All language subtitles for Cold War - S01E23 - The Wall Comes Down (1989) (480p x265 EDGE2020).eng

NARRATOR:
The Berlin Wall.

Part of the Iron Curtain
that out Europe in two.

Beyond the wire,

armed force
had always held down

the peoples
of the Communist world.

In 1989,

the Wall
was still intact.

But there was
a new mood in Moscow.

[speaking Russian ]

The use of force had
discredited itself completely.

It was no longer possible
to stabilize the world

by military methods.

We saw a real
opportunity

because of this
recognition

on the part
of the Soviet Union

that they weren't gonna
win an arms race.

They weren't gonna,
"bury you."

We were
the beneficiaries of this.

D ♪

NARRATION:
December 1988.

Gorbachev met George Bush

and outgoing President
Ronald Reagan.

Gorbachev had decided
that the Cold War

must be brought
to an end.

The Americans remained
cautious.

There were pressures
on Mr. Gorbachev

from his right,
if you wanna call it that,

from his military,
God knows from who else,

who didn't wanna see
the rapidity

of this change.

NARRATION:
By 1989, Gorbachev was determined

to loosen
Soviet control

over the nations
in the Communist Bloc.

[speaking Russian ]

NARRATION: Gorbachev told
the peoples of Eastern Europe

that they had the right
to choose their own futures.

But his listeners wondered
what would happen

if non-Communists
won power.

Would the Soviet Union
really stand aside?

[speaking Russian ]

Gorbachev was convinced

that when these countries
got their freedom,

they would choose
socialism with a human face.

He believed they would
not turn away from Moscow,

nor run off
to the West.

He thought they would be
grateful to Moscow

and keep up ties
of friendship

with the Soviet Union.

NARRATION: But not everybody
wanted freedom from Moscow.

Communist leaders like
East Germany's Erich Honecker,

relied on Soviet support
to stay in power.

[Speaking German ]

To imagine that
the Soviet Union,

after 40 years
of alliances,

would leave
every socialist country

to fend for itself

and turn its back
on them,

as if there had never been
a brotherly community.

This was
unheard of.

NARRATION:
Hungary 1956.

Soviet tanks smashed
the Hungarian attempt

to win democracy
and independence.

Imre Nagy and other leaders
of the uprising

were executed.

Economic reforms
improved life for a while,

then hit disaster.

By 1989,

the Communist government
was losing control.

But Soviet troops
remained in the land.

The Hungarian people were
growing angry again.

Fear drove the regime
to promise political changes,

and more democracy.

The country was in --
close to an abyss,

close to a total
crisis situation.

Economically, we accumulated
by that time

a huge debt.

Politically,
all the key players

within the country

realized that there
is no way

to get a better life

via reforming
the socialist model.

In March, 1989,

Prime Minister Nemeth
visited Moscow.

The Hungarian leaders
were planning

free multi-party elections.

But would this be
too much for Gorbachev?

I said, "I don't know,
as of this moment,

when we will have
the first election.

But knowing that
you stationing

in the territory
of the country,

roughly 80,000 soldiers,

and having in mind
the experience of '56,

when your tanks crushed

the revolutionaries

and all the forces

who fought that time
for freedom,

will you repeat
the '56 exercise

or not?“

And Gorbachev,
without hesitation,

responded quite
clearly to me,

"I don't agree

with
the multi-party system--

The introduction of
the multi-party system

in Hllngary

but that's not
my responsibility.

That's your responsibility.

There will be no
instruction

or order by us

to crush it down."

So that was quite
important message.

NARRATION:
A nameless grave in Budapest

hid the murdered leaders
of the 1956 uprising.

Now the government agreed
to rehabilitate them,

the dead
and the living.

Erzsebet Hrozova was 18

when she fought in
the uprising.

She spent 12 years
in prison.

[Speaking Hungarian ]

I felt as you do
when a plaster is removed

and at last
you can breathe freely.

You don't have
to lower your head anymore.

I felt I could
breathe again.

NARRATION:
lmre Nagy and his comrades

were given
a public funeral.

The Government declared

that the 1956 revolution
was justified.

The crowd listened
to the names of the martyrs.

