Introduction/Background

There are many factors that contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall. This structure was a thirteen foot-high concrete wall that enclosed the west or democratic side of the city of Berlin. Before it fell, East Germany’s ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) was facing a major political crisis to stay in power. The SED was crumbling and East Germany’s Communist party was in jeopardy. Just days before the wall fell, the prime minister resigned, and Hans Modrow was promoted to the Politburo and nominated to be the next prime minister of East Germany (McCartney). However, the people of East Berlin and East Germany also wanted to travel between the two parts of the city and the country (Schabowski). On the night of November 9, 1989, an East German official named Gunter Schabowski stepped up to his podium and announced a new travel law made days before (McCartney). Mistakenly, however, Schabowski said the travel law went into effect immediately when it was supposed to go into effect the day after (Schabowski). After Schabowski finished his press conference, thousands of Berliners stormed the Berlin Wall using hammers and chisels to bring down the wall overnight (McCartney).