WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- I don't think it possible for any historian to visit the Baltic countries or the rest of Central Europe and not reflect on the catastrophes World War I brought for that part of the world. Communism, World War II, National Socialism, the extinction of some communities and the expulsion of others, wholesale alteration of national boundaries, all these and more flowed from the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914. One pebble touched off an avalanche.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- With the shadow of 1914 looming ever larger over us, I thought this might be a good time to explain "the Prussian monarchy stuff."

After 28 years as a reviled symbol of the Cold War, the Berlin Wall was opened on this date in 1989. East Germany announced free passage for its citizens through border checkpoints. The announcement followed a month that saw many East Germans flee to the

Today is Nov. 9.