COLD WAR: THE WALL COMES DOWN: 1989 {PART 23 OF 24} (TV)
Summary
Part nineteen of twenty-four. One in this documentary series examining the events of the Cold War, from 1917 to the early 1990s. This series consists of interviews and archival footage, accompanied by historical narration by Kenneth Branagh. This episode chronicles rebellion in Eastern Europe culminating in the collapse of the Berlin Wall. The program opens with footage of Presidents George Bush and Ronald Reagan meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1988 to discuss the end of the Cold War. Gorbachev aide Anatoly Cherniayev discusses the Soviet leader's plan to allow free elections in the Eastern bloc countries, and Hungarian Prime Minister Miklos Nemeth examines his reasons for backing political and economic changes in his country. One example of the sweeping reforms instituted, as remembered by revolutionary Erzsebet Hrozova, was the government's official recognition of the validity of the 1956 uprising. Imre Pozsgay of the Hungarian Politburo identifies the obsolescence of the Iron Curtain, as seen in the dismantling of the barbed-wire barrier to the West. Gunter Schabowski of the East German Politburo reveals that his country's leader, Erich Honecker, was appalled by the freedoms being adopted by communist nations, and Polish leaders Lech Walesa and General Wojciech Jaruzelski confirm Poland's move toward a more democratic system of government. President George Bush explains the reasons behind his giving moral, not economic, support to Hungary at the time, and U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III discusses the delicacy involved in aiding the political reformers while not exploiting the Soviets' diminished influence. Gorbachev recalls advising the Eastern Bloc nations to institute reforms if necessary, and East Germans Gisela Kallenbach and Ulrike Poppe remember life under a repressive regime. West German Foreign Minister Hans Dietrich Genscher recalls his desire at the time to help each East German wanting to emigrate, and East German refugee Birgit Spannaus describes the mass exodus of people like herself who fled to the West German Embassy in Prague. Following footage of Honecker making a speech--under pressure--granting emigration rights to East Germans, fellow countryman Jochen Lassig explains how some East Germans decided to stay and fight for reform rather than leave. Egon Krenz and Gunter Schabowski of the East German Politburo reveal the government's helplessness against the large-scale internal rebellion, and Krenz, Gorbachev, and Frank Joachim Herrmann recall a parade commemorating East Germany's fortieth year of communist domination that developed into a rally for change, signaling the end of the current regime. Soldier Wolfgang Schade, communist official Roland Wotzel, and Soviet Ambassador to East Germany Viacheslav Kochemasov confirm the magnitude of the various East German protests, which led citizens to vote Honecker out of power. Deputy Soviet Ambassador to East Germany Igor Maximychev comments on the style of Honecker's successor, Egon Krenz, and East German writer Stefan Heym talks about the changes to this formerly repressive system of government. The program ends as border guard Lothar Stein, residents Monika Langenham and Conny Hanschmann, and U.S. President George Bush share their thoughts while footage is shown of East and West Germans meeting to destroy the Berlin Wall. Commercials deleted.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, 1999.
This selection from the Alan Gerry Cable Collection has been made available by the Gerry Foundation, Inc.
Details
- NETWORK: CNN
- DATE: March 28, 1999 Sunday 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:46:30
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:58757
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany, 1961-1989; Cold War; Communism - 1989; U S - Foreign relations - U S S R; East Germany - History; East Germany - Politics and government; Poland - History; U S - Officials - Talk/Interview; She Made It Collection (Pat Mitchell)
- SERIES RUN: CNN - TV series, 1998-1999
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Pat Mitchell … Executive Producer
- Jeremy Isaacs … Executive Producer
- Vivian Schiller … Senior Producer
- Michael Thomas … Production Manager
- Martin Smith … Series Producer
- Cate Haste … Producer
- Isobel Hinshelwood … Series Associate Producer
- Alison McAllan … Series Associate Producer
- Gillian Widdicombe … Production Executive
- Ted Turner … Series Concept by
- Alexander Dunlop … Editor
- Dunja Noack … Research
- Svetlana Palmer … Research
- Ben Steele … Research
- Miriam Walsh … Film Research
- Neal Ascherson … Writer
- Carl Davis … Music by
- Kenneth Branagh … Narrator
- James A. Baker, III
- George H.W. Bush
- Anatoly Cherniayev
- Hans Dietrich Genscher
- Mikhail Gorbachev
- Conny Hanschmann
- Frank Joachim Herrmann
- Stefan Heym
- Erich Honecker
- Erzsebet Hrozova
- Wojciech Jaruzelski
- Gisela Kallenbach
- Viacheslav Kochemasov
- Egon Krenz
- Monika Langenham
- Jochen Lassig
- Igor Maximychev
- Miklos Nemeth
- Ulrike Poppe
- Imre Pozsgay
- Ronald Reagan
- Gunter Schabowski
- Wolfgang Schade
- Birgit Spannaus
- Lothar Stein
- Lech Walesa
- Roland Wotzel