Prof. Boerner's Explorations

Edited by Gerald Boerner

    
Commentary:

I remember the fall of the Berlin Wall very well. We had a German exchange student living with us at that time; she did not know how to react. She, as many West Berliners and West Germans (Wessis), had grown up with the wall and restrictions of movement between the East Berlin and West Berlin. The day the wall came down and the residents of the eastern part of the city started to cross into West Berlin and West Germany marked the beginning of the unified state of Germany. Many problems remained, such as the adoption of a single currency, the provision of social services, and rebuilding the City of Berlin.

I was in Berlin in 2005, and as today, buildings were being renovated. during the Cold War, each part of Berlin had their own Opera Houses, Museums, and communication systems. These had to be merged. And the government of (West) Germany was eventually moved from Bonn to Berlin. The new German parliament met in a restored Bundestag by the Tiergarten.

In the last twenty years, Germany has effectively reunited and the population no longer thinks of themselves as West Germans or East Germans. Their government is reunified and they have become one of the strongest economies in the European Common Market. It just goes to show what can happen when you least expect it. And it probably began with Ronald Reagan calling for Mikhail Gorbachev to “Tear Down that Wall”!

So, let’s get started with our exploration of the breaching of the Berlin Wall and the flood of people entering West Berlin and West Germany from the former East Germany… GLB

These Introductory Comments are copyrighted:
Copyright©2011 — Gerald Boerner — All Rights Reserved

[ 2158 Words ]
    

Quotations Related to Berlin:

“All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin. And therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’”
— John F. Kennedy

“The Berlin Wall wasn’t the only barrier to fall after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Traditional barriers to the flow of money, trade, people and ideas also fell.”
— Fareed Zakaria

“I remember an article, I can’t recall who by, it was after the fall of the Berlin Wall, which said that now the Wall was down, there could be no more class war. Only someone with money could ever say such a thing.”
— Claude Chabrol

continue reading…

Edited by Gerald Boerner

Commentary:

Following the end of World War II two rival ideologies entered the conflict the we know as the “Cold War”. The Soviet Union took on their real persona, that of a world leader set on extending its influence over the emerging countries of Eastern Europe. As Winston Churchill observed in his famous "Sinews of Peace" speech at Westminster College: “…From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an ‘iron curtain’ has descended across the Continent.”

The lines of the Cold War were quickly drawn. Those countries in the Soviet block were united in a mutual defense pack, known as the Warsaw Pact. Those countries in Western Europe joined together in a mutual defense pack as well. This pack became known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO. When the Soviets tested their own atomic bomb in the latter 1940s, These weapons were deployed by both sides, assuring mutual destruction if either side used them. This created an uneasy standoff that spawned many “proxy wars” over the next forty years.

An interesting perspective was presented by the first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, famously stated the organization’s goal was "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down". With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 the focus of this agreement had to adapt to a different world order, but NATO continues to have a function, as can be seen in Libya today!

So, let’s get on with our exploration…  GLB

These Introductory Comments are copyrighted:
Copyright©2011 — Gerald Boerner — All Rights Reserved

[ 3000 Words ]
    

Quotations Related to NATO:

“We welcome, we welcome this good cooperation between Russia and NATO.”
— Aleksander Kwasniewski

“For years, we have heard warnings that Europe needs to contribute more to NATO’s capability.”
— Lord Robertson

“The NATO forces will, to the extent that they have capacity, assist the war crimes tribunal.”
— Warren Christopher

continue reading…

by Gerald Boerner

John Fitzgerald Kennedy
35th President of the United States

(May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963)

“A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
— John F. Kennedy

“And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
— John F. Kennedy

continue reading…

Edited by Gerald Boerner

Commentary

Due to injury, this commentary will be added later. Please check back. Thank you.  GLB

These Introductory Comments are copyrighted:
Copyright©2010 — Gerald Boerner — All Rights Reserved

[ 3823 Words ]

Quotations Related to REUNIFICATION

“It is the most important contribution we can make to speeding up reunification.”
— Walter Ulbrecht

“Overall relations between the North and the South have developed in favor of national reconciliation, unity and reunification.”
— Kim Jong Il

“We will make every effort with utmost sincerity to achieve a peaceful reunification of the country.”
— Hu Jintao

continue reading…