October 7, 1989 - The 40th anniversary of the founding of the East German republic is celebrated with military parades. In East Berlin, Soviet head of state Gorbachev takes part in the celebrations. He talks about the need for reforms, saying "whoever comes too late is punished by life."October 9, 1989 - 70,000 people protest in Leipzig demanding a democratic renewal of East Germany.
October 16, 1989 - 120,000 people protest in Leipzig. Security forces refrain from using violence.
October 24, 1989 - Egon Krenz is voted in as East German head of state and head of the national defence council.
November 3, 1989 - The East German government decides that citizens can leave the country via Czechoslovakia without formalities. Another flood of departures begins.
November 3, 1989 - Bulgaria see its first anti-communist protests, organized by ecologists.
November 4, 1989 - Between 500,000 and 1 million people rally at Alexander Square in East Berlin. East German TV broadcasts the event live.
November 7, 1989 - The East German government resigns.
November 9, 1989 - The Berlin Wall falls after a Politburo member says at a press conference that new travel laws are to take immediate effect. Thousands of East Berliners throng to West Berlin. Shortly before midnight the first barriers open at the wall.
November 10, 1989 - Todor Zhivkov is ousted in a party coup in Bulgaria. A few days later, his successor, Petar Mladenov, announces an effective end of the totalitarian regime.
November 17, 1989 - Riot police crack down on a peaceful student protest in Prague, kicking off the Velvet Revolution.
November 24, 1989 - Czechoslovak Communist Party leadership resigns.
December 1, 1989 - The East German parliament removes the right of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) to rule exclusively.
December 2, 1989 - Austria lifts visa restriction for Czechoslovakian citizens. More than 100,000 Czechs use the opportunity for short visits to Vienna.
December 3, 1989 - The East German Politburo and the Central Committee, led by Egon Krenz, step down.
December 7, 1989 - The Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) is formed as the first openly anti-communist movement in Bulgaria.
December 10, 1989 - Czechoslovakia's President, Gustav Husak, makes way for the first non-communist government since the 1948 Communist putsch.
December 16, 1989 - Romanian Security forces crack down on anti-Ceausescu demonstrations in Timisoara.
December 17, 1989 - Austrian and Czechoslovakian Foreign Ministers Alois Mock and Jiri Dienstbier symbolically cut through the border fence.
December 22, 1989 - Romania's Ceausescu is visibly shaken at the presence of chanting crowds during what turns out to be his last official speech. He flees by helicopter.
December 22, 1989 - In Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate is reopened, though initially only for pedestrian traffic.
December 23, 1989 - Romania's army turns against Ceausescu.
December 25, 1989 - Romania's Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu are executed. Their bullet-riddled bodies are shown on national TV.
