Last Russian Troops Leave Berlin
The departure of the last Russian troops from Berlin on June 11, 1994, marked a significant moment in European history, signaling the end of nearly fifty years of Soviet occupation following World War II. This event occurred in the context of substantial geopolitical changes, including the conclusion of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany, which had been divided into East and West since the war. Berlin, once the capital of Prussia and later a divided city, symbolized the broader tensions of the Cold War, with the Berlin Wall physically separating East Berlin from West Berlin.
The withdrawal of Russian forces coincided with similar movements by American, British, and French troops, as the city transitioned back to German sovereignty. The complex history of Berlin, characterized by its division into occupation zones and the political dynamics of the surrounding region, played a crucial role in shaping post-war Europe. The removal of foreign troops was part of a larger process of redefining borders and national identities in a newly unified Germany. This historical milestone reflected the significant shifts in power and governance in Europe, underscoring the impact of political reform and democratization in the late 20th century.
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Last Russian Troops Leave Berlin
Last Russian Troops Leave Berlin
Russian troops undertook their departure from the German city of Berlin on June 11, 1994, marking the end of nearly five decades of occupation in that city after World War II. American, British, and French forces began to withdraw as well. This development and the return of Berlin to German sovereignty was made possible by the end of the Cold War.
Now the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany, Berlin is a large industrial city of roughly 3.5 million people. It is located in northeast Germany, in that region historically known as Prussia, and was the Prussian capital for centuries. When Germany was unified under Prussian leadership in 1871, Berlin became the capital of the entire nation and remained so until the end of the Nazi era. During the final days of World War II in the spring of 1945, Soviet troops advancing from the east were the first to reach Berlin. After the war, the Soviet Union and the other victorious Allies—the United States, Great Britain, and France—agreed to a dual division of Germany. First, the country itself was divided into zones of occupation, with the Soviets holding a large chunk of territory in the northeast. Berlin was located entirely within the Soviet zone. Second, the city of Berlin itself was divided into Soviet, American, British, and French zones of occupation. During the Cold War, the Soviet zone of Germany became the nation of East Germany, and their zone in Berlin became the city of East Berlin. Correspondingly, the American, British, and French zones became both the nation of West Germany and the city of West Berlin. Berlin itself was the source of considerable tension, because the Soviets were in a position to prevent access from West Germany across their territory into isolated West Berlin, and on several occasions they did so in what were ultimately unsuccessful efforts to oust their former allies from West Berlin.
During the Cold War, the Soviets had a formidable military presence both in East Germany and across their other postwar satellite nations in Eastern Europe, which were organized into an alliance known as the Warsaw Pact. (At one time the combined Soviet and Warsaw Pact armies could field millions of men and thousands of planes and tanks.) East Berlin itself was separated from West Berlin by the Berlin Wall, with soldiers and guard towers to prevent any contact between the populations of the divided city. By the late 1980s, however, forces of change were sweeping the region. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev supported economic decentralization and political reform, which unleashed pressures for democratization and greater participation by the people in their own governments. With the Soviets no longer willing to support them, one by one the totalitarian communist regimes across Eastern Europe collapsed. On November 9, 1989, the government of East Germany announced that it was opening the Berlin Wall, and for days thousands of enthusiastic demonstrators from both sides of the city helped tear it down. East and West Germany were formally reunited on October 3, 1990.
The new united Germany, known as the Federal Republic of Germany, still had its capital at the old West German capital of Bonn. A process of transition from Bonn to Berlin was begun that would not be completed until 2000. Meanwhile, during the “two plus four talks” (participants were the former two Germanys, East and West, and the four nations whose armies had occupied the city since shortly after World War II), which were held from May to September 1990, a timetable had been arranged for Allied troop withdrawal. Complicating the process were political changes within the Soviet Union itself, which would ultimately collapse and officially be dissolved on December 25, 1991. Russia emerged as the successor to most Soviet powers and responsibilities, but it had so many economic problems that making provisions such as adequate housing for its returning soldiers was a serious issue. Nevertheless, the Russians undertook the withdrawal of the former Soviet forces in June 1994.