Berlin Wall - "Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall."

"Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall."

In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin on 12 June 1987, 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!

Read more about this topic:  Berlin Wall

Famous quotes containing the words tear and/or wall:

    I am the sanest man who ever lived. But I will not be tortured. I tear torture out of myself by torturing you.
    David Boehm, and Louis Friedlander. Dr. Richard Vollin (Bela Lugosi)

    The poisoned rat in the wall
    Cuts through the wall like a knife,
    Then blind, drying, and small
    And driven to cold water,
    Dies of the water of life....
    Allen Tate (1899–1979)