In life, there are always walls that you run into, preventing you from moving forward. In history, this wall was a literal struggle for millions of German citizens after World War II. A nation promised to be free from tyranny, was split apart into East and West Germany by the Berlin Wall. Life between East and West Germany were polar opposites from each other, which eventually led to conflict and bloodshed. This three-decade wall stood, depriving people of freedom, life and liberty. It wasn’t until November 9th, when this barricade fell, that peace was restored to Germany. In honour of the lives lost, the symbolism of the wall and the preserving promise of democracy, I believe that Congress should make the fall of the Berlin Wall a national holiday. First, I think that November 9th should be a national holiday in honour of the lives lost due to the Berlin Wall. East Berliners and West Berliners lived contrary lives. The East had limited personal freedoms, a non-competitive …show more content…
The United States, France and English sought for a capitalist, free-market economies while the Soviet Union wanted obedient, communist nations. This difference divided Germany, creating a blockade between the two. This Iron Curtain blocked all trade between East and West Germany with the intention to prevent travel as well. The East Germans were deprived of freedoms, a competitive market and ultimately suffered economically and politically. On the other hand, the West Germans thrived with high salaries, personal freedoms and an overall liberal union. The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the peace between the two opposite ends of society, communism, and capitalism. It proved that a nation divided was not successful, and only lead to conflict in addition to casualty. At the end of the day, all this does it teach us that when we are divided, we do not thrive, we only
Tear Down This Wall: This book source is a recount of the events of the Cold War, focused on the question of President Reagan’s role in eliminating the conflict between Russia and the United States. It was written by Romesh Ratnesar, the deputy managing editor of Time magazine, and published in 2009. Its purpose was to follow Reagan’s presidency and the events leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, emphasizing the ability of one person’s words to change the world. It is somewhat valuable due to its
Although, Berlin was a symbol of a divided Europe at that time, Europe was divided between East and West throughout the continent. There is a significant risk that it is not enough ways and means in the
On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan arrived in West Berlin to speak to the people of West Germany at the Brandenburg Gate, with the intent of gathering support for democracy and to oppose the Berlin Wall along with the Soviet Government behind it. Reagan used several rhetorical strategies such as; rationality, using examples, imagery, and compare and contrast, to win the support of all who listened, including the Soviet leaders whom Reagan was hoping to persuade. Berlin was an incredible humanitarian and diplomatic crisis across the world because, the Eastern side of Berlin was impoverished, famined, and the people who lived there had to face cruel leadership and heinous punishment for the littles things, because they were under Soviet rule. This is why President Reagan travelled to Berlin, because he wanted to persuade the people of Berlin to resist the Soviet’s cruelty and to persuade the Soviets to “Tear down that wall!”. Reagan first uses rationality to
It was soon decided that Germany were to be broken up into four zones, the Allied powers making up the Western portion while the East would be controlled by the Soviet Union. The Berlin Airlift, also known as the Berlin Blockade, was an operation orchestrated by the U.S. aiding those in Berlin with supplies needed to keep the city running. Berlin was completely surrounded by Soviet zones; Russia closed all highways, railroads, and canals that led west Germany to west Berlin. This move was put into place in order to make food and other such supplies entirely feasible to those who lived in Berlin. Their hopes were to eventually take capitalist influences (Britain, France, and the U.S.) out of the city in order for it to be overrun by communist control.
On June 12, 1987, President Reagan stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate ,a background most dreary visible behind him, to give a speech to not just the people of Berlin, but also to the people of the world. Through his speech, Reagan sought to undermine the Soviet Union by raising support against it from the people of Berlin, a people who would have felt the effects of the Soviet Union very much. Their city was divided by a wall which separated not just East from West, but family from family, friend from friend, and freedom from oppression. And he not only attacked the Soviet Union, but also communism as a whole and any totalitarian state. And he ultimately sought to bring about the end of the Berlin Wall, which would have unified Berlin and
In his Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate speech in June of 1987, former President Ronald Reagan addresses the issue of the separation between European nations due to conflicting ideals of governments. This issue is most prevalently seen in in the city of Berlin, Germany, where the speech is addressed. This is due to a huge wall that runs directly through the city which divides the Communist East and Democratic West Berlin, more famously known as the Berlin wall. Nearing the end of the Cold War, President Reagan made a bold statement that was a catalyst for the end of the war, and a beginning to nuclear disarmament. This risky statement, which called out Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, was a cry for peace; not just for the people of Berlin, but for the world.
