<P> In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin on 12 June 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan challenged Mikhail Gorbachev, then the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to tear down the Wall as a symbol of increasing freedom in the Eastern Bloc: </P> <P> We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace . There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace . General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate . Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate . Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall! </P> <P> In June 1989 the Hungarian government began dismantling the electrified fence along its border with Austria (with Western TV crews present), and then, in September, more than 13,000 East German tourists escaped through Hungary to Austria . This set up a chain of events . The Hungarians prevented many more East Germans from crossing the border and returned them to Budapest . These East Germans flooded the West German embassy and refused to return to East Germany . </P> <P> The East German government responded by disallowing any further travel to Hungary, but allowed those already there to return to East Germany . This triggered similar events in neighboring Czechoslovakia . This time, however, the East German authorities allowed people to leave, provided that they did so by train through East Germany . This was followed by mass demonstrations within East Germany itself . Protest demonstrations spread throughout East Germany in September 1989 . Initially, protesters were mostly people wanting to leave to the West, chanting "Wir wollen raus!" ("We want out!"). Then protestors began to chant "Wir bleiben hier!" ("We are staying here!"). This was the start of what East Germans generally call the "Peaceful Revolution" of late 1989 . The protest demonstrations grew considerably by early November . The movement neared its height on 4 November, when half a million people gathered to demand political change, at the Alexanderplatz demonstration, East Berlin's large public square and transportation hub . </P>

Who started the fall of the berlin wall