may have been opened earlier. An account by Heinz Schäfer indicates that he also acted independently and ordered the opening of the gate at Waltersdorf-Rudow a couple of hours earlier. This may explain reports of East Berliners appearing in West Berlin earlier than the opening of the Bornholmer Straße border crossing.

"Wallpeckers" demolition

A Berlin Wall segment in Los Angeles at 5900 Wilshire Boulevard. 43 second video

Removal of the Wall began on the evening of 9 November 1989 and continued over the following days and weeks, with people nicknamed Mauerspechte (wallpeckers) using various tools to chip off souvenirs, demolishing lengthy parts in the process, and creating several unofficial border crossings. In the season holidays this became a sort of international action. People from all over the western world went to West Berlin and local youth provided a range of appropriate demolition tools.

Television coverage of citizens demolishing sections of the Wall on 9 November was soon followed by the East German regime announcing ten new border crossings, including the historically significant locations of Potsdamer Platz, Glienicker Brücke, and Bernauer Straße. Crowds gathered on both sides of the historic crossings waiting for hours to cheer the bulldozers that tore down portions of the Wall to reconnect the divided roads. While the Wall officially remained guarded at a decreasing intensity, new border crossings continued for some time. Initially the East German Border Troops attempted repairing the damage done by the "wallpeckers"; gradually these attempts ceased, and guards became laxer, tolerating the increasing demolitions and "unauthorized" border crossing through the holes.

The Brandenburg Gate in the Berlin Wall was opened on 22 December 1989; on that date, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl walked through the gate and was greeted by East German Prime Minister Hans Modrow. West Germans and West Berliners were allowed visa-free travel starting 23 December. Until then, they could only visit East Germany and East Berlin under restrictive conditions that involved application for a visa several days or weeks in advance and obligatory exchange of at least 25 DM per day of their planned stay, all of which hindered spontaneous visits. Thus, in the weeks between 9 November and 23 December, East Germans could actually travel more freely than Westerners.

On 13 June 1990, the East German Border Troops officially began dismantling the Wall, beginning in Bernauer Straße and around the Mitte district. From there, demolition continued through Prenzlauer Berg/Gesundbrunnen, Heiligensee and throughout the city of Berlin until December 1990. According to estimates by the border troops, a total of around 1.7 million tonnes of building rubble was produced by the demolition. Unofficially, the demolition of the Bornholmer Straße began because of construction work on the railway. This involved a total of 300 GDR border guards and-after 3 October 1990-600 Pioneers of the Bundeswehr. These were equipped with 175 trucks, 65 cranes, 55 excavators and 13 bulldozers. Virtually every road that was severed by the Berlin Wall, every road that once linked from West Berlin to East Berlin, was reconstructed and reopened by 1 August 1990. In Berlin alone, 184 km (114 mi) of wall, 154 km (96 mi) border fence, 144 km (89 mi) signal systems and 87 km (54 mi) barrier ditches were removed. What remained were six sections that were to be preserved as a memorial. Various military units dismantled the Berlin/Brandenburg border wall, completing the job in November 1991. Painted wall segments with artistically valuable motifs were put up for auction in 1990 in Berlin and Monte Carlo.

On 1 July 1990, the day East Germany adopted the West German currency, all de jure border controls ceased, although the inter-German border had become meaningless for some time before that. The demolition of the Wall was completed in 1994.

The fall of the Wall marked the first critical step towards German reunification, which formally concluded a mere 339 days later on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of East Germany and the official reunification of the German state along the democratic lines of the West German Basic Law.

French President François Mitterrand and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher both opposed the fall of the Berlin Wall and the eventual reunification of Germany, fearing potential German designs on its neighbours using its increased strength. In September 1989, Margaret Thatcher privately confided to Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev that she wanted the Soviet leader to do what he could to stop it.

We do not want a united Germany. This would lead to a change to postwar borders and we cannot allow that because such a development would undermine the stability of the whole international situation and could endanger our security, Thatcher told Gorbachev.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, François Mitterrand warned Thatcher that a unified Germany could make more ground than Adolf Hitler ever had and that Europe would have to bear the consequences.

On 21 November 1989, Crosby, Stills & Nash performed the song "Chippin' Away" from Graham Nash's 1986 solo album Innocent Eyes in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

On 25 December 1989, Leonard Bernstein gave a concert in Berlin celebrating the end of the Wall, including Beethoven's 9th symphony () with the word "Joy" changed to "Freedom" in the lyrics sung. The poet Schiller may have originally written "Freedom" and changed it to "Joy" out of fear. The orchestra and choir were drawn from both East and West Germany, as well as the United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States. On New Year's Eve 1989, David Hasselhoff performed his song " Looking for Freedom" while standing atop the partly demolished Wall in front of 200 000 people. Roger Waters performed the Pink Floyd album just north of Potsdamer Platz on 21 July 1990, with guests including Scorpions, Bryan Adams, Sinéad O'Connor, Cyndi Lauper, Thomas Dolby, Joni Mitchell, Marianne Faithfull, Levon Helm, Rick Danko and Van Morrison.

