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Mary Elise Sarotte

Mary Elise Sarotte is the Kravis Distinguished Professor of Historical Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She is the author or editor of five books, including 1989: The Struggle to Create Post-Cold War Europe, and The Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall.

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An excited crowd crossing the border at the Bornholm Bridge after the fall of the Berlin Wall.  (Credit: Brigitte Hiss/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

First came the botched press conference. Then the actions of an angry, tired secret police officer who thought he had nothing to lose. Soviet reaction wasn't good.