Quote:
Originally Posted by Freiwillige
I've notice countless articles about the Fall of the Berlin Wall and there are even several posts about the Wall coming down way back in 89', But I have yet to see one single acknowledgment of the real reason the wall fell....Ronald Reagan.
If it were not for his brilliant economic war against "The Evil Empire" that forced the Soviets to bankrupt themselves that wall may have still been there to this very day!
Thank you Ronald for your part in making it possible for the wall to fall.
You sir, Rock!  |
No. The Wall fell because primarily Gorbachev took a hands-off approach.
If the Soviets wanted they could have intervened militarily as they had done in Hungary in '56 and later in '68 in Tchekoslovakia.
Americans have a very one-sided view on the events of '89.
The USA didn't beat the Soviets, the Soviet empire collapsed/imploded all by itself (and many historians had written about it years before the events came to pass, it was a matter of when not if; for instance Hélène Carrère d'Encausse wrote about it in 1979 !!! in a book titled "L'Empire éclaté : La révolte des nations en U.R.S.S" in english "Shattered Empire, The revolt of the soviet states") and it was a MIRACLE that violence didn't ensue at least in eastern europe. Because in the Balkans the collapse of communism and death of Tito well it opened a new whole can of worms and we are still dealing with the consequences of that bloody aftermath.