The Berlin Wall Speech

The Berlin Wall was erected on August 13, 1961. After World War II, Germany was divided into four Allied occupation zones; Berlin, the German capital, was also divided into occupation sectors, even though it was located deep within the Soviet zone (History.com). In post war Germany, Cold War tensions grew, from situations such as the Berlin Blockade and the US’ Berlin Airlift (History.com). Not only were Cold War tensions growing but East Germany was now under a communist system (History.com). West Germany was in better condition because, unlike in East Germany, it received financial aid from the Marshall Plan (Burkhardt, H). Another big problem was the two different currencies used; West German currency, which was also use in West Berlin,

The Berlin Wall had been in place for 26 years. Increasing unrest was occurring in Berlin, and at this crucial time Ronald Reagan, as several presidents had done before him, traveled to the Brandenburg Gate, seen by most as the symbolical center of the wall. On June 12, 1987, he then spoke of peace between the USSR and the Western world, while motivating Berliners to help take down the wall and come together as a nation once more. Throughout the speech “Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate”, by Ronald Reagan, he makes use of imagery as well as appeals to ethos and pathos to incite the German people to rise up and destroy the Berlin Wall, reunifying Germany.

In President Reagan’s speech regarding the Berlin wall entitled “Address at Brandenburg Gate” delivered on June 12th, 1987, Reagan takes the position as the rhetor with the sole purpose of convincing the city of Berlin to unite and get rid of the wall separating the city in two. The wall is described by Reagan multiple times and is described to be both a physical and non-physical wall. Most of the city is separated by the physical wall and those that aren’t are heavily guarded and prevent travel to the other side. The discourse was intended to not only be heard by the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, but by most of Europe and North America. The exigency in Reagan’s

In the speech “Tear Down this Wall”, the author, Peter Robinson a speechwriter for the White House, attempts to end the divide between East and West Berlin. Robinson wrote the speech; however, former President Ronald Reagan brought it to life when he delivered the speech in West Berlin in June of 1987. Reagan presented this speech in a calm yet persuasive manner, ultimately winning over his immediate Berlin audience. President Reagan’s speech did not just reach Berlin. It was broadcasted all over from Western Europe to North America resulting in Reagan’s tremendous contributions to ending the Cold War. In order to persuade his audience, Reagan uses various rhetorical tools such as suggestions of hope, liberty, and freedom to grab the alienated German forces and reunite the opposing sides.

Source C is about Ronald Reagan's speech at the Berlin wall, on the 12th of June 1987. It was time that the new leader of the USSR realised that changes needed to be made. President Reagan understood that it's time to end this 30 year battle between East Germany and West Germany. in 1998 he announced that the USSR will not come in disturbance any more or at all in Eastern Europe. A year sooner, a few words that not only Germany were waiting for but the whole world were, President Reagan standing near the Berlin wall called out to the Soviet leader saying "Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall".

The map shows Germany was divided into West Berlin and East Berlin as a result of the cold war because the West Berlin was democratic while East Berlin was communist. In document 3b, an image is shown of the Berlin wall being built as a result of tension from both believing they sent spies and soldiers into one another’s territory. In West Berlin, the United States and its allies used its money to make West Berlin a good advert for democracy and capitalism. Citizens in West Berlin had good living conditions and earned good wages while the citizens in East Berlin were

On June 12, 1987 President Ronald Reagan trekked to the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin to speak to the people of West Germany to express his views regarding to communism it’s inadequacy as a governmental system. President Reagan’s primary goal was to rally the people of West Germany to oppose the Berlin Wall and make steps toward a much needed democracy. Having the position of President of the United States, Reagan had substantial influence on his peers. Reagan was able to use influence with some persuasion and rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos to the German people to provide cogent reasoning.

After World War II, Germany and Berlin were controlled by four major powers, US, Britain, France and Russia. Many people fled from the east side, which Russia controlled, because they did not like being under the rule of the Soviet Union and communism. Over 2 million people fled over the course of the years 1949-1959. Russia did not like how people were leaving their side of Berlin, so they built a wall. This wall started out as a barbed wire fence that later was made into a 15 feet high and 4 feet wide wall made of concrete blocks.

