Tear down this wall!

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“ Tear down this wall! ”(German:“ Tear down this wall! ”) Is a line from a speech given by US President Ronald Reagan in West Berlin on June 12, 1987, which asked the leader of the Soviet Union , Mikhail Gorbachev , to remove the Berlin Wall to open, which had divided West and East Berlin since August 1961 .

Speech at the Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987

To the background

Ronald Reagan became US President in January 1981. In June 1982 he visited West Berlin for the first time. He gave a speech in which he also addressed the Berlin Wall : “ I'd like to ask the Soviet leaders one question […] Why is the wall there? ”(German:“ I would like to ask the Soviet leaders a question […] Why is the wall there? ”) In 1986, 25 years after the wall was built, he answered the question of the West German newspaper Bild , when he was thinking that the wall could be torn down: “ I call upon those responsible to dismantle it [today] ” (German: “I appeal to those responsible to dismantle it [today] ”).

The day before Reagan's 1987 visit, 50,000 people demonstrated against Reagan's presence in Berlin. During the visit itself, some areas of Berlin were cordoned off from the event; in particular the Kreuzberg district (for example, underground line 1 was closed).

Some Reagan staff members controversially discussed the draft speech. Some of them suggested that Reagan should skip this part of the speech in order to save Gorbachev from possible embarrassment or exposure. Reagan and Gorbachev had developed a good relationship. US officials in West Germany and the President's speechwriters , including Peter Robinson , thought differently. Before giving the speech, Robinson traveled to West Berlin and got the impression that many West Berliners were against the Wall. On May 18, 1987, Reagan met with his speechwriters and later said: “ I thought it was a good, solid draft ” (German: “I thought it was a good, solid draft”). Howard Baker , White House chief of staff, argued that it sounded extreme, not presidential; US Deputy Security Advisor Colin Powell agreed. Nevertheless, Reagan liked the passage and said, “ I think we'll leave it in ” (German: “ I think we'll leave it in ”).

Chief Speechwriter Anthony Dolan attributed the lines to Reagan. In an article published in The Wall Street Journal in November 2009, Dolan wrote that Reagan presented the line in a meeting in the Oval Office . He also commented on his reaction at the time and the Robinsons. This has resulted in friendly correspondence between Robinson and Dolan about their differing accounts, which The Wall Street Journal published.

The speech

Upon their arrival in Berlin on June 12, 1987, Reagan and his wife Nancy were taken to the Reichstag , where they viewed the wall from a balcony. Reagan then gave his speech at 2:00 p.m. at the Brandenburg Gate in front of two panes of bulletproof glass . Among the spectators were Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker , Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl and West Berlin's Mayor Eberhard Diepgen .

That afternoon, after pointing out the first signs of change in Soviet politics, Reagan said:

“We welcome change and openness; for 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! "

“We look forward to changes and openness; because we believe that freedom and security go hand in hand where the advancement of human freedom can only strengthen the purpose of world peace. There is a sign that the Soviets can make that would be unequivocal and drastically improve the matter of freedom and peace. Secretary General Gorbachev, if you are looking for peace, if you are looking for prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you are looking for liberalization, come to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! "

Part of the wall mentioned in the speech

Later in his speech, Reagan said:

“As I looked out a moment ago from the Reichstag, that embodiment of German unity, I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall, perhaps by a young Berliner, 'This wall will fall. Beliefs become reality. ' Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom. "

“As I looked out from the Reichstag, the epitome of German unity, a moment ago, I noticed words sprayed on the wall, perhaps from a young Berliner, 'This wall will fall. Faith becomes reality. ' Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall. She cannot stand faith; She cannot stand up to the truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom. "

Another highlight of the speech was Reagan's call to end the arms race (with his reference to the Soviet SS-20 nuclear weapons) and the possibility of “ not merely limiting the growth of arms, but of eliminating, for the first time entire class of nuclear weapons from the face of the earth ”(German:“ not only to limit the growth of armaments, but also to eliminate a whole class of nuclear weapons from the world for the first time ”).

Complete speech at the Brandenburg Gate .
The famous part starts at 11:10

Reactions and legacy

A piece of the Berlin Wall is in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley

The speech received relatively little media coverage, as Time magazine reports 20 years later. DDR - Politburo member Guenter Schabowski regarded the speech as "absurd", and the Soviet news agency TASS accused Reagan of having maintained an openly provocative, war-mongering speech. Ironically, it was Schabowski, of all people, who actually opened the wall two and a half years later with a thoughtless answer at a press conference on November 9, 1989.

The then Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl said that he would never forget having stood near Reagan when he asked Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. “ He was a stroke of luck for the world, especially for Europe ” (German: “He was a stroke of luck for the world, especially for Europe”).

