When The Berlin Wall Came Tumbling Down (British Military 1993 Documentary) | Forces TV

For the UK, the immediate concern after the border opened between East and West Germany was what would happen to military personnel stationed in the country. British troops were contemplating their future there and the fact that one day there would be a full withdrawal...
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[@richardsawyer5428]

In 2023 some of those words came back to haunt them. Alfred Schroder seemed to have a grip on it through.

[@Twirlyhead]

Those badass Berlin chieftains made other chieftains _green_ with envy with their ultra-cool urban chic.

[@Davo-007]

Was a pain painting them, did it many times.

[@AgeShallNotWearyThem]

Dont know when they started the urban cam but it made sense. I wS in smuts barracks Armoured Sqn in 81 and the Chieftains were still plain old black and green, but fully bombed up with live ammo 24/7. Great city and great time.Rudi Hess was still in Spandau at the time and the Reds were guarding at the time.

[@russelldavis8415]

She failed to point out the financial losses to communities, thousands of soldiers and their families spent their money in German shops, pubs, taxis, buses, trains,.

[@edsr164]

Russell Davis It hardly made a difference to them

[@dirtydave2691]

This was 30 years ago. I've been to Germany numerous times since then.....91, 03, 06 and they are doing fine.

[@bennshephard8682]

angry ranger Now and recently yes but not in the years after the collapse of the Berlin Wall

[@Arcaryon]

@@bennshephard8682 The soldiers departing were not responsible for a loss of jobs because the unemployment in Germany was focused on the east and in Germany itself today, the situation of every single state is very much unique and can not be compared with one another by simply adding or subtracting a few soldiers here and there. A stationed army is an economic bonus but not an economy. For example, people would have moved towards the regiments because they employed people but there are no before/ after statistics before is a ruined economy at the end of a war and after is a normal nation in the process of doing something incredibly ambitious in too little time and too fast because the people demanded it and the political landscape failed to inform the masses.

[@DavidFraser007]

Why on earth did they include that snobby woman in the documentary? She added nothing , was obviously anti British Army just stated a few obvious well known facts. But she got all vague trying to dodge the question about unemployment. I did notice that not one serving soldier was interviewed.

[@kengrimes1012]

I served in Germany for 7 years and loved every one, I am so pleased that Germany is United and a partner in NATO along with other European nations, love the place ,love the people .

[@Arcaryon]

Thank you for your service. As a German, I think I speak for most of my fellow countrymen when I say that the unity, the membership in the NATO and the whole number of the European projects are close to our hearts.

[@kengrimes1012]

It was my pleasure and privilege to serve my thanks to you I would also add it was an honour .

[@daddyrabbit835]

I was stationed in Hanau, Germany for 2 years (1989 to 1991 with a 6-month trip to the Persian Gulf). I miss it incredibly, but alas, my wife and I went over a few months ago, and a lot had changed.

[@u.h.forum.]

90% of comments: annoying woman 10% of comment: video

[@sniper7014]

Not wrong there

[@leslieshand4509]

So fascinating to watch in 2023. My father served our country for 32 years, 6 of them in Germany (1957-1963, my sister was born in Germany). They were so happy about reunification, but understood the economic challenges that would come with it. They returned to visit in 1998 and quite loved it.

[@theblasphemousgospel6824]

Her argument: We already have large and rising unemployment so we don't care if we have even higher unemployment, because we already have high unemployment. Wow

[@isaacdepaula2103]

Lol exactly

[@Arcaryon]

No, what she said that the people simply are used to the unemployment due to the integration of East Germany which was and continues to be a tremendous and time consuming effort. Are you even listening to what she had to say?

[@LogicalGamingUK]

@@Arcaryon Is that not a rewording of what he said?

[@Arcaryon]

@@LogicalGamingUK Not at all. He said that she didn't care, I said that she knew that we could handle it judging on experience. That's not even remotley the same thing.

[@hypergolic8468]

The key word to note on the introduction to her was that she worked for the Guardian. That means that anything the British Military did was bad, despite a vast majority of Germans sorry to see the UK leave.

[@DixieFatline]

Guardian journalists were arrogant back then also.

[@Arcaryon]

Nothing she said was arrogant. Wearing jewellery hardly qualifies. You just either hate women, journalists or higher education perhaps all three. It's a lovely trend you can see all over the world and it's especially visible on KZbin. Good that we have populistic idiots like Trump or the brilliant manipulator Johnson so you get exactly the leaders you deserve.

[@justwhenyouthought6119]

@@Arcaryon Hahhahahaaaa and you got all that off your chest, god you are funny ! I mean that sincerely, you should do stand up.

