'"I just can't believe it!"  exclaimed Angelica Wache. She had good reason to be so excited.  At the stroke of midnight on November 9, 1989, she became the first East German citizen in 28 years to cross freely throught the Berlin Wall into West Berlin.

Thousands and then tens of thousands of East Germans soon poured through the Berlin Wall.  As the incredible news spread that the wall had been opened, the long-divided city of Berlin erupted into a joyous celebration. . .Many slammed hammers into the wall, turning the once-feared symbol of communist oppression into small concrete souvenirs. . .

The opening of the Berlin Wall marked the end of the Cold War and the start oof the new era. . ." (World History, Perspective on the Past, pages 844-845).

Task: The AHS Production Company has been assigned to produce a documentary on the end of Communist rule in Eastern Europe. The documentary will be used for briefing state department diplomats and Peace Corps volunteers. The producers have divided you into groups of 3 or 4. Each team will have a: Producer, Graphic Artist, Historian, and Writer. Each team will be assigned one of the following countries to research and create a multimedia presentation:

East Germany or German Democratic Republic
Hungary
Poland
Romania
Czechoslovakia
USSR
Bulgaria
Yugoslavia
General Information
Each presentation will include the following information and appropriate illustrations, video, photographs, and charts:

1. Opening title and credits
2. Background information including: map, brief history, statistics, etc.
3. How independence was achieved? What were the important events and demonstrations that led to the final uprising?
4. Which groups or important people were responsible for independence?
5. When were the first free elections held
6. What has happened in that country since independence including: triumphs, problems, changes in government, etc.
7. Bibliography

TCI Lesson 4.3B Handouts
Class notes
Gwertzman, Bernard and Michael T. Kaufman (eds.), The Collapse of Communism. New York: Random House, 1990.

Online Resources
East Germany or German Democratic Republic
German Information Center
http://www.germany-info.org/f_index.html

Facts About Germany
http://www.bundesregierung.de/english/01/newsf.html

East German Studies
http://www.calvin.edu/cas/egsg/

Berlin Demonstrations
http://www.dhm.de/~jarmer/einst1_eng.html

German Elections 1998
http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/1998/09/germany/
There is an interesting section on the divide that still exists between East and West.

Berlin Wall
http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/index.html

Fall of the Berlin Wall
http://www3.northstar.k12.ak.us/schools/nph/twt/berlin/berlin1.htm

Berlin Wall
http://www.appropriatesoftware.com/BerlinWall/

The Berlin Wall-10 years after
http://www.time.com/time/daily/special/berlin/

The Wall Comes Down
http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/23/

Hungary
The Hungarian Revolt
http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/wooton/34/lettis/index.htm

Central Europe Online-Hungary
http://www.centraleurope.com/hungarytoday/
 

Poland
Time Man of the Year-Lech Walesa
http://www.time.com/time/special/moy/1981.html

Lech Walesa-Time 100
http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/walesa.html

Romania
Revolution of 1989
http://www.timisoara.com/timisoara/r.html

The Revolution
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~romclub/florin/revolt.htm

Radio Free Europe-Romania
http://www.rferl.org/bd/ro/index.html

Czechoslovakia
The Czech Republic
http://www.czech.cz/
The official web page for the Czech Republic.

Slovakia.Org
http://www.slovakia.org/

Radio Free Europe-Slovakia
http://www.rferl.org/bd/sl/index.html
 

USSR
The Face of Russia
http://www.pbs.org/weta/faceofrussia/

How Change has Affected the Former USSR
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/russia/

Turmoil in Russia
http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/1998/09/crisis.russia/

Russian Elections-2000
http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/russia/

Russian Studies
http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/

Mikhail Gorbachev-Time Man of the Year 1987
http://www.time.com/time/special/moy/1987.html

Mikhail Gorbachev-Time Man of the Year 1989
http://www.time.com/time/special/moy/1989.html

Mikhail Gorbachev-Time 100
http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/gorbachev.html

Bulgaria
Bulgarian News Archive
http://www.b-info.com/places/Bulgaria/news/

Bulgarian News
http://www.zone168.com/

Yugoslavia
The Bosnian Virtual Fieldtrip
http://geog.gmu.edu/projects/bosnia/default.html

ABC News-A Beginner’s Guide to the Balkans
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/balkans_content/
Information on the conflicts that have taken place in the former Yugoslavia since the fall of the Soviet Empire.

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
http://www.gov.yu/facts/facts.html

CNN-Conflict in Kosovo
http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/1998/10/kosovo/
This special web site from CNN has news, links, video, interactive timelines and maps on the former Yugoslavian repubic.

Kosovo-Prospects for Peace
http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/kosovo/

Bosnia-Uncertain Paths to Peace
http://www.nytimes.com/bosnia/
This is a New York Times photo essay.

CBC-Kosovo
http://cbc.ca/news/indepth/kosovo/index.html

Bosnia Home Page
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~bosnia/bosnia.html
 

General Information

SCORE-Collapse of the Former Soviet Union
http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/cgi-bin/DB_Search/db_search.cgi?setup_file=resource10_db.setup.cgi&include=true&grade10=10_9e&submit_search=Submit+These+Search+Parameters

CIA World Factbook-1999
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
Includes maps and statistics by country.

CNN-Europe Web Links
http://cnn.com/WORLD/europe/sites.html
Links to official government web pages, new agencies, and other information for all European countries.

CNN at 20
http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/cnn20/
This special web site has a timeline video archive where you can download relevant quicktime video like the Berlin Wall coming down.

The Cold War
http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/

Red Spring-1968
http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/14/

The Cold War-Conclusions
http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/24/