Editorial: An anniversary to shout about

Among the international events of the past quarter-century the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, stands out as a powerful symbol of not only the reunification of Germany but also the end of the Cold War and the waning control of the Soviet Union, which was dissolved two years later.

Scenes being replayed on television screens this week are unforgettable to those who witnessed them at the time. The joy of West Berliners seeing the end of the cruelly bizarre encirclement of their part of the city by a 140-kilometre reinforced concrete wall 3.6 metres tall was exceeded by the excitement of East Berliners pouring across the border to experience the West. It was a hugely emotional moment in the history of Germany and Europe, and it rippled around the world.

Two decades on, Germany and Europe are much changed. The map of eastern Europe now shows independent nations instead of a string of Soviet puppets. Germans from the east and west have learned to live together again. Although there have been economic and social difficulties around the reunification – West Germans blame the east for holding back economic progress, and only 25 per cent of East Germans who took part in a recent study said they felt like full citizens in the united Germany – the country is moving on. Chancellor Angela Merkel, the first easterner to lead the reunited country, is said to be turning her gaze outwards towards the rest of Europe, away from the inward-looking focus that has dominated Germany for 20 years. A generation has grown up without experiencing the reality of the Wall.

Erected in 1961 as a wire fence, the Berlin Wall went through several strengthenings before its final structure was built in the 1970s. Eventually fortified with anti-vehicle trenches, bunkers, watchtowers and barbed wire, it was the clearest manifestation of the Iron Curtain that split Europe, and it is believed that at least 136 people were killed trying to cross it into the West. Individual attempts were suicidal but when the end of the Wall came it was because East Germans revolted against their government with such unity that they became impossible to resist. Emboldened by a tide of reform sweeping through the Eastern Bloc, they held mass demonstrations and in response to a bungled November 9 announcement they swarmed to the crossing points in such numbers that the guards had to let them through.

That the Wall's power was broken in this way – not forgetting the crucial encouragement from the Soviet Union's last leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, who had been challenged two years before by US president Ronald Reagan to "tear down this wall" – is good cause for the celebrations that have taken place this week. They are a reminder of just how terrible the Cold War era was for many people, not just East Germans, and of the irresistible force that can be tapped if there is the courage to use it. The reunification of Germany brought with it problems that have yet to be solved, but they are being addressed in a climate of freedom that East Germans could previously only dream of. That's a good reason for a party.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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