socialmedian: 20 Years Later: The Fall of the Berlin Wall and the Legacy of Erich Honecker

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20 Years Later: The Fall of the Berlin Wall and the Legacy of Erich Honecker

Source: History News Network

Nov 02, 2009

Summary

November 9th 2009 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and effectively the end of the Cold war and the reunification of Germany. As historians, bloggers and the mainstream media reconsider all aspects of this highly historical event, one of them, historian Jeffrey A. Engel, an associate professor at the Texas A&M University's Bush School of Government and Public Service, considers what role individuals played in the unfolding drama.

In his upcoming book The Fall of the Berlin Wall: The Revolutionary Legacy of 1989, co-written with eminent specialists on the question, Mr. Engel states:

“Personalities matter in History, even when considering events widely understood to have been the result of mass action rather than individual agency. The story of 1989 is largely a story of crowds. But masses of people only formed because of reformers such as Gorbachev and Deng. Russia and China chose different paths in 1989 largely because of the individual personalities and proclivities of these two men.”

With that in mind, what of Erich Honecker,

...Read the full article

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