In each polical change in Warsaw, Budapest and Berlin in the late 1980's, we can see both pressure from below pushing against the communist rule, and the beginings of change from above, revolution and reform. It is because of this that Timothy Garton Ash's description of “refolution” is accurate. These major changes were not like in many other cases, where it was the depraived rising against a tyranical government, nor was it simply change from the top. The end of communism in the Eastern Block required both, or simply “refolution.”
In Poland the changes began with a push from the common folk for an democratical vote in 1989. While the vote on June 4th was not entirely democratic, as the seats that the anti-communist Solidarity movement …show more content…
The people of the time were forced to live with a looming wall that seperated eastern communist Germany, with that of the democratic west. (61-62) On October 7th of 1989 Gorbachev declared that the people should no longer wait, and that soviet forces would not be required for repression. (65) It was also around this time that the people of Germany saw the Hungarian events, and even the removal of the “iron curtain;” a barbed wire border stopping the people of Germany from entering the country. With this border removed, the people of East Germany flooded across the border, with 50,00 people leaving within a few short months. (66) It was after this mass exodus, and the leaving of Gorbachev that the people of East Germany truley began to protest the wall, with more and more showing up over time. Before long it seemed all of East Germany was in protest, demanding proper freedom. Before long, the government of East Germany had to reform. This reform took place as a unification between East and West Germany some time after the opening of the Berlin Wall. For this unification to truly take place, the wall had to go, and so it did, people were free to travel to either side of Germany, with trains opening on either side, and people from the east finally being able to board.
In Poland the changes began with a push from the common folk for an democratical vote in 1989. While the vote on June 4th was not entirely democratic, as the seats that the anti-communist Solidarity movement …show more content…
The people of the time were forced to live with a looming wall that seperated eastern communist Germany, with that of the democratic west. (61-62) On October 7th of 1989 Gorbachev declared that the people should no longer wait, and that soviet forces would not be required for repression. (65) It was also around this time that the people of Germany saw the Hungarian events, and even the removal of the “iron curtain;” a barbed wire border stopping the people of Germany from entering the country. With this border removed, the people of East Germany flooded across the border, with 50,00 people leaving within a few short months. (66) It was after this mass exodus, and the leaving of Gorbachev that the people of East Germany truley began to protest the wall, with more and more showing up over time. Before long it seemed all of East Germany was in protest, demanding proper freedom. Before long, the government of East Germany had to reform. This reform took place as a unification between East and West Germany some time after the opening of the Berlin Wall. For this unification to truly take place, the wall had to go, and so it did, people were free to travel to either side of Germany, with trains opening on either side, and people from the east finally being able to board.