
The series of revolutions that swept across the Eastern bloc countries and the subsequent fall of the Iron Curtain culminated in a year that is considered to be an historical turning point.
Eastern Germany, Hungary, Poland and the former Czechoslovakia all managed to overthrow their Communist regimes, starting a new era, which would eventually lead into the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in the early nineties.
Here we have a selection of some of the key moments and influential figures from a year of great significance.
A selection of stories relating to the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall
Russian and Soviet leaders from Vladimir Lenin to Dmitry Medvedev
Leading Politburo reformer Imre Pozsgay leads Hungary towards a transition to a Western-style democracy in March 1989
Vaclav Havel becomes President of Czechoslovakia in December 1989, ending 40 years of Communist rule
In December 1989, the Communist Party in East Germany elects a pro-reform lawyer, Gregor Gysi, as its leader
East Berlin demonstrations in October 1989 as 18 East German citizens seek refuge in US embassy during the Peaceful Revolution
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