In June 1989, Poland declared a noncommunist government in opposition to the Soviet Union. Previously, nations like Czechoslovakia and Hungary attempted to do this only to be crushed by Soviet interference. Surprisingly, Gorbachev and the Soviet Union decided not to invade and let Poland have its own government. This led to a domino effect and motivated other Eastern European countries to reject Communism. And in the fall of 1989, the Berlin Wall began to be torn down. This call for freedom soon spread to the Soviet Union, but this is where Gorbachev attempted to draw a line. But this was followed by a coup in the summer of 1991 in which Gorbachev was placed on house arrest. During this time nationalistic leaders, like Boris Yeltsin, gained a great amount of popularity and led to the creation of independent nations within the USSR. This marked the end of the Soviet Union, which also marked the end of the Cold War.