Today In History - November 9th - A Significant Day For Germany

In 1989, recent history for most of us, those words - earlier spoken by President Ronald Reagan to Soviet President Gorbachev - were finally brought to fruition when the Berlin Wall was toppled. It was a great day for Germany - it meant reunification of the east and west portions of the country and of the east and west sections of the city of Berlin. There was joy all around on both sides of the wall.

The strange thing, maybe just by coincidence, or maybe by design of some higher power, is that November 9th had a lot of significance in the events that ultimately led to the fall of Germany and to the division of both the country and the city of Berlin at the end of hostilities in WWII. I will not go into it all that much except to list for you other events of historical significance that also took place on November 9th and either directly involved Germany or indirectly did so through actions of her allies or enemies. Look at the other events that took place, the most notable, but maybe not the most significant, probably being Kristallnacht:

November 9, 1918 Bavaria proclaims itself a republic

November 9, 1918 Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates after German defeat in WW I

November 9, 1918 Germany declares itself a republic (known by historians as the Weimar Republic)

November 9, 1923 Beer Hall Putsch-Nazis fail to overthrow government resulting in 16 deaths and Hitler going into hiding and ultimately leading to his arrest during which time he wrote Mein Kampf.

November 9, 1925 German NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers' Party (better known as the Nazis) form the Schutzstaffel - the SS.

November 9, 1935 Japan invades Shanghai China

November 9, 1936 Albanian govt of Frasheri falls

November 9, 1937 Japan's army conquers Shanghai

November 9, 1938 - Death of Ernst vom Rath who was shot by a German born Jew, Herschel Grynszpan, in Paris two days before

November 9, 1938 - Kristallnacht - German pogrom against the Jews as called for by Joseph Goebbels in retaliation for the assassination of vom Rath

November 9, 1939 - Venlo-incident: German Abwehr kills 2 English agents

November 9, 1940 - German Invasions of Norway & Denmark

November 9, 1941 - Hitler threatens Clemens August Graf von Galen of Munster who will then endure virtual house arrest from 1941 on due to his anti-Nazi sentiments

November 9, 1942 - German occupiers put Erik Scavenius as Danish premier

November 9, 1942 - Transport nr 44 departs with French Jews to Nazi-Germany (part of Hitler's attempt to exterminate all Jews worldwide - something he decided on only in 1942)

November 9, 1989 - East Berlin opens its borders (Finally some good on this day for Germany - the wall comes down!)

It all sort of makes you wonder - or at least makes me wonder - what is it about 11/9 and Germany! I suppose it is all only coincidence but I really do wonder if that is all. Then again, what is it about November 9 th in general? Heck, this was the day of the discovery of the body of Mary Jane Kelly the last murder victim of Jack The Ripper, the day that John List killed his family and fled to Colorado, the day that Sherman first planned his March to the Sea, the day of the Great Fire of Boston and the day Napolean became the 1st Consul of France (as in dictatorial ruler)!

Of course, throughout history, lots of good and bad things happen on each and every day. So I suppose in the years of Nazi influence and rule in Europe lots of other days were significant too - but again I wonder - did any others have as many as significant events take place as did this one day for Germany?

All the best,
Glenn B

Reference:
http://www.todayinhistory.com/s30-11-09-event-results.html

Wikipedia (see various links above)