NCERT Book Class 12 Political Science (Contemporary World Politics) Chapter 1 The End of Bipolarity

Cha p ter 1
The End of Bip ola rity

Overview
The Berlin Wall, which had been
built at the height of the Cold
War and was its greatest symbol,
was toppled by the people in
1989. This dramatic event was
followed by an equally dramatic
and historic chain of events that
led to the collapse of the ‘second
world’ and the end of the Cold
War. Germany, divided after the
Second World War, was unified.
One after another, the eight East
European countries that were
part of the Soviet bloc replaced
their communist governments in
response to mass demonstrations.
The Soviet Union stood by as the
Cold War began to end, not by
The Berlin Wa ll
military means but as a result
sym b olised the d ivision
of mass actions by ordinary men b etw een the c a p ita list
and women. Eventually the Soviet a nd the c om m unist
Union itself disintegrated. In this w orld . Built in 1961
chapter, we discuss the meaning, to sep a ra te Ea st Berlin from West Berlin, this m ore tha n
150 kilometre long wall stood for 28 years and was finally
the causes and the consequences
b roken b y the p eop le on 9 Novem b er 1989. This m a rked the
of the disintegration of the ‘second unification of the two parts of Germany and the beginning of
world’. We also discuss what the end of the c om m unist b loc . The p ic tures here d ep ic t:
happened to that part of the world 1. Peop le m a king a tiny hole in the w a ll
2. A sec tion of the w a ll op ened to a llow free m ovem ent
after the collapse of communist
3. The Berlin Wa ll a s it stood b efore 1989
regimes and how India relates to Cred it: 1. a nd 2. Fred erik Ra m m ,
these countries now. w w w .rem ote.org / fred erik/ c ulture/ b erlin
3. w w w .c s.uta h.ed u