I've been trying to learn the reasons for the fall of the Berlin Wall. I understand that the press conference was botched and people thought the wall was then open for everybody, and the guards were uninformed and their superiors didn't know much more, then they freaked out and let everyone through.
But I don't understand how this misunderstanding leads to the fall of the wall. Why wouldn't they just say "Oops, our bad" and close the gates up again, business as usual? All that happened is that people crossed the border, if they'd closed it again, nothing should have changed, right? I feel like I'm missing something. If the wall was such an integral part of how everything worked in East Germany, it seems like they would care about keeping it the same, right?
Günter Schabowski gave the press conference on November 9, 1989.
The confusion happened after he was asked by Western correspondents when the new GDR law, concerning leaving the country, would become law. His famous answer was, 'according to my knowledge, immediately."
This wasn't the correct answer, but then again, nobody cared. And within a few hours the three border stations from Berlin to West-Berlin were besieged with GDR citizens.
You need to understand one very important point -- for the four weeks before November 9, more and more protests were happening in the country and there were only two options: 1) The 'Chinese Solution', which meant a Tianmen Square type of massacre or 2) Giving in to the protests.
Wisely, the GDR government choose to give in. And on October 3, 1990 -- the GDR ceased to exist, as it joined the Federal Republic.