WEBVTT

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In the fall of 1989, the violent suppression of protests

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in many cities in the GDR, which advocated for more democracy

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and human rights, was in the air.

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One reason for this was the repeated shoulder-to-shoulder contact

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that the SED government sought with its comrades in Beijing.

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And many people were afraid that the SED government

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would intervene violently in demonstrations.

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And there was a good reason for that,

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because the SED government, or the GDR, was

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the first state in the world to officially approve

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the Tiananmen Square massacre in early June 1989.

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In addition, over the course of the year

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or the summer of 1989 and the autumn of 1989

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multiple trips of GDR, SED and ZK members took place,

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which were just quite demonstratively to show solidarity

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with the brutal action in Beijing.

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And the opposition in the GDR naturally felt

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that this was a threatening gesture to themselves,

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so to speak, and to their own country.

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And therefore this scenario

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was quite realistic for many people, especially since

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Erich Mielke, the Minister for State Security,

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still said at the end of September:

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"Consistency and toughness. This is the only way

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to safeguard socialism in the GDR.”

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The 40th anniversary of the founding of the GDR

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on October 7, 1989, developed into a tipping point

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from the already existing social crisis

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to a manifested dictatorship crisis.

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Because that evening, many people,

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especially young people,

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protested in East Berlin and also in other cities

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like Plauen, and were massively attacked there by the police

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and other state security forces.

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There were many arrests in East Berlin.

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And against this background, it is really a stroke of luck

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in German history that the revolution

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passed off peacefully in the course of the fall of 1989.