[@Arcaryon]

@@justwhenyouthought6119 Thank you :P

[@Housey1985]

@@Arcaryon what an idiotic comment. She was wrong on almost all of her analysis and typically anti-western as ‘Grauniad’ journos are by default

[@Arcaryon]

@@Housey1985 She was wrong? Ok, let us have a look: 1. statement: most Germans were used to high unemployment. True. You can read interviews & statistics on the subject everywhere. 2. statement: Germans are pacifistic: still true to this day, can also be easily checked. 3. statement German law inhibits offensive actions via the military. Also true to this very day. 4. statement German politicians would be inclined to not be assertive and participate in international conflicts - also true, still a common accusation against all political parties of the BRD that were in charge during the few international conflicts it has participated in. 5. statement - the demilitarization was favoured by the Germans, true, still mostly true btw, numbers, for example, have hit a steady 160000-170000 soldiers in many years and the military is barely able to carry out basic functions, the defence ministry is a well-known graveyard of political rivals, used to weaken their position with a theoretically prestigious but in reality politically suicidal post. 6. statement: Germans are confused about their national identity. Also true, to this day the nationalism in 1933-1945 has snuffed out most normal patriotism aso in the whole federal republic with some minor exceptions. the question of any kind of national identity can still not be answered by leading politicians who only recently tried to define things as a ‘Leitkultur‘ (leading culture) - with barely any results. 7. statement: no agreement on the international role: true to this very day, little agreement even internally in any major party apart from basic western positions which are by no means specific to Germany in any way. Conclusion: you have no idea what you are talking about.

[@MichaelKng-fk5jk]

It went from Panzer Raus to pleading for British troops to stay. Unfortunately crime in Germany went through the roof because of immigrants. Taxi firms, restaurants, bars and many shops closed as a direct result of British troop withdrawal.

[@jordanjackson4144]

Amazing channel, some really original and thought provoking material. Makes the history so much more realistic and relatable

[@robinsonrex1280]

That was a beautiful version of the Ode To Joy particularly the vocals.

[@theruztygaming6406]

Its really interesting to see the German perspective of the reaction force in Germany. Its also great to see this video uploading, Its important us younger generations who never understood the context of the cold war, to watch these videos.

[@rippspeck]

I live in a town which used to have a heavy British presence back in the days. Not a single bad memory of their "occupation". We learned from them, they learned from us but in the end, we were pretty much the same people only with a slight language barrier. Kids really loved seeing soldiers with their huge Challenger tanks.

[@theruztygaming6406]

It definitely must of boasting European unity both socially and militarily. Its interesting how one of the most politically charged times in history led to the most peaceful time in history.

[@rhodesianwojak2095]

@@theruztygaming6406 HRE.png

[@Arcaryon]

@@theruztygaming6406 Europe learned a hard lesson most of the world still doesn't understand to this day.

[@More-than-ladyboys]

Did the train guard on the Berliner. Interesting time.

[@dulls8475]

And me in the mid 80s. A great day out and very interesting. I still have the menus.

[@More-than-ladyboys]

Same, '84.

[@metronetrail]

I was with 62 Tpt & Mov Sqn, A troop 1986/87. Did quite a lot of train guard duties, it was good to get out of camp but a long day though. Always thought how would the 4 of us stop any East Germans getting on, was only allowed 9 rounds of ammo for our SMGs. We used to chain the doors and stand at a window with the Union Jack Flag looking out when we arrived at the handover station in the Russian Sector. Also got caught bartering with a Russian guard at the train station, where all the paperwork was completed. Used to get all sorts of them, badges clothing etc.

[@simonyip5978]

Why were you only given 9 rounds for your smg's?.

[@100RAmen]

this episode in short: Soviets we missed you (but don't come back).--------- from the British with love.

[@salopsniper22]

As everyone else has said.....what an irritating woman she is, I can't imagine anyone tolerating her.

[@Arcaryon]

Nothing she said was arrogant, it wasn't irritating or in any way diffrent from what the others had to say. Seriously, are you people really so small minded that because she is a woman that wears jewelry and still has a very valid opinon you hate her? Seriously, watch the video again and pinpoint what you don't like about her that is objectively repulsive. There is NOTHING because she has the exact same tone of any foreign German that speaks with a British accent, she is calm, precise like all the others and she uses the same tone. You need to go back to the 50ties dude.

[@Joe-fe4xi]

Arcaryon Why are you so obsessed with the fact that she is a woman, when nobody else mentions it?

