The beginning of the change: How the events in Hungary and the escape pressure in the GDR led to the collapse of the system

The autumn of 1989 marks a decisive turning point in the history of Europe and especially in the history of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). For years, the GDR was characterized by political repression, growing displeasure among the population and an increasing escape movement to the West. But it was not until summer and autumn 1989 that a series of events took place in the EastEurope, which accelerated the end of the communist regime in the GDR. The central developments in Hungary were the developments in Hungary, which caused more and more people to leave their homeland, and who eventually triggered the domino effect in the GDR. This article sheds light on the events in Hungary, the increasing movement of the flight, the political reactions and the ultimately unstoppableOpening the borders that brought about the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The beginning of the border opening in Hungary

On May 2, 1989, the Hungarian government announced a decision that would fundamentally change the European order. On this day, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Gyula Horn publicly declared that the border fortifications between Austria and Hungary should be dismantled. This began a gradual but irreversible opening of the borders in eastern Europe. the strictly restricted zone,which formed the so-called “Iron Curtain” began to dissolve. This step was the result of a lengthy process accelerated by political changes throughout the Eastern Bloc. Hungary had already joined the Geneva Refugee Convention in March, which came into force on June 12, 1989. This decision was no coincidence, but was largely influenced by theIncreasing number of refugees from Romania who fled west. But the background to this development was deeper: It was also about strengthening the country’s constitutional proceedings in order to ensure access to Western credit. With this step, Hungary committed to no longer deliver refugees if they were criminally prosecuted in their home countryor other forms of repression threatened. This decision was a crucial turning point because it increased the pressure on the borders and questioned the earlier foreclosure attempts. On June 27, 1989, this border opening was made visible by a symbolic gesture: Hungary’s Foreign Minister Gyula Horn and his Austrian colleague Alois Mock cut at theBorder the barbed wire fence at Sopron. This symbolic action was a clear sign to the world: the time of unhindered passing had come. Although border controls remained for the time being, the symbolic gesture showed the intention to actually open the borders. The images of this action went around the world and increased the pressure on other Eastern European governments,also take steps toward opening.

The escape movement increases

As early as the spring of 1989, it became apparent that opening the borders in Hungary would have an enormous effect. The population in the GDR, which pursued the increasing reports of opportunities for escape in the West, reacted with growing displeasure and desire to flee. The escape movement from the GDR was already underway, but with the first visible openings in Hungary, one came to areal migration wave. The numbers were dramatic as early as March 1989: More than 54,000 people had submitted applications for departure in the responsible offices. The actual escape and exit figures increased much faster. Between January and April 1989, the numbers increased continuously, initially only slightly, but the figures already increased significantly in March and April. in theJanuary 2019 managed to escape 4,627 people, in February 5,008, in March 5,671 and in April 5,887. The official permits for leaving the GDR authorities followed this trend: 3,741 in January, 4,087 in February, 4,487 in March and 4,996 in April. May brought a crucial change: The escape figures doubled for the first time. In May, 10,642 people fled, while 9,115received permission to leave the GDR. This development continued in the following months: In June there were 12,142 escape attempts and 10,646 approved departures, in July 11,170 and 9,563 respectively. The numbers clearly showed: The refugee movement was becoming more and more massive, and the GDR government was hardly able to take action against it. The number of refugees wholeft, reached an extent in the summer of 1989, reminiscent of the crisis years of 1953 and 1961. By July, around 100,000 people had already left their homeland, which presented the government with major challenges. The escape was no longer a single fate, but a mass movement that massively threatened the existing system.

