The moment that reshaped Europe

By Myles BurkeFeatures correspondent

A man attacks the Berlin Wall with a pickaxe on the night of November 9th, 1989A man attacks the Berlin Wall with a pickaxe on the night of November 9th, 1989

On 9 November 1989, the Berlin Wall that had long divided the city and its inhabitants crumbled. In this exclusive BBC Archive clip as part of the new series In History, Brian Hanrahan reports as people flooded over the border for an emotional, anarchic reunion.

On the evening of 9 November 1989, the BBC's Brian Hanrahan stood amid scenes of jubilation witnessing a moment of history, the fall of the Berlin Wall.

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The atmosphere was electric. All around him Berliners hugged, cried and celebrated in a state of near disbelief that the barrier, which had divided their city for almost three decades, was crumbling.

Standing on the Wall, as people tore down sections of it with hammers and chisels, he captured the feeling of euphoria as a nation divided was reunited.

Watch: The moment the Berlin Wall fell... and a party erupted

The Berlin Wall itself had been constructed in very much the same fashion as it came down, rapidly and without warning. It was erected almost overnight by the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) on 13 August 1961. At the time, the Soviets claimed it was to stop Western spies coming into the East, but it was largely to prevent the exodus of East German citizens migrating to West Germany in search of better opportunities.

Initially a barbed-wire fence, it was quickly replaced by a high concrete wall patrolled by armed guards. East Berliners were warned that those who tried to escape to the west of the city would be seen as dissenters and shot.

In History

In History is a series which uses the BBC's unique audio and video archive to explore historical events that still resonate today.

For 28 years, the Wall stood as both a physical and ideological barrier, separating not just family and friends but an entire country. The west of Berlin prospered economically, fuelled by investment from the US and Western Europe, while the east of the city struggled, plagued by shortages and repressively monitored by the secret police, the Stasi. The Wall became a potent symbol of the Cold War, a physical manifestation of the divide between the Communist East and the Capitalist West.

But by the late 1980s, the whole of the Eastern bloc was coming under pressure. The Soviet Union was bogged down in an intractable war in Afghanistan and facing acute economic problems and major food shortages.

In the face of this, Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader who took power in 1985, had already initiated a series of political reforms, glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring), but events were spiralling beyond his control.

Strikes in the Polish shipyards had sparked mass demonstrations in Hungary and calls from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, then part of the Soviet Union, for their independence. East Germany was still firmly under the grip of the Socialist Unity Party but momentum was building and by 4 November 1989, half a million citizens had gathered in East Berlin's public square Alexanderplatz, calling for change.

In a moment that would alter the course of history, a spokesman mistakenly declared that East Germans would be allowed to cross the border freely, effective immediately

Five days later, the German Democratic Republic, facing mounting public pressure from its people, relented. They thought they could calm the protests by loosening the border controls, making it easier for East Berliners to travel, without opening the border up completely.

A spokesperson for the East German government, Günter Schabowski, held a hastily arranged press conference to announce the changes. But in a moment that would alter the course of history, he mistakenly declared that East Germans would be allowed to cross the border freely, effective immediately.

The announcement stunned the journalists at the press conference, who greeted it with first disbelief and then elation. The news spread like wildfire and within hours, thousands of East Germans began flocking to the checkpoints along the wall.

They were met by bewildered border guards, struggling to understand what their instructions were regarding this new policy. At around 22:45, overwhelmed by the sheer number of people arriving and lacking any clear orders, the border guards finally opened the gates and overjoyed East Germans flowed over into West Berlin.

In History is a series which uses the BBC's unique audio and video archive to explore historical events that still resonate today.

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