On November 9, 1989 the Berlin wall came crumbling down. For 28 years the wall did nothing but make everyone's life worse. However, when the wall fell everyone’s lives were about to be impacted for the better. Families were reunited, friends saw each other again, and peace was restored. The fall of the wall marked the winding down of the Cold War, and started a new age where communism would cease to exist. Much of the credit was being given to Ronald Reagan, who had visited the wall just a few years earlier. When Reagan gave his “Tear down this wall” speech, no one could’ve predicted, that it would lead to the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, and the eventual end of the cold war. Although as a result all communist governments in Eastern Europe had come to an end, would be replaced by “democratically elected governments”. With all this, there was a glimpse of peace and a time of rejoicing for all of the world. ("Fall of

Throughout his speech Reagan uses examples after examples of how other countries are doing well with freedom, he shows how other countries are doing with the right of freedom and how they are doing extremely well, "Japan rose from ruin to become an economic giant. Italy, France, Belgium-virtually every nation in Western Europe saw political and economic rebirth ; the European Community was founded"(40-41). This shows that Reagan strongly believes that being a Giant economy is a positive thing. This is important because he tries to give facts to the people of berlin that freedom is necessary. Ronald Reagan uses Ethos "We come to Berlin, we American presidents, because it's our duty to speak, in this place, of freedom"(5). This shows that Reagan is telling the people of berlin that he comes here to give back berlin their freedom and tear down the wall that divides the east from the west. This is important because Reagan is from the U.S and he took time out of his way to help out another country to get there freedom

On June 12, 1987 President Ronald Reagan delivered a speech in Berlin, Germany on the West side of the wall. He talked about how freedom creates opportunities to express how each individual feels and what their beliefs are. He talked about how communism took away everyone's individual voice, and how the people on the East side of the wall were oppressed. They did not have the basic human right that everybody deserves; freedom. They did not have the simplicity of choosing what they want to do or express how they feel.

At the time when tensions were high and the once divided people of Berlin were beginning to lose hope, Reagan was able to captivate millions and not only unite the Berliners but also the world.President Reagan was a man with strong beliefs that made his statements believable and logical.Claiming the benefits of living in a free, democratic country, Ronald Reagan uses pathos, logos and ethos to sympathize with the Berlin people.Given the time and place when the speech was given, Ronald Reagan took advantage to address the Berlin people of their misfortune and provided a sense of support and hope making his speech more monumental than what it already was. Ronald Reagan was naturally a good rhetoric; and he used his abilities to persuade the world of the injustice of the Berlin wall and win over the Berlin people. “Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate” by Ronald Reagan was a powerful and compelling speech for its time and helped persuade the people to end communism and reunite the people of Germany.

June 12th, 1987 President Ronald Reagan arrives at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin to speak to the citizens and leaders of West Germany. The main goal of this speech is to gather his audience, the people of West Berlin, to accept the ideas of western democracy and oppose that of the 25-year-old Berlin Wall. As Ronald Reagan is the President of the United States, he obviously has credibility; therefore, he in turn uses this in combination with logical and moral appeals to present a convincing argument to an eager German audience.

On June 12, 1987 President Ronald Reagan gave his speech “Tear Down this Wall,” in Brandenburg Gate West Berlin Reagan begins by discussing the purpose of the Berlin Wall and how the Communists in August of 1961 built it to keep the Germans from escaping Communist-dominated East Berlin into Democratic West Berlin, that this wall was more than just a wall; it was a stark symbol of decades of a Cold War between the United States and Soviet Russia only to stop short of actual warfare. By giving this speech Reagan had intended to rally the people of West Berlin so the people would accept the western democracy and oppose the Berlin Wall. Due to Reagan being president the words he said had so much impact, he was able to use these appeals towards the German people and provide a very convincing argument.

Germany and Berlin had been divided by sectors of occupation after World War II. The United States, British, and French sectors had quickly been turned over to the Germans. Berlin was stuck in the center of East Germany. In 1961, the East Germans put up a wall, known as the Berlin Wall, which divided the city into two(Putnam). This speech was meant to reassure the people of Berlin and West Germany that they had not been forgotten and the Free World stood with them against the hated Communists. John F. Kennedy’s defiant defense of democracy and self-government stand out as a high point of his presidency.