Tear down this wall!

President Ronald Reagan

Nicolai Clawson
3/23/2011

Tear down this wall!

President Ronald Reagan
When President Reagan gave this speech, it was a very bold move. Some even
thought it would start a world war. The reason is that the United Sates and the USSR
(The Soviet Union,) were in the midst of the Cold War, where the two nations were
fighting over who would be the super-power.
The Cold War was the most important political and diplomatic issue of the later half of the 20th
Century. The main Cold War enemies were the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold war
got its name because both sides were afraid of fighting each other directly. In such a "hot war,"
nuclear weapons might destroy everything. So, instead, they fought each other indirectly. They
played havoc with conflicts in different parts of the world. They also used words as weapons. They
threatened and denounced each other. Or they tried to make each other look foolish.
www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/cold_war.htm

Both sides had said and done some harsh things to each other. The main hot
spot was Berlin. After WWII, Berlin was under the control of the United States and the
USSR. The US had control of the West and the East was under the dictatorship of the
USSR. A wall was built splitting the city in two. Both had military forces on either side
ready to start the next world war.
This was the stage when President Reagan came to Berlin to talk to the people of
West Berlin. By going to Berlin, he was stating a point both to the people of Berlin and
to the world. He could have given his speech in Washington, but he decided to go to
Berlin and give his speech in front of the wall.
Our gathering today is being broadcast throughout Western Europe
and North America. I understand that it is being seen and heard as
well in the East. To those listening throughout Eastern Europe, a
special word: Although I cannot be with you, I address my remarks to
you just as surely as to those standing here before me. For I join you,
as I join your fellow countrymen in the West, in this firm, this
unalterable belief: Es gibt nur ein Berlin. [There is only one Berlin.]
President Ronald Reagan

Another tactic that President Reagan uses is when he speaks to people in German.
That also affects the people of Berlin on the East side of the wall as well as the West. He
is reaching out to them in a way that the Russians hadnt tried before. President Reagan
also got the peoples attention when he said a few lines in German. They probably did
not anticipate him speaking their language.

Ich hab noch einen Koffer in Berlin. [I still have a suitcase in Berlin.]
He is saying to the people that he cares for them and that he has their best interest
in heart. Also that he is one of them, that he loves their city, and the people. This
is a great way to reach out to the people and to have them listen to you.

Es gibt nur ein Berlin. [There is only one Berlin.]

He is stating an idea that Berlin should not be split in two, but should be one city;
not under the control of two nations, but under its own control. President Reagan
was saying what the people of Berlin wanted to hear. He wanted them no longer
divided but unified, and rebuilding their city again.

Berliner Herz, Berliner Humor, ja, und Berliner Schnauze. [Berliner

heart, Berliner humor, yes, and a Berliner Schnauze.]
Here President Reagan is telling the people that they can stand up; mainly he is
saying this to the people on the East of the wall. He is saying that the Russians
have tried to control them, but it will not work. They have the power to stand up
and make their own decisions.
Later in his speech President Reagan makes an interesting statement. He said

both sides are responsible for the fear in the world. The whole world was in a state of
terrible fear. Every time something was shown on the news, people would turn to one
another and ask each other is this the beginning of the end? The two superpowers had
their weapons of mass destruction aimed at each other. Between the two nations, they
could wipe out life on earth thousands of times over. In this terrible state of fear,
President Reagan says that both sides are to blame

But we must remember a crucial fact: East and West do not mistrust
each other because we are armed; we are armed because we mistrust
each other.
Here President Reagan is saying that we distrust each other and that is why they
are armed. He is putting the blame on both sides instead of just their opponents. He is
doing the reveres of what Adolph Hitler did when he gained power in Germany. Hitler
blamed the Jewish community for the poor state the country was in. He was able to unify
the people against the Jewish community and he led them. That was the start of his gain
in power. But here President Reagan has a chance to say its the Russians fault but
instead he says we are all to blame. So he then tells the people that both sides need to
stand down, and to aim for peace instead of war.
At another point in his speech, President Reagan lists off all of the
accomplishments of West Berlin over the years. He also states how poorly East Berlin is
doing.
Where four decades ago there was rubble, today in West Berlin there
is the greatest industrial output of any city in Germany--busy office
blocks, fine homes and apartments, proud avenues, and the spreading
lawns of parkland. Where a city's culture seemed to have been
destroyed, today there are two great universities, orchestras and an
opera, countless theaters, and museums. Where there was want, today
there's abundance--food, clothing, automobiles--the wonderful goods
of the Ku'damm. From devastation, from utter ruin, you Berliners
have, in freedom, rebuilt a city that once again ranks as one of the
greatest on earth. The Soviets may have had other plans. But my
friends, there were a few things the Soviets didn't count on--Berliner
Herz, Berliner Humor, ja, und Berliner Schnauze. [Berliner heart,
Berliner humor, yes, and a Berliner Schnauze.]
In the 1950s, Khrushchev predicted: "We will bury you." But in the
West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity

and well-being unprecedented in all human history. In the

Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness,
declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind--too
little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself. After
these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world one
great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity.
Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity
and peace. Freedom is the victor.
Now people may say that he is bragging or putting the two parts of the city in
uneven light, but here is the basic truth that he was stating to the people of West Berlin,
it is working. There were people that were against what he was doing in Berlin (both
in Berlin and the United States.) By comparing the two halves of the city, he was able to
show the people his point. The people that were from West Berlin listening to his speech
knew that all they had to do was look behind him into East Berlin to know that what he
was saying was true.
These protesters that were opposed to his coming to and involvement with Berlin
had tried to change what was happening. They felt that there was too much western
influence in the city already. They felt that President Reagan was only trying to turn
West Berlin to America. They wished to be more like the East side of the wall. This is
what President Reagan had to say to their demonstrations.
I have read, and I have been questioned since I've been here
about certain demonstrations against my coming. And I would like to
say just one thing, and to those who demonstrate so. I wonder if they
have ever asked themselves that if they should have the kind of
government they apparently seek, no one would ever be able to do
what they're doing again.
If they had what they wanted, would they be able to do what they were doing at
that time? They all knew the answer to be no. President Reagan did not answer his own
question. He knew that he did not have to answer to get his point across. By standing in

front of the Berlin Wall, he didnt have to just say what things where like in the East; he
was showing them what it was like on the other side of the wall.
Now we have one of the most famous quotes that President Reagan said in this
speech. He was advised not to say it in his speech because it was considered to be a
direct challenge to General Secretary Gorbachev, the president of the USSR. But,
President Reagan decided to put it in his speech anyway. Surprisingly enough this quote
is not even in the end of his address to the people of Berlin. The quotation is found closer
to the beginning than the end. Anyway this line is very bold. He is challenging the
USSR.
General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek
prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek
liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!
Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
With the world as his stage, President Reagan challenges the president of the
Soviet Union to tear down the Berlin wall, and to unite both East and West Berlin. This is
during the height of the cold war. Both sides feared nuclear war. The people there were
cheering. He has just demanded what they want to see happen. President Reagan was
speaking to the USSR for the people of Berlin, and he was demanding for the things that
they wanted. As we know the Wall did fall and now Berlin is one city and the nation of
Germany is one as well. When President Reagan gave this speech, there were few people
in attendance. There was very little news coverage. Not many people were even there.
But, a few days later word quickly spread about what he had said. He now had the
worlds attention and support.
There are audio recordings of this very bold speech, and I encourage everyone to
listen to it and hear the emotion behind the message that changed the world.

References
President Ronald Reagan Tear down this wall!- June 12, 1987
www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/cold_war.htm
www.wilsoncenter.org
www.time.com