Peaceful Revolution

Peaceful Revolution
Die Wende Part of the Revolutions of 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Reunification of Germany
Berlin wall falls, Brandenburg Gate, 10 November 1989
Date	19 August 1989 – 3 October 1990 (1 year, 1 month and 2 weeks)
Location	East Germany
Caused by	Authoritarianism Political repression Economic failure Anti-Communist discontent Removal of Hungary's border fence with Austria
Goals	Democratization Economic reform German reunification
Methods	Civil disobedience, Civil resistance, Demonstration, Negotiations, Elections
Resulted in	Fall of the Berlin Wall (9 November 1989) Reunification of Germany (3 October 1990) East German Round Table 1990 East German general election Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany
Parties
Opposition Anti-government demonstrators New Forum Initiative for Peace and Human Rights Democracy Now Democratic Beginning Government Socialist Unity Party Stasi Volkspolizei Volkspolizei-Bereitschaft Grepo
Lead figures
Main dissident leaders: Jens Reich Ulrike Poppe Stefan Heym Bärbel Bohley Martin Böttger Wolfgang Templin Ibrahim Böhme Ulrich Mühe Christa Wolf Hardliners: Erich Honecker Egon Krenz Erich Mielke Willi Stoph Moderates: Hans Modrow Günter Schabowski Gregor Gysi Christa Luft

The Peaceful Revolution (‹See Tfd›German: Friedliche Revolution) – also, in German called Die Wende (German pronunciation: [diː ˈvɛndə], "the turning point") – was one of the peaceful revolutions of 1989 at the peak of the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in the late 1980s. A process of sociopolitical change that led to, among other openings, the opening of their borders to the Western world.

These events were enabled by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's decision to abandon the Soviet sphere of influence and other shifts to the Soviet Union's foreign policy.

In East Germany—the former German Democratic Republic (GDR or DDR)—the peaceful revolution marks the end of the ruling by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in 1989 and the transition to a parliamentary system. This peaceful transition later enabled the German reunification in October 1990. The peaceful revolution was marked by nonviolent initiatives and demonstrations.^[1]

The GDR's lack of competitiveness in the global market economy, as well as its sharply rising national debt, hastened the destabilization of the SED's one-party state, similar to destabilization of such regimes in other Eastern Bloc countries.