People power in Poland and East Germany

H1 History - syllabus 8838, 2027

What this lesson teaches

  • I can judge which causes mattered most in ending the Cold War, and weigh historians' views.

    Syllabus 8838, Theme I, Learning Outcomes. evaluate the causes for the end of the Cold War

Make a guess

On 9 November 1989 the Berlin Wall opened. How do you think it happened?

  1. Soviet troops pulled down the Wall on Gorbachev's orders.
  2. A muddled travel announcement led crowds to force the crossings open.
  3. The East German government planned and held a careful opening ceremony.
Show the answer

A muddled travel announcement led crowds to force the crossings open.

Guards faced huge crowds and no clear orders, so they opened the gates. It was not a planned decision.

In Poland negotiation brought a non-communist government; in East Germany mass emigration and protest opened the Berlin Wall.

In Poland, the Solidarity trade union was formed in 1980 after strikes at the Gdansk shipyard. The government imposed martial law in December 1981 and banned it, but could not destroy it. By the late 1980s, economic crisis forced the communists to negotiate.

The Round Table talks of February to April 1989 legalised Solidarity and allowed partly free elections in June 1989. Solidarity won almost every seat it could contest. In August 1989, Tadeusz Mazowiecki became the first non-communist prime minister in the Soviet bloc.

In East Germany, the trigger was escape. Hungary opened its border with Austria in 1989, and thousands of East Germans fled west. At home, crowds in Leipzig marched every Monday, chanting "We are the people". On 9 October 1989, about 70,000 marched and the security forces did not shoot.

Erich Honecker was removed in October. On 9 November 1989, after a confused announcement about travel rules, crowds forced the guards to open the Berlin Wall. Germany reunified on 3 October 1990, and the Soviet Union itself dissolved in December 1991.

Put these in order

Put these steps in East Germany's revolution in order.

  • Crowds force the guards to open the Berlin Wall.
  • About 70,000 march in Leipzig and the security forces do not shoot.
  • Germany is reunified.
  • Erich Honecker is removed as East German leader.
  • Hungary opens its border with Austria to East Germans, and thousands flee west.
Show the answer
  1. Hungary opens its border with Austria to East Germans, and thousands flee west. September 1989: The flight showed how weak the regime was and spurred those who stayed to demand change at home.
  2. About 70,000 march in Leipzig and the security forces do not shoot. 9 October 1989: Once force was not used, protests grew, and the ruling party removed its hardline leader to try to calm them.
  3. Erich Honecker is removed as East German leader. October 1989: His successors tried to calm protest by easing travel rules, and a confused announcement sent crowds to the border.
  4. Crowds force the guards to open the Berlin Wall. 9 November 1989: With the border open, the East German regime collapsed, and voters there backed joining the Federal Republic. Germany was reunified on 3 October 1990.
  5. Germany is reunified.
Solidarity
Formed 1980; martial law December 1981.
Polish elections
June 1989; Mazowiecki prime minister in August.
Leipzig
9 October 1989: about 70,000 march peacefully.
Berlin Wall opened
9 November 1989.

Real examples to use

Polish elections, 4 and 18 June 1989

Solidarity won all 161 freely contested seats in the Sejm and 99 of the 100 seats in the new Senate.

Hungary opens the border, 11 September 1989

Hungary let East Germans cross freely into Austria. More than 60,000 had left through Hungary by early November.

Leipzig, 9 October 1989

About 70,000 people marched peacefully and the security forces did not shoot. A month later, on 9 November, the Berlin Wall opened.

Worked example: Comparing Poland and East Germany

How did people power work differently in the two countries?

  1. Poland: an organised movement, Solidarity, negotiated a transition.
  2. East Germany: mass emigration and street protest without a single organised leader.
  3. Common factor: Gorbachev would not use force to save either regime.
  4. Judgement: people power was decisive, but only once Moscow stepped back.

Watch out for this

The Berlin Wall was opened by a planned decision of the East German government.

The announcement about travel was confused and premature. Crowds gathered and forced border guards to open the crossings that night.

Check your understanding

What did the Polish Round Table talks of 1989 achieve?

  1. They legalised Solidarity and allowed partly free elections.
  2. They reunified Poland and East Germany.
  3. They brought Soviet troops into Poland to keep order.
Show the answer

They legalised Solidarity and allowed partly free elections.

Right. Solidarity's victory followed in June 1989.

Sources and context

Background reading for this chapter.

  • Reagan describes an evil empire

    Paraphrase of President Reagan's remarks to the National Association of Evangelicals, Orlando, 8 March 1983.

  • Reagan proposes missile defence

    Paraphrase of President Reagan's televised address on defense and national security, 23 March 1983.

  • A Soviet premier meets the US Secretary of State

    Paraphrase of the US memorandum of conversation between Soviet Chairman of the Council of Ministers Nikolai Ryzhkov and Secretary of State George Shultz, Moscow, 14 April 1987.

  • Gorbachev plans his UN speech

    Paraphrase of notes by Anatoly Chernyaev of Gorbachev's conference with his advisers, 31 October 1988, held in the archive of the Gorbachev Foundation.

  • Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate

    Paraphrase of President Reagan's remarks at the Brandenburg Gate, West Berlin, 12 June 1987.

  • A US government history of the collapse

    Paraphrase of "The Collapse of the Soviet Union", an account published by the Office of the Historian, US Department of State.

  • Reagan's strategy towards the USSR, January 1983

    Extract from National Security Decision Directive 75, "U.S. Relations with the USSR", signed by President Reagan, Washington, 17 January 1983. Secret when issued. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981-1988, volume III, document 260. A US government document in the public domain.

  • Reagan and Gorbachev at Reykjavik, 12 October 1986

    Extract from the US memorandum of conversation of the final meeting between President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev, Reykjavik, 12 October 1986, written by the American notetaker Tom Simons. The summit ended without agreement. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981-1988, volume V, document 308. A US government document in the public domain.

  • Shevardnadze previews Gorbachev's UN speech, 7 December 1988

    Extract from the US memorandum of conversation of Secretary of State George Shultz's meeting with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, New York, 7 December 1988, hours before Gorbachev addressed the UN General Assembly. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981-1988, volume VI, document 178. A US government document in the public domain.

  • the CIA Director on Eastern Europe, October 1988

    Extract from a memorandum to the file, Washington, 4 November 1988, reporting a meeting of President Reagan's National Security Planning Group on Eastern Europe on 25 October 1988, based on notes by State Department official Tom Simons. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981-1988, volume X, document 61. A US government document in the public domain.

  • Bush on the opening of the Berlin Wall, 9 November 1989

    Extract from President George Bush's remarks and question-and-answer session with reporters in the Oval Office on the relaxation of East German border controls, Washington, 9 November 1989. A US government record in the public domain; text from the American Presidency Project.

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