W. 39
On Tuesday we spent most of the time talking about the Berlin Wall, which went up when? . . . .
Yes, in 1961 -- NOT in the 1940s!
Here are films that we looked -- plus some we didn't have time for:
"Walled In" (it describes the physical make-up of the Berlin Wall as well as the border between East Germany and West Germany):
I cannot find online the exact other film I showed regarding the history of the Wall: "The fall of the Berlin Wall : from divided Germany to reunification," also by Deutsche Welle. But there are many YouTube clips that were used in that film. And there are many, many YouTube films on the Berlin Wall.
I also showed a short clip regarding the Chinese police attack on demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, June 1989:
Here is a film of President John F. Kennedy's speech given in Berlin in the summer of 1963. Just below you have the text of his speech:
I am proud to come to this city as
the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who has symbolized throughout the world
the fighting spirit of West Berlin. And I am proud to visit the Federal
Republic with your distinguished Chancellor who for so many years has committed
Germany to democracy and freedom and progress, and to come here in the company
of my fellow American, General Clay, who has been in this city during its great
moments of crisis and will come again if ever needed.
Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was "civis Romanus sum." Today, in the world of freedom, the
proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner."
I appreciate my interpreter translating my German!
There are many people in the world who really don't understand, or say they
don't, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world.
Let them come to Berlin. There are some who say that communism is the wave of
the future. Let them come to Berlin. And there are some who say in Europe and
elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin. And there
are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it
permits us to make economic progress. Lass' sie nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin.
Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never
had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us. I
want to say, on behalf of my countrymen, who live many miles away on the other
side of the Atlantic, who are far distant from you, that they take the greatest
pride that they have been able to share with you, even from a distance, the
story of the last 18 years. I know of no town, no city, that has been besieged
for 18 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and the hope and
the determination of the city of West Berlin. While the wall is the most
obvious and vivid demonstration of the failures of the Communist system, for
all the world to see, we take no satisfaction in it, for it is, as your Mayor
has said, an offense not only against history but an offense against humanity,
separating families, dividing husbands and wives and brothers and sisters, and
dividing a people who wish to be joined together.
What is true of this city is true of Germany--real, lasting peace in Europe can
never be assured as long as one German out of four is denied the elementary
right of free men, and that is to make a free choice. In 18 years of peace and
good faith, this generation of Germans has earned the right to be free,
including the right to unite their families and their nation in lasting peace,
with good will to all people. You live in a defended island of freedom, but
your life is part of the main. So let me ask you as I close, to lift your eyes
beyond the dangers of today, to the hopes of tomorrow, beyond the freedom
merely of this city of Berlin, or your country of Germany, to the advance of
freedom everywhere, beyond the wall to the day of peace with justice, beyond
yourselves and ourselves to all mankind.
Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When
all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be
joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful
and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of West
Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front
lines for almost two decades.
All free men, wherever they may
live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in
the words "Ich bin ein Berliner.”
Here is a short film I did not have time to show. It is narrated by a journalist for The Economist, Thomas Hoepker, who lived in East Berlin during part of the Cold War: "Live Behind the Berlin Wall"
W. 38
We focused primarily on the Truman Doctrine (TD) and the Marshall Plan (MP). We also did a little map quiz of parts of Europe during the Cold War. If this quiz didn't go particulalry well, I encourage you to work on strengthening your map IQ. There will likely be a new quiz coming up. :)
Sides and documents for the TD and MP are posted on Vklass. You will need these when you work on your assignment.
I noted that I forgot to talk in class about the Soviet response to the MP. I will bring that in next week.
There are many different videos and podcasts that discuss the Cold War, and the Marshall Plan in particular. Unfortunately, many do not have subtitles. Here's one video, which is part of a larger documentary on the Cold War: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQHEMG6zt8I
There is a History of the Cold War podcast, which seems to be very fact-based, but I have not listened to that much of it. Naturally, a podcast has no subtitles. (Sometimes it is possible to find transcripts for podcasts, but not that often.) For the History of the Cold War podcast, you'll need to go to the early episodes to get to the material that we've been discussing.
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