How a picnic in Europe brought down Iron Curtain 30 years ago

When the end finally came for the Iron Curtain, it was not bulldozers or hammers that struck one of the first decisive blows, but a picnic. Thirty years ago Monday, on August 19, 1989, thousands of Hungarians and Austrians gathered at the border fence between the two countries, which also marked the dividing line between the Communist bloc and the west. They had come for a “Pan-European picnic” of solidarity and friendship across the iron curtain, as momentum for political change increased and the eastern bloc regimes struggled to keep up with rising popular discontent. They were joined by hundreds of East Germans who took the opportunity to rush across the border into Austria and from there to West Germany. Hungarian border guards declined to shoot, and in the subsequent weeks thousands more made the crossing. Three months later the Berlin Wall fell and the path to the end of communism in Europe and the continent’s unification was irreversible. On Monday German Chancellor Angela Merkel recalled the importance of a “humane” Europe as she took part in commemorations in Hungary to mark the 30th anniversary of that pivotal moment in the fall of the Iron Curtain. Speaking alongside her Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban – with whom she has clashed in recent years over the issue of migration – Merkel said the “Pan-European Picnic” in 1989 reflected the values of “solidarity, freedom and a humane Europe”. Escape from communist Czechoslovakia: how one man crossed the Alps to freedom The two leaders were addressing a church service in the city of Sopron to mark the anniversary of the picnic. The commemoration was a rare encounter between the two of the great survivors of European politics, with Merkel in office since 2005 and Orban since 2010. Their last major bilateral meeting was in July 2018 when Orban made his first visit to Berlin for three years. It was an awkward affair during which their divisions were on full display and Merkel accused Orban of failing to respect “humanity” with his harsh anti-immigration policies. Orban has been a sharp critic of Merkel’s 2015 decision to open German borders to those fleeing Middle Eastern conflict zones. Germany’s Angela Merkel to step down as chancellor in 2021 His government constructed a fence along the country’s southern border with Serbia after hundreds of thousands of people crossed Hungary in 2015, many of them with Merkel’s Germany as their final destination. In his address to the service in Sopron, Orban hailed the fact that the events of 30 years ago had “cleared the way towards German reunification”. Hungarians had always known that “our liberation from the Soviet yoke would be definitive endure only once Germany was united,” he added. Merkel recalled her own memories of seeing plans for the picnic advertised in 1989. She remembered the “uncertainty and worry” when it became apparent the picnic had turned into an escape to the West. “Everyone knew how the uprising in East Germany in 1953 turned out, as well as the one in Hungary in 1956 and the Prague Spring,” she added. She praised the “courage” and “humanity” of the Hungarian border guards who didn’t fire on the crowds. The two leaders were both personally marked by the events of 1989 but have since taken starkly diverging political directions. Merkel’s upbringing in communist East Germany imbued her with a belief in the importance of liberal values in politics and free market economics. Orban by contrast, while starting as a young liberal centrist in 1989, sees the events of that year as the first step for the nations of eastern Europe to re-establish their sovereignty. Last week Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert admitted that the “differences of opinion” between the two leaders on issues such as refugee policy were well known and that they would tackle current events in their discussions. Despite the political tensions between the two, Hungary and Germany enjoy close economic relations. Germany is Hungary’s largest trading partner and a major source of foreign investment, particularly in the form of the mighty German car industry. The Iron Curtain: five things to know The name The term “iron curtain” was popularised after it was used by former British prime minister Winston Churchill in a landmark speech at Westminster College in Fulton, the United States, in March 1946. The term had been coined earlier. Russian writer Vasily Rozanov, in his 1918 book The Apocalypse of Our Time, wrote “an iron curtain is being lowered, creaking and squeaking, at the end of Russian history”. A physical frontier The ideological barrier between Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe and the West gradually became a physical one spanning thousands of kilometres. To stop their citizens from fleeing to the West, the Soviet-dominated Eastern countries began erecting various forms of barriers using barbed wire, ditches and concrete walls. The separations were controlled through alarms, watchtowers, mines and soldiers. Socialist Hungary put up the first section in 1949, building a 260km (160 miles) barbed wire fence along its border with Austria. Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall was the most famous section of the Iron Curtain and became its symbol. In 1952 Soviet-satellite East Germany constructed a 10-metre-wide (39 feet) barbed wire buffer along the entire length of its border with West Germany. However, people were still able to cross over in the divided city of Berlin, with about three million fleeing the East via this route between 1952 and 1961. To stop this important loss of manpower, East Germany in 1961 began constructing a wall within the city. Made of reinforced concrete and wire mesh, the Berlin Wall stretched for 155km. It had a heavily controlled no-man’s land on the eastern side. Escape attempts Eastern European citizens were only allowed to visit the West under strict conditions and those who tried to cross over without permission did so at great risk. About 600-700 people died trying to escape East Germany, at least 136 at the Berlin Wall, according to historians. Around 5,000 people made it out, however, often using innovative means. One man crossed via a wire cable shot by bow and arrow from the roof of a building to a relative on the other side. Others escaped by swimming across Berlin’s Spree River, via tunnels, or by hot air balloon. Iron curtain crumbles The first crack in the Iron Curtain appeared in May 1989 when Hungary decided to start opening its border with Austria. Soon afterwards Eastern Europe’s communist regimes started to tumble. East Germans began to demonstrate, and on November 9 the regime unexpectedly granted them the right to travel to the West freely. Thousands flocked to the wall, and disoriented border guards opened the checkpoints. Through the night euphoric Berliners celebrated, perched on the Berlin Wall. Then they used pickaxes to knock out chunks. Within two years the Soviet Union had imploded, the Iron Curtain falling with it. The Guardian, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press

How a picnic in Europe brought down Iron Curtain 30 years ago

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Hungarian and German leaders commemorate 30th anniversary of the “pan-European Picnic’ 1989 event on the border of Austria and Hungary helped lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall

Hungarian and German leaders commemorate 30th anniversary of the “pan-European Picnic’

1989 event on the border of Austria and Hungary helped lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall