World War II Personalities: Roosevelt delivers an inspiring declaration of war

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born in New York on January 30, 1882.

In June 1904, Roosevelt graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He then studied law at Columbia Law School.

In 1930, after Roosevelt's re-election as governor of New York, he defeated former President Hoover in 1932 and was elected president of the United States for thirty-two terms, entering the White House.

In 1936, the quadrennial presidential election came again. Roosevelt won again, and he received all the electoral votes except maine and Vermont. Roosevelt became president of two consecutive terms since President Monroe was controlled by his party in both houses of Congress.

1940 was another year of the U.S. presidential election. In response to the crazy attack of Nazi Hitler, Roosevelt rushed forward and was re-elected president for the third time.

Immediately after roosevelt's third re-election as president of the United States, he made wartime decisions that would allow Britain unlimited access to American industrial resources.

On December 17, 1940, Roosevelt used a plain metaphor at a press conference to reveal the general outline of the loan. He said:

If my neighbor's house is on fire, I have a hose four or five hundred feet long for watering flowers. If he could attach my hose to the fire hydrant in his house, I might help him put out the fire.

What should I do now? Before he borrowed the hose, I didn't say, "Neighbor, I rented this watering hose for $15 to you, and you'll have to pay me $15." "No, what are the transactions we are making? I don't want $15, and I want to get my hose back after the fire is extinguished.

On January 6, 1941, while finalizing the proposals for the Lend-Lease Act, Roosevelt attended a joint session of both houses of Congress and delivered his annual State of the Union Address. He declared that the United States would not dare to provide aid because of the Clamor of the Axis Powers that we were providing aid to allies, which violated international law and was an act of war.

Roosevelt believed that providing aid was not an act of war, and that even a dictator would unilaterally declare it an act of war. When those dictators are ready to go to war against us, they will not wait for us to take action. They did not wait for Norway, Belgium or the Netherlands to take action. If those dictators are defeated, a new world will emerge based on freedom and democracy.

Four days later, a bill deciding to implement Lend-Lease was submitted to Congress. After two months of debate, Congress overwhelmingly approved the bill, and on March 11, 1941, President Roosevelt signed it into law.

An ecstatic Churchill hailed the Lend-Lease Law, saying that "this is the most noble act in the history of any country". The Lend-Lease Law established an initial appropriation of $7 billion, and by the end of World War II, the United States had actually provided about $50 billion in goods and services to its allies.

The passage of the Lend-Lease Act, which put the United States in a non-belligerent state, was an important milestone in the United States' active intervention in the anti-fascist war.

December 7, 1941, was a day of great shame and darkness in American history.

On this day, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, sinking or severely injuring 18 ships of the Pacific Fleet, destroying 188 aircraft, destroying 159, and killing 2,403 Americans and seriously wounding and missing 2,233. Fortunately, the aircraft carrier was not in the port at that time, and the Japanese bombing also missed the oil depot and submarine depot in the navy dock, otherwise the losses would have been even more severe.

When Roosevelt found out the exact news of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, he appeared calm on the surface, but inside he was full of anger.

Roosevelt wanted to take rescue action, discussed the deployment of the army with the chief of the general staff, General Marshall, instructed Secretary of State Hull to keep Latin American countries informed and ready, and ordered Secretary of war Stimson and Secretary of the Navy Knox to place vigilance at all defense plants and key facilities.

However, the president is not allowed to be stood guard by military personnel around the White House, which has attracted anxious Americans who have gathered outside the fence for new assurances and guidance.

On the morning of December 8, 1941, when Roosevelt, clad in a blue naval cloak, walked firmly to the podium of the House of Representatives, there was a thunderous applause from the audience.

Roosevelt held the podium in one hand and opened the notebook with the other. Across the country, Americans have gathered in front of the radio to listen to familiar voices. Roosevelt declared very solemnly:

Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a notorious day, the United States was suddenly attacked by the Imperial Japanese Navy and Air Force.

The United States and that country were originally at peace, and at The request of Japan, they are still in dialogue with the Japanese government and the emperor, hoping to maintain peace in the Pacific! The attack took heavy losses for the U.S. Navy and Army.

Many Americans lost their lives! Since Japan launched its despicable attack on Sunday, December 7, I ask the United States Congress to declare that there is a state of war between the United States and the Empire of Japan.

After President Roosevelt's speech, he raised his head, smiled and waved to the people. His remarks were warmly welcomed by the participants.

This simple speech was much heavier and far more far-reaching than Wilson's 1917 speech during World War I, when he asked Congress to declare war on Germany. The Senate voted 82 to 0 and the House of Representatives to pass Roosevelt's declaration of war by 388 votes to 1.

Since then, the United States has officially participated in World War II.

On December 8, 1941, Britain also declared a state of war with Japan. On the 9th, the Chinese Nationalist government officially declared war on Japan after four years of the Sino-Japanese War, and on the 10th, it declared war on Germany.

The declaration of war on Japan was followed by de Gaulle's "Free France" and more than 20 countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

On Tuesday night, two days after Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt delivered a radio address to the nation, "We will win this war, and we will win the peace after the war."

In this "fireside speech," the president focused on the lack of ideological preparation of the American people for this war and highlighted the treacherous and habitual methods of aggression waged by fascist bandits.

He said:

The path that Japan has taken in Asia over the past 10 years is very similar to that of Hitler and Mussolini in Europe and Africa, both of whom invaded the countries they wanted to swallow without prior warning. So every one of us American citizens has to be wary of them.

What shocked Americans and Westerners the most was that the Japanese army launched an all-out attack on Southeast Asia at the same time as the attack on Pearl Harbor, and "won the flag".

At dawn on December 8, 1941, Tokyo time, Japanese troops led by General Yamashita Fengwen landed at the same time on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula near the border. When attacking, although the sea breeze was fierce and the wind and waves were as high as 2 meters, it went very smoothly.

By dark, Kota Bharu Airfield was occupied by the Japanese.

On this day, the Japanese also launched a fierce attack on Hong Kong, Guam, the Philippine Islands, Wake Island and Midway Island.

In Manila, MacArthur's Far East Air Group was bombed devastatingly. Huge "air fortresses" exploded one after another. Smoke billowed everywhere on the airfield, and all the fighter jets and 30 medium bombers and observers were burning. Only 3 of the "Air Fortress" remained, and the rest were all destroyed.

All the Japanese bombers returned safely, and only 7 fighters were lost. It was the second hard blow of Pearl Harbor for U.S. troops.

At this point, the three most powerful deterrents that could have been used to prevent Japan's rapid victory in Southeast Asia were wiped out in a single day— the Pacific Fleet and MacArthur's air power.

That third deterrent was the powerful fleet commanded by Admiral "Thumb Tom" Phillips of the British Navy. But not long after, the 35,000-ton large battleships Prince of Wales and Strike Back were also sunk by Japanese torpedo bombers.

Since then, Hideki Tojo has become more arrogant and mighty, and he ordered the navy and army to occupy the southeast Asian countries and the main islands in the Pacific as soon as possible.

In order to reverse the defeat as soon as possible, Roosevelt said in his State of the Union Address of January 6, 1942:

We cannot conduct this war with a defensive attitude. When we fully mobilize our military forces and resources, we will attack the enemy — whenever and wherever we can, we will strike them and strike them again.

We must hold the enemy back far from our shores, for our intention is to bring war to the enemy, to the enemy's homeland.

To this end, President Roosevelt called on young and middle-aged people to enthusiastically join the army, and workers and peasants should step up production, produce more materials and produce more arms for early victory.

At the president's suggestion, shortly after Pearl Harbor, Congress quickly passed a new conscription law that expanded the scope of registration requirements to all men from the ages of 18 to 65. Men from 20 to 44 years of age are obliged to perform military service, while men who exceed the maximum number of years are obliged to perform labour within their capabilities.

In addition, the new Military Service Law stipulates that all men serving in the armed forces are required to serve throughout the war, with an additional 6 months. Some 31 million people are classified under the Conscription Act, of whom nearly 10 million are conscripted and many volunteer.

By 1945, there were about 8.2 million men in the Army, two-thirds of whom served overseas. There are about 3.9 million people in the Navy and Marine Corps, and about 250,000 people in the Coast Guard.

In addition, during World War II, hundreds of thousands of young women in the United States also resolutely joined the military, and they took on tasks such as medical care, clerical typing and communication and communication in the navy, army and air force, which greatly reduced men's non-combat tasks and improved combat effectiveness.

In his State of the Union address, Roosevelt noted: "The militarists in Berlin and Tokyo started this war. But all humanity, enraged and united, will end this war"; "Our goal is clear: to crush the militarism imposed on enslaved peoples by warlords — to liberate conquered nations — to establish and guarantee freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear throughout the world." We will not stop until we achieve these goals."

Roosevelt emphatically pointed out: "The struggle we are waging today is for security, for progress, for peace, not only for ourselves, but for all of humanity, not just for one generation, but for generations to come." We are fighting to rid the world of accumulated ills and chronic diseases. ”

Roosevelt said: "The guiding ideology of our enemies is barbaric cynicism and extreme contempt for humanity. We do so out of a belief that goes back to the first chapter of Genesis: "God created man in His own image." ”

"This is the struggle that is deeply affecting our lives day and night." Roosevelt said, "This struggle cannot end with any compromise." There has never been, and can never be, a successful compromise between good and evil. Only a complete victory is the reward for those who fight for tolerance, sobriety, freedom and faith. ”

Roosevelt's inspiring speech, after pearl harbor and in the face of turbulent fear, played an important role in mobilizing the people of the whole country to actively participate in this great struggle. It has left a bright mark in the history of the American anti-fascist war.