Over the years, there has been a repeated controversial debate as to whether 9 November would make a suitable German national holiday, often initiated by former members of political opposition in East Germany, such as Werner Schulz. Besides being the emotional apogee of East Germany's peaceful revolution, 9 November is also the date of the 1918 abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II and declaration of the Weimar Republic, the first German republic. However, 9 November is also the anniversary of the execution of Robert Blum following the 1848 Vienna revolts, the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch and the infamous Kristallnacht pogroms of the Nazis in 1938. Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel criticised the first euphoria, noting that "they forgot that 9 November has already entered into history-51 years earlier it marked the Kristallnacht." As reunification was not official and complete until 3 October (1990), that day was finally chosen as German Unity Day.

10th anniversary celebrations

On 9 November 1999, the 10th anniversary was observed with a concert and fireworks at the vid Brandenburg Gate. Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich played music by Johann Sebastian Bach, while German rock band Scorpions performed their 1990 song Wind of Change. Wreaths were placed for victims shot down when they attempted to escape to the west, and politicians delivered speeches.

20th anniversary celebrations

On 9 November 2009, Berlin celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with a "Festival of Freedom" with dignitaries from around the world in attendance for an evening celebration around the Brandenburg Gate. A high point was when over 1,000 colourfully designed foam domino tiles, each over 8 feet (2.4 m) tall, that were stacked along the former route of the Wall in the city center were toppled in stages, converging in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

A Berlin Twitter Wall was set up to allow Twitter users to post messages commemorating the 20th anniversary. The Chinese government quickly shut down access to the Twitter Wall after internet users in China began using it to protest the Great Firewall.

In the United States, the German Embassy coordinated a public diplomacy campaign with the motto "Freedom Without Walls", to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The campaign was focused on promoting awareness of the fall of the Berlin Wall among current college students. Students at over 30 universities participated in "Freedom Without Walls" events in late 2009. First place winner of the Freedom Without Walls Speaking Contest Robert Cannon received a free trip to Berlin for 2010.

An international project called Mauerreise (Journey of the Wall) took place in various countries. Twenty symbolic Wall bricks were sent from Berlin starting in May 2009, with the destinations being Korea, Cyprus, Yemen, and other places where everyday life is characterised by division and border experience. In these places, the bricks would become a blank canvas for artists, intellectuals and young people to tackle the "Wall" phenomenon.

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the 3D online virtual world reconstructed a true-to-scale section of the Wall in virtual Berlin. The MTV Europe Music Awards, on 5 November, had U2 and Tokio Hotel perform songs dedicated to and about the Berlin Wall. U2 performed at the Brandenburg Gate, and Tokio Hotel performed " World Behind My Wall".

Palestinians in the town of Kalandia, West Bank pulled down parts of the Israeli West Bank barrier, in a demonstration marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The International Spy Museum in Washington D.C., hosted a Trabant car rally where 20 Trabants gathered in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Rides were raffled every half-hour and a Trabant crashed through a Berlin Wall mock up. The Trabant was the East German people's car that many used to leave DDR after the collapse.

The Allied Museum in the Dahlem district of Berlin hosted a number of events to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The museum held a Special Exhibition entitled "Wall Patrol - The Western Powers and the Berlin Wall 1961-1990" which focused on the daily patrols deployed by the Western powers to observe the situation along the Berlin Wall and the fortifications on the GDR border. A sheet of "Americans in Berlin" Commemorative Cinderella stamps designed by T.H.E. Hill was presented to the Museum by David Guerra, Berlin veteran and webmaster of the site www.berlinbrigade.com.

30th anniversary celebrations

Berlin planned a week-long arts festival from 4 to 10 November 2019 and a citywide music festival on 9 November to celebrate the 30th anniversary. On 4 November, outdoor exhibits opened at Alexanderplatz, the Brandenburg Gate, the East Side Gallery, Gethsemane Church, Kurfürstendamm, Schlossplatz, and the former Stasi headquarters in Lichtenberg.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The fall of the Berlin Wall ( German: Mauerfall, pronounced [ˈmaʊ̯ɐˌfal] ) on November 9, 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, marked the beginning of the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain, as East Berlin transit restrictions were overwhelmed and discarded.

