1989 Event

Fall of the Berlin Wall

Name: Fall of the Berlin Wall
Start: 1989

9 November opens German reunification and, in time, that of the continent.

What leads to what

Declared chains of causation — debatable, like any reading of history.

Upstream

leads to Helsinki Final Act 1975 La corbeille « droits de l’homme » arme les dissidences de l’Est.
leads to Solidarity 1980 Neuf ans entre le syndicat interdit et le mur ouvert.
leads to Pan-European Picnic 1989 Une frontière ouverte trois heures, et la brèche ne se referme plus.

Downstream

leads to German reunification 1990 Onze mois entre l’ouverture du mur et l’unification.
leads to The big bang enlargement 2004 Quinze ans entre la brèche et l’adhésion de dix États.

Meanwhile, elsewhere

Within twenty-five years of 1989 — the context national timelines leave out.

same year Velvet Revolution Czechia
same year Baltic Way Lithuania
same year Pan-European Picnic Hungary
same year December revolution Romania
1 year later German reunification Germany
1 year earlier Singing Revolution Estonia
1 year later Independence restored Lithuania
2 years later Independence of Croatia Croatia

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Which long period

Periods overlap: they are landmarks, not boxes.

European integration 1950 – 2030 From coal and steel to a Union of twenty-seven.
Cold War 1947 – 1991 A continent cut in two, from Yalta to 1991.

Countries involved

Explore around

What was written of it

Before 1914, the earth belonged to all. Everyone went where they wished and stayed as long as they pleased. There were no permits and no authorisations.

Stefan Zweig 1942

The World of Yesterday. Memoirs of a European

Translated by the site, not by the author.