The Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall by Mary Elise Sarotte explains the causes and events leading up the opening of the Berlin Wall. By first describing the state of Eastern Europe, Sarotte leads the reader into descriptive chapters about the people and events that lead up to November 9, 1989. The story of the opening of the Berlin Wall, or the Iron Curtain as some call it, is compellingly told by using a profusion of sources and actions from this historic, watershed event.
Mary Elise Sarotte first studied at Harvard University, where she received her A.B. in History and Science. She then earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in History from Yale University as well. Following graduate school, Sarotte served as a White House Fellow and
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joined the faculty of the University of Cambridge. In 2004, she came back to the United States and started to teach History and Internal Relations at the University of Southern California. Sarotte’s fourth book, The Collapse, deals with topics she is very familiar with. Sarotte has written three other books that deal with Germany and the Cold War. Her extensive research on the collapse of the Cold War was noticed by the American Academy in Berlin, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the Mudd Library of Princeton University, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. These four institutions helped Sarotte with research funds and workspaces for her research. Currently, Sarotte is a Senior Fellow at the Transatlantic Academy of the German Marshall Fund in Washington, D.C., and she is a research associate at the Center for European Studies at Harvard. Sarotte’s connections to top notch facilities and institutes have helped her gain access to useful sources for this book. The Collapse features a variety of sources that add rich, detailed information to this story.
Sarotte used about fifty primary sources issued by governments. One example of this type of source is Benjamin B. Fischer’s At Cold War’s End: US Intelligence on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, 1989-1991. She also draws from a multitude of autobiographies, broadcast and published interviews, and memoirs such as Autopsy on an Empire: The American Ambassador’s Account of the Collapse of the Soviet Union by Jack F. Matlock Jr. and Germany Unified and Europe Transformed: A Study in Statecraft by Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice. Sarotte spent hours interviewing 53 notable people involved with the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany/FRG), the German Democratic Republic (East Germany/GDR), and the Berlin Wall. Her interviewees include Tom Brokaw, the NBC anchorman who broadcasted in Germany on the night of the Berlin Wall opening; Egon Krenz, the GDR’s communist’s leader during 1989; Harald Jäger, the lieutenant colonel who disobeyed orders and opened the Bornholmer Street portion of the Berlin Wall; and many more significant people. These first hand accounts make Sarotte’s book factual, informative, and develop the story. Sarotte draws from different perspectives to encompass all the sides. Throughout the book, she does not include any biased opinions. The interviews of people from different ranks in society, places, and backgrounds balances the book. It is clearly evident …show more content…
that Sarotte researched this topic with dependable sources to find all the information necessary to fulfill the purpose of this book. As Sarotte states, the purpose of The Collapse is “to investigate the crucial short-term reasons that the potential for the openings of the Wall turned into the reality of its collapse” (xxii). In other words, the purpose is to research the series of events that sparked the opening. Sarotte wrote this book to find the small moments in which one was under pressure to make a substantial choice. It is the split second decisions that can change the course of history. Sarotte shows how these moments led to the accidental opening of the Berlin Wall. One example is Harald Jäger. In a split second, Jäger decided to forget his orders and open the Wall. This action led to the opening of all the other checkpoints. He understood that the crowds were getting frustrated, and if the crowds started to use violence, it would become a bloody battle. Other similar moments are used throughout the book to show the theme: with research and the correct perspective, the true causes will be discovered. The Collapse contains seven chapters with an introduction and an epilogue.
