MR CHURCHILL’S BROADCAST

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23417, 26 August 1941, Page 7

MR CHURCHILL’S BROADCAST

Meeting At Sea With Mr

Roosevelt

PRINCIPLES OF JOINT DECLARATION

(8.0. W.) RUGBY. August 24. The ,Prune Minister (Mr Churchill) to-night gave his long awaited broadcast address following his meeting in the Atlantic with Mr Roosevelt. Mr Churchill said: “I thought you would like me to tell you something about the voyage I made across the ocean to meet our great friend, Mr Roosevelt. Exactly where we met is secret, but I don’t think I shall be indiscreet if I go so far as to say it was ‘somewhere in the Atlantic,’ in a spacious land-locked bay which reminded me of the west coast of Scotland. “Mr Roosevelt has been thrice chosen head of the most powerful state and community in the world. I am the servant of the King and Parliament at present charged with the principal direction of our affairs in these fateful times and it is my duty also to make sure, as I have made sure, that anything I say or do in the exercise of my office is approved and sustained by the whole British commonwealth of nations. Therefore this meeting was bound to be important, because of the enormous forces at present lying partially mobilised and 'being steadily mobilised which are at the disposal of these two major groupings of the human family—the British Empire and the United States—who, fortunately for the progress of mankind, happen to speak the same language and very largely think the same thoughts or anyhow think a lot of the same thoughts. The meeting, therefore, was symbolic. That is its prime importance. “Good Forces Against Evil”

will never be war again. On the coo* trary, we intend to take ample pre* cautions to prevent its renewal in any period we can foresee by effectively disarming the guilty nations, while re* maining suitably protected ourselves. The second difference is that instead of trying to ruin German trade by all kinds of additional trade barriers and hindrances, as was the mood in 1917, we have definitely adopted the view that it is not in the interests of the world and our two countries that any large nation should be unprosperous or shut out from the means of making a decent living for itself and its people by its industry and enterprise. “These are far-reaching changes of principle upon which all countries should ponder. Above all, it is necessary to give hope and assurance of final victory to those many scores of millions of men and women battling for life and.freedom or already bent down under the Nazi yoke. Hitler and his confederates for some time have been adjuring, bullying, and beseeching the populations they have wronged or injured to bow to their fate and resign themselves to their servitude and for the sake of some mitigations and indulgences to collaborate—that is the word—in what is called the new order for Europe. “What is this new order which they seek to fasten first upon Europe and possibly upon all the continents of the globe? It is the rule of the herrenvolk—of the master race which is to put an end to democracy, to parliaments, to the fundamental freedom and decencies of ordinary men and women, to the historic rights of nations and to give in exchange the iron rule of Prussia, a universal goosestep, and strict, efficient discipline forced upon the working classes by political police with German concentration camps and firing parties always handy in the background. “Hitler has no theme but a mania for exploitation. He has, however, weapons and machinery for grinding down and holding down conquered countries which are the product of modern science. The ordeals, therefore, of the conquered peoples will be hard. We must give' them hope. We must give them conviction that their sufferings, their resistance, will not be in vain. This -is the symbolism and the message of the Atlantic meeting. This is the signal we flashed across the waters and if it reaches the hearts of those to whom it was sent they will endure with fortitude and tenacity their present misfortunes in the sure faith that they, too, are still serving the common cause and that their efforts are not in vain.

“It symbolises in a form and manner which everyone caq understand, in every land, in every clime, the deep underlying unities which stir and, at decisive moments, rule the Englishspeaking peoples throughout the world. Would it be presumptuous for me to say that it symbolises something even more majestic, namely the marshalling of the good forces of the world against the evil forces which are now so formidable and triumphant and have cast a cruel spell over the whole of Europe and a large part of Asia? This was a meeting which marks for ever in the pages of history the taking up by the English speaking nations, amid all this peril; tumult, and confusion, of the guidance of the fortunes of the broad, toiling masses in all continents and our loyal effort to lead them forward out of the miseries into which they have been plunged to the broad high road of freedom and justice, • “This is the highest honour, the most glorious opportunity, which could ever have come to any branch of the human race. When one beholds how many currents of extraordinary and terrible events, have flowed together to make this harmony, even the most sceptical must be feeling that we all have a chance to play our part and do our duty in the same great design—the end of which no mortal can foresee. Attack on Russia

“You will, perhaps, have noticed that the President of the United States and the British representatives in what they aptly called the Atlantic charter, have jointly pledged their countries to the final destruction of Nazi tyranny. That is a solemn and grave undertaking. It must be made good and it will be. The resources required to that end have been and are being set in motion.

“Austrians, Czechoslovaks,, Poles, Norwegiahs, Danes, Belgians, Dutch, Greeks, Croats and Serbs, and above all the great French nation have been stunned and pinioned. Italy, Hungary, Rumania, and Bulgaria have bought a shajneful respite by becoming jackals of the tiger, but their true situation is very little different ? and' will - presently be indistinguishable from that of his victims. Sweden, Spain, and Turkey stand appalled, wondering which will be struck down next. Here again is the vast pit into which all the most famous states and races of Europe have been flung, from which, unaided, they can never climb to the top. But all this did not satisfy Hitler. He made'a treaty of non-aggression with Soviet Russia, just as he made one with Turkey, in order to keep them off till he was ready to attack. Nine weeks ago to-day, without a vestige of provocation, he hurled millions of soldiers with all their apparatus upon the neighbour he called his friend, with the avowed object of destroying Russia and tearing her in pieces. “From the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, six or seven million soldiers are locked in a mortal struggle. But this time it is not so easy. This time it is not .all one way. The Russian armies and all the peoples of the Russian republic have rallied to the defence of their hearths and homes. For. the first time, Nazi blood has flowed in a fearful flood. Perhaps a million and a half, perhaps two. millions of the Nazis’ cannon-fodder have bit the dust of the endless plains of Russia.

