“MR. GORBACHEV, KEEP THIS WALL UP!”

“MR. GORBACHEV, KEEP THIS WALL UP!” That is the caption of an article in the September 14 Economist which reports on documents smuggled out of Russia which describe Margaret Thatcher telling Gorbachev—two months before the Berlin Wall fell—that Britain was opposed to German reunification and to the fall of the Berlin Wall. President Bush (the father) and French diplomats expressed similar thoughts to the Russians. The Economist article considers these sentiments as reflecting the fear of instability and violence if the Berlin Wall fell. I remember at the time being worried about violence. I had never thought Eastern Europe would be free of Russian domination in my lifetime, and I dreaded violence. My memories included Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. Kids, things seem a lot easier after the fact.