THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL: MEMORIES AND REFLECTIONS OF A WITNESS THIRTY YEARS LATER

Abstract

On 9 November 2019 the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall which is undoubtedly the most important historical event since the end of the Second World War was celebrated almost all over the world. First of all, this article is dedicated to the historical events that led to the division of Germany in the immediate post-war period, to the evolution of relations between the two Germanys and, at a global level, between the two opposing blocs at the time of the “cold war” up to the fall of the Wall, on behalf of which the author, who was residing in Berlin at the time, also provides direct testimony. In the second part he moves on to examine the short and long term effects of the fall of the Wall for Germany, for Europe and for the whole world. The multiple problematic aspects are highlighted at each of these levels: a) in particular, with regard to the internal events in Germany, attention falls both on the juridical aspects of reunification (whether it was a matter of reunification on an equal basis or rather an “annexation” of the conquered state by the winner) and the social ones (whether the process of social reunification and cohesion – compared with the analogous processes that have taken place in Italy between North and South – can be said to be complete and successful); b) at the European level the influence that German unification has exerted on the integration process is analyzed. The institution of the single currency, the Euro, in the image and likeness of the old German Mark, as well as the expansion of the EU by accepting new members and attracting countries previously belonging to the Soviet bloc to the western one for mostly geopolitical reasons are definitely determined; c) finally, as regards international relations, the article follows the passage from the illusion of the “end of history” and the relaunch of the United Nations on the basis of values and objectives that are now common, thanks to the end of the Cold War, to the current reality of the “new cold war” and the “fragmented third world war”, characterized by the spread of numerous conflicts of different nature.