President Bush's Statement on the Anniversary of the Berlin Wall
Annotation
In May 1989, Hungary began to dismember the barbed wire fences and mines surrounding its border with Austria, prompting the largest exodus of East Germans since August 1961 when East Germany constructed the Berlin Wall to stop the flow of emigrants to the West. Tensions during the summer of 1989 between East and West Germany were at their highest level since 1961, as fleeing East Germans sought asylum at Bonn’s missions in East Berlin and Budapest. On the anniversary of the construction of the wall, President George H. W. Bush, in the statement that follows, reiterated a call he had made during a speech in Mainz in May calling for the destruction of the wall. In the Mainz speech, called by National Security Advisor, General Brent Scowcroft, “a capstone of the unfolding of our strategy for relations with Europe and the Soviet Union, but with a German accent,” Bush proclaimed, “Just as the barriers are coming down in Hungary, so must they fall throughout all of Eastern Europe. Let Berlin be next—let Berlin be next!” The wall, Bush insisted, “must come down,” and he proposed to “bring glasnost to East Berlin” and “make all Berlin a center of commerce between East and West—a place of cooperation, not a point of confrontation.” The East German leader, hardliner Eric Honecker, rejected Bush’s call, but stated that that border guards had been ordered not to shoot civilians attempting to leave. He was trying, he told the press, to “humanize the border regime” in order to help improve relations with Western Europe and the US.
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Statement on the Anniversary of the Berlin Wall
August 12, 1989
Twenty-eight years ago, a barrier of steel and stone was erected in the heart of Berlin. It
stands there still -- now more than ever a relic of a bygone era and a failed philosophy.
The barbed wire that severed a great city also proclaimed in stark, inhuman terms the
unnatural division of Europe. Beyond its tragic human cost over the years, rending
families and friends, the Berlin Wall has affronted the free world with an alien vision of
closed societies where basic freedoms are denied.
The courageous people of West Berlin tend the precious fire of freedom as an example
for us all. The city prospers and benefits from their innovative spirit and from expanding
international ties. Its cultural diversity, economic vigor, and political pluralism are the
fruits of boundless imagination at work in a democratic community. The United States is
proud to have contributed to Berlin's freedom and vitality. We remain firm in our
commitment to assure the city's security and well-being. In a year which marks the 40th
anniversary of the airlift, such historic bonds between Americans and Berliners carry
special meaning.
The United States is also committed to improving the lives of Berliners and to bringing
closer the day when the city is again united. Together with our British and French allies,
we have put forward an initiative to make such progress a reality. We want Berlin to
enjoy greater access to the world through expanded air links, to be a center of
international meetings and sports events, and to foster more human contacts which lead to
better understanding. As I said in Mainz on May 31, we want Berlin to be a place of
cooperation, not a point of confrontation. We have asked the Soviet Union, as part of its
four-power responsibilities for Berlin, to join us in achieving these goals. We still await
what we hope will be a positive response.
We observe this sad anniversary with renewed determination to overcome the division of
Berlin and of Europe. On behalf of the people of the United States, I reaffirm this nation's
commitment to Berlin's freedom and prosperity. The tide of history has turned, and we
look to a future Europe whole and free. As we now mark the day the wall was built, so
shall we inevitably celebrate a day when it no longer divides Berlin, the German people,
and the nations of Europe.
Credits
George H. W. Bush, "Statement on the Anniversary of the Berlin Wall," speech, The White House, Washington, D.C., August 12, 1989, Bush Presidential Library, Documents and Papers, Bush Library (accessed May 14, 2008).