[@Arcaryon]

@@Joe-fe4xi Because I am pretty sure that noone would have had a problem if she was a bloke and said the same thing with the same tone and it's such a frequent remark people made. I mean, look at the comments. Half of them are so hung up on someone they don't like which on its own is fair enough but the reasoning is just so absurd because in the very same video you literally have the same kind of person tell us the same story, just a diffrent part and people couldn't be bothered. I am not a feminist but go ahead, watch the video and tell me exactly what she did that got her all this hate because I really tried hard to find something about her that made her so despicable but there simply wasn't anything. She is literally just a reporter that gave an objectively correct report on the mentality but people completey lost it. Either because they just hate the BBC and reporters, what she said (which just was a report which it why it would be idiotic so I rooted it out) or cause she's a gal. You go ahead and tell me what secret I missed laddie.

[@Joe-fe4xi]

Arcaryon I think the ‘secret’ that you missed, is the fact that she’s a Guardian journalist, not a BBC one.

[@desydukuk291]

A British popular view is missing from this documentary. My view is satisfaction of a job well done by a small British force in the face of German hostility at having lost the war but won the peace, delight the troops came home and grateful for the re-direction of taxpayers £'s being spent in the UK rather than Germany.

[@Ayns.L14A]

Small British force ??? there was 70,000 of us over there while 50,000 in England

[@peterchilds1411]

Obviously she has never been unemployed or comes from money or both.

[@Arcaryon]

Obviously, *you* didn't hear what she said. She pointed out that integration of a nation that was until recently under the control of a dictatorial regime and is lacking economically behind its counterpart creates massive unemployment combined with the fact that this process was rushed as is even mentioned in by the other expert, means that the PEOPLE have gotten used to unemployment. And if you used your brain you would understand that working for an army is not an economical basis because the army is paid for by taxpayers meaning that it's unnatural to expect this to be a source of income because an army doesn't produce or trades with anything. It just sits around and from time to time spends a tremendous amount of money by operating but you need to start understanding the basic economy before you criticize someone on something that you clearly got wrong. Unemployment was a big issue but the British were not needed anymore so to rely on them means betting on a horse that will not finish the race. Unemployment was an accepted reality. You fail to even understand that she is explaining the German perspective, not her own opinion. All you see is some jewellery and "journalist for the guardian" and you throw a tantrum like a 2-year-old. What's up with that?!

[@mlc4495]

It really is quite incredible to think Europe (and one country in particular) was divided like this for over 40 years. No freedom of movement, no ability to speak freely in a communist society. Such a huge amount spent on the military instead of more beneficial services like education and healthcare. It shouldn't surprise anyone that our modern 21st century world really came about because of the collapse of the totalitarian USSR controlled Bloc and the move towards a new, globalised world economic system. Things like the Internet/Web would never have been possible if the Cold War had remained. Thanks God the Commies were defeated. We should remember that today a new enemy is trying to roll back the progresses of the last 30 years, Nationalism! And ironically this new wave of totalitarianism comes from Moscow yet again, as a former KGB officer called Putin seeks to teat apart the European Union that has benefited us European so enormously. Russia is a cancer!

[@Arcaryon]

@gillysuit2 Then you don't understand why the EU exists today. Look; China and the US and even Russia all want to interfere with our affairs. Our best shot? To find a shared compromise on issues that are too big for us to solve on our own. Spain, Italy and Greece are some of the poorest countries. Shall we leave them alone with this? Germany shouldn't have rushed forward but that's really on Merkel for trying to be opportunistic. We all want similar things. No one wants starving children but we also don't want that millions of people to just settle in, we all want controlled immigration (and shouldn't forget that this doesn't allow the internal education to become rubbish, Poland I am looking at you repeating the mistakes of Germany 1 on 1), we all want the free and fair trade, we all want internal independence where it is possible and in conclusion, on our own we are just not relevant or powerful. I say that as German. The EU has problems. The Euro, the effects of 2007 and the unemployment as well as financing the whole thing are some of the biggest issues BUT it is also our best chance to ensure that Europe remains Europe. No EU? Central Europe would already work with Russia while eastern Europe would still demonize it, Trump is dividing us, Putin is dividing us and China is dividing us. When all of our enemies ( the US is a very, very "special" ally in that regard because it's interests for example in the middle east just can't be aligned with ours where we want to see a peaceful region that is stabilizing, they are giving up and fighting elsewhere, a trend that started with Obama and will continue after Trump) want us to be on our own. Shall we seriously do them this favor? What we need; is a debate about what we want from the EU and how we can achieve a Europe that not only for example m finds peace with Russia (because I don't want Chinese Rockets pointing weatwards) but figure out the details of our cooperation. Some people want less EU, others want more. We need to start acknowledging that we can't all get what we want but that we will simply be defeated when and fall behind when we just go on like this.

[@emizerri]

30 years, wow!

[@Ferr1963]

17:49 They look like a mob of hooligans going to a football match.

[@ichabodon]

Served in BAOR three times. I wish I could do it all again.

[@WilliamViets]

Leave it to a Guardian correspondent to express the most extreme anti-British sentiment.

