9781422277706

government officials who represent them. The GDR was a repressive state run by a single political party—the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, also known as the East German Communist Party. The East German government allowed its people few free- doms. It controlled all economic aspects of the country. And it used the press “to direct the thinking of the people into correct political lines.” In August 1961, to stop the thousands of peo- ple from fleeing East Germany each day, the GDR—with mas- sive support from the Soviet Union—had closed its border to the west. Ultimately a 12-foot-tall, 27-mile-long concrete wall, topped by barbed wire, divided the city of Berlin. East German guards manned the watchtowers. They were under orders to shoot to kill anyone attempting to cross into West Berlin. Over the years almost two hundred people died in the attempt. Autocratic communist regimes had held power for decades in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. But in the late 1980s many of them were self-destructing. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 symbolized the collapse of communism and the rise of new freedoms. Many former communist countries would tran- sition to democratic governments in which citizens could vote in free, multiparty elections. When the Berlin Wall fell, people across Eastern Europe celebrated a major milestone. Authoritarian communist governments were making way for governments that would protect human rights and dignity. Kinds of Government A government is the body or system by which a state, commu- nity, or people are controlled or regulated. The word govern

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The Evolution of Government