Fall of Berlin Wall

The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, is one of history's most dramatic moments. East Germany's announcement that citizens could cross the border freely (made accidentally during a press conference — the spokesman hadn't read the order clearly) triggered immediate crowds at checkpoints. Guards, unable to reach officials for orders, opened the gates. Crowds demolished the wall with hammers and pickaxes. The fall of the Wall triggered rapid German reunification (October 3, 1990) and accelerated the collapse of communist regimes across Eastern Europe. Within two years, the USSR itself dissolved. The events of 1989 — including the Tiananmen Square massacre — showed that people power could topple seemingly immovable systems. The Wall had divided a city and symbolized a divided world for 28 years.