The holiday grapes and escalation

The start of school in July marked another escalation level. With the upcoming summer holidays, tens of thousands took the opportunity to travel to Hungary for a few weeks. For GDR citizens, this was relatively uncomplicated: No visa was required, but a travel permit from the GDR police was required. In 1988, about 800,000 people were already after thistraveled to Hungary. Most applications were approved, only a very small proportion were rejected. In July 1989, the authorities registered an increase in travel requests by 25 percent. The reports of successful escapes in the Western media had a strong impact. The so-called escape waves became increasingly visible. Thousands of vacationers were waiting for the right moment to escapeto dare. In Hungary, too, many recognized the chance to work as an escape helper to secure an additional income. There was no organized escape assistance – rather, it was spontaneous actions in which individual helpers tried to support GDR refugees. From the end of July there were repeated staffings. On August 8th, the Federal Republic includedEast Berlin the representation, in which about 130 people camped. The German embassies in Budapest and Prague were later also closed, as there were a total of more than 300 refugees. On August 10th another meeting between Hungarian and East German secret service representatives took place. Since June 12, the Hungarians have already had 101 GDR refugees to the GDRhanded – a sign that the previous practice of the handover would soon be over. The pressure from the international side was increasing and the Hungarian authorities were faced with the choice: to continue to deliver refugees or to open the borders for good. On July 12, the last GDR citizen was handed over to the MfS. After that, a new era began, which with the growingescape movement. On August 13, 1989, the anniversary of the Wall Construction, Hungarian and Leipzig opposition members organized a symbolic action in the center of Budapest. About 1,000 people were witnesses, including three Hungarians, two Britons, a Pole and a Leipziger. They built a so-called “wall” of paper and cardboard and gave speeches in which they demanded that the wall had to goand the system in the GDR should be terminated.

Protests and the social mood

This symbolic event reflected the increasing dissatisfaction among the population. In the GDR, the topic of flight was dominated at the time. People were unsure, waiting for clear signals from the regime, but everything remained silent. The government of the GDR seemed to lose itself in its own problems and showed hardly any reactions that were capable of acting. The fainting ofRegime became more and more obvious while the escape movement seemed to grow inexorably in the apartments and on the streets. Internally, however, there was a lot of activity. The vacant apartments were quickly allocated to new residents in order to reduce the pressure on the housing market. The authorities also had to deal with another problem: the many cars thatleft refugees in Hungary and Prague. How should these vehicles be brought back to the GDR or distributed? Medical care threatened to collapse, and many schools lacked teachers to start school. The problems seemed unmanageable. In August, various working groups, led by the security department of the Central Committee, the Interior Ministry and theMfS different scenarios: immediate border closures, generous travel arrangements or the simultaneous departure of tens of thousands. But there was no decision. The political leadership of the GDR hesitated because every option was associated with considerable risks. The federal government in West Germany repeatedly demanded that the GDR solve the problem by opening a reform and appealedto the population to stay in the country. In the Federal Republic, too, people began to think about the capacities of society in order to stop the refugee movement.

The political reaction and the first openings

On August 14, 1989, Honecker expressed a reaction to the flight movement for the first time. He quoted August Bebel’s well-known word: “Neither ox nor donkey stops socialism in its course.” He wanted to emphasize the determination of the system. But the reaction was perceived as helpless. Meanwhile, another personality caused a stir: Jörg Kotterba,Sports journalist at the “Berliner Zeitung” and editor-in-chief of the magazine “Der Athlete”, published an issue on the same day entitled “42 Farewell to the World of Sports”. This article only included athletes who had left the GDR selection. Kotterba commented on the athletes’ farewell with thoughtful words and spoke of the seriousStep that they had taken, from the farewell, which often matured in months and years. He particularly emphasized Udo Beyer, who had completed the farewell to competitive sports. kotterba wrote: “It’s not easy to leave loved ones behind.” The number on the list was only 41, but the journalist was in Malmö that day, wrote a farewell letter and fled to the Federal Republic.The 42nd on the list himself. Meanwhile, the situation in Hungary continued to grow. More than 200,000 East Germans stayed there, most of them on vacation, but thousands waited for an opportunity to escape. On August 19th, a so-called “Pan-European Picnic” took place near Sopron, where the organizers celebrated the opening of the borders between Hungary and Austria. herdistributed leaflets, especially to Austrians, but many East Germans also took the opportunity to make their way west. According to the organizers, between 800 and 900 GDR citizens fled to Austria that day. László Magas, one of the initiators, later reported: “The next morning my first way to the place of the picnic took me. There were at least20 cars with GDR license plates. It broke my heart, because many families had to leave everything behind – their belongings, their cars, sometimes decades of property – just for the sake of freedom.” The pictures and reports about it went around the world and solveda worldwide discussion. A few days later, the people who were stuck in the Hungarian embassy in Budapest were able to emigrate to the Federal Republic via Austria via Austria with the help of the International Red Cross. August became the month of the great escape movement: a total of 21,000 people managed to leave the country, and almost 13,000 were officially allowed to leave the country. The refugee camps inHungary were looked after by opposition groups, the Red Cross and the Federal Government. The situation is getting worse every day and the Hungarian government was under increasing pressure to make a decision. On August 25, Prime Minister Miklós Németh and Foreign Minister Gyula Horn traveled to Bonn to speak to Chancellor Kohl and Foreign Minister Genscher.They announced that they would open the borders for humanitarian reasons and to enable GDR citizens to leave the country. Kohl was enthusiastic and in return promised generous financial support and help with the EU accession of Hungary. Shortly thereafter, Austria temporarily lifted the visa obligation for GDR citizens in order to make their transit pass easier.

