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Twenty years ago citizens of East and West Germany met at the Berlin Wall and set about destroying the barrier which had divided the city and the country. It was a pivotal moment in European and world history, to be followed by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of communism in eastern Europe. How has the world changed since then? What were the effects on French politics and the rest of Europe? Were echoes from Berlin heard in Africa?
Eastern Europe
Germany - fall of the Berlin wall
Amid anniversary cheer, Merkel warns divisions remain
The united Germany remains marred by division 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday as she set off emotional commemorations of the defining moment in the end of communism in Europe.
2009-11-09 11:38 TU
Special feature
Berlin - tears and triumph of a boundary broken
Monday, 9 November 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. It meant Berliners East and West were again able to move freely around their city. In a special anniversary programme, RFI talks to Berliners about East Berlin past and present, and discovers why some remain nostalgic.
2009-11-09 10:51 TU
Fall of the Berlin wall - repercussions in the USSR
The scattering of the USSR
The fall of the Berlin Wall echoed deep into the Soviet Union. The 14 states then making up the USSR were often brought under Moscow’s umbrella by force rather than free will, and had long traditions of independence themselves.
2009-11-05 11:53 TU
The wider world
Fall of the Berlin Wall - ex-Yugoslavia
A republic disintegrated while the world focused elsewhere
The people of Yugoslavia may have got on with their daily lives on the day the Wall fell, but their country was on the brink of falling apart, and it was soon plunged into several bloody civil wars.
2009-11-02 10:39 TU
Fall of the Berlin Wall - interview with a spymaster
East Germans sought higher standard of living, rather than democracy
Hans-Georg Wieck was the Chief of Information in West Germany between 1985 and 1990. He is also a former Ambassador to the USSR and a Nato representative for Germany. He says West Germany believed the Germans across the wall were generally happy until he started issuing questionnaires to visiting East Germans.
2009-11-08 17:00 TU
France
Fall of the Berlin Wall - the European Union
Europe looks east and rethinks old alliances
2009-11-02 12:07 TU
Africa
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