♪ [music] ♪ - [Children] I pledge allegiance to the
flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it
stands. One nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [beat of a drum] [explosions] [airplane engine noise] [roar of a boat engine] [noise of a flamethrower] - [Narrator 1] In the jungles
of New Guinea... [explosion] ♪ [music] ♪ ...on the barren shores
of the Aleutians... [airplane engine noise] ...in the tropic heat
of the Pacific Islands... [gunfire] ...in the subzero cold of
the skies over Germany... [gunfire] ...in Burma and Iceland,
the Philippines and Iran, France... ♪ [music] ♪ ...in China and Italy... [artillery fire] ...Americans fighting. [explosion] Fighting over an area extending
seven-eighths of the way around the world. [explosion] Men from the green
hills of New England, the sun-baked plains of the Middle West, the cotton fields of the South, the close-packed streets of Manhattan, Chicago. The teeming factories of Detroit, Los Angeles. The endless stretching
distances of the Southwest. Men from the hills and from the plains,
from the villages and from the cities. Bookkeepers, soda jerks, mechanics,
college students, rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief, doctor,
lawyer, merchant, chief. Now veteran fighting man. Yet, two years ago, many had
never fired a gun, or seen the ocean, or been off the ground. [explosion] Americans, fighting for their country
while half a world away from it. Fighting for their country, and for more
than their country. Fighting for an idea, the idea bigger than the country. Without the idea, the country might have remained only a wilderness. Without the country,
the idea might have remained only a dream. [waves crashing] [choir singing] Over this ocean 1607, Jamestown. 1620, Plymouth Rock. Here was America. The sea, the sky, the virgin continent. We came in search of freedom, facing unknown dangers rather than bend the
knee or bow to tyranny. [crashing wave] Out of the native oak
and pine we built a house, a church, a watchtower. We cleared
a field, and there grew up a colony of free citizens. We carved new states out of
the green wilderness. Virginia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Carolina. Then came the first test in the defense of that liberty. [clap of thunder] 1775, Lexington. Our leaders spoke our
deepest needs. "Colonists are, by the law of nature, free-born, as indeed all men
are!" "It is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new
government." "These are the times that try men's souls." "But as for me, give me
liberty or give me death!" In the midst of battle, it happened. The idea grew, the idea took form. Something new was expressed by men, a new and revolutionary doctrine, the greatest creative force in human relations. All men are created equal, all men are entitled to the blessings of life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. That's the goal we set for ourselves. Defeat meant hanging. Victory meant a world in which Americans rule themselves. [clap of thunder] 1777, Valley Forge. ♪ [music] ♪ We fought and froze, suffered and died,
for what? For the future freedom of all Americans. A few of us doubted and
despaired. Most of us prayed and endured all. ♪ [music] ♪ [clap of thunder] 1781, Yorktown. Now we were a free, independent nation. The new idea had won its first test. Now to pass it on to future Americans. The Constitution, the
sacred charter of We the People, the blood and sweat of We the People, the
life, liberty, and happiness of We the People. The people were to
rule. Not some of the people, not the best people or the worst, not the rich people
or the poor, but we, the people, all the people. ♪ [music] ♪ In this brotherhood America was born, one
nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We began
as 13 states along the Atlantic seaboard. We pushed across the Alleghenies, the Ohio River, the Mississippi, the last far range of the distant Rockies. We carried freedom with us. No aristocratic classes here, no kings, no nobles or princes, no state church, no courts, no
parasites, no divine right of man to rule man. Here, humanity was making a clean,
fresh start from scratch. Behind us we left new states, chips off
the old blocks welded together by freedom. ♪ My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty, ♪ ♪ Of thee I sing,