NEMETH:
I was stunned to see that

on that list,

young boys
when they imprisoned them,

arrested them,

they were 14, 16 years old

and they waited until
they celebrated

their 18th birthday.

And next morning,

they killed some of them.

The reburial meant to us

a reconciliation
with our past and history.

It meant a new start,

a fresh start

especially
in the political side

of our life --

and a renewal.

NARRATION:
A month before,

the Cold War had
lost a symbol.

The Hungarian government
took down

the barbed wire
on its border

with Austria
and the West.

The Soviet Union
did nothing.

Although travel was
still not completely free,

the Iron Curtain
was starting to unravel.

I refused to give to
the Home Minister money

in that year's budget

for the renewal,
or the refurbishment

of the old barbed
wire system.

[Speaking Hungarian ]

They said that
the Iron Curtain

was technically
obsolete.

It didn't work
as a barrier any more.

They should not
maintain a construction

that endangered
people's lives.

NARRATION:
Hungary's boldness alarmed

the hardline
Warsaw Pact leaders.

None was more shocked
than the East German ruler

Erich Honecker.

His state formed
the Soviet Empire's frontier

with the West.

[Speaking German ]

Honeckefls
first reaction was

to send the Minister
of Foreign Affairs to Moscow

to protest
against this decision.

Moscow's answer was,

"We can't do
anything about it."

This was unique.

It was the first time
that Moscow had said

anything like this
to us.

[ Chanting ]

NARRATION:
The Poles, like the Hungarians,

were breaking
with the communist system.

[Speaking Polish]

Faced with a wave
of political strikes,

led by the Opposition movement
Solidarity,

the regime had
given way.

[Speaking Polish]

I knew that the communist
system was finished.

The only problem was,
what would be

the best way to get rid
of Communism.

In 1981,
with Soviet approval,

Solidarity had been crushed
by the Polish army.

Its leaders were
imprisoned.

Now, in early 1989,

the government opened
roundtable talks

with Solidarity.

The Polish communists
were prepared to share power,

to discuss a shift
towards democracy.

[Speaking Polish]

Democratic institutions
were being formed.

They were substitutes for
a full democracy,

but we were different

compared to the other countries
of the Bloc.

We were in a way
a heretical island.

NARRATION:
In June, elections were held.

So/idarnosc.

- Solidarnosc.
- Solidarnosc.

NARRATION:
They produced a stunning defeat

for the Communists.

Solidarity won
99 out of 100 seats

in the Senate.

Within weeks, the first
anti-Communist Prime Minister

in the Soviet Bloc
took office.

[Speaking Polish]

When we knew that Gorbachev
was thinking about reform,

we saw he would not
oppose our reforms,

and that was important
to us.

NARRATION:
At the Warsaw Pact Summit,

the leaders were divided.

Honecker, like
Romania's Nicolae Ceausescu,

was alarmed
by what was happening

in Poland
and Hungary.

[ Gorbachev speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
Honecker and particularly Ceausescu

were against our reforms.

On one occasion,

we were having
a meeting with him,

in his residence
on the outskirts of Bucharest.

He and his wife,
Raisa and myself,

were having a discussion.

Our passions
really ran high.

We spoke in such loud voices

that we had to remove
all our security people

so that they
wouldn't hear us.

[ Man speaking Hungarian]

INTERPRETER:
We heard that Ceausescu of Romania,

Jakes of Czechoslovakia

and Honecker were organizing
some sort of conspiracy.

They wanted to talk
Gorbachev into intervention

against Poland
and Hungary.

They said that
these nations had already

passed the limits
of what was acceptable

in socialist countries.

When I heard
the first proposal

from Ceausescu on this,

I looked

at the other side
of the table

where the Soviet delegation

was seated

and our eyes crossed
each other's eyes.

He was signalling
to me that,

"Okay, don't
argue against it."

So in other words
he sent me

by his eyes

an important message --

that you don't have
to say a word.

It will not happen.

And it did not.

NARRATION:
In July,

President Bush visited
Poland and Hungary.

The West gave them
moral support

for democratic change,
but little more.

We did have some
modest economic packages

for both countries,

but really
we did not wanna

kinda pump money
down a rat-hole either.

