Which of these reasons were more important for the collapse of communism in cent

Question: Which of these reasons were more important for the collapse of communism in central and eastern germany!?

Solidarity in poland or the policies of Mikhail Gorbachev

Please refer to both reasonsWww@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Solidarnosc, encouraged and financed by Pope John Paul II, started the ball rolling, but it was the open approach of Michail Gorbachov, with his Glasnost, that finally did the trick, surprising especially the DDR leadership, who still believed in a 1968 (Czech) solution!. The entire Soviet block was both financially and politically bankrupt, it just needed a sharp push!.

ps I was there in those days and saw it all!. The Germans, East and West, were cheering "Gorby" as their saviour; the Poles had already broken off and Hungary was going the same way!. The actual decision was when the DDR allowed it's people to "visit" the West without a visa!. The wall came down later!. The role of the US came earlier, with the bankrupting of the Soviets; it had hardly no effect on the final stages, a purely "European" joint venture between Gorby and Pope Woytila!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Mikhail Gorbachev and President Reagan had held talks about Russia's situation, especially the fact that the US was causing Russia to spend billions of $ it didn't have to try to keep up with our "Star Wars" plan!.

The Pope also kept a strict argument against the Soviets!.

The end came when President Reagan stood in front of the Berlin Wall and declared, "Mr!. Gorbachev, tear this wall down!" The President's own advisors had told him over and over not to say it, that it would make things worse!.

Instead, only a few days later, the Germans began tearing it down and the Russians did not stop them!.

Because Gorbachev did not order the soldiers to stop them, you could say it was his policy!. But that moment would not have happened if not for Reagan, the Pope, and a freedom-loving Russian leader!.Www@QuestionHome@Com