Ronald Reagan: Berlin Wall Speech

By: Roxie Hager

History

    Post-World WarII after the defeat of the Germans Berlin was divided among the major powers of the time The Soviet union was given East Berlin Since the rest of Berlin was made up of Democratic countries and the Soviet Union was communist they had different policies Because of this they built the wall

Speaker



The speaker is Ronald Reagan



He was the 40

th

president of the United States



He was 75 years old when he gave the speech

Occasion

 The speech was delivered in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Germany  It was delivered on June 12, 1987  It was delivered on the 750th anniversary of Berlin  This speech was written in order to try and convince the Soviet Union to “tear down this wall!”

Brandenburg Gate

 After World WarII the Brandenburg Gate was heavy monitored by Soviet guards and one of the few parts where you could cross over from East to West Berlin  Reagan picked this location for his speech because of this  The gate still stands today and was opened when the wall fell

Audience

 His audience was to East and West Germany  He was speaking to the Soviet Union mainly  He directly was specking to “Mr. Gorbachev” leader of the U.S.S.R.

Mr. Gorbachev

 He was the 8 th leader of the Soviet Union and the last  Did not wan the wall to come down and East Berlin be exposed to “the West”

Purpose

 The purpose of the speech was to get the people in Germany and the rest of the world to get them riled up  Also he was trying to convince the Soviet union and more specially “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Subject

 The subject is the desire for “German unity”   Also the U.S. did not wanted East Germany to be apart of the communist Soviet Union “The wall cannot withstand freedom”

Tone

 The tone is very strong and confident  He is very swift with his diction and is very passionate about what he is saying

Pathos

 Reagan’s speech appealed to many people's emotions  He focused on things like how people were being denied freedom  “Something that speaks with a powerful voice of affirmation, that says yes to this city, yes to the future, yes to freedom.”

Ethos

 Reagan uses ethos by providing examples and facts throughout his speech  Also he acknowledges alternative views and provides and effective argument regarding these alternative views  “In The 1950's, 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.”

Logos

 He uses logic throughout his speech  You can see this when he says “ From 1950 to 1960 alonc, the standard of living in West Germany and Berlin doubled……today in West Berlin there is the greatest industrial output of any city in Germany…”

Conclusion

   In conclusion about 2 years later on November 9,1989 the wall came down This was because of the collapse of the Soviet Union People gathered around the Brandenburg Gate where Regan Gave his speech just 2 years ago