We wanted to be sure
that the economic reforms --

the moves towards
free markets --

those things
were for real,

that they were
gonna continue.

NARRATION:
In Hungary,

Bush was presented
with a piece of barbed wire,

a souvenir of Hungary's
dismantled Iron Curtain.

We believe
that the artificial,

physical,
and spiritual wail

still existing in the world

some day
shall collapse everywhere.

And that is just
beautiful.

Thank you, sir.

I'm kind of an emotional
sort of person anyway.

I cry too easily.
I did then. I do now.

And I had tears in my eyes

when I was given
this symbol

of the end
of the Cold War.

NARRATION:
On his Wyoming ranch,

James Baker,
Bush's Secretary of State,

discovered a real friendship
for Eduard Shevardnadze,

the Soviet Foreign Minister.

MAN:
Excuse me, I'm from the parks service.

Do you guys have
a fishing license?

Absolutely.

Two of them.

NARRATION:
Baker confirmed to Shevardnadze

that the United States
would tread carefully

in Eastern Europe,

and would not exploit
Soviet problems there.

BAKER:
What was achieved at Jackson Hole was,

I think, a new
atmosphere of trust.

Everyone
on the American side,

as a matter of fact,
felt it was very important

that we assist Gorbachev
and Shevardnadze

and the reformers
in the Soviet Union

in any way we could,

to arrive
at a soft landing.

The Cold War didn't have
to end with a whimper.

It could have gone out
with a bang.

NARRATION:
Already, in Communist China,

a surge of demands for
human rights and democracy

had ended
in tragedy.

On Tiananmen Square,
in Beijing,

tanks and troops had attacked
peaceful demonstrators

and slaughtered
them.

[gunfire]

The world shuddered.

Would reform in Eastern Europe
end like this?

Erich Honecker,
in East Germany,

admired the Chinese solution
to political protest.

Honecker refused to admit
that anything was wrong

with his own system.

[speaking Russian ]

I told them that
they were responsible

for the situation
in their own countries.

"You decide
what reforms you need.

We need perestroika.

Whether you need perestroika
is up to you."

Honecker said,
"We've done our perestroika.

We have nothing
to re-structure."

NARRATION:
But in reality,

East Germany
was rotting away.

Pollution poisoned
air and water.

The economy
was running down.

The police state
stifled all initiative.

There was apathy
in public,

daydreams in private.

[Speaking German ]

Most people in the GDR

withdrew
into their private lives.

You went to your job,

saw to it that
your private life was

protected from harm.

Then you withdrew
into your home,

with your friends
in your own private world.

You criticized society
at home,

but only among
people you trusted.

[woman speaking German ]

INTERPRETER:
There was a video camera installed

in the building opposite us

which was trained
on our window.

Every private word
we said,

every dispute about
who had to do the dishes,

every argument
with the children

was listened to
and noted down.

Everyone who entered
our house was videotaped.

NARRATION:
That summer, East Germans rushed

to take holidays
in Hungary.

There was
an escape hatch

Hungary's border with the West
was weakening.

In Budapest,
East Germans besieged

the West German Embassy,

demanding help
to emigrate.

[Speaking German ]

It was known
that every German from the GDR

who chose to live
in freedom and democracy

would get all possible
support from us.

NARRATION: The West
German Chancellor Helmut Kohl

had confidence
in Gorbachev.

Kohl planned to rescue
the Hungarian economy

if the East Germans were
allowed to go West.

He trusted Gorbachev not
to block the deal

with the Hungarians.

[Speaking German ]

[cheers and applause]

NARRATION: The Hungarians
agreed to let the East Germans

cross to the West.

Honecker called the refugees
moral outcasts.

[Speaking German ]

I believe he felt
a mixture

of anger
and utter contempt

for these masses
of people...

these ungrateful people,

who had run over
to the other side.

NARRATION:
The refugees had been travelling

from East Germany to Hungary

in the hope of getting
to the West.

Now East Germany blocked
travel to Hungary.

Desperate, the fleeing
East Germans

turned
to Czechoslovakia.

They gathered
at the West German Embassy

in Prague.

[Speaking German ]

We had no prospects.

I didn't want my child to
grow up under that repression.

It wasn't just
that we couldn't travel --

it was small
everyday things.

