Jfk Use Of Propaganda To The West Berliners

On June 26, 1963, over 100,000 West Berliners gathered around a stage near the Berlin Wall. When President JFK walked out on stage the crowd roared with enthusiasm and excitment. As JFK said the speech the West Berliners thundered with approval. President JFK’s speech was an example of propaganda because Kennedy’s intent was to boost the morale of the West Berliners, due to the Berlin Wall. This speech used an array of propaganda techniques. The speech was also used to reassure the Berliners that they were not forgotten and that whatever the Russian did the United States would assist democratic West Germany. Kennedy named the speech “Ich Bin Ein Berliner” which means “I am a Berliner”. JFK’s intent was to say I support the West Berliners, but a Berliner is a jelly donut. Therefore the Germans translated it as “I am a Jelly Donut”.
From the American Historical Association propaganda is described as being the persuasion of words using techniques, slogans, catchwords, and other devices. For example, the WWII slogan “Loose Lips, sink ships” mean beware of careless talk. It warned the

people of the US to be careful about whom they were sharing information with. Propaganda is also described as being “a powerful tool in molding the natural and the thinking of the new, modern man.” (Bytwerk, Randall). According to busnessdictionary.com propaganda is also “a message designed to persuade its intended audience to think and behave in a certain manner.”
This is one of Kennedy’s most successful speeches because JFK uses rhetorical devices including repetition, ethos, logos, and pinpointing the enemy. Kennedy uses repetition to emphasis the phrase “Let them come to Berlin” to inform the world that Berlin is not as pronounced as it seems. JFK says that some people do not recognize the problem between Communism and the free people. Kennedy repeats ‘Let them come to Berlin’. President JFK has seen that the Berlin Wall has torn families apart because of the Communists. The people of the world who are free have not seen the devastation that the Communists have caused. JFK urges them to come to Berlin to see the atrocities that have been committed and to see that Communism is an evil that must be removed. Kennedy states “And there are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Belin.” JFK said in one sentence that Communism and the free world are extremely different. Communists believe that: all wealth is shared equally and owned by the state for the people, everyone is equal, and the greater good is more important than one person. Free world countries such as the US, UK, Italy, France, and West Germany believe in freedom for the people and oppose communist countries. By using repetition JFK emphasis certain points that stirs emotions in the West Berliners such as anger, sadness, and hope.
On August 13, 1961 Berliners woke up to a wall, with coiled wire at the top, surrounding West Berlin. Armed guards patrolled the wall to spot people trying to cross. Then the cement wall was replaced with a more sophisticated cement wall. Each 12 feet high topped with smooth round pipes to make sure a person trying to get a grip would fail. JFK said in his speech “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.” This would have stirred up emotions of anger and sadness that some people might never have seen their friends or family members again. That sentence would have also stirred up feelings of hope that the Berlin wall can come down. President JFK was a master of propaganda and of speeches. Kennedy used logic to support his claims and had a counter argument.
In the speech Kennedy states that “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.” In this sentence JFK states that the Communist party is corrupt and a failure.

Kennedy also states that “it is a crime against humanity to commit such heinous crimes.” Kennedy uses logic to convince the people of West Berlin that the Communist party is bad and offensive. JFK also uses ethos in this statement to make the West Berliners feel sadness and anger at the Communists. By using the technique logos JFK was providing logical information to prove his theory or

idea.
The use of Apophasis is when a person calls attention to something but then dismisses it. President JFK uses Apophasis by discussing Communism’s flaws in one paragraph then speaking of how great Germany is. JFK states in the second paragraph fourth sentence that “vivid demonstration of the failures of the Communist system…” In this sentence JFK says that Communism is a failure while Germany is a fantastic country and the West Berliners should be proud of Germany. Then in the next paragraph Kennedy states that “true of this city is true of Germany—real, lasting peace in Europe…” President JFK also used the technique pin-pointing the enemy during the speech.
At the end of WWII Germany was divided into four sections, each one controlled by an Allied power. These powers were: France, Great Brittan, the United States, and Russia. Russia built the Berlin Wall to prevent any more attacks on Russia itself. The Russians did not trust the other countries to keep the peace. Kennedy makes it clear who the enemy is to the West Berliners. JFK does not directly say who the enemy is but one can easily decipher who that is; the Communists. President JFK also makes the United States seem innocent compared to the Communists so that the West Berliners still look upon the US with good eyes.
President JFK’s speech was an example of propaganda because his intent was to boost the morale of the West Berliners, due to the Berlin Wall. The speech was also used to reassure the Berliners that they were not forgotten and that whatever the Russian did the United States would assist democratic West Germany. JFK used many forms of propaganda including repetition, ethos, logos, pin-pointing the enemy, innocence, and apopohais. This was one of Kennedy's most famous speeches because of its great magnitude. President JFK was a master of propaganda and speeches which caused this speech, besides the topic of the Berlin Wall, to be such an important speech.