After World War II the city of Berlin, became an area of intense struggle. Set deep in the Communist East Germany, the western portion of the city was controlled by the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). This portion of the city received aid from the U.S. and the newly formed NATO under the Marshall Plan. Democracy reigned within this area and its economy flourished. Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet Leader after Stalin, realized this and for fear that the deprived East Berliners would flee to the more prosperous western region of the city he constructed a wall to keep the Communists out of West Berlin. The wall and its armed guards were successful at reducing the flight of East Germans refugee's to freedom. The wall symbolized Communist oppression from August 13 1961 until 1989 when the Unified Germany dismantled it (Danzer et al).
In the late 1980's U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev initiated the first peace talks between the two tense nations. This chance for communication was desired by the U.S. since the beginning of the conflict. On June 12th, 1987 Ronald Reagan stood before the people of West Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate. In this famous speech, he directed his desire to end the separation of East and West Berlin by opening the Berlin Wall. He exclaims, "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!" (Reagan). This wall represented the separation of Communism and Democracy, and taking it down would signify the ability to open communication between separate ways of thought. Reagan called directly on Gorbachev to help:
"Today thus represents a moment of hope. We in the West stand ready to cooperate with the East to promote true openness, to break down barriers that separate people, to create a safe freer world." (Reagan).
This marked a crucial moment in the Cold War. At this time the Soviet Union and Communism were in economic and social turmoil. A government based on central control rather than free market was not working as planned. In theory it appeared to solve many problems but people under this government had neither comfortable lives nor freedom. For the first time it appeared that the end was near. Later that year Reagan and Gorbachev signed the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) which eliminated intermediate and short ranged missiles and allowed each nation to make on-site inspections of the others military installations.
I have chosen this speech for its representation of the U.S.'s call for open communication as a means for ending the Cold War. Reagan's message is that for the world to prosper all nations must cooperate with each other. This message not only relates to nations but also to people. This is an idea that I want to instill in my students. When conflict arises the best way to solve the problem is to communicate with one another. This is what both Regan and Gorbachev knew and we can see today that their ability to communicate had a major influence in the end of the Cold War.
Ronald Reagan was celebrated for his ability to effectively speak to an audience. He was recognized as "The Great Communicator" because he understood that a speech is not about the speaker but about the audience. He did not speak to entertain himself but to communicate with his listeners. He was able to reach people not by facts but by human emotions. This speech will provide my students with an opportunity to analyze how Reagan used voice, inflections, and body language to create a relationship with his audience. I expect that the students will be able to identify his use of pauses, change in volume and articulation of words at precise moments to solidify this relationship.