Continuing into the first chapter, the introduction on to explain the basic background of the story. After World War II, Germany became divided into two parts: West Germany, or the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), and East Germany, or the German Democratic Republic (GDR). West Germany was controlled by the British, French, and American allied forces. East Germany was controlled solely by the Soviet Union. The division of Germany was supposed to be temporary to help speed up the reconstruction after the destruction of the war. However, the permanent division was a result of the Cold War. The Western allies all agreed on a common currency for their occupation zones, but the Soviet Union refused to participate. The tension continued to build, and the Western allies decided to declare their zones the “Federal Republic of Germany,” while the Soviets declared their zone the “German Democratic Republic.” As with the rest of Germany, the city of Berlin was also divided between the Western allies and the Soviet Union. In 1961, Germany became physically and totally divided when the Soviet Union built the Berlin Wall around the three Western sectors to keep their residents from travelling there. The FRG drafted the Basic Law as the temporary foundation of the new state. Under this Basic Law, the FRG developed one of the strongest political institutions in German history. On the other hand, even though the
word “democratic” was in its title, the residents of the GDR had no say whatsoever in government. The Politburo of the Socialist Unity Part controlled everything and sought out the leaders of Moscow for important decisions. If any organization, church, institution strayed too far from the expectation of the government, the Socialist Unity Party would send in the Ministry for State Security, or the Stasi. With about 200,000 members, the Stasi was the largest surveillance organization ever. In 1989, East Berliners were still dying trying to cross over the wall. The border guards were instructed to stop escapees by whatever means necessary. Many did not get arrested, as they justified the killings of these escapees with self defense. Chapters two and three discuss the events in the East German city of Leipzig. Dissidents in this city would use the Nikolai Church’s peace prayers every Monday at 5:00 p.m. to meet. They discussed the country’s communist regime, the difficulties of traveling out of Eastern Germany, and the use of force to stop escapees. Soon, these prayer sessions would spread to the city’s other churches as more and more activists started to join. As the use of violence of the GDR increased, the residents of Leipzig decided to take action by marching around the Leipzig ring road. They again marched on October 2, only five days before the anniversary celebration of the GDR’s founding. Helmet Hackenberg, the loyalist in charge of the regime’s fighting actions, halted the marching on the second by equipping his men with weapons, shields, and dogs. On October 7, the anniversary, Hackenberg’s forces used and immense amount of force, which angered the protestors. The marchers planned to claim the ring on October 9, and both sides started to prepare for the definitive showdown for the ring road. Contrary to what was expected, the hundred thousand marchers claimed the ring without any bloodshed. The preaching of nonviolence at the peace prayer prior to the march influenced the regime’s leaders to order the troops to only use force if the marchers attacked. Leading into the three remaining chapters and the epilogue, the victory of the marchers greatly influenced other cities to do the same, opening the eyes of the regime. Under the new leadership of Egon Krenz, the Politburo decided to produce a “new” travel law, but the state would still control the movement of its residents with the appointment of visas and passports. Gerhard Lauter, an extreme party loyalist and secret Stasi member, was placed in charge of drafting the new law. He was instructed to draft a new law concerned with the emigration through the Czech Republic to the FDR. Keeping the title, “The Permanent Emigration of GDR citizens to the FRG via CSSR,” Lauter and his team wrote a whole new text, which was totally unrelated to the title, different from the original ideas of the regime leaders. The draft included that temporary travel out of the GDR would be valid right away and may take place over all border crossing between the GDR, FRG, and West Berlin. November 9, 1989 was an extremely stressful and busy day for the leaders of the GDR, as major meetings were taking place. Even though the draft went through the hands of many leaders, no one noticed the discrepancy between the title and the contents. Krenz received the text and mistakenly said that the Soviets had approved this, which they did not. He then had Günter Schabowski give a press conference at 6:00 p.m., where he read the new text. Schabowski, in confusion with the meaning of text, announced that East Berliners would be able to cross through the Berlin Wall. Residents flocked to each border crossing, especially Bornholmer Street. Bornholmer Street was the crossing where Officer Jäger disobeyed orders, out of anger and confusion with his superior, and opened the crossing. All the other border crossings followed and set the people of East Berlin free. The Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall by Sarotte describes the series of events that led to the opening of the Berlin Wall. Alongside the obvious reasons of miscommunication and rebellious officers, the people of East Germany propelled these events into action. The marchers of Leipzig, especially, influenced other cities to stand up for freedom. Opening the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 was not planned at all. It was opened because the people of East Berlin seized the opportunity for freedom.
Following the conferences during World War Two, Germany was split up into two zones. Occupying West Germany and West Berlin was France, Britain and The United States, while the Soviet Union occupied Ea...
