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'[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1106-405, Plauen, Demonstration vor dem Rathaus.jpg|thumb|300px|A demonstration on October 30 in front of [[Plauen]]'s [[town hall]] ]] The '''Peaceful Revolution''' ({{lang-de|Friedliche Revolution}}) was a series of peaceful political protests against the regime of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) of [[East Germany]]. The protests, which included an emigration movement as well as street demonstrations, were a case of [[nonviolent resistance]], also often called [[civil resistance]].<ref>Charles S. Maier, "Civil Resistance and Civil Society: Lessons from the Collapse of the German Democratic Republic in 1989", in [[Adam Roberts (scholar)|Adam Roberts]] and [[Timothy Garton Ash]] (eds.), ''Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present'', Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 260-76. [http://books.google.com/books?id=BxOQKrCe7UUC&dq=Civil+resistance+and+power+politics&source=gbs_navlinks_s]</ref> The events were part of the [[Revolutions of 1989]]. In the summer of 1989, i like pie and the East German government praised the [[Chinese Communist Party]] decision to use violence against the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989|Tiananmen Square protesters]]. Like the [[People's Republic of China]], East Germany had previously used violence against dissidents and it was not clear whether events would develop peacefully.<ref name="Spiegel-2009-10-9">{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,654137,00.html|publisher=Spiegel|date=2009-10-09|title=A Peaceful Revolution in Leipzig}}</ref> The demonstrations began on Monday, September 4, 1989 at the [[St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig|St. Nicholas Church]] in [[Leipzig]], led by a [[Protestant]] pastor of the church, [[Christian Führer]]. After the October 2 demonstration, [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]] (SED) leader [[Erich Honecker]] issued a ''shoot to kill'' order to the [[National People's Army]].<ref name="Pritchard">{{cite book|title=Reconstructing education: East German schools and universities after unification|author=Rosalind M. O. Pritchard|page=10}}</ref> The government prepared a huge police ([[volkspolizei]]), [[riot police]] ([[Kasernierte Volkspolizei]]), [[Stasi]], and [[Combat Groups of the Working Class]] presence and there were rumors of a looming Tiananmen Square-style massacre. On October 9, Leipzig's protesters took to the streets under the banner "We are the people!".<ref name="Spiegel-2009-10-9"/> The military surrounded the demonstrators, but did not take action. The Stasi, East Germany's [[secret police]], unsuccessfully attempted to spark violence by planting violent [[agent provocateur]]s in the middle of crowds.<ref name="Spiegel-2009-10-9"/> Honecker had to resign on October 18. The [[non-violent]] demonstrations were a key component in the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] on November 9 and ultimately led to the fall of the East German regime.<ref>Cate, Curtis (1978). The Ides of August: The Berlin Wall Crisis—1961. New York City: M. Evans</ref> [[German reunification]] happened within a year, on October 3, 1990. The complete process of change in East Germany is known as [[Die Wende]]. == Earlier demonstrations == {{Further|Uprising of 1953 in East Germany}} Opposition to the East German government and its leader, [[Walter Ulbricht]], had existed since the 1950s. Before the Peaceful Revolution there were a few demonstrations that usually had little to no effect on the regime. In the most significant incident, the [[uprising of 1953 in East Germany]] was quickly and violently suppressed by [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] troops which had been stationed in East Germany. At the time, most of the opposition was left up to the intellectual elite, led by [[Wolfgang Harich]] and other like-minded individuals. The elite resistance ultimately had little to no effect on the government, and ended with its members being incarcerated after a series of show-trials. Until 1989, the only visible form of popular protest was the increasing rate of East Germans that were fleeing to the West. By 1960, already three million East Germans had left the country. In 1961, the East German government, in an attempt to stop the quick decrease of population, constructed the [[Berlin Wall]].<ref name="Bleiker">Bleiker , Roland. “Nonviolent Struggle and the Revolution in East Germany” The Albert Einstein Institution. 1993.</ref> == External factors that facilitated the revolution == There were two significant external factors that caused a stir in the East German people, and gave them hope that change was possible, along with increasingly widespread disapproval of the East German regime. In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev rose to power in [[Moscow]] and introduced a new foreign policy, which led to the termination of the [[Brezhnev doctrine]]. Firstly, it meant that Moscow’s allies, including East Germany, could no longer count on [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] foreign military aid. Secondly, it also meant that the East German government was left alone in trying to control the growing internal threat presented by its own citizens. == The Peaceful Revolution == [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-1104-437, Berlin, Demonstration am 4. November.jpg|thumb|left|A demonstration on November 4 in [[East Berlin]].]] [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-0924-010, Berlin, Vorgehen