In 1963, the then U.S. President, J.F. Kennedy, went to Berlin to show the support of the US for West Germany, just 22 months after East Germany, backed by the Soviet Union, had erected the Berlin Wall to restrict free movement between the West and East. The speech was given on the steps of the town-hall of Berlin suburb of Schoenberg (Evans 2). The speech was delivered to Berliners and was intended to give Berliners hope and freedom and reassure them that they had a future in their endeavors as well as their beliefs. Attending the speech was the Mayor of the city and close to 400,000 people.
The purpose of the speech was to mobilize and find a collective standpoint against the lack of freedom. This was a message both to the world and the people of Berlin to encourage the embracement of freedom in Germany and the world over. There was tension in the world, and the world needed a savior just to point out the importance of freedom. John F. Kennedy managed to rescue the world from the brink of war.
A number of things shaped the speaker’s remarks. There was a wall that was covering the people of Berlin from the rest of the world. There was a buildup in Cuba as missiles could be seen hanging over Berlin. This meant that there was a possibility of war. The air was full of tension, and even a person had been shot earlier on as he tried to flee from East to West Berlin. It meant that the world was soon to experience a nuclear war. There was a need for immediate intervention to ease the air so as to make the world understand the benefits of freedom.
John F. Kennedy tried to enlighten the Berlin people to avoid the communist way and live in a free world (PBS 3). The Berlin wall and barbed wire had been erected which meant that the Berlin people had secluded themselves from the rest of the world. Due to the seclusion, Kennedy referred the Berlin culture to as a communist culture which ought to have been abolished by the Berlin people. The speaker was rhetorically telling the Berlin people to abandon their seclusion plans and embrace unity. It is through the speech that Kennedy appealed to the world to not only stop looking at war as a solution to problems but also to drop the stance that supremacy was more important than other individuals in the world.
The speaker, J.F. Kennedy, had a number of constraints, one of which was being able to Identify with Berliners, something that was critical to enhancing the effectiveness of his speech. He overcame that barrier by learning a few German phrases which helped him connect better with the audience. The world was divided, and different Continents were ganging up to seclude others, and for this reason, John F. Kennedy as the U.S representative, took the chance to learn some few phrases in German. The president acted in a bid to call for tolerance and embracing other people's culture. The appreciation of other cultures was important to show the world that they could work together by just acknowledging love and appreciation towards different cultures.
J.F. Kennedy used a number of supporting materials as well as reasoning, and also appealed to a number of cultural values. First is the drawing of parallels between the first century A.D. Roman boast “I am a Roman Citizen” which implied that one was entitled to freedoms and rights, and the declaration “I am a Berliner,” which meant that he was one of the people of Berlin, which signified freedom. J.F Kennedy further reassured the people of Berlin of their unique character, J.F. Kennedy talked of knowing no city that had “been besieged for 18 years” that still had vitality and hope like that of Berlin. The speaker appealed to various cultural values such as unity and abolishment of segregation. J.F. Kennedy spoke of the failures of “the Berlin wall,” which was a symbol of segregation. He also spoke of freedom, which is viewed as a universal value when he said: “I am a Berliner.”
This speech was, therefore, important in giving the world unity and easing the tension that had the potential to lead to a nuclear war. John F. Kennedy is an important subject in that he used his influence to change the world to drop their stance on the war. He went ahead to mention that dynasties change and so should the mindset of the people, using the example of "civis Romanus sum," which was the pride in the yesteryears, before "Ich bin ein Berliner" came into existence (PBS 3).
Works Cited
Evans, S. John F Kennedy: How 'Ich bin ein Berliner' gave a city hope. 25 June 2013. Web. 12 July 2016.
PBS. Berlin Speech. 28 June 1963. Web. 12 July 2016.
