Lee Prescott - Words of War and Peace: Great Speeches of War, Conflict, and Military History

WORDS of

WAR and

PEACE

Great Speeches of War,

Conflict, and Military History

Copyright 2009

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Beacon Hill.

ISBN 978-1-936136-40-7

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No part of this book may be reproduced in any form unless written permission is granted from the author or publisher. No electronic reproductions, information storage, or retrieval systems may be used or applied to any part of this book without written permission.

Contents

Winston Churchill: Preparation for Nazi Aggression

Dwight Eisenhower: D-Day Order

Douglas MacArthur: Surrender Ceremony of Japan

John F. Kennedy: Bay of Pigs Invasion

Urban II: Launch of First Crusade

John Hancock: Boston Massacre Address

Patrick Henry: Start of American Revolution

Thomas Paine: Excerpts from Common Sense

George H.W. Bush: Invasion of Iraq, Desert Storm

Lyndon B. Johnson: Not Seeking Re-election

Golda Meir: Peace Between Egypt and Israel

Abraham Lincoln: Gettysburg Address

Abraham Lincoln: Second Inaugural

Robert La Follette: Free Speech during Wartime

Adolf Hitler: Declaration of War on the US

Joseph Stalin: Anniversary of October Revolution

Benito Mussolini: To Blackshirts of Rome

Napoleon Bonaparte: Italian Campaign

Woodrow Wilson: Declaration of War on Germany

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Pearl Harbor Address

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Declaration of War on Japan

St. Bernard: Promotion of the Second Crusade

Queen Elizabeth I: Against Spanish Armada

George W. Bush: Start of Iraq War

Richard Nixon: Vietnam Support Speech

Vladimir Lenin: World War One

George Patton, Jr: Invasion of France in World War II

George Washington: Preventing Insurrection

Winston Churchill

Preparation for Nazi Aggresssion

May 13, 1940

I beg to move

That this House welcomes the formation of a Government representing the united and inflexible resolve of the nation to prosecute the war with Germany to a victorious conclusion.

On Friday evening last, I received His Majesty's commission to form a new Administration. It, as the evident wish and will of Parliament and the nation, that this should be conceived on the broadest possible basis and that it should include all parties, both those who supported the late Government and also the parties of the Opposition.

I have completed the most important part of this task. A War Cabinet has been formed of five Members, representing, with the Opposition Liberals, the unity of the nation. The three party Leaders have agreed to serve, either in the War Cabinet or in high executive office. The three Fighting Services have been filled. It was necessary that this should be done in one single day, on account of the extreme urgency and rigor of events.

A number of other positions, key positions, were filled yesterday, and I am submitting a further list to His Majesty tonight. I hope to complete the appointment of the principal Ministers during tomorrow. The appointment of the other Ministers usually takes a little longer, but I trust that, when Parliament meets again, this part of my task will be completed, and that the administration will be complete in all respects.

I considered it in the public interest to suggest that the House should be summoned to meet today. Mr. Speaker agreed and took the necessary steps, in accordance with the powers conferred upon him by the Resolution of the House. At the end of the proceedings today, the Adjournment of the House will be proposed until Tuesday, 21st May, with, of course, provision for earlier meeting if need be. The business to be considered during that week will be notified to Members at the earliest opportunity.

I now invite the House, by the Motion which stands in my name, to record its approval of the steps taken and to declare its confidence in the new Government.

The resolution:

"That this House welcomes the formation of a government representing the united and inflexible resolve of the nation to prosecute the war with Germany to a victorious conclusion."

To form an Administration of this scale and complexity is a serious undertaking in itself, but it must be remembered that we are in the preliminary stage of one of the greatest battles in history; that we are in action at many other points in Norway and in Holland; that we have to be prepared in the Mediterranean; that the air battle is continuous and that many preparations have to be made here at home.

In this crisis, I hope I may be pardoned if I do not address the House at any length today. I hope that any of my friends and colleagues, or former colleagues, who are affected by the political reconstruction, will make allowance, all allowance, for any lack of ceremony with which it has been necessary to act. I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this government: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat."

We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy?

I can say: It is to wage war by sea, land, and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.

You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realized; no survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge and impulse of the ages, that mankind will move forward towards its goal.

But I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men.

At this time I feel entitled to claim the aid of all, and I say: Come then, let us go forward together with our united strength.

Dwight Eisenhower

D-Day Order

June 6, 1944

You will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped, and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944. Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41.

The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeat in open battle man to man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground.

Our home fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men.

The tide has turned.

The free men of the world are marching together to victory. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle.

We will accept nothing less than full victory.

Good luck, and let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

Douglas MacArthur

Surrender Ceremony of Japan, U.S.S. Missouri

September 2, 1945

We are gathered here, representatives of the major warring powers, to conclude a solemn agreement whereby peace may be restored. The issues, involving divergent ideals and ideologies, have been determined on the battlefields of the world and hence are not for our discussion or debate. Nor is it for us here to meet, representing as we do a majority of the people of the earth, in a spirit of distrust, malice, or hatred. But rather, it is for us, both victors and vanquished, to rise to that higher dignity which alone befits the sacred purposes we are about to serve: committing all our people unreservedly to faithful compliance with the understanding they are here formally to assume.