Jfk Ich Bin Ein Berliner Speech Analysis

On June 26, 1963, John F. Kennedy stopped in the city of West Berlin in Germany which, at the time, was under American, French, and British following World War 2 when the city of Berlin was split into four sections. Kennedy delivered this speech in order to reassure the citizens of West Berlin that they had the support of the Western powers, such as America, despite attempts from the Soviet Union to destroy West Berlin by blockading all roads and railways into West Berlin and constructing the infamous Berlin Wall to prevent those who were living under Soviet control from moving from East Berlin to West Berlin and achieving freedom. Kennedy used this speech to not only show support to the people of West Berlin, but also to show the Soviet Union

Kennedy looked to appealing to the emotions of the people in order to get his message across by using strong and promising words and phrases such as freedom and “Ich bin ein Berliner”. Kennedy uses the famous phrase “Ich bin ein Berliner” in order to connect the citizens of a struggling city of West Berlin to the powerful and free countries around the world and give them a sense of security. By doing this, he is making the citizens of Berlin recognise the fact that they are part of a bigger picture in that they symbolise the act of refusing to conform to flawed political ideas, such as communism, although being pressured to. John F. Kennedy convinces them that in their act of withstanding harsh punishment from the Soviets, they are helping all free men across the world by stopping the spread of communism. Kennedy also uses the words “free” and “freedom” for a similar purpose in that, by using these promising words, the president is able to make the citizens of Berlin feel as though there is hope with the support of the strong free nations across the globe such as the US and Great Britain. One way in which he emphasised this point was by repeating the word “free” the second most out of all words in the speech. This not only keeps freedom on the minds of the citizens, but also reminds them that freedom is their ultimate goal which should be pursued relentlessly. Another way in which he stressed the point that there is

Kennedy recognises throughout the speech that Berliners can prevent a destruction of their city because of the assistance that could be provided by the USA and their power and strength which further establishes the USA’s credibility within the mindsets of the citizens of Berlin. Kennedy’s credibility as a politician has already been previously established due to the fact that he is the president of one of the most powerful nations in the world, but he still is able to increase his and his country’s credibility during the speech by saying how no forces can destroy the West Berliners while they have the help of the USA. One way that John F. Kennedy does this is by speaking some phrases in German, specifically “Ich bin ein Berliner”(Kennedy). By saying that he was a Berliner because he was a free man, he was showing the citizens of Berlin that he was friends and allies with them. The act of proclaiming himself as a citizen of Berlin helped the Berliners understand that Kennedy was a part of their society and would therefore be willing to fight or stand up for their freedom. The same scenario occurs when he says,”lass' sic nach Berlin kommen” (Kennedy) which means “let them come to Berlin”. This act of speaking some German throughout the speech helped the Berliners understand that Kennedy and the USA are connected to and are friends with the citizens of Berlin. Because the Berliners became aware of the fact that the Americans had the support of Berlin, the