The Peaceful Revolution: The Fall of a Wall and the Rise of Democracy

The Fall of the Berlin Wall was a monumental moment in history, signifying liberation for East Germans and the reunification of Germany. Now taught as the symbolic end of the Cold War, the collapse of this physical representation of the Iron Curtain abolished the oppressive Soviet regime over East Germany, the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Seven Days that Ended the Prague Spring

“Prague Spring” was a liberalization attempt led by Alexander Dubček, the newly elected first secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, to reform socialism in Czechoslovakia and create a more humane version of communism in April 1968. The program included economic and political reforms, the latter specifically focusing on the freedom of speech and press.

Hands Across the Baltics: The Story of the Baltic Way

In 1986, between 5 and 6.5 million Americans held hands for 15 minutes in an attempt to create a human chain across the United States. The event was known as “Hands Across America” and aimed to raise money for poverty and hunger. Three years later, two million Latvian, Estonian, and Lithuanian citizens joined hands, not to raise money, but to protest the illegal occupation of their countries by the Soviet Union.