Lifetime e a took place a lifetime ago. And its collapse seems so unimaginable. If i can indulge you for a second, the year before the collapse, i had organized a conference. Withe was more associated the cold war. Some of you were there. Of talk aboutt the integration of europe. , knownial the soviet was talking about the reunification of germany. Off desk also the time john and bill had begun their series on sovietamerican relations, the first time sovietamerican scholars got together. Scott armstrong had just come up with the idea of a National Security archive. But the end of the cold war . Not a chance and no discussion. Notequently, one is remarkable, what is now much closer now than we were then, by reaching a consensus regarding events in germany, and then of course, there aftermath. These questions concerned the drivers, whether they be individual, state, or international. These questions concerned consequences, whether they be international, state, or individual. These questi
Four decades or even more, its a little short of remarkable that were marking 25 years since the fall of the berlin wall. Its remarkable because on the one hand we can recall that event so vividly, but on the other hand, it sometimes seems like it took place a lifetime ago. Its also remarkable because for those of us who pursued our degrees and published our first books during the preceding decades, in some cases before the construction of the wall [ laughter ] its collapse seemed so unimaginable. In fact, if i can indulge you for a second, the year before the collapse, i organized a conference on john foster dulles. No one was more associated with the cold war. Some of you were there. There was lots of talk about the integration of europe. The soviets new thinking. Glasnost. Perestroika but no one was talking about the reunification this was the time john gaddes began their conferences on soviet and american relations. First time soviet and American Scholars got together. And Scott Ar
Kagans article and in the new republic of hes a wellknown intellectual. Maybe thats why he got it in the new republic. Other people can write a counter view. If were unhappy with the exceptional view of triumphalism, thats what we historians should try to do without getting caught in our own ideological biases, i would suggest. Im going to make half the panel feel old. I was in high school, i was a freshman when the wall fell. Sorry. At least you werent there when the wall went up. I dont know where my parents were. Let me play the role of splitter you suggested there was a contrast. You can say on the whop happened those that tried to stand against the crowds with violence, then sort of succeeded, but those who acceded to the crowd, kind of their regions went away. Where do we put romania in that . I think the roamanians like to be different. I think we have to put them in a third category because we should raoul that ceausescu did not have the opportunity to act as he wanted. He was
Scholarship about the causes for the fall of the wall but the proximate causes, the short term events are not wellknown in the nongerman speaking world and so i decided for the anniversary to try to put together that story as best i could and then of course as always happens when you start researching something it becomes more complicated than you expected. It ended up being a fascinating rg 31 so let me just gallop through some of the ideas in my book and then if we have questions we can talk more about them. I want to talk a little bit about the precursor to the night of november 9, 1989, when the wall opens. And then a tiny bit about how we think about these events, memory and legacy, themes that my colleagues will emphasize as well. So its important to say that the first unexpected event actually happened not in berlin but in moscow which is to say there were a rapid series of deaths. In 2 1 2 years there were four leaders of the soviet union, of course, after brezhnev died. Then a
On weekends cspan 3 is home to American History tv with programs that tell our nations story. The civil wars 150th anniversary, visiting battlefields and key events. American artifacts touring museums and Historic Sites to discover what artifactsry valley. History book shelf for the best known history writers. The presidency looking at the policies and legacies of our nations commanderinchief. Lectures in history with top college professors. And our new series, real america featuring archival government and educational films from the 1930s through the 70s. Cspan 3 created by the cable tv industry and funded by your local cable or satellite provider. To mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall a panel of historians discuss the end of the cold war. Constructed in 1961, the wall began to fall on november 9th, 1989, after months of protests an political liberalization in pro soviet Eastern Europe. This event is hosted by the society for historians of American Foreign relati