What Major Historic Events do you Remember?

What major historical events do you remember?

The prompt asks, “What major historic events do you remember?”

Personally, the end of WWII stands out as the most important event during my lifetime. However, as a boy of almost two years old at the time, I cannot claim to remember it clearly. What I do recall, though, is how Canadian tanks destroyed the lane we lived on sometime after the war had ended.

There are other significant events I remember more vividly:

• The assassinations of John F. Kennedy (1963), Martin Luther King Jr. (1968), and Robert F. Kennedy (1968)
• The Moon landing and humanity’s first steps on the lunar surface in 1969
• The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, followed by the reunification of East and West Germany
• The release of Nelson Mandela from prison (1990) and his election as President of South Africa (1994)
• The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991
• The September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City and the start of the Iraq War in 2003
• The global financial crisis of 2007-2008
• The outbreaks of infectious diseases, like HIV/AIDS in the 1980s and COVID-19 in 2019

Each of these events had a significant impact at the time, but in my view, none surpasses the global significance of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent reunification of Germany.

The so-called “German Question” is deeply rooted in European history, dating back to when Napoleon abolished the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. This event marked the first steps toward the creation of a powerful German state, which, at its maximum, might have included Austria and its territories. Europe, a continent ravaged by centuries of war, faced the possibility of a dominant German state, which Klemens von Metternich, the brilliant Austrian foreign minister, rightly understood would provoke conflict with France, Britain, and Russia.

Metternich, a diplomat of the highest calibre, played a pivotal role after Napoleon’s defeat. He was central at the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815), which sought to restore stability after the upheavals of the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. Metternich, alongside the British Foreign Secretary Viscount Castlereagh, was primarily concerned with maintaining a balance of power in Europe. His diplomatic strategy was rooted in the principle of legitimacy, aiming to create a durable peace by working with existing governments. This peace, remarkably, lasted until the outbreak of World War I.

The Congress of Vienna succeeded in resolving disputes among the great powers by including France in the Council of Great Powers, alongside England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia. This collaborative approach fostered stability in Europe for much of the 19th century.

However, history is always in motion. Change and decline are inherent in the ever-shifting cycle of events, and the winds of time altered once more during the 20th century. The First and Second World Wars divided Europe and Germany. Yet, as nothing in life is permanent, change came again in 1985 when Mikhail Gorbachev was elected General Secretary of the Communist Party in Moscow. His policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) set the course for the end of the Cold War and the eventual dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

This shift was a key moment on the path to German and European unity. It led to the 1990 “Two Plus Four Agreement,” which legally established a new, peaceful order in Germany and throughout Europe. This agreement confirmed what Konrad Adenauer, West Germany’s first post-war chancellor, had long believed: the division of Germany in 1949 was only temporary, and the country would one day reunite.

The fall of the Berlin Wall remains an inspiring, earth-shaking moment for many Europeans. No one was truly prepared for it, and for a brief time, it gave the world hope that the values of democracy and freedom could become universal and that great power competition would cease in the post-Cold War era.

But life, as many philosophers have observed, is an illusion within an illusion. Eventually, reality catches up with our fantasies of a harmonious world. After West Germany invested over 600 billion euros to rehabilitate the desolate landscape of East Germany, the divisions in Germany and Europe remain. Today, these divisions are no longer geographic but social. The specter of nationalism, a historical scourge of Europe, looms large once again, threatening the hard-won peace and stability that the European Union (EU) has fostered.

Sharp disparities in attitudes and values have emerged. Cultural differences, divergent views on democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, are straining the EU’s cohesion. Addressing these fractures requires careful consideration and measured decision-making.

The European Union stands at an inflection point. Questions abound about its future and the wisdom of its past and current expansion policies. The resurgence of nationalism and the extreme right underscores the urgency for reevaluating these policies, with an eye toward balance-of-power principles that have long guided Europe’s stability.

WJJH – 23.10.2024

Musings: on significant historical events, notably the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which symbolized hope for European unity and democracy after the Cold War. Despite initial optimism, divisions now persist in Germany and Europe, driven by social disparities and the resurgence of nationalism, straining the European Union’s cohesion.