In the year 1961, the building of Berlin Wall called upon disasters in Germany. United States controlled the west of Berlin while German Democratic Republic held the East. Being stuck under the rule of day to day terror, people from East Berlin were making their way to the West Berlin. West Berlin was a safe spot and freedom checkpoint in the middle of terror. To stop the moving of East Berliners, the East German government decided to build a barrier that limited and halted the East Berliners from leaving. But the battle to control Berlin between, the United States and the Soviet Union, had been taking place since after the division of Germany. The German Democratic Republic wanted better control over its people to spread its communist ideas
Berghahn Books. 2000 Germany and the Germans. After the Unification of the. New Revised Edition. John Ardagh.
After World War II, Germany was separated into four different sectors assigned to the triumphant Allied forces: the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. (Wolski) The capital was located one hundred fifteen miles into Soviet territory. (Kenny) The Western Allies believed this was unfair because Berlin was the only large city at the time. They agreed to separate Berlin into quadrants as well. (Wolski) The United States, Britain, and France joined their sectors together as a democratic state called the Federal Republic of Germany. (Taylor) Meanwhile, Russia kept their portion separate and it became known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR). However, this caused a problem because the democratic West Berlin was entirely surrounded by Soviet land. (Wolski)
Raichelle, Allen. “The Berlin Wall: Another Controversy Erupts: Overview.” World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO.
The end of World War II was the beginning of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States. The Soviet Union had control over East Berlin, which was governed by a communist government and the United States had control over West Berlin, which was regulated by a democratic government. Both countries wanted full control over Berlin, so the Soviet Union set up a blockade on the West but was unsuccessful. The Berlin Wall was then built to stabilize the economy of East Berlin, which meant that fewer people could escape the east to live in the west. In the article “The fall of the Berlin Wall: what it meant to be there,” by Timothy Garton Ash, he highlights the feelings of no longer having a “iron curtain” segregating both sides of Berlin.
Before the wall got built in1961, East German peoples could travel to West Berlin to visit there family’s. On May 8th, 1945 the World War II ended. June 24th, 1948 the Soviet Military started the Berlin Blockade. Germany was divided in four different parts after World War II. Each part was controlled by a different part of a country. Twenty- eight years and “Iron curtain” East and West Berlin got divided in the heart of Germany.
Even though Berlin lay deep within the Soviet sector, the Allies thought it would be the best to divide this capital. Therefore Berlin was also divided into four parts. Since the Soviet Union was in control of the eastern half of Germany, they made East Berlin the capital of East Germany. The other three counties were each in control of a small part of what was to be West Germany. The Allies decided that they would come together to form one country out of their three divided parts. Those three divided parts formed West Germany. After all the land was divided the Soviet Union controlled East Germany. Just like the Soviet Union, the economy in East Germany was struggling to get back on its feet after the war. While West Berlin became a lively urban area like many American cities, East Berlin became what many thought of as a ‘Mini-Moscow’. In East Germany there was literary almost nothing. The shelves in the stores were practically bare, and what was there was not in very good quality.
In the last fifty years the German Democratic Republic has been a nonstop changing country. In Germany, the terms “East” and “West” do not just represent geographically regions. It runs much deeper than that, and there is still a large gap in the way of life, and political and social conditions of the whole country. While most German’s were sleeping on the night of August 13, 1961, the East German government began closing its borders. In the early morning of that Sunday, most of the first work was done: the border to West Berlin was closed. The East German troops had begun to tear up streets and to install barbed wire entanglement and fences through Berlin. Between 1961 and today, the Berlin Wall saw many changes, and so did the people that it entrapped.
