tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post6049905903232818171..comments2023-11-02T07:54:22.317+00:00Comments on Unenlightened Commentary.: Anti-OstalgieRosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02263275229285861236noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post-73875915420303147962009-11-11T16:47:40.263+00:002009-11-11T16:47:40.263+00:00"The DDR wasn't much good at engineering ..."The DDR wasn't much good at engineering or anything else"<br /><br />True emough, although East Germany was probably the most industrially advanced of the Warsaw Pact countries.Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02263275229285861236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post-89142798993086662902009-11-11T14:13:01.776+00:002009-11-11T14:13:01.776+00:00It didn't take much physical toppling, actuall...It didn't take much physical toppling, actually. The DDR wasn't much good at engineering or anything else, hence of course the need for the wall.Mr Grumpyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post-58707275511526694732009-11-09T16:07:09.491+00:002009-11-09T16:07:09.491+00:00I haven't seen it, but now you've pointed ...I haven't seen it, but now you've pointed it out I will watch sometime this week.Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02263275229285861236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post-50163077535192762882009-11-09T13:53:40.139+00:002009-11-09T13:53:40.139+00:00That had slipped my mind.
Did you watch this the ...That had slipped my mind.<br /><br />Did you watch this the other night?<br /><br />http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nx0y6<br /><br />Excellent programme.<br /><br />The protest organiser from Leipzig when he asked to be asked about his Christian conscience cited Tianamen Square as being a major concern.Blognor Regishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17270795049477192100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post-15086638688876466182009-11-09T13:42:47.747+00:002009-11-09T13:42:47.747+00:00Matthew- did you see the massive ugly and unfinish...Matthew- did you see the massive ugly and unfinished palace of the Ceaucescus while you were there?<br /><br />The execution was on Christmas day which just shows the lengths some people will go to in order to avoid buying a present.<br /><br />Mark-something which made all the mass protests all the more impressive was that it had only been a few months earlier that the Tianamenn Square massacre had occurred- so as far as they knew they really were putting their lives on the line by signalling their desire for freedom.Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02263275229285861236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post-53346909346221198402009-11-09T11:49:42.890+00:002009-11-09T11:49:42.890+00:00Great that Lech Walesa is pushing over the first d...Great that Lech Walesa is pushing over the first domino tonight, BTW.<br /><br />(My dad's peeked over the great man's hedge!)Blognor Regishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17270795049477192100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post-49459649826088745572009-11-09T11:47:07.022+00:002009-11-09T11:47:07.022+00:00Heady days though.
Like Ross says, it seemed lik...Heady days though. <br /><br />Like Ross says, it seemed like a rolling wave of freedom. One week Budapest was the centre of the action, with the "holidaymakers" driving their Trabis into Austria of taking refuge in the West German Embassy; the human chain through the Baltic states; then Leipzig; then Berlin; then candlelit vigils in Wenceslas Square in Prague; Vaclav Havel' rumours coming into Belgrade from Timisoara of discontent in Romania before the final, triumphant, eruption of the Caucescues being heckled in front of the palace in Bucharest followed by the Christmas Day battles. <br /><br />Then followed bit of consolidation for the re-unification of Germany before the Baltics rose, Yelstin faced the Soviet tanks outside of the White House and then the Evil Empire collapsed.<br /><br />Wonderful times.Blognor Regishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17270795049477192100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post-27838698375229645092009-11-09T11:28:26.684+00:002009-11-09T11:28:26.684+00:00The shooting of Ceaucescus was Christmas day, wasn...The shooting of Ceaucescus was Christmas day, wasn't it? I can remember where I was Kennedy style as it was after lunch. <br /><br />I stayed in the intercontinental in Bucharest this year, which being skyscraper was apparently the place to watch the unfolding drama. Lovely city, has the most comically decrepit 'old' centre and lots of communist architecture but the outskirts look much like anywhere else.Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214026669109045616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post-6289369805025552872009-11-09T11:15:38.070+00:002009-11-09T11:15:38.070+00:00I wonder whether undue significance has been place...<i> I wonder whether undue significance has been placed on the Berlin Wall because of its obvious symbolism.</i><br /><br />Of course. But what a symbol. A bloody great wall right through the middle of a great* city. Capitalism and Socialism toe-to-toe. The blood of Peter Fechter and over a hundred others running down the concrete. Dig runs. Automatic machines guns. The Stasi. The evil brutality of socialism writ large. Kennedy, Reagan or David Bowie wouldn't have been so potent stood in a Saxon field with a wire backdrop.<br /><br />*Great in an imperial sense if not a population and industrial might one.Blognor Regishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17270795049477192100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post-1654635052197748382009-11-09T08:27:04.991+00:002009-11-09T08:27:04.991+00:00Nice title.Nice title.Edwin Greenwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03639193560457674072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27939552.post-40329871222530164822009-11-09T07:50:07.348+00:002009-11-09T07:50:07.348+00:00Correct. The fall of the Soviet Empire started in ...Correct. The fall of the Soviet Empire started in Poland many years before that, and the 'fall' of the Berlin Wall is remembered best because of the symbolism.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.com