Land where my fathers died, ♪ ♪ Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountainside, ♪ ♪ Let freedom ring ♪ Until finally we were one nation, a land
of hope and opportunity that had arisen out of a skeptical world. A light was
shining, freedom's light. From every country and every clime, men
saw that light and turned their faces toward it. Give me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming
shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door. As strangers to one another, we came and built a country, and
the country built us into Americans. The sweat of the men of old nations was
poured out to build a new. The sweat of our first settlers. The English, the Scotch, the Dutch, building the workshop of New England. Of the Italian in the sulfur mines of Louisiana. Of the Frenchmen and the Swiss
in the vineyards of California and New York State. Of the Dane, the Norwegian, the Swede, seeding the good earth to make the Midwest bloom with grain. Of the Pole and the Welshman. Of the Negro harvesting cotton in the hot Southern sun. ♪ [music] ♪ Of the Spaniard, the first to roam the
great Southwest. Of the Mexican in the oil fields of Texas and on the ranches of New Mexico. Of the Greek and the Portuguese, harvesting the crop the oceans yield. Of the German with his technical skill. Of the Hungarian and the Russian. Of the Irishman, the Slav, and the Chinese working side-by-side. The sweat of Americans. And a great nation was built. [chopping down trees] ♪ [instrumental music] ♪ ♪ [instrumental music] ♪ [car horn] ♪ [music] ♪ ♪ [instrumental music, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue] ♪ Yes, the sweat of the men of all nations
built America, and the blood. For the blood of Americans has been freely
shed. Five times in our history have we withstood the challenge to the idea that
made our nation. The idea of equality for all men. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness. The idea that made us the people we are. Let's take a look at
ourselves before we went into this war. ♪ [instrumental music, Gershwin's Fascinating Rhythm] ♪ - [Narrator 2] Well, first of all, we're a
working people. On the land, at the work bench, at a desk. And we're an inventive people. The lightning rod, cotton gin, the telegraph, the blessed anesthesia of ether, the rotary printing press, the telephone, electric welding, the incandescent lamp, the submarine, the steam turbine, the motor-driven airplane, the X-ray tube, the gyroscope compass, the sewing machine, television. All these and countless more bear
witness to our inventiveness. ♪ [music] ♪ [cat meows] And this inventiveness
and enterprise, plus our hard-won democratic ideal of the
greatest good for the greatest number, created for the average man the highest
standard of living in the world. Thirty-two and a half million registered
automobiles, two-thirds of all the automobiles there are in the entire world. We demand the highest standards in sanitation, purity of food, medical care. Our hospitals are models for the world to copy. We want the best for the average
man, woman, or child. Particularly child. We have reduced the hazard of being born.
From then on we protect, foster, and generally spoil the majority
of our children. But it doesn't seem to hurt them much. They go to school, all
kinds of schools. To kindergartens, public schools, private schools, trade
schools, high schools...to 25,000 high schools...and to college. In the last war, 20% of all the men in the Armed Forces had been to high school or
college. In this war, 63%. We're a great "two weeks
vacation" people. [gun shot] [trumpet playing] We hunt, and we fish.
Up north, down south, back east, out west. When the season opens, we hunt and fish. And we're a sports-loving people. [crowd cheering] [horses galloping] [crowd cheering] [swings of golf clubs] [bowling balls rolling] [children playing] [frog croaks] [general chatter] ♪ [music] ♪ [roar of boat engine] ♪ [music] ♪ [crowd cheering] [sound of racecars] And we're probably the travelingest nation
in all history. We love to go places. We have the cars, we have the roads, we
have the scenery. We don't need passports, but sometimes we need alibis. We sleep by the road, we eat by the road. The foreigner is enchanted and amazed by
what we like to put in our stomachs. ♪ [music] ♪ And we're a great joining people.