The end of the flight and the final opening of the border

On August 31, Gyula Horn arrived in East Berlin to speak to GDR Foreign Minister Fischer. He announced that Hungary would open the borders for GDR citizens from September 11 if the GDR had not repatriated the refugees home by then. However, the Politburo of the GDR rejected this proposal. But the events could not be stopped. Already on 1The Hungarians finally opened their borders on September. Within the first three days, 15,000 GDR citizens fled, by the end of the month there were already 34,000. The GDR government officially allowed 12,000 people to leave. In total, more than 80,000 people fled the borders in the two months. The situation in the refugee camps became more and more precarious. The message inWarsaw was closed, the number of refugees in Prague rose to over 900. The neighboring countries tried to limit the wave, but the events were all overrun. On 27 September, the CSSR government said there would be no Hungarian solution. The situation in the GDR continued to escalate. The SED leadership reacted withAn aggressive propaganda campaign: it was spoken of human smugglers, Western media and psychological warfare. The MfS found that the majority of the refugees were young, well-educated people under the age of 40 who had hardly expressed any intentions to leave beforehand. Many were not political critics, but fled for fear of the unknown. the”Young World” and other propaganda scripts fueled fear and rushed against the flight. On August 30, a major interview with a young man who had been arrested in Hungary in July 1988 in an attempt to escape in Hungary was published. He reported how cold society was in the West and how much he wanted to go back to the GDR. He was later sent back to the GDR later in January 1990and reported that he was “mad for happiness”. Days before, media such as the “Berliner Zeitung” had reported on how GDR families were “paid” at the border posts to get the best escape stories. The propaganda increased the internal tensions. Günter Herlt, editor at “Neues Deutschland”, explained that there were no objective reasons for the escape. Hans Dieter Schüttspoke of “poaching” and a “capitalist conspiracy”. He demanded that the GDR need everyone who is willing to participate in the matter. On September 21, 1989, Klaus Höpcke reported that an open discussion was necessary in the state. He spoke out in favor of an honest discussion about the problems and demanded reforms. His words were later counted as a first attempt toaddress the internal difficulties of the system openly.

The public reactions and the dramatic situation

Other well-known personalities spoke up. Günter Kertzscher declared that the GDR was the “best world”, meaning that “pluralism” was not possible here. Heinz Kamnitzer quoted Ernst Reuter and called for observing the “state” and criticized the Federal Republic. He accused her of not respecting the borders in 1937 and of pursuing an aggressive policy in Europetrack.

On 21 September 1989, an interview in “Neue Deutschland” caused a stir: The chef Helmut Ferworn, a member of the SED, reported that he had fallen into a trap in Budapest. He was led to an apartment of a Hungarian woman, got a menthol cigarette and then woke up drowsy. Allegedly, they were on their way to “freedom”. Many held theseHistory for nonsense, as it was obviously propagandistically staged. Ferworn himself actually fled, regretted his decision in Vienna and contacted the GDR embassy. The SED, the MfS and he invented a story that, however, unintentionally undermined faith in the credibility of the system within their own ranks. On November 3, the “NewGermany” publicly for lying. Ferworn later explained that the story was not true and the system had not known about it.

Conclusion: The beginning of the end of the GDR

The events of 1989 marked the beginning of the end of the GDR, triggered by a combination of political decisions in Hungary, the massive movement of the population towards the West and social dissatisfaction with the existing regime. The opening of the borders in Hungary, the symbolic actions and the mass flight led to the GDR governmentlost more and more of their control and finally opened the wall in November 1989. These developments were the result of decades of internal tensions, which were accelerated by external influences and the willingness of the population to fight for freedom and democracy. The fall of the Berlin Wall was therefore not a sudden coincidence, but the result of a long, painfuland at the same time bold way into a new era of Europe.