Towards the end of the Cold War, the Iron Curtain was weakening. Many countries formerly controlled by the crumbling USSR were finding cracks and holes that they could escape through. Dissent towards communism was growing in the Soviet Bloc, and outbursts were becoming more common. Poland was the first to break free from the iron grip of communism. Trade union led movements in Warsaw in the 80s eroded the legitimacy of the failing government (Rabel). Other nations and regions were unhappy too. Hungary was able to experiment with market reforms in 1988 (Rabel). The Baltic States were also unhappy with their Soviet overlords, and in June of 1989 on the 50th anniversary of the loss of their independence, they protested with a 600 km long human chain (Rabel). With all the growing dissent and pressure mounting in the Soviet Bloc, many in Germany and Berlin saw this as a chance for reunification. With the Soviet satellites falling one by one, they essentially proved the opposite of the Domino Theory to be true (Rabel). The Domino Theory was a line of thinking during the Vietnam War where if one nation fell to communism, there would be a domino effect where it would spread like a virus to surrounding nations. In this case the opposite was being proved to be true, West and East Germany, along with Berlin, were able to reunify on November 9th, 1989 (Rabel). The city of Berlin was separated for almost 30 years, but was able to reunify because of the precedent set by the surrounding nations who managed to break free of the Soviet’s Iron grip.
Source: Rabel, Roberto. “The Fall of a Wall and Its Legacy.” New Zealand International Review, vol. 44, no. 6, Nov. 2019, p. 20. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=139853895&site=ehost-live&scope=site.