A Lesson From the Berlin Wall

Win the People, and Then Trust Them

Imperial War Museum, London, 1998.

At left in the picture above is my son, Ben. To the right is a piece of the Berlin Wall.

What follows is from Mary Elise Sarotte, The Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall (2014), page 96.

"As November 4 dawned, it became clear that the demonstration in East Berlin would be a truly huge event. An estimated half million participants flooded Alexanderplatz, in the heart of the city. Aerial photographs showed a city center completely darkened by the swarm of people. The event continued for much of the day with a long list of speakers, including Schabowski. Birthler was asked to be one of the speakers as well. Despite her anxiety about being in front of such a large crowd, she agreed to do so. She wore her boyfriend's coat to help her nerves, thinking that it would be as if he were hugging her while she stood onstage. Looking out at the sea of people, she found herself silently asking for forgiveness, realizing that she had been too pessimistic about her fellow East Germans. 'I had not trusted the people to have so much self-confidence and courage,' she recalled; she was amazed to see so much of both on display on November 4."

The Berlin Wall opened on November 9, 1989.

See also The Cost of Delay.