Ronald Reagan: Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg Gate

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

Reagan opens his Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg Gate by highlighting the division in Europe. He alludes to the famous remark by President John F. Kennedy during an address in West Berlin on June 26, 1963, when he rallied Germans by saying, “Ich bin ein Berliner,” or “I am a Berliner.” Throughout his address, Reagan emphasizes that the divisions in Berlin and throughout Europe affect all people, not just Germans, and that the issue is not just the freedom of Germany but that of all humankind.

Reagan then embarks on a historical survey. He refers to the dark days at the end of World War II, when Berlin was in chaos. The Marshall Plan was a U.S. economic program that provided relief for Germans in their efforts to rebuild their country. In the decades that followed, West Germany rose from the ashes of war to become one of the world's economic powerhouses. Reagan later makes reference to the Berlin blockade of 1948–1949, when the Soviets tried to cut West Berlin off from food and other necessities. In the face of that blockade, the United States and Great Britain mounted a massive airlift to relieve the city.

Reagan then turns his attention to the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc. He points out that while the Western European nations enjoyed plenty, “in the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind—too little food.” Reagan says, however, that the Soviet Union was beginning to “understand the importance of freedom.” He refers to new policies of openness and liberalization in the Soviet Union and expresses hope that these are signs of real reform. He then utters the speech's most famous words: “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!” Some members of Reagan's entourage urged him not to include these words, believing they were provocative. Reagan, though, trusted his instincts.

Reagan describes efforts to resist Soviet expansion but also efforts to pursue peace, principally through arms-control agreements that would scale back each nation's nuclear arsenal. He also pledges to continue development of the Strategic Defense Initiative, ground- and space-based systems that would protect the United States and its allies from nuclear attack. Reagan builds to a conclusion by urging the nations of Europe, including the Soviet Union, to find ways to bring East and West closer together.