Tear Down This Wall

1987

In a speech that hearkened back to Kennedy’s address in front of the Berlin wall, Ronald Reagan challenged newly installed Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Reagan, with the Brandenburg gate in the background, declared: “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” While provocative, the speech leveled a difficult criticism at the Soviet Union. Successful countries do not have to wall their citizens in. Two short years later, the Berlin Wall would come down.

Time: Late War
Side: US
Ops: 3
Removed after event: Yes

As USSR

The USSR always sends Tear Down This Wall to space.  It is unplayable at DEFCON 2, but even at DEFCON 3 the event is too strong to trigger.

The two best ways to guard against Tear Down This Wall are Warsaw Pact Formed and East Germany overprotection.  This event is another reason to fight for Poland against John Paul II Elected Pope and Solidarity, since control of Poland defends against a realignment of East Germany.  It is also why Czechoslovakia is a common dumping ground for free USSR influence from Comecon or Warsaw Pact.

As US

The defining card of the US Late War Europe onslaught.  Tear Down This Wall all but guarantees the takeover of at least one European battleground and is a key factor behind most US Late War Europe Control victories.

You almost always want to realign, since only Italy among the battlegrounds has a low enough stability to consider couping, and even then it’s not coupable at DEFCON 2.  The most common realignment targets are France and East Germany: France you should have significant positive modifiers on, and East Germany is usually the last USSR battleground in Europe standing between you and Europe Control.

To maximize Tear Down This Wall’s effectiveness, try to hold it to combine with other European events like East European Unrest or Chernobyl.  In addition, try to prepare your realignment with better odds—if you plan to realign East Germany, you’ll want to take over Poland and Czechoslovakia before doing so, lest you just realign away your own influence.

Rules clarification: the “free coup” only signifies that you are permitted to coup in Europe even if DEFCON is lower than 5.  It still degrades DEFCON if you coup a battleground.