[@darren5733]

the silent threats at the end 😂

[@Quebicrecords]

I remember it well

[@bieneulm1982]

As i can see, back then production of goods has still been in germany instead of being "outsourced" (6:40)

[@Arcaryon]

One problem of capitalism on a global scale is that it's just too expensive to produce at home if the income is low and you need to pay decent wages. Very tempting to simply produce elsewhere. I am not against free markets to a degree but some things about this system need to be talked about a lot more.

[@catlee8064]

I was stationed in Fallingbostel...right next to Hohne ranges....its now used as housing for syrian/afghan immigrants and fallingbostel has had a 400% increase in crime/abuse.

[@KiloByte69]

++ Gothicfan51 Krauts are already the minority in their own cities like frankfurt. America has a long history of attracting the world's best and brightest to abandon their shithole home countries for a better life here. The foolish socialists in europe simply opened the floodgates to anyone looking for government handouts. Big difference. America is the world's number one superpower, you jealous eurocuck. Talk about prestige, what about the time when all the europeeons lined up to kiss Trump's ass when he threatened to pull out of NATO? LOL Pathetic simps.

[@jacobjonm0511]

@@KiloByte69 In the southern US states, white people are minorities.

[@arvedludwig3584]

Oh man I live near Pforzheim where 48% of it's inhabitants are from foreign countries. I'm almost dead. My culture (of domestic violence) is almost gone. No seriously. Fake news are real and a serious threat to peace in society. Just picture terror as the fly that angers the elefant in a ceramic shop, then you'll know what terrorism is all about. Fear mongering, nothing more.

[@makara80]

"then you'll know what terrorism is all about" ....One suspects that most folk would choose what you ludicrously define as "terrorism" over _actual_ terrorism any day! Indeed, the butcher's bill would be significantly reduced if nothing else. ;)

[@mississippirebel1409]

Jacob Jonm0 - Either you are just a liar or have never been to the any southern state in the US. Not only do I live in Mississippi, which is in the heart of the Deep South, I was born an raised here. While the southern states do have a large population of blacks, the south is majority white and it isn't even close. Blacks make up 14% of the total population of the US!!!! So please don't talk about stuff you know nothing about.

[@petew5289]

I served in the 70s and 80s and spent 10years in Hamlin in all that timeonly one German had a go about British forces beening there had a great time

[@josemoreno3334]

About the same thing happen hear in the U.S. when they started to close down military bases.

[@Arcaryon]

It's a small boost for small economies but not sustainable - a bit like tourism. Just very unreliable as a longterm solution to generate taxes, jobs aso.

[@josemoreno3334]

@@Arcaryon So true.

[@alastairwest5200]

RAF Gatow - 1990-1994

[@magnolia430]

Here i am watching this in 2024 when i was actually part of it all in back then serving with 'BAOR' British Military stationed in Münster at the time. And I just happened to be in Berlin on the 9th November when the Berlin wall fell. I remember very clearly the buzz around Berlin and everyone including myself rushing to the Bandenburg Wall to see if it was true or not and was met by 1000's of people with pick axes hacking at the wall all trying to get a piece of it. I also remember how the supermarkets where sold out with in hours as the East Germans rushed in and bought almost everything. As an ex British soldier i remained in Germany and actually still live here, so i have seen how Germany has changed so much since then and is now nothing like back then. Everyone still has opinions as life back in West Germans back then was just totally different, and the adjustments have come at a very high price as the reformation Tax is still being collected after the Government lied and said it would only be collected for 20 Years after reformation.

[@CT--gs1wj]

Seeing the Germans celebrate when Germany is about to be reunified brings tears to my eyes

[@arvedludwig3584]

Me too, especially as a German. My grandfather lives in lower Saxony, about 20 kilometers away from the former eastern border. The morning of the 10th of november 1989 his sister in law called him on the telephone and said 'there are trabis everywhere'. He looked out the window and the whole street was full of cars driving towards the west. He and my grandmother jumped in the car and drove to the Harz and then Halberstadt to take a walk at the border first and then get a meal at a restaurant which, unfortunately, had wine en massé and everything which they haven't had before. Also they could visit their relatives now, without those long checks on the border. Nice story imo, hope you like that too and hope i haven't bored you with that. ^^ Btw are you from Britain?

[@CT--gs1wj]

​@@arvedludwig3584 i do like it. It's nice to hear the perspective of an east German or a west German during and after the fall of the berlin wall and the iron curtain. Im from Philippines, but i have strong affinity for european history, especially that for UK and Germany.

[@64maxpower]

the German people have had a century of excitement.

[@hanfpeter3742]

Im sure "Schrôder" is actually spelled "Schröder"...

