On Nov. 9, 1989, the world watched in awe as the Berlin Wall came crashing down and Germans danced and hugged on the ruins, celebrating freedom after more than 40 years under a brutal Communist regime.
On this 20th anniversary, the world seems too preoccupied with the financial crisis, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and placating Russia to commemorate the history-changing victory of freedom and democracy for millions of people in Central Europe.
After World War II, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met at the Yalta Conference to decide Europe’s future. The agreement partitioned Europe along the countries occupied by the Allies or the Soviet Union, called for free democratic elections in Europe (something the Soviet Union flagrantly flouted), and established puppet governments in central Europe. The United States helped establish democracies and rebuilt western Europe with the Marshall Plan. In 1946, Winston Churchill recognized the division of Europe when he said that “an iron curtain has descended across the continent.”
The division was not just ideological, but physical, as the Iron Curtain and Berlin Wall were erected to prevent the escape of people seeking freedom. Europe was divided and the Cold War began.
For nearly a half century, a battle was waged between Western democratic values and oppressive Communism, and the world feared a nuclear war. Over 100 million people in the Soviet Union were forced to live under political and economic domination of freedom of speech, religion, and other basic rights. Tens of millions died by execution, imprisonment or starvation. Millions were imprisoned or forcibly displaced, becoming refugees.
Many risked or lost their lives seeking freedom while attempting to escape the Iron Curtain and Berlin Wall. Occasional cracks appeared in the Iron Curtain, such as the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the Prague Spring of 1968, and the Polish Solidarity movement in the 1980s. But the Iron Curtain and Berlin Wall did not crumble until 1989.
The change was a long process, but the end was abrupt. In 1979, Pope John Paul II made his first pilgrimage to Poland, encouraging Solidarity. In 1987, President Reagan stood at the Berlin Wall, and contrary to advice and wishes of western European leaders, courageously said: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” Gorbachev, recognizing that the Soviet Union was bankrupt, began to speak about “glasnost” (openness) and “perestroika” (restructuring). In 1989, the Hungarian government began to dismantle the Iron Curtain and opened its borders, allowing East Germans to leave legally and rendering the Berlin Wall meaningless.
Europe was again reunited. These events were followed by democratic elections in the satellite countries; Soviet troops withdrew; and the Warsaw Pact and Soviet Union dissolved. In 1999, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined NATO and, later, the European Union. The beginning of this end was 20 years ago — when Europe reunited, the Cold War ended, and world politics changed.
Contrary to other historic anniversaries, little is written or said about this 20th anniversary and the world seems eager to forget. Central Europe is again a potential vacuum being squeezed by the East and West. Russia is using its vast energy resources to reassert itself politically. Last winter, Russia turned off a gas pipeline in the Ukraine to apply pressure to the area. At the same time, major countries of the European Union, in a mockery of its name, are making individual energy agreements with Russia to the detriment of smaller nations in central and eastern Europe.
The United States missed an opportunity to cultivate the grateful central European nations as allies and gave the appearance of a corporation only interested in “doing business” in the region. Instead of supporting the true opposition in those countries, we developed or gave the impression of closer relationships with socialist politicians — most of them players in the former regime. These actions tarnished the positive image of the U.S. and caused many central and eastern Europeans to question the value of democracy and a free-enterprise system.
These views were exacerbated by the financial crisis and recent announcement by the U.S. that the missile defense system would not be built in Poland and the Czech Republic. Polish and Czech politicians supported the system at great risk, but the United States was more interested in catering favor with Russia.
The feasibility of the missile-defense system is debatable, but the message it sends to central Europe is clear: Russia is more important to us than you. The U.S. could now take an active role in building the Nabucco pipeline to supply energy to the region as a positive step to counter this perception and provide an alternative to dependence on Russian gas. It is detrimental to the United States that central Europe perceives itself to be abandoned again. The lessons history taught and our moral compass should motivate us. Lord Palmerston’s statement perhaps rings true, “Nations have no permanent friends or allies, they only have permanent interests.”
The muted reaction to the 20th anniversary of the end of the Cold War is difficult to explain. It may be that some sympathizing academia and media prefer not to remember the fall of Communism. The public’s faith in capitalism and free markets is being challenged in the West. The interests and views of the satellite countries seem overshadowed by the interests of the United States, the European Union and Russia. It is unfortunate that a historic event reflecting the courage and determination of a few leaders and the persistence of millions is ignored in the interest of perceived selfish and shortsighted economic interests. We need to regain the moral power and compass that led the United States in 1776 and assure the world that the country is still led by those ideals, at home and abroad.
Eugene F. Megyesy Jr. of Denver is honorary consul general of Hungary for Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. He and his family fled Budapest after the 1956 Revolution and settled in Tulsa, Okla.
