Tear down this wall
|
|
Missing image
ReaganBerlinWall.jpg
ReaganBerlinWall.jpg
Speaking in front of the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987 Ronald Reagan challenged reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall."
In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate, right by the Berlin Wall, on June 12, 1987, he challenged the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to tear it down as a symbol of his desire for increasing freedom in the Soviet sphere. (Technically the wall was the responsibility of East Germany, not the Soviet Union). On November 9 1989 the East German government removed all restrictions on East Germans leaving the country, effectively marking the end of the wall.
Reagan delivered the Tear Down This Wall speech, over the objections of the U.S. State Department and National Security Council. National Security Advisor (and future Secretary of State) General Colin Powell was one of the administration's major opponents of the speech.
External links
- Full text of the speech (http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/speeches/wall.asp)
- Media met its match (http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20040610-091743-3433r.htm) - obituary crediting Reagan with getting rid of the Berlin Wallsv:riv denna mur