[@owenevans83]

18:55 he called it

[@BMF6889]

The female anti-western assistance to Germany is very annoying. She doesn't address the Marshall Plan, she doesn't address the economic contribution to the occupation forces which were there to prevent the USSR from taking it all. She doesn't address the Berlin Airlift that saves West Berliners from starvation, supplied power, and defeated the USSR's blockade. She doesn't mention the aircrews who died trying to save West Berlin. She fails to mention that had the western allies not protected West Germany and West Berlin, they would all be speaking Russian now. I served 21 years as a Marine infantry officer with 3 year in combat--beginning as a Marine platoon commander in Vietnam in 1968. While on active duty, I was on exercises with Japan and Germany. I can say that at that time, the Japanese were the best and most capable allies than the Germans. I can also say that while both Japanese and German people were friendly, the Japanese were more appreciative of our help in rebuilding of their economy. Germans seemed to think that it all happened on their own. Japanese what stronger military relations and exercises and buy more very high end military equipment from the US while developing their own stealth aircraft. Germany wants to have 5th Generation aircraft for the next 15-20 years while the EU tries to build the 7th generation aircraft --skipping the 6th generations. Good luck on that. It took the US 3-4 decades to perfect stealth and the EU thinks they can skip to the 7th generation in a few years?????? By the time that happens, I wouldn't be surprised if the US was fielding the 9th generation aircraft. The EU has a great aircraft manufacturing capability, but it cannot compete with the US technological development or they would already have had two generations of Stealth aircraft. The US is now producing the second generation of steal bombers and the third generation of stealth fighters. And the EU is going to leap frog us without having a single generation of stealth?????????? BS. This is an EU fantasy.

[@GB-vn1tf]

Remember they are a consortium with eurofighter typhoon and the French have been building fast jets independently for decades as have the Swedes. I'm not disagreeing with what you're saying but don't Wright them off. By 5he way, thanks for all you and your country have done. As a Scotsman I for one appreciate your country very much. Sadly many in Europe do not. Sometimes I think we should have left them to the Russian bear to crush, as it would have.

[@BS-vm5bt]

@@GB-vn1tf Parhaps you should have leaft them to the german kairser instead, since there would be no soviet union, no maoist china and no nazi germany.

[@rhodesianwojak2095]

oh yes the "spreading globalhomo" plan

[@samuel10125]

The Germans by nature arguably are arragent they believe they are better than anyone even in 2019 Germans still consider Americans fat, uneducated compared to themselves Germans have a superiority complex just look at German philosophy the Nazi party was inevitable due to their mindset.

[@BS-vm5bt]

@@samuel10125 You are right now doing the same generalization as some germans does to americans. Do you really think that each nation is a type of hivemind or something? There is a diffrence between califonians and texans simmular to people from western and east germany. Though I live in sweden and diffrent mindset to germans but when I was in germany I did not find any hate towards americans. The thing I think many germans does not like with millitary bases in their nation is that they starts to feel that russia is not a huge threat anymore.

[@bluenose21c]

There that night after being rushed back to berlin from doing NI training

[@austintatious7209]

Duty free shopping in the Naffi, might no longer be a thing. How about the Naffi might no longer be a thing.

[@minimaxima2640]

9:35 What would Lenın have thought of that? He would have thought ''Ha, your cars are not as good as my 1922 Rolls-Royce Sılver Ghost Half-Track''.

[@rrider3946]

Germany and the Chicago Cubs have a similar history. Most of the 20th century they were lousy. Towards the end of the century both picked up as the they approached the 21st century and both have been consistent winners since 2000 although the Cubs have had a couple of down years before winning the series.

[@bbenjoe]

Thirty years have passed. The British forces are all but gone. Former east Germany must have changed a lot.

[@Housey1985]

Could the Guardian journalist have been more stereotypical anti-western?!

[@johnsabini3351]

At 7.30 This lady must be from Islington UK? Jezza Corbyn's love child?

[@jnairac]

Ah yes Urba Camo.pattern . A first of any army.on tanks MTB

[@Meloncholymadness]

it's now become Turkany, or Germanistan, either works...

[@Arcaryon]

If you are a far right but job that believes the lies of the identitarian movement it is. If you are a normal person with a brain it's still Germany. But hey, who am I talking to right? You extremists are like the islamic terrorists or the far left maniacs, no place for reason in your head.

[@Arcaryon]

@Justin H Nothing unless that's the primary drive for people's political believes based on racism. Which it usually is. Usually means that I never met someone who wasn't racist that said something like that.

[@Arcaryon]

@Justin H The thing is: why? Why would you want it? There are reasons but at the end of the day, those reasons come back to the same basic feelings. Hate and fear.