In our modern culture we memorialize a lot of things. Things like the achievements of great thinkers from the past such as Martin Luther King Jr. and the founding fathers. Other things that we memorialize are the wars that we have fought in the past, honoring those that fought in them. All of the previously mentioned things are put on a wall, given their own special place, or they have a statue made of them. These things are great and they show that those people did a great thing in their life but let’s be honest, we need to cut it back a little bit.
If the citizens of the United States wish to sustain a government and protect their civil rights, then the civilians must contribute into upholding them. The responsibilities as American citizens is very important because if the people decide to ignore their obligations then it could change their government drastically. The people could change the way the U.S government is arranged and/or become a system that lacks the representative of the people, an anarchy. In order for this to not occur, the citizens of the country must fulfill this by maintaining and take care of their rights and responsibilities or duties.
And a way to stop the appeal of communism in depraved countries was by restoring international economies and promoting capitalism. One of the major events that occurred was the building of the Berlin Wall, which cut of West Berlin from communication and supplies. The Berlin blockade was an effort by the Soviet Union to cause the Allied powers to abandon their control of West Berlin after World War II. However, this was combated by the Berlin Airlifts, which flew needed supplies to the people in West Berlin. This idea of preventing communism was also displayed in document I.
Breaking Boundaries The Berlin Wall was built to separate the Communist east from the Democratic west. This ominous divider was was twelve feet of concrete that stretched for one hundred miles around West Berlin. The infamous symbol of the Cold War was guarded by electric fences and guard posts stationed along it.
Brieana McClean Professor Herdzina English 101 January 12, 2018 Major essay #1 Columbus Day, a day in which the landing of Columbus in the Americas is recognized, it wasn’t until the year 1937 that it became a Federal Holiday. It is a Day in which many celebrate his ‘achievements’ and Italian heritage. Among other things this day serves to celebrate Columbus’s vile acts of possessing land that was already another’s territory. I am against the idea of ‘Columbus Day’ and believe it should be changed.
Berlin was known as the centerpiece of the Cold War. Being the capital city of Germany, the desire to have power over it was extremely high. Germany was split into two, the East, taken over by the Soviet Union, and the West, taken over by the United States, Britain, and France. Tensions rose between each country on who would be able to have power over Berlin. Since the city was on the east side and up to 100 miles inside Soviet-controlled East Germany, the Soviets had power; However, the West would not allow them to take over the capital city so easily.
The Soviet Union requested substantial reparations from Germany, but the United States recalled the reason that World War II started was because of post World War I reparations. In March and April 1947, the United States, British, French, and Soviet officials met in Moscow to arrange Germany’s future, but failed. After the conference, the Western Allies unified their German occupation zones to create West Germany. In response to this, Soviets built the Berlin Blockade, cutting off railways, highways, and waterways into West Berlin. To counteract this, the United States airlifted food and supplies to the residents, until Soviets finally realized their blockade was not achieving their goals, and tore it down in May 1949.
In Ronald Reagan’s Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987, he discussed the Berlin Wall and how it is a universal symbol (Kostka, 2009, p. 90). When President Reagan gave this remark, it was the 750th anniversary of the founding of Berlin (Kostka, 2009, p. 90). As President Reagan spoke to those in Berlin, he stated, “Every man is a Berliner, forced to look upon a scar” (American Rhetoric). President Reagan’s use of the metaphor ‘Every man is Berliner’ allowed him to explain how and why the Berlin Wall is a universal symbol that brings so many different countries together (American Rhetoric). President Reagan appealed to those he was speaking to first so that they knew he was with them.
With East Berlin losing its professional class to West Berlin, the Kremlin decided to make sure that no one could get out. The large numbers of Red Army soldiers around construction sites lead many to fear that an invasion was nearing. In response, Kennedy put troops on the other side of the wall, both countries insisted on never backing down. That was, until an agreement had been made, and another world war