in 1970, the debt was 2.2 billion. by 1989 this was 46 billion DM

by the 1980s, people started wanting better consumer goods because they saw what was on offer in the west

SED could no longer afford to keep up the social contract, but wanted to because they wanted to keep the productivity high, GDR had highest productivity of all the Eastern Bloc

it was estimated that debt would rise to 52.6 billion DM by 1995, and the only solution would be to cut consumption by 25-30%

Brezhnev announced the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine in 1989, and later that same year Poland elected its first non-communist leader

the SED began to censor Gorbachev's speeches but there was a black market for them

the GDR citizens latched onto Gorbachev as a new kind of communist leader, an alternative

in 1988, a survey found that 83% of young people in the GDR supported Gorbachev

it all came to a head at the 40th anniversary of the GDR celebrations, where people started shouting 'Gorby!' and some even 'Gorby save us!' in front oh Honecker, the SED, and Gorby himself

Honecker was very unpopular, 77 and had been ill for some time. He had cancer, and the second tumour eventually killed him, but he was removed beforehand

Krenz was Honecker's protege and was reluctant to take over, he originally wanted to wait until Honecker was dead, but things were so dire that he took over before

he was also unpopular though, in fact a common joke said that both Honecker and Krenz were the same man, except one still had a gall bladder

when Krenz took over, 30,000 people protested against him

Leipzig saw regular crowds of 70,000 every Monday night

in September 1989 Hungary quietly opened its borders with Austria, a place where GDR citizens could be granted citizenship and refuge from GDR

in just two weeks, 30,000 GDR citizens fled to Hungary and then Austria

the opening of the borders seemed to clearly mock the GDR

Thus, Honecker opted to close the borders of the GDR, making the country as isolated as North Korea