[November 09, 2014] The significance of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall as symbolic of its end, is overlooked by most Westerners. Today is recognized as the 25th Anniversary of what is called “the fall of the Berlin Wall” and the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
Actually today’s the day East German officials opened the wall allowing travel from East to West Berlin on this date in 1989. The entire Communist establishment – the Soviet Union and its allies – was in trouble economically and under pressure from a burgeoning freedom movement. Communism and its close cousin socialism have historically held freedom in check, prevented economic growth, and caused the death and destruction beyond the imagination.
While historians do not agree on a specific end date to the Cold War, or in some cases whether it ended at all, what is important is that the destructiveness of Communism was being lifted. Generally it is agreed that the “end” of the Cold War is aligned with the formal dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. Other Communist governments were also falling around the same time; Mongolia, Cambodia, and South Yemen are examples. One would begin to think that the Communist system would fall out of favor given its inability to provide for its citizens. Sadly, however that is not the case.
Communism is still a cause célèbre of many Western elites. When evil is discussed historically, Nazi Germany is used as the classic example. Yet, while Adolf Hitler and his Nazi organization were horrible on a vast scale, Communism has been an even greater threat to humankind. When elites overlook this fact, it is no surprise that many continue to be attracted to Communism’s inhumanity to man. Leaders would do their citizens more good by encouraging the study of history and what actually took place in those nations. Today, Russia is still plagued by the residual nature of Communism and its insidiousness.
It is incomprehensible that the leaders of nations overlook the destructiveness of political systems like Communism and socialism. Perhaps the ability to recognize evil and take action is reserved for only the greatest of leaders. And … because of their failure, is the Cold War really over?
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