Berlin Wall: The rise and fall.May 1945: Germany surrenders, ending the Second World War in Europe. The victorious allies Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the US divide Berlin into four sectors. June 1948 to May 1949: The Soviets blockade West Berlin to try to prevent the emergence of a West German state. British and American aircraft fly in food to prevent West Berliners from starving. 1950s: One in five East Germans - some 3.5m people - flee to West Germany West Germany: see Germany. . August 1961: East Germany East Germany: see Germany. builds a 96-mile wall to prevent its citizens fleeing to West Berlin. In the next 28 years, 192 people are shot dead trying to cross the wall. June 1963: US President J F Kennedy visits Berlin and makes his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner "Ich bin ein Berliner" ("I am a citizen of Berlin") is a famous quotation from a June 26, 1963, speech of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in West Berlin. He was underlining the support of the United States for democratic West Germany shortly after the Soviet-supported Communist " speech. December 1963: After more than two years West Berliners can visit East Berliners. June 1987: US president Ronald Reagan urges Soviet Communist party Communist party, in China Communist party, in China, ruling party of the world's most populous nation since 1949 and most important Communist party in the world since the disintegration of the USSR in 1991. leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "Tear down this wall "Tear down this wall" was the famous challenge from United States President Ronald Reagan to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the Berlin Wall. In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate, by the Berlin Wall, on June 12, 1987, Reagan challenged Gorbachev, then the General ". August 1989: Tens of thousands of East Germans swamp West German diplomatic missions in East Berlin, Czechoslovakia and Hungary seeking asylum. September 11: Hungary opens its border with Austria to East German refugees. October 7: During a visit to East Berlin, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev indirectly urges reform; thousands demonstrate against the East German regime in the first of a series of protests that grow to rally of one million people on November 4. November 7-8: East Germany's ruling Politburo resigns. November 9: Berlin Wall falls. Border between East and West Germany opens. October 1990: East and West Germany reunite re·u·nite tr. & intr.v. re·u·nit·ed, re·u·nit·ing, re·u·nites To bring or come together again. reunite Verb [-niting, -nited . September 1994: Last Russian and western soldiers leave Berlin. April 1999: German government moves to Berlin CAPTION(S): HISTORIC DAY: East Germans flood through the dismantled wall into West Berlin in November 1989 |
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