The removal of Hungary's border fence with Austria occurred in 1989 during the

end of communism in Hungary Communism, Communist rule in the People's Republic of Hungary came to an end in 1989 by a peaceful transition of power, peaceful transition to a democratic system. After the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was suppressed by Soviet forces, Hungary ...

, which was part of a broad wave of

revolutions In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

in various

communist countries A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

of Central and Eastern Europe. The border was still closely guarded and the Hungarian security forces tried to hold back refugees. The dismantling of the

electric fence An electric fence is a barrier that uses electric shocks to deter people or animals from crossing a boundary. The voltage of the shock may have effects ranging from discomfort to death. Most electric fences are used for agricultural fencing a ...

along

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

's long border with

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

was the first little fissure in the " Iron Curtain" that had divided Europe for more than 40 years, since the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Then the

Pan-European Picnic The Pan-European Picnic (german: Paneuropäisches Picknick; hu, páneurópai piknik; sk, Paneurópsky piknik) was a peace demonstration held on the Austrian- Hungarian border near Sopron, Hungary on 19 August 1989. The opening of the border ...

caused a chain reaction in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

that ultimately resulted in the demise of the Berlin Wall.

History

In April 1989, the Hungarian government ordered the electricity in the barbed-wire border fence along the Hungary–Austria border to be turned off. On 2 May, border guards began removing sections of the barrier – filmed by Western TV crews summoned for the occasion. On 27 June Hungary's

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

Gyula Horn Gyula János Horn (5 July 1932 – 19 June 2013) was a Hungarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1994 to 1998. Horn is remembered as the last Communist Minister of Foreign Affairs who played a major role in the demolishi ...

, and his Austrian counterpart,

Alois Mock Alois Mock (10 June 1934 – 1 June 2017) was an Austrian politician and member of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). He was Vice Chancellor of Austria from 1987 to 1989. As foreign minister, he helped take Austria into the European Union. Lif ...

, held a symbolic fence-cutting ceremony at the

Sopron Sopron (; german: Ödenburg, ; sl, Šopron) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő. History Ancient times-13th century When the area that is today Western Hungary was a province of the Roman Empire, a ...

(Hungary) border crossing. The open border meant that it was easier for Hungarians to cross into Austria for goods and services; many Hungarians availed themselves of this to purchase consumer goods which had been unavailable or scarce in their own country; a visible sign of this in the first few weeks was that many cars could be seen in Austrian towns such as Graz with washing machines strapped to them. The most famous crossing came on 19 August, when, during the

between Austrians and Hungarians, over 900 East Germans on holiday in Hungary rushed the border and escaped into Austria and then travelled safely to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

.. The open border infuriated East German officials, who feared a return to the days before the Berlin Wall, when thousands of East Germans fled daily to

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

. Although worried, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

took no overt actions against Hungary, taking a hands-off approach.

References

External links

''2 May: Hungary dismantles border''

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

History

See also

References

External links