Which a reporter notes in his book: The Year that Changed the World: The Untold Story Behind the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
The good historian is a myth buster. Michael Meyer is a very good historian. As Newsweek's bureau chief for Eastern Europe in 1989, he watched the world turn on a dime. The myth he busts in this book concerns the contribution the United States made to the collapse of communist regimes that year. Some Americans want to believe that those regimes crumbled because of White House manipulation -- clever diplomacy backed by raw power. In fact, American meddling was rather benign and, during that fateful year, conspicuously ill conceived.
The preferred myth begins with Ronald Reagan speaking at the Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987. "We hear from Moscow about a new openness," he sneered, demanding proof. "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" According to the myth, the wall came tumbling down because Reagan, like some benevolent wizard, shouted "Open Sesame!" The moral drawn is that evil, dictatorial regimes crumble when confronted by righteous indignation. Cue Saddam Hussein. George W. Bush, who idolized Reagan, tried to emulate his hero. His distortion of the past inspired tragedy in the present.
The real story, minus the comic book hero, is more complicated -- and interesting. Reagan still plays a role, but as diplomat, not Rambo. His contribution came in accommodation; his willingness to talk to Gorbachev gave the Soviet leader the confidence to break molds. Gorbachev, furthermore, did not tear down the wall; he merely suggested that change would be tolerated.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/04/AR2009090401751.htmlThe reason the Berlin Wall fell when it did is because no one told the guard at the gate to harm protestors who were there that night. That's the entire reason it happened when it did.
Hungary had already begun to open up East Berlin with "vacations" that allowed East Berliners an escape.
fwiw - I was in East Berlin a few years ago with some friends and we were in a shoe store. The owner said he missed communism b/c capitalism made life much harder for his family.
sales of tourist items, tho, are a huge economic boost - people have probably sold 1000 times the number of actual material from the Berlin Wall attached to postcards, etc. I have a few of them, in fact.
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