Never exactly popular, the East Germans had been coming to Hungary, mostly to Lake Balaton, for their summer holidays for decades. This was mainly because there was almost nowhere else for them to go. The Hungarians were willing to take the Ossies' money and use them for casual sex.

When the border was opened, the Hungarian Border Guards (ordered to be on their best behaviour) were almost trampled by hundreds of East Germans, ditching their Trabants and piling into Austria for a new life. I wasn't there, but I remember watching the pictures in Budapest and thinking, this is the end.

Hungary and Poland had always been regarded by the Soviets as dodgy. East Germany, however, was the front line. The East Germans were largely loyal little doggies (they even joined in the Soviet adventure in Afghanistan). Only the Bulgarians could fawn harder.

In matters of opposition to Soviet rule, the Poles were the men of the match. The Poles never gave in, never stopped fighting, no matter what the cost. Solidarnosc was the Rolls-Royce of the opposition movements. However, to extend the footballing analogy, it was a sneaky last-minute tap-in that finished the Soviets, courtesy of the Hungarian communists.