We join clubs, fraternities, unions, federations. Shove a blank at us,
we'll sign up. Radios...we have one in the living room. [radio playing] The dining room. [radio playing] The bedroom. [radio playing] The bathroom. [radio playing] In our cars. [radio playing] In our hands, and up our sleeves. - [Radio Announcer] Does your cigarette
taste different lately? - Music...we couldn't be without it. ♪ [music] ♪ The press? Yes, it's the biggest, but, most important, it's the freest on Earth. Over 12,000 newspapers of all shades of
opinion, books on every conceivable subject, and more than 6,000 different
magazines, not counting the comics. Churches? We have every denomination on
Earth. Sixty million of us regularly attend, and no one dares tell us which one to go to. We elect our own neighbors to govern us. We believe in individual
enterprise and opportunity for men and women alike. We make mistakes. We see the results. [bubbles bubbling] ♪ [music] ♪ We correct the mistakes. We skyrocket into false prosperities, and then plummet down into false, needless
depressions. But, in spite of everything, we never lose our faith in the
future. We believe in the future. We build for the future. - Yes, we build for the future, and the
future always catches up with us. Before we're done building, we've
developed something new and have to start rebuilding. That's roughly the kind of people we are. Boastful, easy-going, sentimental. But underneath,
passionately dedicated to the ideal our forefathers passed on to us. The liberty
and dignity of man. We've made great material progress, but spiritually we're still in the frontier days. Yet, deep down within us, there's a great
yearning for peace and goodwill toward men. ♪ [choir singing] ♪ Somehow we feel that if men turned
their minds toward the fields of peace as they have toward the fields of
transportation, communication, or aviation, wars would soon be as
old-fashioned as the horse and buggy days. We hate war. We know that in war it's the
common man who does the paying, the suffering, the dying. We bend over backwards to avoid it. But, let our freedoms be endangered, and we'll pay and suffer and fight to the last man. That is the America. That is the way of living for which we fight today. Why? Is that fight necessary? Did we want war? ♪ [George M. Cohan's "Over There"] ♪ [artillery fire] In 1917, before most of you fighting men
were born, our fathers fought the First World War to make the world safe for
democracy, for the common man. [explosions] They fought a good fight and won it. ♪ [music] ♪ There was to be no
more war in their time or their children's time. Faithful to our
treaty obligations, we destroyed much of our naval tonnage. [explosions] Our army went on a reducing diet until it
became little more than a skeleton. For us, war was to be outlawed. For us, Europe was far away. And as for Asia, well, that was really out of this world,
where everything looked like it was torn from the National Geographic. Yet, in this
remote spot in Asia in 1931, while most of you were playing ball in the
sandlots, this war started. Without warning, Japan
invaded Manchuria. [lightning strike] ♪ [music] ♪ [distant gunfire] Once again, men who
were peaceful became the slaves of men who were violent. In Washington, D. C., our Secretary of State made a most vigorous
protest. "The American government does not intend to recognize any situation, treaty,
or agreement which may be brought about by means of aggression." But we, the people,
hadn't much time to think about Manchuria. We were wrestling with the worst
depression in our history. Some of us were out of jobs, some of us stood in bread
lines, some of us suffered homemade aggression, some of us were choked with
dust, some of us had no place to go. Two years later in 1933, while most of you
were graduating from high school, we read that a funny little man called
Hitler had come into power in Germany. [marching band music] We heard that a thing called the Nazi Party had taken over. ♪ [music] ♪ "Today, we rule Germany, tomorrow, the
world." What kind of talk was that? It must be only hot air. ♪ [music] ♪ In 1935, about the time you had your first
date, we read that strutting Mussolini had attacked far-off Ethiopia. [airplane engine noises] [whistle of bomb dropping] [beat of a drum] ♪ [music] ♪ [gunfire] The disease seemed to be spreading, so
Congress assembled to insulate us against the growing friction of war. - [Senator Johnson] We want no war,
we'll have no war, saving defense of our own people or our own honor. - Toward this end, our chosen
representatives passed The Neutrality Act. ♪ [music] ♪ No nation at war
could buy manufactured arms or munitions from the United States. 1936, when you were running around in jalopies, we were disturbed
by news from Spain. [explosion] [gunfire] [explosion] In our newsreels, we
saw German and Italian air forces and armies fighting in Spain
and wondered what they were doing there. [explosions] For the first time,
we saw great cities squashed flat, civilians
bombed and killed. ♪ [music] ♪ In November 1936,
the American Institute of Public Opinion, known as the Gallup Poll,
asked a representative cross-section of American people, "If another war develops
in Europe, should America take part again?" No, 95%. We, the people, had spoken. Nineteen out of 20 of us said, "Include us out." To further insulate
ourselves, we added a cash and carry
amendment to The Neutrality Act. ♪ [music] ♪ Not only wouldn't we
sell munitions, but we wouldn't sell anything at all, not even
a spool of thread, unless warring powers sent their own ships and paid cash on the
line. In 1937, the press services received a flash from Asia. [sound of typing] ♪ [music] ♪ [boat engines roaring] [cannon fire] [explosions] Yes, the Japs were
turning Asia into a slaughterhouse, but for us, Asia was still
far away. In September 1937, the Gallup Poll asked us, "In the present
fight between Japan and China, are your sympathies with either side?" We answered, with China, 43%, with Japan, 2%, undecided, 55%. We hadn't made up our minds about China. Our Neutrality Act barred sales of armaments only to nations at war.