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 precipitated the Reunification of Germany in 1990. Negotiations and talks between East German’s Lothar de Maiziere and West German’s Helmut Kohl and the four occupying powers of United States, United Kingdom, France, and Soviet Union resulted in the Unification Treaty or the “Two plus Four Treaty” recognizing the sovereignty of the newly unified German state. The five states of German Democratic Republic or East Germany united with Federal Republic of Germany or West Germany and Berlin became a unified city on October 3, 1990 marking the die wende or Turning Point. “By early 1991, however, not much more than a year after the barricade surrounding the Brandenburg Gate was actually removed, most Germans, East and West, were asking themselves whether the Wall’s absence was, by itself sufficient to bring the nation together again” (McAdams 199).” Zealous attempts to restructure East Germany’s economy after reunification in 1990 led to massive debt and high taxation, sparking disillusionment and frustration among German citizens, which resulted in a divided and unequal economy.
In 1947, the Western portion of Germany instituted a government under the watchful eyes of the Western Allies. The Soviet sector followed suit in 1949. During this period, the elaborate governance structure of greater Berlin broke under the strain of Cold War tensions. What emerged was West Berlin, which took up ties with West Germany, known as the Federal Republic of Germany. East Berlin, which comprised the ruins of the old and historic center of Berlin and outlying districts to the East, became the capital of the German Democratic Republic. After World War II, the Americans pumped capital into West Germany through the Marshall Plan, which resulted in one of the world's strongest economies, enormous prosperity and a stable democracy. Germany has been divided ever since and though at every opportunity, lip service was paid by all western nations to its eventual reunification, no one took the matter seriously.
The division of Germany into West Germany and East Germany emerged as a stopgap solution for the woeful state of the nation following its defeat in the Second World War. With the United States (US) ultimately gaining full control over West Germany, East Germany increasingly became alienated towards it, as it went under the influence of the Soviet Union (USSR). West Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), rapidly grew into one of the most politically and economically influential nations in Europe representing the democratic interests of the US in the region, while East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR), went seemingly the other way. East Germans became increasingly disillusioned by the way their politicians have promoted communism in the GDR, characterized by oppressive measures and sheer inequality in living standards. The Stasi, the secret police unit of the GDR, closely monitored East Germans and purged those who are suspected or proven dissidents, while politicians of the nation enjoyed living standards that are way superior compared to the average East German. West Germans, on the other hand, enjoyed the benefits of political and economic reforms brought forth by the democratic influence of the US. Therefore, discontentment among East Germans increased the prospect of unification of the FRG and GDR – an issue that was never written off in consideration, only further complicated by political differences. Nevertheless, eventual unification of the FRG and GDR following the symbolic collapse of the Berlin Wall did not completely result to favorable circumstances, as problems that continued to alienate matters between the Western and Eastern sections of Germany remain unresolved (Brockman ...
German people were unused to a democracy and blamed the government “November criminals”, for signing the Treaty of Versailles. From the very beginning, the new Weimar government faced opposition from both sides of the political spectrum. The Left wing Spartacist group, lead by Liebknecht and Luxemburg, looked up to the new Soviet councils in Russia, wanted to place Germany into a similar system.
The collapse of the Berlin Wall changed Western Europe as we know it today. The Iron Curtain, which had split Europe, had ascended and the once divided Germans were reunited under one common nation. The causal factors which resulted in the fall of the Berlin Wall were internal — communism imploded upon itself—. Gorbachev attempted to reform communism through Glasnost and Perestroika, which were supposed to incorporate economic reforms and transparency, however, history illustrates that increased liberty is incompatible with communism. Dr. Schmidtke argued that structural deficiencies led along with poor economic growth which led to the collapse of communism in Europe, and consequently the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
Prior to unification in 1871 the territory that would become Germany was comprised of thirty-nine independent states and city states joined together in a loose German Confederation. The most powerful among these states was Prussia, both geographically the largest state and that with the largest population. The influential politicians and policies that came out of Prussia were instrumental in the gradual formation of a united Germany. Beginning with the rise of Napoleon, the nineteenth century was a time of incredible change which dramatically altered the political balance of Europe. In order to understand the factors that culminated in official German unification on January 18 1871, it is necessary to examine the preceding decades. No single factor can be credited for the unification of the German states. Rather, the combined forces of social change, economic strength within a unified customs union, the moral justifications provided by nationalism, Bismarck’s careful manipulation of internal politics and the advantages gained through military action resulted in the unification of Germany.