A Reason for Celebrating

The Revolutions of 1989, sometimes called the Autumn of Nations, was a revolutionary wave that swept across Central and Eastern Europe in the autumn of 1989, ending in the overthrow of Soviet-style communist states within the space of a few months. The names for this series of events hark back to the Revolutions of 1848, also known as the "Spring of Nations."


Berliners sing and dance on top of the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate to celebrate the opening of East-West borders in 1989. Built of barbed wire and concrete in 1961, the wall divided Berlin and became the most powerful symbol of the Cold War. In 1990 the Soviet Union's Communist Party gave up its monopoly on power by agreeing to let other political parties compete for control of the country.