Mr Gorbachev Tear Down The Berlin Wall Essay

“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” This is one of the most famous quotes from former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. On June 12, 1987 President Reagan flew to Germany to appeal to the Soviet Union to tear down the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was the physical barrier between West and East Germany, and the symbolic barrier between two political ideologies: democracy and communism.The idea for the Berlin Wall came just after WWII, when the U.S., along with Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union defeated Adolf Hitler, and gained control of the country. At a conference held in 1945 it was decided that Germany would be divided among the four countries to keep history from repeating itself. Between 1945 and 1961 those four parts of Germany
And, anyone caught trying to escape over the wall was shot and killed.On June 12, 1987 President Reagan made his now famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate, while standing behind two panes of bullet proof glass. Reagan’s main goal was to convince the people of West Berlin to accept democracy and oppose the Berlin Wall, a wall that had been standing for over 25 years at the time of his speech. At this time tensions between East and West Germany were heightened, making it the perfect time to address the problem at hand. Reagan used most of his time trying to communicate his message quoting bits and pieces of history to support his claims. The structure of Reagan’s speech was very simple to understand. He was basically saying, “This is what the problem is and this is what we need to do to fix it.” Reagan didn’t make any empty claims it was all based on facts. His style was simple, short, and to the point, and written in such a way that people didn’t need a dictionary to follow along with it. Being a former actor, Reagan spoke in a very moving tone of voice which is one of the reasons that his speech had the impact on the people the way it