NARRATION:
When the Embassy was full,

the refugees climbed
into the garden.

We didn't know what
was going to happen to us.

We knew there were
many people inside waiting,

but we weren't sure

whether there would be
police inside

or even the state
security police -- the Stasi.

We walked fearfully
along the fence,

and then people from
inside the Embassy came up

and said, "Don't you want
to come in?"

We were astonished
and said, "Yes."

"Wait," they said.
"We'll get a ladder."

We climbed the fence
and were inside.

At first we saw
just people.

It was frightening.
People everywhere.

NARRATION: More and more
refugees crammed themselves

into the Embassy
and refused to leave.

[Speaking German ]

NARRATION:
The Czech police made futile attempts

to stop the inrush.

Inside the Embassy,

the overcrowding and squalor
grew worse

day by day-

Both German governments,
East and West,

were at
their wits' end.

West Germany's Foreign Minister,
Hans Dietrich Genscher,

came to Prague.

Under Soviet and West German
pressure,

Honecker had consented
to a face-saving deal.

[ Honecker speaking German ]

[cheers and applause]

NARRATION:
The refugees could go to West Germany,

but only if their train

crossed
East German territory first.

Then Honecker could claim
that he had expelled them

and cancel led
their citizenship.

[cheers and applause]

[ Spannaus speaking German ]

The train stopped.

Two men opened
the doors.

"Good day, we are from
the state security

and will collect
your identity cards now."

And I will never forget
how they had to bend down

to collect these documents,

because the people threw
their identity cards

at their feet.

The feeling was,
"There's your card.

You can't threaten me
anymore."

It was very satisfying.

NARRATION:
Back in Prague,

a new wave of refugees
stormed the Embassy fence.

Their last chance
of reaching the West

seemed to be
vanishing.

Within a few days,
another 7,000 people

had scrambled into
the Embassy garden.

Some East Germans chose
to stay and protest.

The Lutheran churches
were sheltering

an opposition movement.

Inspired by Gorbachev,
the protestors dreamed

of turning East Germany
into a democracy.

[Speaking German ]

Gorbachev gave us
great hope.

First of all,

he tried
to change his country

in the same way as we wanted
to change our country,

through perestroika --

a gradual
liberalization.

NARRATION:
In Leipzig,

the police struck back.

On September 4th,

Western journalists filmed
plainclothes security men

as they attacked
the demonstrators.

[chanting in German]

NARRATION:
Soon came a new chant of defiance --

"We are staying here."

[Speaking German ]

"We are staying here,"
was a protest

against what the GDR
had done --

namely to drive young people
to leave the country

because they had
no prospects.

That was a turning point.

And people said,
"We still have hope."

NARRATION:
Every Monday in Leipzig,

there were demonstrations
at the Nikoli church.

They swelled
into mass protests.

The police tried
to stop them.

But the government was
losing its nerve.

[Speaking German ]

In short,
we were speechless

because we were
helpless.

Because this country

and this leadership

had never before experienced
a conflict

which was
so openly expressed.

NARRATION: Only Honecker
seemed to notice nothing amiss.

On the eve of East Germany's
40th anniversary that October,

he was confident
as he waited

with his colleague
Egon Krenz

to greet his senior guest,
Mikhail Gorbachev.

The Soviet delegation
already knew

that the East German regime
was tottering.

[cheers and applause]

The outward show

of victorious celebration
went ahead.

Then,
at the torchlight parade

of Communist youth,

the marchers dropped
their rehearsed slogans.

They began to chant
another name...

"Gorby."

[chanting cheering]

Honecker pretended
not to notice.

[ Gorbachev speaking Russian ]

These were
specially chosen young people,

strong and good-looking.

They were in
a cheerful mood,

but they started
chanting slogans...

"Gorby help us!

Gorby stay here!"

Rakovvski, the Polish leader,
came up to us

and said,
"Do you understand German?"

I said,
"I do, a little bit."

"Can you hear?"
I said, "I can."

He said,
"This is the end."

And that was the end.

The regime
was doomed.

[Speaking German ]

This was a vote
of no confidence against us.

"Gorby, Gorby"
did not mean

do it exactly as it was done
in the Soviet Union.

