Modern Germany - Erich Honecker (Berlin Gambit)

Erich Honecker (25 August 1912 –29 May 1994) was a German politician who, as the General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party, led East Germany from 1971 until the weeks preceding the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Under his command, the country adopted a programme of "consumer socialism" and moved toward the international community by normalising relations with West Germany and also becoming a full member of the UN .As Cold War tensions eased in the late 1980s under the liberalising reforms of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Honecker refused all but cosmetic changes to the East German political system and was consequently forced to resign by his party. Following German reunification, he escaped but was extradited a year later to stand trial for his role in the human rights abuse by the East German regime. However, the proceedings were abandoned due to illness and he was freed from custody to join his family in exile in Chile, where he died from liver cancer.