I wanted to note the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which began on Novembver 9, 1989. (text from Wikipedia) On 19 July 1988, 16 months before the wall came down, Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, played a live concert in East-Berlin, which was attended by 300,000 in person, and broadcast delayed on television. Springsteen spoke to the crowd in German, saying: Im not here for or against any government. Ive come to play rock n roll for you in the hope that one day all the barriers will be torn down. East Germany and its FDJ youth organization were worried they were losing an entire generation. They hoped that by letting Springsteen in, they could improve their sentiment among East Germans. However, this strategy of one step backwards, two steps forwards backfired and the concert only made East Germans hungrier for more of the freedoms that Springsteen epitomized. While John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan delivered their famous speeches from the safety of West Berlin, Springsteens speaking out against the Wall in the middle of East Berlin added to the euphoria. 22 months after the erection of the Berlin Wall, on 26 June 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy visited West-Berlin. Speaking from a platform erected on the steps of Rathaus Schöneberg for an audience of 450,000 he declared in his Ich bin ein Berliner speech the support of the United States for West Germany and the people of West-Berlin in particular: Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was civis romanus sum [I am a Roman citizen]. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is Ich bin ein Berliner!... All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words Ich bin ein Berliner! The message was aimed as much at the Soviets as it was at Berliners and was a clear statement of U.S. policy in the wake of the construction of the Berlin Wall. The speech is considered one of Kennedys best, both a notable moment of the Cold War and a high point of the New Frontier. It was a great morale boost for West Berliners, who lived in an exclave deep inside East Germany and feared a possible East German occupation. In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin on 12 June 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan challenged Mikhail Gorbachev, then the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to tear down the wall as a symbol of increasing freedom in the Eastern Bloc: 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! https://youtube/watch?v=YtYdjbpBk6A
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 17:24:08 +0000