Nov 09 2009
Fall of Berlin Wall Anniversary Marked
Best wishes this week and each week to the veterans who served as well as the soldiers who are serving now. Thank you for your sacrifice.
An early warning to those who fear Friday the 13th. One is coming in a few days. Perhaps you can convince your boss by Thursday that you don’t feel well so you can spend the day in bed and wait for Saturday the 14th to arrive.
Twenty years ago today, the Berlin Wall fell. The symbolic reunification of East and West Berlin–although the official rejoining of the two cities and the two Germanies didn’t happen until the following year–was one of the biggest signs the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe were collapsing.
There are a handful of similar socialist dictatorships left. China is the most notable. Cuba and North Korea also come to mind quickly.
The Cold War that dominated international politics for two generations has been a memory for one generation. History shows that 20 years is a long time in politics.
For instance, World War I–then called the Great War or the war to end all wars–ended Nov. 11, 1918. The armistice was signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. Barely 20 years later, Sept. 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland to signal the start of World War II.
Progress toward freedom has surely been made since the end of the Berlin Wall. Certainly there’s a long way to go. The problem is, as it’s always been, that otherwise reasonable people disagree so vehemently on the way we should go.