The Japanese had not declared war, so we went right on selling scrap iron and
aviation gasoline to Japan. In March 1938, Hitler had not declared war
either, but his goose-stepping army suddenly smashed in and
occupied all the soil of Austria. ♪ [music] ♪ Six months later, Hitler and his stooge met the anxious democracies at Munich. Hitler promised peace in our time if Britain and France would give him that
part of Czechoslovakia known as the Sudetenland. Britain and France gave him
that part of Czechoslovakia, hoping to avert war. ♪ [music] ♪ Now we had his word, peace in our time. At home, we began to hear strange headlines. - [Newspaper Man] Extra! Extra! FBI
captures German agent. Read all about it! Nazi spy gang captured! - We sat in our theaters, unbelieving, as
motion pictures exposed Nazi espionage in America. - [Nazi] As Germans, we know that
if America is to be free, we must destroy the chain that ties the whole misery of
American politics together! And that chain is the United States Constitution! - [Nazi Sympathizers] Sieg
Heil! Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! - Could these things really be? Yes, these
subversive acts were happening in real life every day. German-American bunds,
organized for the purpose of destroying us, marched under our very noses. ♪ [marching band] ♪ - [Nazi] I pledge undivided allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and the republic for
which it stands. One nation, indivisible, with liberty
and justice for all. - In our press, we read the news from
abroad, that Nazis were spending millions, arming Germany to the teeth. [explosions] ♪ [music] ♪ We read that the
Tokyo Diet was appropriating tremendous sums, converting Japan into one vast munitions plant. ♪ [music] ♪ We watched these
supposedly poor, have-not nations spend huge sums for armament, and
we wondered why. Arrogantly, they told us why. They had declared war on us long
before the shooting started. - [Mussolini] We have actually been at war
since the day when we lifted the flag of our revolution against
the democratic world! ♪ [music] ♪ - [Hitler] The Germans are a noble and
unique race to whom the Earth was given by the grace of God. ♪ [music] ♪ - [Lord Hotta] The world must come to look
up to our Emperor as the great ruler of all nations. ♪ [music] ♪ - When the people of these three nations
elected to follow their leaders, death incorporated. [crowd chanting] They organized to smash
personal freedom... [crowd chanting] ...the equality of man... [crowd chanting] ...freedom of speech... [crowd chanting] ...freedom of religion. [crowd chanting] Organized to smash
the very principles which made us the people we are. [crowd chanting] So in December 1938, when the Gallup Poll
asked us, "Should the United States increase the strength of its Army, Navy,
and Air Force?" We answered yes, 85%. It was time to look
to our defense. ♪ [music] ♪ - [Andrew] Gentlemen, this
is the Military Affairs Committee of the United States House of
Representatives, meeting for the purpose of considering national defense. ♪ [music] ♪ - [Charles] The Navy is asking for
an increase of 25% in authorized naval tonnage, in view of the grave
international situation. - Congress, reflecting the voice of the
people, appropriated the largest sum for military use ever voted during peace in
American history. We didn't dream that a few years later it
would look like peanuts. ♪ [music] ♪ On March 14, 1939,
Adolf Hitler broke the pledge he made at Munich. He took over all
the rest of Czechoslovakia. There would be no more peace in our time. April 7th, 1939. As we here in America observed Good Friday... [choir singing] - Extra! Mussolini invades Albania. Extra!
Paper! Extra! Paper! Italy attacks Albania! [explosions] ♪ [music] ♪ - The picture was becoming clear. The
conquering forces of violence were being set loose in the world. Where would they stop? In a last desperate effort to avert a world war, President Roosevelt, as a
neutral, sent messages to Hitler and Mussolini, asking their promise to respect
the independence of 30 free countries. [foreign language] To Adolf Hitler, this message was a huge
joke, as he repeated the names to a jeering Reichstag. [foreign language] [laughter from crowd] [laughter from crowd] [cheering and clapping] This was the only answer
the President received. [crowd saluting] On September 1st, 1939,
the Nazi Army smashed into Poland. ♪ [music] ♪ [explosions] ♪ [music] ♪ [raid siren blaring] ♪ [music] ♪ [explosions] ♪ [music] ♪ [baby crying] England and France had a treaty with Poland. Would they act now? At home, we listened in suspense. - [Radio announcer] Adolf Hitler's all-out attack on Poland makes the long-dreaded European war a certainty. Prime Minister Chamberlain of
Great Britain gave the Nazi dictator a zero hour for withdrawing his troops from
Poland. That zero hour ends now. At this time, we transfer you to London
for an important announcement by the British Prime Minister. - [Prime Minister Chamberlain] Up
to the very last, it would have been quite possible to have arranged a peaceful and
honorable settlement between Germany and Poland, but Hitler would not have it. The situation, in which no word given by Germany's ruler could be trusted [baby crying] and no people or country could deem itself safe, had become intolerable. Now, may God bless you all and may he defend the right, for it is evil things that we shall be
fighting against, and against them I am certain that the right will prevail. - [Radio announcer] Six hours after Great Britain declared
war on Nazi Germany, the Republic of France followed. All France is in a
maelstrom of activity. The Maginot Line has already opened fire on the Germans.
