How Mikhail Gorbachev helped end the Cold War and unite Europe

NARRATOR: March 1985 - a political wind of change blows in Moscow. The chief of state Mikhail Gorbachev wants to reform the Soviet Union. Foreign policy, too, enters a new era. It is a time of disarmament and a relaxation of formerly hostile relationships with the aim of putting an end to the Cold War.

MICHAIL GORBATSCHOW: "The onset of Perestroika in the Soviet Union was the first and decisive step. We changed from a totalitarian regime to a society of freedom and democracy."

NARRATOR: Gorbachev even tolerates reforms in the other socialist states in Europe. Poland is seen as the forerunner.

LECH WALESA: "We applauded Gorbachev’s reforms. We knew that communism would collapse if Gorbachev removed just one brick from the wall."

NARRATOR: During his state visit to West Germany in 1988, much hope is placed in Gorbachev. It is the first time that a Soviet head of state is cheered in the West.

HANS-DIETRICH GENSCHER: "It really was a new kind of thinking. I thought, if he does everything he told us he would, then we have a real chance to unite Germany."

NARRATOR: Gorbachev also forces the East German regime and Erich Honecker to act.

ROLAND JAHN: "He didn't understand that you can’t imprison people forever and take away their rights. He didn't understand that the next generation won’t wait for freedom. That they will take it themselves."

NARRATOR: When Gorbachev visits East Berlin, Honecker is under pressure. The citizens of the GDR set their hopes in Gorbachev.

ULRIKE POPPE: "The main argument of those who challenged the opposition movement was that nothing could change in the GDR without change in the Soviet Union."

NARRATOR: But now, thing’s are changing in Moscow.

VERA LENGSFELD: "There was a slogan in the GDR: learning from the Soviet Union means learning to triumph. And this immediately became our campaign slogan. We now want everything that Gorbachev stands for in the Soviet Union - Glasnost, transparency, and Perestroika, restructuring."

NARRATOR: Citing Gorbachev, the citizens of the GDR push their peaceful revolution forward. And Gorbachev keeps his word. He leaves the decision which way to go to the German people.

GORBATSCHOW: "German unification was of global importance. It was precarious and extremely difficult. It paved the way to ending the Cold War."

NARRATOR: Despite strong opposition from his adversaries in Moscow, Gorbachev continues his politics of disarmament and bringing East and West closer together.

HANS-ULRICH JÖRGES: "It was an incredible piece of luck that this crusty and powerful system was reformed from the top down. Not from the streets, but by one man, who set in motion a movement within his own party – Gorbachev."

NARRATOR: Gorbachev ends the era of a divided Europe.