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Tear down this wall!

On June 12, 1987, at the Brandenburg Gate, United States president Ronald Reagan gave a speech that is now known by a key line from the middle part: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Reagan wanted Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to open the Berlin Wall, which had blocked West Berlin since 1961.[1][2][3]

Complete speech. The passage "tear down this wall" begins at 11:10 into this video.
DateJune 12, 1987 (1987-06-12)
VenueNear the Brandenburg Gate
ParticipantsRonald Reagan
The full text of the speech at Wikisource

Not many people in the Reagan administration liked the idea of Reagan saying the famous line.[4] Some thought it would make the relationship between the United States and Soviet Union worse.[4] However, Reagan liked the line and kept it in his final speech.[5][6] Over 50,000 people had protested against Reagan before he arrived in Berlin. During the visit, many parts of Berlin were closed off to stop anti-Reagan protests.

The next day, The New York Times had Reagan’s picture on the front page with the title "Reagan Calls on Gorbachev to Tear Down the Berlin Wall". Its impact on the Kremlin became known after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.[7] In the years after the Cold War, it was seen as one of the most well known speeches of an American president in Berlin after John F. Kennedy's 1963 speech "Ich bin ein Berliner".[8] Reagan's speech was written by Peter Robinson.

Background

The "tear down this wall" speech was not the first time Reagan had talked about the issue of the Berlin Wall. In a visit to West Berlin in June 1982, he saod, "I'd like to ask the Soviet leaders one question [...] Why is the wall there?".[9] In 1986, 25 years after the wall was built, the West German newspaper Bild-Zeitung asked Reagan when he thought the wall could be removed.[10] Reagan then said "I call upon those responsible to dismantle it [today]".[10]

 
President Ronald Reagan with speechwriters before his Berlin visit, 1987

On the day before Reagan's 1987 visit, 50,000 people had protested against Reagan.[11] The city had many police officers, the most they have seen since World War II.[8] During the visit, many parts of Berlin were closed off to stop anti-Reagan protests.[12] Reagan talked about the protests and said at the end of his speech: "I wonder if they ever asked themselves that if they should have the kind of government they apparently seek, no one would ever be able to do what they are doing again".[13]

The speech was not popular within the Reagan administration.[4] Some people working with Reagan did not want him saying "Tear down this wall!", saying it might risk the positive relationship Reagan had with Gorbachev.[4] Speechwriter Peter Robinson traveled to West Germany to look for possible places where Reagan could speak, and found that many West Berliners did not like the wall.[5] Even though he had little support for adding the line in Reagan's speech, Robinson kept it in the speech text.[5] On Monday, May 18, 1987, Reagan met with his speechwriters and said, "Well, there's that passage about tearing down the wall. That wall has to come down. That's what I'd like to say to them".[5] White House Chief of Staff Howard Baker and Deputy U.S. National Security Advisor Colin Powell were against it.[5] However, Reagan liked the line, saying, "I think we'll leave it in."[6]

Robinson, said that the line "tear down this wall" was inspired after talking with Ingeborg Elz of West Berlin.[14] In a conversation with Robinson, Elz said, "If this man Gorbachev is serious with his talk of Glasnost and perestroika he can prove it by getting rid of this wall."[14]

Speechwriter Anthony Dolan said in November 2009, that during an Oval Office meeting Reagan came up with the line and not Robinson.[15] This caused Robinson and Dolan to write each other letters defending their own thoughts about who came up with the line.[16][17]

Speech

Reagan arrived in Berlin on Friday, June 12, 1987. Reagan and his wife, Nancy, were taken to the Reichstag where they saw the wall from a balcony.[18] Reagan then gave his speech at the Brandenburg Gate at 2:00 p.m., in front of bulletproof glass.[19] West German president Richard von Weizsäcker, chancellor Helmut Kohl, and West Berlin mayor Eberhard Diepgen were there at the event.[18] In the speech, he 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![20]

Response

 
A marker of Reagan where he gave the speech at the Brandenburg Gate

The speech got little coverage from the media at the time.[21] Time magazine wrote about the speech 20 years later.[21] John Kornblum, senior U.S. diplomat in Berlin at the time of Reagan's speech, and U.S. 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."[18] East Germany's communist rulers did not think the speech would have an impact, calling it "an absurd demonstration by a cold warrior".[22] The Soviet press agency TASS said Reagan's speech was supportive of a war.[19]

Former West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said he would never forget standing near Reagan when he told Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. "He was a stroke of luck for the world, especially for Europe."[23]

In an interview, Reagan said that the East German police did let people to come close to the wall, which kept citizens from seeing him speak.[21]

Some critics thought that the speech did not cause the Berlin Wall to fall and that Reagan did not deserve credit.[24] In a September 2012 article in The Atlantic, Liam Hoare asked readers to "stop crediting Ronald Reagan for the fall of the Berlin Wall".[24] Author James Mann did not support this, writing that the speech was important in making the Soviets weak.[25] Mann said that Reagan was "helping to set the terms for the end of the cold war".[25]

In November 2019, a bronze statue of Reagan was unveiled near the site of the speech.[26]

Gallery

More readings

  • Robinson, Peter (2000). It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP. Warner Books. ISBN 978-0-446-52665-4.
  • C. Kornblum, John (May 2007). "Reagan's Brandenburg Concerto". The American Interest 2 (5). ISSN 1556-5777
      . OCLC 180161622
      . https://www.the-american-interest.com/2007/05/01/reagans-brandenburg-concerto/. 

