What caused the fall of the iron curtain?

The fall of the Iron Curtain was primarily caused by a combination of economic stagnation in Eastern Bloc countries, rising public discontent, and the reformist policies of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, particularly glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). These changes encouraged pro-democracy movements across Eastern Europe, culminating in mass protests and the eventual collapse of communist regimes in countries like Poland, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia in 1989. The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 symbolized the end of the division and the decline of Soviet influence in the region.