The sparring has ended. World War II has begun. [explosions] ♪ [music] ♪ - At home, we were asked, "What country do
you consider responsible for causing this war?" Germany, 82%. We Americans had no
doubt who started it. Also, we began to fear that this war was going to concern
us. President Roosevelt called a special session of Congress to reconsider the
embargo against selling munitions. - [President Roosevelt] I have asked the Congress to reassemble in extraordinary session in order that it may consider and act on changes in our neutrality law. - The men of Congress wrestled with their
beliefs and our futures. They debated and they argued. - [Senator Nye] The arms embargo
is far too great a security to American peace to permit its surrender without a last-ditch fight. - [Senator Thomas] The Embargo Act, as it now stands, is one-sided and works entirely to the
advantage of one side. Therefore, The Embargo Act should be modified. - We, the people, also debated and argued
whether we should sell arms and munitions. When the question was put to us, we had an
answer. "Should we change The Neutrality Act so we can sell war supplies?" Yes, 57%. Shortly after, our representatives changed The Neutrality Act. ♪ [music] ♪ We lifted the embargo on arms and
munitions. Now we would sell if purchasers would pay and take the stuff away in their
own ships. American ships were still barred from combat zones. Meanwhile on the other side of the globe... [explosions] ...Japan was busy
trying to bomb, shoot, and terrorize the Chinese into submission. We
began to realize that if Japan conquered 400 million Chinese, she might become so
strong as to run us right out of the Pacific. [gunfire] [child crying] ♪ [music] ♪ You will remember that two years earlier, in September 1937, when we were asked, "In
the present fight between Japan and China, are your sympathies with either side?" Only 43% were with China. Most of us were undecided. In June 1939,
when we were asked the same question, 74% said we were with China. Now our minds were made up.
When we loaded our scrap iron on Japanese ships, our citizens
protested. Let Mr. Acheson, Assistant Secretary of State, tell us the
inside of the story. - [Mr. Acheson] So until the middle of
1940, the restriction of exports to Japan took the form of moral embargos of
aeroplanes and direct munitions. Then Congress passed the Export Control
Act, and increasing cutoffs of scrap iron, aviation gasoline, and other strategic
items followed. Exports were curtailed to the limit which those responsible for our
defense were willing to risk. It was a fearful responsibility. On one side was the possibility, in fact the probability, that one day
these materials might be used against us. On the other side was the possibility, in
fact the probability, that to cut them off would provoke an
attack which we were not then prepared to resist. Finally, in the summer of 1941, as
it became clear that Japan was turning her back upon every possibility of
reconciliation and adjustment and was determined, upon her great gamble of
conquest, all exports ceased. - On April 9th, 1940, the leaders of Nazi
Germany shifted their war machine into high gear. They overran into Denmark. [explosion] They smashed into Norway. [explosion] On May 10th, 1940, they
blitzed into Holland and Belgium. [explosion] - [Radio Announcer] The Nazis are
marching ahead at the fastest speed a conquering army has moved in all history.
All roads in France are choked with slow-moving masses of refugees. Nazi Stuka
dive bombers are strafing and bombing thousands of helpless women and children. - [Radio Announcer] Mr. Kaltenborn. - [Mr. Kaltenborn] Good evening,
everybody. Tonight, it seems clearly apparent that the first great phase of the
war in the west has been won by Germany. The army of French and British has made a
valiant battle in its effort to retreat to Dunkirk where there is some slight chance
that some part of it will be evacuated. - [Radio Announcer] Adolf Hitler's
mechanized forces are racing toward Paris as French resistance collapses. - On this 10th day of June nineteen hundred and forty, the hand that held the dagger has struck it into the back of its neighbor. - [William] This is William L.
