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 40th 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 8th
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