In an interview with Reagan himself, he recalled that East German police would not have allowed people to come near the wall, preventing citizens from witnessing the speech. The fact that West German police acted in a similar manner, however, has rarely been noticed in reports like this one.

White House speechwriter Peter Robinson, who drafted the speech, said his most famous line was inspired by a conversation with Ingeborg Elz from West Berlin, who had remarked in a conversation with him: “ If this man Gorbachev is serious with his talk of glasnost and perestroika he can prove it by getting rid of this wall "(German:" If Gorbachev with his talk of glasnost and perestroika is serious, he can prove it by going on is this wall ").

Though Reagan urged Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, there were some, like Time Magazine's Romesh Ratnesar, who commented that there was little evidence that the speech had any bearing on the decision to tear down the wall, let alone an influence on the people he addressed. Another reviewer was Liam Hoare in a 2012 article for The Atlantic , who pointed to many reasons for the tendency for American media to focus on the meaning of this particular speech without assessing the intricacy of the events as it was in both Eastern Germany as well as the Federal Republic of Germany and the Soviet Union have developed.

John Kornblum , high-ranking US diplomat in Berlin at the time of Reagan's speech, and US ambassador to Germany from 1997 to 2001, said: “ [The speech] wasn't really elevated to its current status until 1989, after the wall came down ”(German:“ Until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the speech did not even begin to have its current status ”).

The president had also included daily salaries in his speech. Towards the end, he proposed that, in view of the unrest in South Korea that had been going on for two days, the 1988 Olympic Games should not be held there but in both halves of Berlin. This met with approval from West German, but not East German politicians.

literature

  • Peter Robinson: It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP . Warner Books, 2000, ISBN 0-446-52665-7 .
  • John C. Kornblum : Reagan's Brandenburg Concerto . In: The American Interest . May-June 2007.
  • Romesh Ratnesar: Tear Down This Wall: A City, a President, and the Speech that Ended the Cold War. 2009.

Web links

Commons : 1987 Ronald Reagan speech in Berlin  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Ronald Reagan's Berlin Wall Speech  - Sources and full texts (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ronald Reagan speech, Tear Down This Wall . Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  2. ↑ Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Ronald Reagan, 1982 . In: Remarks on Arrival in Berlin . June 11, 1982. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  3. ↑ Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Ronald Reagan, 1986 . In: Written Responses to Questions Submitted by Bild-Zeitung of the Federal Republic of Germany . August 7, 1986. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  4. ↑ a b van Bebber, Werner: Cowboy and Indian . In: der Tagesspiegel . June 10, 2007. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  5. ↑ a b spiegel.de June 11, 2017 / Veit Medick : "We didn't want to expose Gorbachev"
  6. ↑ Kenneth T Walsh: Seizing the Moment . In: US News & World Report , June 2007, pp. 39-41. Retrieved June 27, 2007. 
  7. ↑ Anthony Dolan: Four Little Words . In: Wall Street Journal , November 2009. Retrieved June 10, 2012. 
  8. ^ Peter Robinson: Looking Again at Reagan and 'Tear Down This Wall' . In: Wall Street Journal , November 2009. Retrieved June 10, 2012. 
  9. ↑ Anthony Dolan: Speechwriters' Shouts of Joy in Reagan's Oval Office . In: Wall Street Journal , November 2009. Retrieved June 10, 2012. 
  10. ↑ a b c Ronald Reagan's Famous "Tear Down This Wall" Speech Turns 20 . German wave . June 12, 2007. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  11. ↑ a b c Boyd, Gerald M: Raze Berlin Wall, Reagan Urges Soviet . In: The New York Times , June 13, 1987. Retrieved February 9, 2008. 
  12. ^ A b Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin . Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  13. ↑ a b c Romesh Ratnesar: 20 Years After “Tear Down This Wall” . In: Time , June 11, 2007. Retrieved February 19, 2008. 
  14. ↑ Reagan's 'tear down this wall' speech turns 20 . In: USA Today , June 12, 2007. Retrieved February 19, 2008. 
  15. ↑ Jason Keyser: Reagan remembered worldwide for his role in ending Cold War division . In: USA Today , June 7, 2004. 
  16. ^ Peter Robinson : "Tear Down This Wall": How Top Advisers Opposed Reagan's Challenge to Gorbachev - But Lost . In: Wall Street Journal . National Archives . Summer 2007. Retrieved June 9-10, 2012.
  17. ^ Liam Hoare: Let's Please Stop Crediting Ronald Reagan for the Fall of the Berlin Wall . The Atlantic . 20th September 2012.