[@Arcaryon]

@Justin H That ain't the point. We are talking about ethnicity. Biological differences. Skin color aso. Not culture. I don't have anything against people who want to preserve a culture, I have something against people who think that they have found an ideal version of a nation based on ethnicity. I met two many idiots who share my language, upbringing, skincolor and history to believe in that kind of nonsense. Let me repeat myself: this is about people who say that a nation should be one single way and no other way. I like having restaurants from different countries in my city. And meeting new people is always interesting but again: we are talking about keeping a nation ethnically alike. Because if you say that Deutschland ( these right wing lowlifes usually don't even know what's our proper name but hey, every idiot is entitled to a vote so they also can have an opinion and we have to pretend as if they or their far left anarchists or hard-core socialists [not social democrats] would be just as agreeable as respected sientists and experts) is repeating a myth. First generation migrants usually have some trouble integration. Second generation? Nearly as German as anyone and third will probably have picked up more German traditions than many others. Can go both ways btw. because there is an identification phenomenon, either you love your home or your old home and that depends a lot on your treatment. Anyways; wanting to preserve culture? Conservative. Wanting to preserve ethnic purity? Far right.

[@Arcaryon]

@Justin H No. Colonization is not comparable to the integration of foreigners. Let me explain: We integrate the refugees and migrants (asylants in general) in a variety of extensive programs. Language classes, cultural integration, learning typical behavior - similar to the US but not as strict as the purpose is to help people integrate who have come but we didn't really want and still can not or do not want to remove but that story is very messy so I will skip over ir. What you talk about specifically is in unrestricted mass migration without any governmental interference. The US for example will always be American but not predominantly white forever - because it's programs create a single group. You speak English because the British and other European nations basically invaded the American continent an occupied it. That is afterall what colonization is - the invasion of a place with the intent to enlarge a preexisting empire. Not comparable to the poor souls we get here. A country and even a society can't exist if there are only individual groups in it. That's why we have the EU with the goal to integrate European nations, that why nations have some form of central government and why despite all our differences and lack of culture due to the historic nature of it all, our nation tries to find a shared idea of who we are (I for example am a European as I don't feel mostly native to my nation but my continent - call me a European patriot). Sumed up: if unrestricted it doesn't lead to a cultural change of the nation but the breaking apart of a society. The US for example could break apart as Republicans target white and Democrats minority audiences in a lot of their promises (urban and rural is also a big thing as well as all of the nonsense that makes up my university lectures on the topic) - but most importantly, we are talking about very few people in Germany here. And in Europe, even less. I mean, at the height of it all we had perhaps 5 million people. There are 510 million people in the EU alone and you could even argue about the possibility of 741 million Europeans in general. Let me rephrase that: if we had split these people it wouldn't even be worth talking about. And you don't have to integrate them, build a camp, give them food and that's it. BUT - that doesn't work if you are the only one doing it financially and let's not even start about the politics (the east is racist and the west naive and the north is to selfish and the south has to much debt and it's all a gigantic mess that I could literally write an entire book on and I probably have given how long this stupid topic exists and while I simplified things: basically the idea of Germany with 80 million citizens suddenly changing their culture is riducous.

[@scrubsrc4084]

Guardian jerno...... enough said.

[@PrinceChaloner]

If they knew what will happened in 2014 and 2023 from Russia they would've never downgrade their military...

[@johneygd]

Thefall of the berlin wall marketed the beginning of a more free modern open world.

[@mlc4495]

The world economy has grown massively precisely because of the death of Marxist-Leninisy ideology that tore the world into two different camps. The Cold War prevented globalisation from taking place, so it's not surprising to see the modern 21st century world come about precisely because of the defeat of the Communist forces. We must ensure there's never a return to that time.

[@11Kralle]

Not a single person was killed during those months - that's quite an achievement for us germans...

[@anglogang1939]

Lol the woman from the guardian germany sounds communist .hmmmm I wonder why

[@EdMcF1]

Yet in 2019, the British Army is still in Germany. It's not as if the Poles, Czechs and Danes are going to invade.

[@mlc4495]

They're on track to be completely withdrawn by the end of 2020. The only Allied country remaining in Germany will be the US who are keeping their large Ramstein Air Base as a refuelling and resupply depot for its operations in the Middle East. If anything the NATO forces of Germany should instead now be moved to Poland and the Baltic States to ward off Russian terrorism.

[@Exodon2020]

@@mlc4495 While I don't think the US will close down Ramstein in the foreseeable future I'd say most of their combat units are going to be sent to Poland at some point sooner or later.

[@sebasse7956]

I mean who really cares if they are still in Germany or not, I sure know I don't

[@johntucker6326]

If the US completly withdraws from Germany. The German economy will suffer. I spent 6 years in Germany and i saw the reduction in forces there. Then i saw how tbe German economy suffered from it.

