Aufgabe GE BIL E GK HT 4 · Abitur NRW Geschichte GK · Haupttermin · bilingual Englisch 2021

Abiturprüfung 2021 · Geschichte bilingual-englisch, Grundkurs

Aufgabenstellung:

1.

Analyse the source. (26 Punkte)

2.

Explain the historical references found in the source (12 Punkte) and determine how the speaker views the US, the Soviet Union, and Europe (16 Punkte). (28 Punkte)

3.

Critically assess the statements made by Bush. (26 Punkte)

Note: Besides the content (80 points), a maximum of 20 points is given for language and presentation (Darstellungsleistung). Total: 100 points.

Materialgrundlage

George H. W. Bush: A whole Europe, a free Europe. Remarks to the Citizens in Mainz, Rheingoldhalle Mainz, 31 May 1989. (Rechtschreibung und Hervorhebungen wie im Original)

1 [...] We must recall that the generation coming into its own in America and Western Europe is heir to gifts greater than those bestowed to any generation in history: peace, freedom, and prosperity.

This inheritance is possible because 40 years ago the nations of the West joined in that noble,

5 common cause called NATO. And first, first, there was the vision, the concept of free peoples in North America and Europe working to protect their values. And second, there was the practical sharing of risks and burdens and a realistic recognition of Soviet expansionism. And finally, there was the determination to look beyond old animosities. The NATO alliance did nothing less than provide a way for Western Europe to heal centuries – old rivalries, to begin

10 an era of reconciliation and restoration. It has been, in fact, a second Renaissance 1 of Europe.

As you know best, this is not just the 40th birthday of the alliance; it’s also the 40th birthday of the Federal Republic – a republic born in hope, tempered by challenge. And at the height of the Berlin crisis in 1948, Ernst Reuter 2 called on Germans to stand firm and confident, and you did – courageously, magnificently.

15 And the historic genius of the German people has flourished in this age of peace, and your nation has become a leader in technology – the fourth largest economy on Earth. But more important, you have inspired the world by forcefully promoting the principles of human rights, democracy, and freedom. The United States and the Federal Republic have always been firm friends and allies. But today we share an added role: partners in leadership.

20 Of course, leadership has a constant companion: responsibility. And our responsibility is to look ahead and grasp the promise of the future.

I said recently that we’re at the end of one era and at the beginning of another. And I noted that in regard to the Soviet Union, our policy is to move beyond containment.

For 40 years, the seeds of democracy in Eastern Europe lay dormant, buried under the frozen

25 tundra of the Cold War.

And for 40 years, the world has waited for the Cold War to end.

And decade after decade, time after time, the flowering human spirit withered from the chill of conflict and oppression.

And again, the world waited.

30 But the passion for freedom cannot be denied forever. The world has waited long enough. The time is right. Let Europe be whole and free.

To the founders of the alliance, this aspiration was a distant dream, and now it’s the new mission of NATO. If ancient rivals like Britain and France, or France and Germany, can reconcile, then why not the nations of the East and West?

35 In the East, brave men and women are showing us the way. Look at Poland, where Solidarity, Solidarnosc, and the Catholic Church have won legal status. The forces of freedom are putting the Soviet status quo on the defensive.

And in the West, we have succeeded because we’ve been faithful to our values and our vision. But, on the other side of the rusting Iron Curtain, their vision failed.

40 The Cold War began with the division of Europe. It can only end when Europe is whole.

[...] And as President, I will continue to do all I can to help open the closed societies of the East. We seek self-determination for all of Germany and all of Eastern Europe. And we will not relax, and we must not waver. Again, the world has waited long enough.

[...] Growing political freedom in the East, a Berlin without barriers, a cleaner environment,

45 a less militarized Europe – each is a noble goal. And taken together, they are the foundation of our larger vision: a Europe that is free and at peace with itself. So, let the Soviets know that our goal is not to undermine their legitimate security interests. Our goal is to convince them, step by step, that their definition of security is obsolete, that their deepest fears are unfounded.

When Western Europe takes its giant step in 1992, it will institutionalize what’s been true for

50 years: borders open to people, commerce, and ideas. No shadow of suspicion, no sinister fear is cast between you. The very prospect of war within the West is unthinkable to our citizens. But such a peaceful integration of nations into a world community does not mean that any nation must relinquish its culture, much less its sovereignty.

This process of integration, a subtle weaving of shared interests, which is so nearly complete

55 in Western Europe, has now finally begun in the East. We want to help the nations of Eastern Europe realize what we, the nations of Western Europe, learned long ago: The foundation of lasting security comes not from tanks, troops, or barbed wire; it is built on shared values and agreements that link free peoples.

[...] Forty years of Cold War have tested Western resolve and the strength of our values.

60 NATO’s first mission is now nearly complete. But if we are to fulfill our vision – our European vision – the challenges of the next 40 years will ask no less of us. Together, we shall answer the call. The world has waited long enough.

1 Renaissance: a period in European history covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by a rediscovery of the antiquity and a new, humanist thinking leading to a flowering in e. g. art, architecture, politics, science and literature.

2 Ernst Reuter (1889 – 1953): mayor of West Berlin from 1948 to 1953.

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