U.S. and War , “The ’jquestion has been asked—how near :,-js,;the ;Umted States to war? There? ig s certainly only one man who knows the answer. If Hitler has not, yet declared war on thq United States it is surely not out of love for American institutions. It is certainly not because he could not find a pretext He has murdered half a dozen countries for far less. The fear of immediately redoubling the tremendous energies now being employed against him is no doubt a restraining influence. “But the real reason is, I am sure, to be found in the method to which he has so faithfully adhered and by which he has gained so much. It is a very simple method. One by one. That is his plan, his guiding rule, the trick by which he has enslaved so large a portion of the world.

“Three and a half years ago, I appealed to my fellow countrymen to take the lead in weaving together a strong defensive union within the principles of the League of Nations, a union of all countries who felt themselves in ever-growing danger, but no one would listen. All stood idle while Germany rearmed. Czechoslovakia was subjugated. A French Government deserted its ally and broke its plighted word in that ally’s hour of need. Russia was cajoled and deceived into a kind of neutrality or partnership while the French Array was being annihilated. The Low Countries and the Scandinavian countries, acting with France and Britain in good time, even, after the war had begun, might have altered its course and would have had a fighting chance. The Balkan States had only to unite to save themselves from the ruin in which they are now engulfed, but one by one they were undermined and overwhelmed. Never was a career of crime made more smooth. Now Hitler is striking at Russia with all his might, well knowing the difficulties of geography which stand between Russia and the aid which the western democracies are trying to bring. “We shall strive to our utmost,to overcome all difficulties and bring this aid. We have arranged for a conference in Moscow between the United States, Britain, and Russian authorities to settle the whole plan. No bar•rier must stand in the way. But why is Hitler striking at Russia? It is with the declared object of turning his whole force upon the British islands. If he could succeed in beating the life and strength out of us. which is not so easy, then is the moment when he will settle his account—and. it is already a long one—with the people of the United States and generally with the western hemisphere. His plan of one by one needs but one final application to make him master of the world. I am devoutly thankful that some eyes at least are fully opened to it while time remains.

“The tremendous battle rages along nearly 2000 miles of front. The Russians fight with magnificent devotion. Not only that, but our generals who visited the Russian front line report with admiration the efficiency of their military organisation and the excellence of their equipment. The aggressor is surprised and startled. For the first time in his experience mass murder has become unprofitable. He has retaliated by the most frightful cruelties. Scores of thousands, literally scores of thousands of executions in cold blood, are being perpetrated by the German police-troops upon the Russian patriots who defend their native soil. Since the Mongol invasions of Europe in the sixteenth century, there has never been methodical, merciless butchery on such a scale or approaching such a scale. This is but the beginning. Famine and pestilence are yet to follow in the bloody ruts of Hitler’s .tanks.

Japan’s Policy

“But Europe is not the only Continent to be tormented and devastated by aggression. For five long years, the Japanese military factions, seeking to emulate Hitler’s and Mussolini’s style, have been invading and harrying the 500,000,000 inhabitants of China. The Japanese armies have been wandering about that vast land in futile excursions, carrying with them carnage, ruin, and corruption, and calling it the ‘Chinese incident.’ Now they stretch their grasping hand into the southern seas of China. They snatch Indo-China from Vichy. They menace by their movement Singapore, the British link with Australasia, and menace the Philippine Islands, under the protection of the United States. It is certain that this has got to stop. Every effort will be made to secure a peaceful settlement. “The United States is labouring with infinite patience to arrive at a fair and amicable settlement which will give Japan the utmost reassurance for her legitimate interests. We earnestly hope these negotiations will succeed, but this I must say—if these hopes should fail, we shall of course range ourselves unhesitatingly at the side of the United States. “Thus we come back to the quiet bay somewhere in the Atlantic where misty sunshine plays on the great ships which carry the White Ensign or the Stars and Stripes. We had an idea when we got there, Mr Roosevelt and I, that without attempting to draw final, formal peace aims or war aims, it was necessary to give all peoples, especially the oppressed “ and conquered peoples, a simple, rough and ready war-time statement of the. goal towards which the British Commonwealth and the United States mean to make their wav and thus make wav for others to march with them upon the road which will certainly be painful and may be long. “There are, however, two distinct and marked differences in the eightpoint declaration from the attitude adopted by the Allies during the latter part of the last war, and no one should overlook it. The United States and Britain do not now assume that there

“I rejoiced to find that the President saw in their true light and proportion the extreme dangers by which the American people as well as the British people are now beset. It was indeed by the mercy of God that he began eight years ago that revival of the strength of the American navy without which the new world to-day would have to take orders from the European dictators, but with which the United States still retains the pow’fer to marshal her gigantic strength and in saving herself to render a gigantic service to mankind.

‘So we came back across the ocean waves, uplifted in spirit and fortified in resolve. _ We overtook one of the convoys which carry the munitions and supplies of the new world to sustain the champions of freedom in the old. The whole horizon seemed filled with ships. Seventy or 80 ships of all kinds and sizes were arrayed in 14 lines. There was not a straggler but all were bristling with cannon and other precautions on which I will not dwell, and were surrounded by British escorting vessels, while overhead Catalina airboats soared. Then I felt that hard, terrible, and long-drawn though the. struggle may be, we shall not he’ denied the strength to do our duty.*’..