# data[].attributes.body
The Soviet Union was struggling with money problems and people demanding freedom. In 1991, it finally collapsed, and many new countries were created. The U.S. became the world’s most powerful country, but new problems like terrorism and cyber threats became bigger concerns.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
That the Soviet Union was disintegrating had been subtly apparent for some time, but the final act began at 4:50 pm on Sunday, August 18, 1991. Soviet Pres. Mikhail Gorbachev was at his dacha in the Crimean resort of Foros when he was contacted by four men requesting an audience. They were his chief of staff, Valery Boldin; Oleg Baklanov, first deputy chairman of the U.S.S.R. defense council; Oleg Shenin, secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU); and Gen. Valentin Varennikov, chief of the Soviet Army's ground forces. They were accompanied by KGB Gen. Yury Plekhanov, chief of security for party and state personnel. Their unexpected arrival aroused Gorbachev's suspicions, and, when he tried to use the phone, it was dead. They had come to demand, in the name of the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the U.S.S.R., that Gorbachev sign a document declaring a state of emergency and transferring power to his vice president, Gennady Yanayev. They were taken aback when Gorbachev refused and rebuked them as treasonous blackmailers.

Gorbachev and his family were placed under house arrest by Gen. Igor Maltsev, commander-in-chief of the Soviet Air Defense Troops. Both Gorbachev and his wife, Raisa, later stated that they had fully expected to be killed. Although outside communication had been cut off, Gorbachev was able to get word to Moscow and confirm that he was fit and well. Members of Gorbachev's personal bodyguard remained loyal throughout the episode, and they were able to fashion a simple receiver so that the imperiled president could learn what was happening beyond the walls of the dacha. BBC and Voice of America broadcasts kept Gorbechev abreast of the coup's progress and international reaction to it.

Just after 6:00 am Moscow time on August 19, TASS and Radio Moscow proclaimed that "ill health" had prevented Gorbachev from executing his duties and that, in accordance with Article 127-7 of the Soviet constitution, Yanayev had assumed the powers of the presidency. Yanayev headed an eight-member Emergency Committee. Its other members were Baklanov; Vladimir Kryuchkov, chairman of the U.S.S.R. KGB; Premier Valentin Pavlov; Minister of Internal Affairs Boris Pugo; Vasily Starodubtsev, chairman of the Farmers' Union; Aleksandr Tizyakov, president of the U.S.S.R. Association of State Enterprises; and Minister of Defense Marshal Dmitry Yazov. They soon issued Resolution No. 1, which banned strikes and demonstrations and imposed press censorship. There was also an address to the Soviet people claiming that "mortal danger hangs over our great fatherland."

The planned signing on August 20 of a new union treaty that would have weakened central control over the republics appeared to explain the timing of the coup. A sharp attack on the union treaty by Anatoly Lukyanov, chairman of the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet, was distributed by TASS early on August 19. The U.S.S.R. Cabinet of Ministers met later that morning, and most of the ministers supported the coup. All but nine newspapers were banned.

Tanks appeared on the streets of Moscow, and the city's population immediately began attempting to dissuade troops from obeying orders. Protesters began gathering around the White House, the Russian parliament building, and started erecting barricades. At 12:50 pm Russian Pres. Boris Yeltsin climbed atop a tank in front of the White House, condemned the coup and called for an immediate general strike. He later issued a presidential edict declaring the coup illegal and the plotters "criminals" and "traitors." Russian officials were not to obey the orders of the Emergency Committee. At 5:00 pm Yanayev and the other coup leaders held a press conference. Yanayev claimed that the country had become "ungovernable" but hoped that his "friend President Gorbachev" would eventually return to his post. The president was "very tired" and was being "treated in the south," Yanayev explained. He appeared visibly nervous, and his hands trembled during the presentation.

Yeltsin appealed to the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Aleksey II, to condemn the coup. The patriarch criticized Gorbachev's detention and anathematized those involved in the plot. Meanwhile, in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Lieut. Gen. Viktor Samsonov declared himself chairman of the Leningrad State of Emergency Committee and placed the city under military control. However, Leningrad's mayor, Anatoly Sobchak, returned from Moscow by air, aided by KGB agents who opposed the coup. Sobchak rallied the opposition and appealed to soldiers to hand over officers who had helped organize the coup. In the process, he won over Samsonov, who promised not to move troops into the city. In Moscow some elite tank regiments defected and took up defensive positions around the White House.

On August 20 Yeltsin issued a presidential edict stating that he was taking control of all military, KGB, and other forces in Russian territory. U.S. Pres. George H.W. Bush telephoned Yeltsin and assured him that normal relations with Moscow would resume only after Gorbachev was back in office. That night fighting broke out between troops and demonstrators near the White House, and three protesters were killed. The expected assault on the White House did not materialize, however, and it became clear that the coup leaders' orders were not being obeyed. Belatedly, on August 21, the CPSU Secretariat demanded a meeting between Gorbachev and Yanayev. The coup collapsed, and the plotters were arrested while trying to flee. The U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet reinstated Gorbachev and annulled all the decrees of the Emergency Committee. Yeltsin decreed that all enterprises in Russia were under his government's control.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Collapse of the Soviet Union | Causes, Facts, Events, & Effects

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Collapse of the Soviet Union, sequence of events that led to the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. on December 31, 1991. The reforms implemented by President Mikhail Gorbachev and the backlash against them hastened the demise of the Soviet state. Learn more about one of the key events of the 20th century in this article.