"Gorby, Gorby" meant,

we need change
here in the GDR.

NARRATION:
In a series of increasingly surreal meetings,

Gorbachev tried to inject
a sense of reality.

[speaking Russian ]

Honecker and I spent
about three hours talking.

He couldn't understand

why I wanted a meeting.

But we had
a serious discussion.

I told him
what we were doing.

He told me
what they were doing.

He described it all
as one victory after another.

But I said,

"He who lags
behind events, loses."

[Speaking German ]

It was absolutely
clear to me that both sides

spoke about two
completely different things.

They did not try
to meet in the middle.

During the whole conversation

they did not agree
on a single thing.

NARRATION:
As the leaders met at the closing reception,

a plot was hatching
against Erich Honecker.

A group in the East German
Politburo had decided

to try and get
rid of him.

[Speaking German ]

We could no longer afford
to hesitate

in removing Honecker.

We had to act fast.

You could see
that he did not understand

what was going on.

He had
an autocratic approach

to what was happening
around him.

He couldn't cope
with the situation.

[Speaking German ]

NARRATION:
At dinner with Gorbachev

and the leaders of
the Warsaw Pact countries,

Honecker was
a complacent host.

Meanwhile, a hostile crowd
was gathering outside.

Gorby, help us!

Gorby,
help us!

Gorby, help us!

Gorby, Gorby!

Gorby,
Gorby!

Gorby, Gorby!

Gorby,
Gorby!

Gorby, Gorby!

Gorby,
Gorby!

[chanting continues]

Honecker was planning
to stamp out

the new opposition.

No one was sure
how far he would go.

[Speaking German ]

There was a permanent fear
that there might be

a "Chinese solution"
to the problem,

and that weapons
might be used.

We could never ignore
this possibility.

Sometimes we even thought

that Soviet tanks
might appear.

NARRATION: That evening, the
demonstrations in Berlin continued.

[chanting in German]

NARRATION:
in Leipzig earlier that day,

the authorities made ready
to meet the demonstrations

with armed force.

[Speaking German ]

On the afternoon
of October 7,

the entire square
was cordoned off

by the police.

It was the first time
I saw the power of the police.

They stood in a phalanx
with their helmets,

and shields,
and face masks.

And standing there
right up to them

we felt their force
and violence.

[chanting continues]

NARRATION:
That night, the police charged

and scattered
the demonstrators.

But an even larger
protest rally was called

for two days later.

The army
was on standby.

[Speaking German ]

They realized
they they could ho longer

control the events
with the police alone.

They wanted to use us
to increase the pressure

on the situation.

[Speaking German ]

Almost all paramilitary
brigades were mobilized.

The voluntary police force
were out in strength.

More than 8,000 men
were armed

and sent with their equipment
to Leipzig.

We were issued
with twice as much ammunition

as normal.

Usually we had 6O rounds.

Now they gave us
120 rounds.

[Speaking German ]

One of us had a friend
in the hospital

and he'd heard that blood
reserves had been ordered,

and that spare beds were
to be kept free

on that day.

The city was
in a state of emergency.

Shops had to close at 5:00.

We felt very intimidated.

At work,
people warned each other,

"Don't go
into town tonight.

Who knows what's going
to happen?"

NARRATION:
As the Leipzig demonstration moved off,

the local Communist Party
leaders realized

that 70,000 people were
already on the streets.

Alarmed, the Soviet Ambassador
telephoned

the commander of Soviet forces
in the region.

[ Kochemasov
speaking Russian ]

"I urge you to immediately
order the troops

back to the barracks.

That's the first thing.

Secondly,
stop all maneuvers.

Third, stop all flights

of military planes.

And under no circumstances

interfere
in the developments."

[ Chanting ]

NARRATION: The Leipzig
Communists begged the opposition

to talk with them.

Then, without higher orders,

they pulled back the East German
police and troops.

The demonstration went off
peacefully.

For East Germans, this was
the turning point.

[Speaking German ]

People almost fell
into each others' arms

and said, "Oh, my goodness.

Now something is happening

and now finally we're starting
to talk to each other.

And if we talk
to each other

we won't shoot
at each other."

NARRATION:
Now Honeckefls allies deserted him.

