The Fall of the Berlin Wall

On the night of August 13 th , 1961, police officers strung barbed wire across the border of

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

“What happens to Berlin happens to Germany; what happens to Germany, happens to Europe.” These were the words of Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet Foreign Minister from 1939 through 1949. The Soviet Blockade of Berlin was a direct challenge to Western attempts to combine their zones of occupation, and it threatened to unleash World War III. The Western Allies’ response to this blockade was a massive airlift, supplying over two million people in West Berlin with food, water, medicine, and other supplies. The Berlin Airlift was an important historical event which occurred just three years after the conclusion of World War II in Europe, and it had many complex causes and far-reaching consequences.

June 12th of 1987 held the day when the audience silenced to hear the famous words of President Ronald Reagan in West Berlin (Gaven). “We believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. 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” (Gaven)! Built by the communists in 1961 and surrounding West Berlin, the wall stood as a symbol of

Following the fall of the Third Reich at the end of WWII Germany was split between east and west into two different countries. In the east the German Democratic Republic was under communist rule and was supported by the Soviet Union. The Federal German Republic was a democracy that was part of NATO. As part of the division of Germany following WWII, Berlin, the capital of Germany was divided evenly between the two nations. However, the entire city of Berlin was deep inside of the GDR, so the Western half of the city was democratic but it was surrounded by communist territory. This made West Berlin a place where many East Germans would try to escape to. As a result of this the German Democratic Republic built a wall surrounding West Berlin to stop its own people from escaping to freedom.

After unraveling of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the Berlin Wall, fears of war breaking out between the major powers of the United States and the Soviet Union were greatly reduced. Numerous commentaries, reports, and studies arose out of the question of what to do with the excess U.S. forces, and how to reshape them for a new era (Snider & Carlton-Carew, 1996). Since the birth of the United States, the military has been an important part of the United States. The US military has been a fundamental part of foreign policy, including fostering democracy, establishing rule of law, and assisting with economic development in territories allied with the U.S. (Ludema, 2007).

The Berlin Wall is a historical symbol of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall is a symbol of the end of the Cold War. And also, the Berlin Wall played a great role in the life of millions of people and defined the fate of German people, which put them apart by the Wall for a long period of time. Sixteen years after the end of World War II, the communist government of East Germany began building a wall on (August 13, 1961), that would divide the city of Berlin into East Berlin and West Berlin. The purpose was to keep fascists from entering East Germany, but mostly to keep West German citizens, primarily people of valuable professions such as doctors, teachers and engineers, from Changing side to the West. People of Berlin Called the wall Schandmaur, which actually means " The wall of shame". Over the years of the wall being constructed it took at least 3x times to rebuild it, but each time bigger than the last one.

Ronald Reagan, in his speech, (“Berlin Wall”, 1987), the former governor and President of the United States and at the time of the Cold War, “ the most magnetic public figure in the nation”(encyclopedia.com) elucidates to his audience the consequences of residing under the influence of the Soviet Union. Reagan supports his assertion through the use of various rhetorical devices to generate logos, ethos, and pathos. His purpose is to incite a feeling of an injustice done to the people of Berlin and Soviet Allies and to bring down the Berlin Wall as “the most visible symbol of the decades-long Cold War”(History.com) between the Americans and the Soviets during the Cold War. Reagan writes in perfervid tone generated toward the people of Berlin and other Soviet allies in hopes of bringing the Cold War to an end and it is reported by CBS News that he successfully “bolstered the morale of the pro-democracy movement in East Germany”(Brinkley).

Even though no large-scaled fight occurred, the Cold War still had a devastating impact on the people of East Berlin. People living in the East suffered under Stalin’s secret police. With the Berlin Wall complete, Stalin trapped the people inside a living nightmare. Families were separated, and workers worked for long hours with almost nothing for return.

This is a newspaper source from the London Herald dating Saturday 11th of November 1989. This primary source demonstrates the views of the British towards the fall of the Berlin Wall, what it symbolised and how it affected the political world.

In the late 1940’s Berlin became the dividing line between Communism and Capitalism. This beleaguered city was to be the front line of the Cold War. In 1948 The city, divided into four sectors, one of which was occupied by the Soviet Union, was engaged in a life or death struggle for survival. The Berlin Airlift was not simply a struggle for the life of one city. The city was a prize in the game of chess between the west and the Soviet Union. The media of the day utilized rhetoric and propaganda to influence the emotions and allegiances of the people who read them.

The Berlin wall was a wall that was up to 15 feet high, which separated East and West Berlin during the Cold War. It lasted 28 years from 1961 and 1989. Throughout this time period, many people living in East Germany left and fled to West Germany because they had a better economic system. Since their lost in WWII, East Germany built the wall to prevent access to West Berlin. Because of this separation that lasted 28 years, many families, friends and relatives were separated. The wall slowly progressed to become even more advanced so that it would be harder for people to get to the other side. About 5,000 people survived, 5,000 people got caught and 191 more were killed. People were willing to do anything at any means just to get over the wall

History seems to remain in an endless cycle of repetition. In the world's most contemporary issue: walls. History has proven to us that walls either protect, in the case of the Great Wall of China, or divide, as proven by the Berlin Wall. Depending on the intended purpose of walls and borders, they can protect or ruin lives. Any sort of barrier creates restrictions, and if caught beyond those limits can result in banishment, exile, separation, estrangement, and displacement. Nevertheless, with great effort walls can be brought down.

The Berlin War that partitioned sections of Berlin from 1961 to 1989 was both physical and psychological. What started as a means of preventing educated workers from leaving the Communist controlled sector of Berlin for the western controlled sectors became a hotspot of tension and conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States. The Berlin Wall stood as a physical line of demarcation for the ideological differences between the two “Super Powers” of the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union.

In contrast to the desolate picture life in East Berlin painted, the economy of West Germany, which also included West Berlin, was rebounding and becoming quite strong. West Berlin’s businesses were booming, and their industry products were readily and rapidly bought by its resident who were eager to obtain the products and goods they had so long been deprived of previously, as a result of World War II.10 This new and heightening demand for goods pushed wages up quickly, and many new jobs were created with the development of new housing units and other construction enterprises.11 Movies, plays, and concerts were also available for West Berlin residents to enjoy, and overall life in West Berlin was good. However, life on the West side wasn’t all fun and games. Their city was still divided, and families were still separated. To the children of West Berlin residents, East Berlin was hidden from view and shrouded in mystery, their only knowledge of the other side coming through school or some form of media. It seemed they constantly asked themselves the question, “ Will the lives of East and West Germans forever be so vastly different and separate?”