Freedom
Tory Bear was three on the 9th November 1989. He is not sure whether he really remembers it, or has just stared at that poster enough times. Either way that look of jubilation on the German people's faces as they embraced their new found freedom should never be forgotten. Leftist extremists will always try tell you that the Wall went down because the Communist regime collapsed organically. This is a lie. The world changed that day as a direct result of the policies of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. Check out this gem from the BBC the next morning:
"You see the joy on peoples faces, and you see what freedom means to them, and it makes you realise that you can't stifle or repress peoples desire for liberty"
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7 comments:
"Leftist extremists will always try tell you that the Wall went down because the Communist regime collapsed organically. This is a lie. The world changed that day as a direct result of the policies of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher."
Bit of both actually.
What you fail to mention is that Margaret Thatcher was vehemently opposed to the reunification of Germany and had Douglas Hurd actively lobby against it.
Have to agree with Rensenbrink, The collapse of the Communist regime did play a part in brining down the wall.
In fact I would also go as far as to say Moscow played a pivotal roll in brining the wall down.
"A raft of new books on the fall of the Berlin Wall venture back to the most tumultuous year in world politics since the end of the Second World War, trying to reconstruct exactly what happened and why. Reading them together is like twisting that kaleidoscope and doing everything to avoid vertigo. But important patterns emerge: for one thing, American statesmanship had little, if anything, to do with the actual fall of the wall. If any single person deserves the credit, it was Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, not President Reagan. For another, things happened so fast that the United States couldn't have pulled the strings even if it had wanted to. The fall of the Soviet Union was like other great revolutions in history—first a hairline fracture in the glass, and then a deafening break as it shattered."
...
BTW I was also 3 years old that day and I remember having my first crush when Margaret Thatcher came on the telly.
Rensenbrink should also give credit to Mr Gorbachev, the first and last Russian leader not to kill you for disagreeing with him. Mrs Thatcher and Mr Reagan could have done little had they been faced with a Putin, let alone a Stalin.
"You see the joy on peoples faces, and you see what freedom means to them, and it makes you realise that you can't stifle or repress peoples desire for liberty".
Is it just me, or does the girl in the final 2 seconds look like Liberty Belle?