He was
voted out of power

by Egon Krenze
and the entire Politburo

on October 17.

[Speaking German ]

It was high time
for him to go.

It would have been
impossible for us to get out

of this deep valley
with him at the top,

even if he had mustered
all his authority for change.

NARRATION:
Now Egon Krenz was in charge.

He promised
democratic reforms.

He assured the people
that he would make it easier

for East Germans
to travel West --

the issue which had
set off the whole crisis.

[Speaking German ]

Of course we felt
under tremendous pressure.

It was non-stop.

We had to make
a move.

NARRATION:
On November 1,

Krenz visited Gorbachev
in Moscow.

[ Krenz speaking German ]

We talked very openly

about the question
of free travel.

And he said to me,

"|f you don't find
a new formula

which allows the GDR citizens
to travel,

then things won't
look good for you."

[speaking Russian ]

Egon Krenz was
unfortunately devoid

of any charismatic
qualities.

He wasn't accepted
by the people.

He wasn't attractive
to the masses.

He couldn't find
the words

to speak to people

because he only spoke
the old party jargon.

[Speaking German ]

By '89, many people,
myself included,

were no longer prepared
to look for dialogue.

I remember that
we said,

"Now our readiness for dialogue
has expired."

Now it's confrontation."

NARRATION:
In vain, Krenz offered new freedoms.

The street demonstrations
grew bigger,

and asked for more.

In East Berlin
on November 4th,

a crowd of half a million people
gathered.

[Speaking German ]

[ Applause ]

HEYM:
If you live in a system that is suppressive,

you don't walk upright,

you always go
this way,

with your head down.

And now was a chance
to walk upright

and to show your face

and to show
the power of the people.

NARRATION:
On November 9, 1989

Gunter Schabowski
told journalists in Berlin

that restrictions
on travel to the West

would be lifted.

The Government meant
the change to start next day.

But Schabowski mistook
the timing.

[Speaking German ]

NARRATION:
The news flashed around the city.

East Berliners
rushed to see

if the checkpoints in the Wall

were really opening.

[chanting in German]

NARRATION:
The border guards were baffled.

[Speaking German ]

We didn't get any
instructions from our superiors,

DONE.

Only -- observe
the situation.

We tried many times
to speak to our superiors,

but nobody got
back to us.

You have to bear in mind
that our soldiers

were fully armed on this day
as always.

And they had one order.

NARRATION: That order was
to stop anyone trying to escape,

but the crowds were
huge now.

Suddenly,
the guards gave in.

They opened the barriers.

[shouting applause]

They opened the borders

and didn't take
any counter measures.

They didn't consult me
or get my approval.

[shouting applause]

[Speaking German ]

[woman speaking German ]

INTERPRETER:
I found myself in a group of people

who were applauding.

I didn't understand
right away why.

Then I realized.

I really was
in West Berlin,

and West Berliners had
come to the border

and they were
applauding us.

We were all crying
and embracing each other.

Even now
when I think about it,

my heart is racing.

It was so moving.

[ Cheers, car horns]

[Speaking German ]

West Berliners arrived

from the other
direction.

They began to demolish
the Wall

in front
of the Brandenburg Gate.

[Speaking German ]

There was a common idea.

Now we have to get rid
of the Wall.

Everybody had
different reasons.

For me it was that I had
relatives oh the other side

who couldn't come over.

When I remembered my aunt,

and how I couldn't see her
before she died,

it made me so angry.

It was liberating to do
something against the Wail.

[Speaking German ]

BUSH:
It was emotional for me,

but I must confess
that I had in mind

not over-reacting.

The stupidest thing
that any President

could have done then
would have been

going over there,
danced on the Berlin Wall,

and stick his fingers
right into the eyes

of the Soviet military
and of Gorbachev.

Who knows how they would have
had to react?

[distant cheers and applause]

Next morning,
I got a phone call.

They told me
what had happened.

I said, "You made
the right decision."

Because how could you
shoot at Germans

who walk across the border

to meet other Germans
oh the other side?

So the policy had to change.

NARRATION:
Across this Wall, two worlds had

faced each other
in arms.

Now their enmity
was dumped into history.

Germany would be reunited.

But Europe's revolution
against Communism

was not yet done.