Understood something about american president s. Like so Many American president s before me, i come here today because wherever i go, whatever do [speaking german] [applause] our gathering today is being broadcast throughout western europe and north america. I understand that it is being seen and heard as well in the east. To those listening throughout eastern europe, i extend my warmest greetings and the goodwill of the american people. To those listening in east berlin, a special word. , ihough i cannot be with you address my remarks to you just as surely to those standing here before me. I join you as i join your fellow countrymen of the west in this german]lief [speaking [applause] behind me stands a wall that has circled the free sectors of this city. Part of a vast system of barriers that divide the entire continent of europe. South, those barriers cut across germany and a gash of barbed wire, concrete, guard towers. Further south, there may be no obvious wall, but there remain armed guards and checkpoints all the same. Still a restriction on the right to travel. Still an instrument to impose on ordinary men and women the will of acreage ontarian state. Totalitarian state. Yes, it is here in berlin where the wall emerges most clearly. Cutting across your city, where the news photos and television onto the world. Standing in front of the Brandenburg Gate, every man is determined and separated from his fellow men. [applause] everyman is a berliner, forced to look upon a scar. The german president has said the german president question is open as long as the Brandenburg Gate is closed. [applause] say, as long as this gate is closed, as long as this scar of a wall is permitted to stand, it is not the german question alone that remains open, but the question of freedom for all mankind. [applause] yet i do not come here to limit to lament. I find in berlin a message of hope. Even in the shadow of this wall, triumph. In this season of spring of 1945, people of berlin emerged from the shelters to find devastation. Thousands of miles away, the people of the United States reached out to help. In 1947, secretary of state George Marshall announced the creation of what would become known as the Marshall Plan. Speaking precisely 40 years ago this month, he said, our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos. [applause] reichstag, a few moments ago, i saw a display commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Marshall Plan. I was struck by a sign that was being rebuilt. Berliners of my own generation can remember seeing signs like it throughout the western sectors of the city. The sign read, simply, the Marshall Plan is helping here to strengthen the free world. A strong free world in the west, that dream became real. Japan rose from ruin to become an economic giant. France, belgium, virtually every nation in western europe saw political and economic rebirth. The European Community was founded. In west germany and here in berlin, their took place and economic miracle. There took place an economic miracle. Leaders understood the practical importance of liberty. , so as truth can flourish about only when farmer and businessman enjoy economic freedom. Leaders the german leaders reduced tariffs, expanded freetrade, lowered taxes. From 19501960 alone, the standard of living in west germany and berlin doubled. Wasdecades ago, there rubble. Today, in west berlin, there is the greatest industrial output of any city in germany. The office blocks, homes and apartments, proud avenues of parkland. Cultures cities whose destroyed. Today, there are great universities, orchestras, operas, countless theaters and museums. Today, there is abundance, food, clothing, automobiles, the wonderful goods of the covenant [applause] devastation, from utter ruin, these berliners have rebuilt a city that once again ranks as one of the greatest on earth. The soviets may have had other plans. My friends, there were a few things that the soviets did not count on. [speaking germany] [applause] 1950s in the 1950s, khrushchev predicted, we will bury you. In the west today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and wellbeing unprecedented in all human history. In the communist world, we see failure. Technological backwardness, declining standards of health. May,he soviets themselves in a limited way, the coming to understand the importance of freedom. We hear from moscow about a new policy. Some Political Prisoners have been released. Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed. Some Economic Enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom. Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the soviet state or are they token gestures intended to raise hopes in the west or to strengthen the soviet system without changing it . We Welcome Change and openness. We believe that freedom and security go together, that the liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the soviets can make that would be , 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. [applause] , tear down this wall. [applause] i understand the fear of war and division that inflicts this continent. I pledge my efforts to help overcome these burdens. Must resist soviet expansion. We must maintain defenses of unassailable strength. Yet we seek peace, so we must strive to reduce arms on both sides. The getting 10 years ago, the challenged the western alliance with a grave new threat. Hundreds of new and more Deadly Nuclear missiles capable of striking every capital in europe. The western alliance responded by committing itself to a counter deployment. Less the soviets agreed to otiate a better solution namely, the elimination of these weapons on both sides. For many months, the soviets refused to bargain in earnest. Prepared to gos forward with its counter deployment. There were difficult days, days of protests during my 1982 visit to this city. The soviets later walked away from the table. Through it all, the alliance held firm. I invite those who protested and i invite those who. Because we remain strong, the soviets came back to the table. [applause] strong today, we have within reach the possibility not merely of limiting the growth of arms, but of eliminating, for the first time, an entire class of Nuclear Weapons from the face of years. As i speak, nato ministers are meeting in iceland to review the progress of our proposals for eliminating these weapons. At the talks in geneva, we have proposed deep cuts in Strategic Offensive weapons. The western allies have likewise made proposals to reduce the danger of conventional war and to place a total ban on chemical weapons. While we pursue these arms i pledge to you that we will maintain the capacity to deter soviet aggression at any level at which it might occur. [applause] and in cooperation with many of our allies, the United States is pursuing the strategic defense initiative, research to base deterrence not on the threat of offensive retaliation, but on , onnses that truly defend systems that will not target populations, but shield them. By these means, we seek to increase the safety of