Tear Down This Wall! Media

  • A page from the speaking copy that Reagan used in Berlin, showing the "tear down this wall" line.

References

  1. ↑ "Ronald Reagan speech, Tear Down This Wall". USAF Air University. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Reagan challenges Gorbachev to 'tear down' Berlin Wall, June 12, 1987". Politico. June 11, 2017.
  3. ↑ Osborn, John (June 13, 1987). "Reagan Calls on Gorbachev to Tear Down the Berlin Wall". New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/13/world/excerpts-from-reagan-s-talk-at-the-berlin-wall.html. Retrieved June 12, 2023. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Reagan Defied His Staff With "Tear down this Wall" Command to Gorbachev". FEE.org. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "How Top Advisers Opposed Reagan's Challenge to Gorbachev—But Lost". National Archives. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Walsh, Kenneth (June 2007). "Seizing the Moment". U.S. News & World Report: 39–41. https://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070610/18speeches.htm. Retrieved June 27, 2007. 
  7. ↑ Osborn, John (June 13, 1987). "Reagan Calls on Gorbachev to Tear Down the Berlin Wall". New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/13/world/excerpts-from-reagan-s-talk-at-the-berlin-wall.html. Retrieved June 12, 2023. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Daum, Andreas (2008). Kennedy in Berlin. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 8, 200, 209‒11.
  9. ↑ Ronald, Reagan (1982). Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Ronald Reagan, 1982. Remarks on Arrival in Berlin. Best Books on. ISBN 978-1-62376-934-5.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Ronald, Reagan (1988). Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Ronald Reagan, 1986. Written Responses to Questions Submitted by Bild-Zeitung of the Federal Republic of Germany. Best Books on. ISBN 978-1-62376-949-9.
  11. ↑ "Reagan's Berlin Wall speech: Echoes of courage on the world stage". The Hill. June 13, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  12. ↑ van Bebber, Werner (June 10, 2007). "Cowboy und Indianer". der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved January 23, 2015. (in German)
  13. ↑ "Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin (1987)". Constitution Center.org.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Robinson, Peter (Summer 2007). "'Tear Down This Wall': How Top Advisers Opposed Reagan's Challenge to Gorbachev – But Lost". National Archives.
  15. ↑ Dolan, Anthony (November 2009). "Four Little Words". Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704795604574522163362062796. Retrieved June 10, 2012. 
  16. ↑ Robinson, Peter (November 2009). "Looking Again at Reagan and 'Tear Down This Wall'". Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704402404574527764020693266. Retrieved June 10, 2012. 
  17. ↑ Dolan, Anthony (November 2009). "Speechwriters' Shouts of Joy in Reagan's Oval Office". Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704431804574538002351222272. Retrieved June 10, 2012. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 "Ronald Reagan's Famous "Tear Down This Wall" Speech Turns 20". Deutsche Welle. June 12, 2007. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Boyd, Gerald M. (June 13, 1987). "Raze Berlin Wall, Reagan Urges Soviet". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/13/world/raze-berlin-wall-reagan-urges-soviet.html. Retrieved January 3, 2022. 
  20. ↑ "Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin". Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Archived from the original on April 28, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Ratnesar, Romesh (June 11, 2007). "20 Years After 'Tear Down This Wall'". Time. http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1631828,00.html. Retrieved November 15, 2020. 
  22. ↑ "Reagan's 'tear down this wall' speech turns 20". USA Today. June 12, 2007. https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-06-12-reagan-speech_N.htm. Retrieved February 19, 2008. 
  23. ↑ Keyser, Jason (June 7, 2004). "Reagan remembered worldwide for his role in ending Cold War division". USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-06-07-reagan-world_x.htm. 
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Hoare, Liam (September 20, 2012). "Let's Please Stop Crediting Ronald Reagan for the Fall of the Berlin Wall". The Atlantic.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Mann, James (June 10, 2007). "Tear Down That Myth". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/opinion/10mann.html. Retrieved May 1, 2017. 
  26. ↑ Eddy, Melissa (November 8, 2019). "President Reagan Returns to Berlin, this time in Bronze". New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/08/world/europe/ronald-reagan-berlin-wall.html. Retrieved November 10, 2019. 

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