[@Ayns.L14A]

@@mlc4495 you don't know how true your words have turned out......

[@aislingmichaelaoneill1028]

We had the right in the 60s to go into East Berlin but not East Germany. We had to wear Number One uniform (“best blue”), go in pairs, not buy or attempt to buy food (it was still rationed), not to take orders from the East Germans (we had yet to recognise the DDR) and always demand, in German, to speak to a Russian officer, saying nothing else. We had then to treat the said Russian officer as if he were a British officer. The one person I knew who was picked up ended assisting the Russian officer to demolish a bottle of vodka! He was then driven to Checkpoint Charlie and the guards were told to let him through. IMO the DDR after the fall of the SED should have continued longer, any reunification being gradual and organic. But no, the CDU and their greedy chums had other ideas…In 1952, Stalin offered a neutral, reunified Germany with no political interference, and withdrawal by both sides. Would he and his successors have kept his word? We can’t know for sure but they did in Austria.

[@arvedludwig3584]

If we would have agreed to that deal, Germany would've been a 3rd world country for a longer period of time. Back then you couldn't trust the communist block, hence the American involvement in Vietnam. Hungary and Czechoslovakia clearly showed the intentions of the soviets. But on the reunification i could agree, though the GDR was bankrupt at that time and it was the right thing to reunificate. Mistakes were made by introducing the new system into the eastern society.

[@mlc4495]

Austria was of no relevance or importance to Stalin, Germany OTOH was crucial to his desire to rule over Europe. An independent, neutral and demilitarised Germany would have been easy prey for the Soviets to invade and occupy, the Western allies knew this. Hence why they rejected Stalin's offer.

[@John.S.Patton]

Milo the best

[@steven9562]

13/18th cap badge wonder who it was

[@Ayns.L14A]

Didn't catch his face ex 15/19, LD here......

[@Danny-zi6xw]

That one journalist couldnt be any more negative lol exercises (when the soviet threat existed) were needed to not only learn more about the German environment but also to train in it in case of invasion. without training defence would be futile

[@Ayns.L14A]

yeah, completely irrelevant I wonder if they wish we were still there now???

[@johnan26]

Ungrateful woman

[@aabb-zz9uw]

UK army is still in Germany

[@samuel10125]

But not in the role they were in the 80s but as of now British forces are pulling out of Germany altogether we are no longer needed.

[@tombrydson781]

aa bb Not many

[@whotfcares4940]

biggest mistake in human history

[@TaskForce-fy4jk]

Tumbling Down Tumbling Down Tumbling Dooooowwwwn

[@minimaxima2640]

Irony. Beethoven's Ode to Joy at the end of a 1993 documentary documentıng the end of the Communıst threat from the Sovıet Unıon, only to be replaced by the European Unıon! Ode to Joy ıs the European Unıon's anthem! Man wıll never grow up and shrug off Communısm. What an ınsult to Ludwıg van Beethoven.

[@alanmoffat4454]

AND GERMANY COLLABORATE STILL WHITH THE RUSSIAN S AGAIN . .

[@plutonium87]

Ahhh DDR Memories. Wait wat?

[@JK-gh9ej]

The DDR wasn't a bad place, don't know a single person who disliked the time

[@makara80]

"The DDR wasn't a bad place" ....so long as you: didn't want to vote for anyone other than the ruling Communist party, weren't caught listening to western 'corrupting' music, questioned the regime in any way, had aspirations, didn't object to being reported to the Stasi by friends and family members, opposed your fellow citizens getting _ransomed_ off to the West (yes, that really happened and was so lucrative it was incorporated into the national budget!) etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. But apart from _all_ that though the former DDR really wasn't that bad.... ;)

[@mlc4495]

@@JK-gh9ej Tell that to the hundreds of thousand locked up in detention for no damn reason whatsoever by the Stasi.

[@owenevans83]

JK seems likely because the people who didn’t like it were in jail.

[@alekzander2010]

Everyone is dissing the woman, but I think her views are somewhat understandable. People dont like having foreign armies on their country, even if it's good for the local economy. It's a matter of pride.

[@arvedludwig3584]

Yeah it's understandable but a lot of Germans understand the benefits both to economy and society, caused by stationing of foreign troops. Pride isn't affected by other troops stationed here. As it clearly depicted in the video we didn't saw them as occupying forces after a short time.

[@monobgantonina5577]

@@arvedludwig3584 well just because you are cucks, doesn't mean that the humiliation of being occupied for 40+ years is not a fact.

[@mlc4495]

@@monobgantonina5577 Oh, poor you. Maybe don't go invading and occupying entire nations then and committing genocide you special fuckhead! Germany got what it deserved, it's lucky it wasn't permanently dismembered as in the Morgantheu Plan.