gegen Demonstranten.jpg|thumb|The Socialist Unity Party dispatched plainclothes officers to arrest demonstrators.]] By September 1989, the East German people had become more unruly, and many opposition movements were created. Among them were the ''[[Neues Forum]]'' (New Forum), ''[[Demokratischer Aufbruch]]'' (Democratic Awakening), and ''[[Demokratie Jetzt]]'' (Democracy Now). The largest opposition movement was created through a Protestant church service at Leipzig’s ''[[St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig|Nikolaikirche]],'' German for Church of Saint Nicholas, where each Monday after service citizens gather outside demanding change in East Germany. The demonstrators' strong tie to the church helped assure the peaceful nature of the demonstrations. The group grew from week to week and by October 9, 1989 there were 120,000 non-violent protestors, and a week later there were 320,000. Once other East Germany cities, such as [[East Berlin]], [[Karl-Marx-Stadt]], and [[Potsdam]], heard about the Leipzig demonstrations, they, too, began meeting on Monday nights at the city squares. On November 4, 1989 over 500,000 East Germans gathered in protest in the streets of East Berlin. These demonstrations were called [[Monday demonstrations in East Germany|Monday demonstrations]]. After the October 2 demonstration, [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]] leader [[Eric Honecker]] issued a ''shoot to kill'' order to the military.<ref name="Pritchard"/> The East German government prepared a huge [[police]] ([[Volkspolizei]]), the [[anti-riots police]] ([[Kasernierte Volkspolizei]]), [[Stasi]], and work-combat troop presence and there were rumors of a [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989|Tiananmen Square-style massacre]].<ref>{{cite book|title=History of Germany, 1918-2000: the divided nation|author=Mary Fulbrook|page=256}}</ref> On October 9, Leipzig's anti-communists took to the streets under the banner "We are the people!".<ref name="Spiegel-2009-10-9"/> Communist military surrounded the demonstrators, but did not take action despite orders from the Socialist Unity Party. The [[Stasi]] attempted to spark violence by planting violent demonstrators in the middle of crowds.<ref name="Spiegel-2009-10-9"/> The severity in the size of the demonstrations proved that the majority of the population was against the regime. “We are the people” was the main chant of the non-violent protestors that could be heard echoing throughout the streets of East Germany. It came to symbolize the power of the people united against its oppressive government. They wanted democracy, free elections and freedom of mobility.<ref name="Bleiker"/> By the middle of October, East Germans were leaving the country at a rate of 10,000 per day. The massive exodus was taking a toll on the country's infrastructure. Combined with the large non-violent demonstrations carried out throughout the country, it was enough to force Honecker to resign on October 18, in favour of his top lieutenant, [[Egon Krenz]]. Several other members of the Politburo also resigned that day, including [[Margot Honecker]], [[Erich Mielke]], [[Kurt Hager]], and Hans Tisch. By November 7, 1989 the entire government, under [[Willi Stoph]] resigned. Then, on November 9, 1989, the Politburo voted to allow East Germans to go to West Germany directly through East Germany. [[Günter Schabowski]], the party boss of East Berlin, was charged with making the announcement. However, he didn't know that the regulations were to take effect the next day. When asked when the regulations were to take effect, he replied, "As far as I know effective immediately, without delay." Later that evening, pictures were broadcast all over the world of thousands climbing and tearing down the Berlin Wall in the presence of the helpless East German guards that could do nothing about it. In the following days, thousands of East Germans were free to come and go as they pleased, a right that had been denied to them for years.<ref name="Bleiker"/> In December 1989, the entire Politburo, including Krenz, resigned. Shortly afterward, the SED gave up its guaranteed right to rule. The demonstrations eventually ended in March 1990, around the time of the first free multi-party elections.<ref name="Bleiker"/> [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-0116-013, Berlin, Stürmung Stasi-Zentrale.jpg|thumb|East Germans invading the [[Stasi]] headquarters on January 16, 1990. The sign says "Down with [[Stasi]], [[Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands|SED]] dictatorship and Nazism".]] ==Reunification== {{Main|German reunification}} ==See also== * [[Civil resistance]] * [[Die Wende]] * [[East Berlin]] * [[Erich Mielke]] * [[Fall of the Berlin Wall]] * [[Goodbye Lenin!]] * [[History of Germany since 1945]] * [[History of the German Democratic Republic]] * [[Inner German border]] * [[List of Berlin Wall segments]] * [[Nonviolent resistance]] * [[Nonviolent revolution]] * [[Revolutions of 1989]] * [[Stasi]] * [[Tear down this wall]] * [[West Berlin]] == References == <References/> ==External links== * Spiegel: [http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,654137,00.html A Peaceful Revolution in Leipzig] {{Fall of Communism}} [[Category:Protests in Germany]] [[Category:Die Wende]] [[Category:German reunification]] [[Category:History of East Germany]] [[Category:Revolutions of 1989]] [[Category:1989 in East Germany]] [[Category:Nonviolent revolutions]] [[bg:Венденска революция]] [[da:Die Wende]] [[de:Wende (DDR)]] [[nl:Wende (DDR)]]'