Significance of the fall of the Berlin Wall

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, meant that the east and west could finally be reunited with relatives and friends they had not seen for almost 30 years. The citizens of Berlin rejoiced in the streets.

This also meant that East Germans could now travel through to the West through Austria and the East German leader Erich Honecker had been sacked. Throughout Eastern Europe, communist governments were falling apart and the Soviet Union showed it had no intention of stepping in to prevent the mass protests demand for reform. Many countries became independent from the Soviet Union and governed themselves for the first time. For 30 years, the Berlin Wall had symbolised the political division of Europe. This collapse marked the end of Soviet control and essentially the Cold War itself. 

The fall of the Berlin Wall had also led to the abolition of the Warsaw Pact which had been formed after the allies established…