[@discipleaj]

Economy doesn't mean a thing when you've an enemy with the world's largest army (at the time) ready to barge through your front door and overrun your entire nation and maybe the rest of the continent. Maybe British troops should have withdrawn earlier when the USSR was still gagging to climb the walls and run its armoured divisions right over the border and told the Germans to garrison it themselves. I bet some of the Germans wouldn't have liked that either! There's no pleasing some people, allied security was an absolute necessary to ensure you and I are able to even be communicating right now. I too had military family stationed in Germany for a while and remember visiting them in the very early 90's as a child. It's almost like this... 1990's Germany: 🤭 Thanks for wasting your time, money and manpower rebuilding our nation and securing it for 40+ years after receiving such huge detriment to your own societies after fighting and defeating our former rulers the Nazi's. You can go home now. We know what's best for us. 1990's USA & UK: ....... 🙄 Okie dokie then. I guess we'll get started. SOME TIME LATER..... 2016 Germany: 🤗 Guys, after economically dominating Europe, we need you back again. The Russians are getting too powerful again and our dream of remaining the most powerful nation in the mafia-style EU is at risk. Will you spend your manpower and economic prowess also to help us secure what we should be doing as a primary concern, that being; the security of mine and my next door neighbours border's with Russia? 2016 USA & UK:.... 🧐 Okie dokie then, but this time we're going to start putting ourselves first more. A SHORT TIME LATER..... 2017 USA: 😤 Yeah, the rest of you guys in NATO...and I'm looking at you also GERMANY, had better start paying up for NATO membership or we're done. We ain't paying the bulk of this for you or anyone else no more. 2017 UK: 😑 Yeah, we had a vote summer last year and we're out this EU mafia thing and not turning back. We'll also continue to draw down our total forces from Eastern Europe but keep assisting with training in the event that you need us. But we're not staying, we need to look after ourselves more. We've definitely always been paying the minimum of 2% GDP and higher to stay in NATO and we're not paying for anyone else either. 2017 Germany: ....... 🤔 Now what do I do? Maybe I can blame someone for this? I had better lobby with the other EU nations to keep the UK with their trillions in GDP and billions in contributions within the EU and ignore their own democratic will to leave. Otherwise we're in even deeper economic and manpower trouble. AN EVEN SHORTER TIME LATER.... 2019 USA: 🙂🤜🏻 UK you do your thing and leave the EU, we're here to support you bro. 🇺🇸🇬🇧 2019 UK: 🤛🏻😎 Cheers bro, we'll get it done this year. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 I'd say we're going in the right direction given that too many of the EU nations have ignored their own moral responsibilities which is now having a detrimental affect on all of its members as a result.

[@rosaliealvaran537]

Mabuti naman po at naging united ang Germany. .bakit hindi naging united ang South and North Korea? Ayaw pumayag ng Taiwan bumalik sa China?

[@oceanman6418]

Rosalie Alvaran You know that noone can understand you. Here are some reasons, because they had a Civil War. While Germany didn't have one.

[@oceanman6418]

Rosalie Alvaran You should actually use English instead, since Filipino isn't a universal language.

[@oceanman6418]

Rosalie Alvaran And why would Taiwan "Go back" to China? Taiwan was China, the Nationalist China. But these Communists defeated the Nationalists and the Nationalists were stationed at Taiwan, no peace conference was ever made. Can you even fucking research before you say anything?

[@paulyb7267]

@@oceanman6418 The Germans did have a Civil War, back in 1866

[@Arcaryon]

@@paulyb7267 It's not a civil war if it's not one country. Look up the HRE and the period after Napoleon to understand what I mean. Prussia and Austria were not even remotley a single nation. Just because for example British and Americans speak the same language today, the revolutionary war is not a civil war on in Britain. If a king of Prussia declares war on a king of Austria, that hardly qualifies as a civil war does it?

[@Albiliuss]

From occupied by allied forces to occupied by muslims… way to go Germany!

[@ianbenson21]

Two year posting Spandue..... Was very lucky to be part of the 9 nov 89... The day the wall came down or the very start of this history...

[@GI.Jared1984]

i hate that song they play at the end

[@desiretheright]

Rogal Dorn Beethoven’s fifth

[@JK-gh9ej]

That song at the End is "Freude schöner Götterfunken" and it's the damn anthem of the European Union

[@JK-gh9ej]

9. November 1989, from this day on the world peace was completely lost, the relative peaceful 80s ended, the USA invaded Iraq beginning the first gulf war starting americas world invasion for oil and the rest is history.

[@jacobjonm0511]

80s was more bloody than 90s. Look up for the conflicts in 80s.

[@johnhughes8016]

Ask them the same questions now that the bear has risen again.... see what their answer is now....