europe and all the world. But we must remember a crucial fact east and west do not mistrust each other because we are armed. We are armed because we mistrust each other. [applause] and our differences are not about weapons, but about liberty. When president kennedy spoke at the city hall 24 years ago, freedom was encircled. Berlin was under siege. Today, despite all the pressures around the city, berlin stands secure in its liberty and freedom itself is transforming the globe. In the philippines, in south and central america, democracy has been given for rebirth. Throughout the pacific, free markets are working miracle after miracle of economic growth. , athe industrialized nations technological revolution is taking place, a revolution marked by rapid, dramatic advances in computers and telecommunications. In europe, only one nation refused to join the community of freedom. Yet, in this age of redoubled growth, of information and innovation, the soviet union faces a choice. It must make fundamental changes or it will become obsolete. [applause] today, this represents a moment of hope. We in the west stand ready to cooperate with those in the east to promote hope and break down barriers that separate people, to create a safer and freer world. Surely, there is no better place than berlin, meeting face Meeting Place of east and west, to make a start. [applause] berlin, today is in the past. For theed states stands strict observance and full implementation of all parts of the war power agreement of 1971. Let us use this occasion, the of this city,ary to usher in a new era, to instill a safer life for berlin future. Let us maintain and develop the ties between the federal republic of the western sectors of berlin, which is permitted with the 1971 agreement. Denied by mr. Gorbachev, let us eastern andg the western parts of the city together so that all the inhabitants of all of berlin can enjoy the benefits that come with life in one of the great cities of the world. [applause] to open berlin still further to all europe, east and west, let this city, finding ways of making commercial air service to berlin more convenient, more comfortable, and more economic. Berlin can become one of the chief aviation hubs in all of with our french and british partners, the United States is prepared to help bring Bring International meetings to berlin. It is only fitting for berlin to serve as the site of United Nations meetings or world conferences on human rights and arms control or other issues that call for economic for international cooperation. Way tos no better instill hope for the future than to enlighten young minds. We would be honored to sponsor summer youth exchanges, cultural events, and other programs for from the east. Our french and british friends i am certain will do the same. Authority canthat be found in east berlin to sponsor visits from young people of the western sectors. [applause] one final proposal, one close to my heart. Sport represents a source of enjoyment. You may have noted that the republic of south korea has offered to permit certain events at the 1988 olympics to take place in the north. International sports competitions of all kinds could take place in both parts of this city. What better way to demonstrate to the world the openness of this city than to offer, in some future year, to hold the Olympic Games here in berlin, east and west. [applause] in these four decades, as i have berliners have built a great city. Spoke you have done so in spite of threats, the soviet attempted to impose the eastern blockade today, the city thrives in spite of the challenges implicit in the very presence of this wall. What keeps you hear . Here . Certainly, there is a great deal to be said about your fortitude and courage. I believe in something deeper, something involved in berlins looked and feel and way of life. No one could live long in berlin without being completely disabused of illusions. You have seen the difficulty of life in berlin and continue to build this good and proud city in contrast to a surrounding presence that refuses to release human energies or aspirations. Something that speaks with a powerful voice of affirmation, that says yes to this city, yes to the future, yes to freedom. In a word, i would submit that what keeps you in berlin is love. [applause] love both profound and abiding. Perhaps this gets to the root of the matter, to the most fundamental distinction of all between east and west. Producesitarian world backwardness because it does such violence to the spirit, warting the th human impulse to enjoy. East germans began rebuilding their churches, they erected a secular structure, the Television Tower of alexander platz. Ever since, the authorities have been working to correct what towers one major flaw, treating the glass sphere at the top with paints and chemicals of every kind. Even today, when the sun strikes phere, the light makes the sign of the cross. [applause] there in berlin, like the city itself, symbols of love, symbols of worship cannot be suppressed. As i looked out a moment ago from the reichstag, i noticed words crudely spraypainted upon the wall, perhaps by a young berliner. Fall. Wall will beliefs become reality. [applause] yes, across europe, this wall willful, for it cannot withstand fate. It cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom. Before i close, i would like to say one word. I have read that i have been questioned since i have been here about certain demonstrations against my coming. I would like to say just one thing to those who demonstrate, i wonder if they have ever asked themselves that if they should have the kind of government they apparently seek, would ever be able to do what they are doing again. [applause] thank you, god bless you all. [applause] each week, American History ca brings youri archival films. 25 years ago, in november of openedhe berlin wall was and thousands of east germans flowed to the west. One year later, east and west germany were unified. Next, a portion of the Television Series the big picture from 1962. Of thees the history conflict between the soviet union and western democracies that eventually led to the construction of the berlin wall in 1961. This torsion of the film begins in the 1950s, just after the berlin airlift of 19481949. In the 1950s, the United States army in berlin, as in all of western germany, had a steady , constructive influence, restoring dignity to the people and helping build a free german nation. With american aid, west germany attains prosperity and a dynamic economy, a vivid example of growth that could only be accomplished under the protection of sympathetic military forces. Cooperation of our soldiers in local product projects encouraged the United States army and the german people to create an atmosphere of goodwill and friendship. Youth activities became an important part of the army participation in the life of west germany. Across the border, east berlin reflects the influence of its soviet masters. As early as spring of 1950, the soviet union begins arming east German Forces under the guise of peoples