The Soviet Empire and my part in its downfall

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. What are you doing to celebrate? For those too young to remember, 1989 was a remarkable year. At the start of the year, the shadow of a nuclear war between the world’s two superpowers, the USA and USSR, was as dark as ever; at the end of the year, the Soviet Bloc was all but gone. It was a year of revolution and hope. What happened? The short and simplistic answer is the Soviet Union ran out of money. (A better answer was given by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, see below.) Having bankrupted themselves with Communism, the Soviets were no longer able to impose their military might on Eastern European countries. Poland and Hungary were the first to realize this. In the spring of ‘89, Poland held free elections, Hungary tore down its electrified border with Austria, and the Soviets did nothing to stop them. It was a stunning act of nonintervention that led to the liberation of 40 million people. Before you knew it, other countries such as East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria, had followed suit and come out from behind the Iron Curtain. And then on [...]Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.