Shirer speaking from the forest of Compiègne where Adolf Hitler today is
handing his armistice terms to France. It is 3:15 p.m. Adolf Hitler strides
slowly toward the little clearing. I can see his face. It is grave, solemn,
yet brimming with revenge. Off to one side is a large statue of the
Marshal Foch. Hitler does not appear to see it. Now we see the French walking down
the avenue, led by General Huntzinger. Hitler and the other German leaders rise
as the French enter. General Keitel reads the preamble to the German armistice terms. This whole ceremony is over in a quarter of an hour. ♪ The last time I saw
Paris, her heart was warm and gay ♪ ♪ I heard the laughter of her heart
in every street café ♪ ♪ The last time I saw Paris,
her trees were dressed for spring ♪ ♪ And lovers walked beneath those trees
and birds found songs to sing ♪ ♪ I dodged the same old taxicabs that I
had dodged for years ♪ ♪ The chorus of their squeaky horns was
music to my ears ♪ ♪ The last time I saw Paris,
her heart was warm and gay ♪ ♪ No matter how they change her,
I'll remember her ♪ ♪ that way ♪ ♪ [music] ♪ Conquering armies now stood
on the shores of the Atlantic. ♪ [music] ♪ - [Soldier] Fire! [explosions] -The danger was suddenly close.
Countries conquered by the Nazis had possessions outside of Europe.
Some of these possessions are in America. ♪ [music] ♪ Would the Nazis demand the
French naval units at Martinique? Would the Nazis move into the Dutch oil
fields at Curaçao? Would the Nazis seize the French naval base in Dakar for
invasion of South America? Already in Brazil there were over one million Germans
who lived exactly as they did in Germany. Twelve hundred German schools with Nazi
textbooks and Nazi teachers, Nazi newspapers. Hermann Göring glider clubs had been established. Also in Brazil, there were 260,000
Japanese taking orders from Japan. In Ecuador, within easy bombing range of the Panama Canal, German airlines had been established. German pilots were reserve
officers of the Luftwaffe. The German transport planes had bomb racks
already built in. In Argentine, German athletic clubs similar to the
Hitler Youth movement had been organized exclusively for Germans. Here was a fifth column ready to take over. [waves crashing] In Havana, we met with 20
other American republics. - [Cordell] There must not be a
shadow of a doubt anywhere as to the determination of the American nations not to permit the invasion of their hemisphere by the armed forces of any power or any
possible combination of powers. - Twenty American nations stood firm. The
Americas would not allow any European colony in this hemisphere to be
transferred to a non-American power. We said, "Keep out!" We meant it. - We must increase production facilities for everything needed for the Army and Navy
for national defense. I believe that this nation should plan at this time a program
that will provide us with 50,000 military and naval planes. - To protect our shores,
we authorized construction of a two-ocean navy, the greatest the world has ever
known. At least it would be the greatest navy when completed in 1944. But then, in
1940, it was only a paper navy. Our fighting forces at that time consisted
of an Army of 187,000 men, a Navy of 120,000, and this dot was the Air Corps,
22,387 strong. All told, 330,000 men. We had makeshift supplies,
makeshift equipment, stove pipes for cannons, bags of flour for bombs, and
trucks were labeled tanks. ♪ [music] ♪ Our infantry had exactly 488
machine guns. We possessed 235 pieces of field artillery, 10 light and 18 medium
tanks. That was the Army of the United States in May 1940, the month in which the
Nazis overran France. So we called our Minutemen, the National
Guards of the 48 states, and placed them into federal service. [bell tolling] [man shouting] And most important, Congress passed The Selective Service Act. For the first time
in our history, we began mobilizing an army while still at peace. - The first number is serial number 158. [high pitch sound, like a yell] ♪ This is the Army, Mister Jones,
No private rooms or telephones ♪ ♪ You had your breakfast in bed before,
but you won't have it there anymore ♪ The second number, which
has just been drawn, is 192. ♪ This is the Army, Mister Green ♪ ♪ We like the barracks nice and clean ♪ ♪ You had a housemaid
to clean your floor ♪ ♪ But she won't help you out anymore
Do what the buglers command, ♪ ♪ They're in the Army and not in a band
This is the Army, Mr. Brown, ♪ ♪ You and your baby went to town ♪ ♪ She had you worried, but this is war, ♪ ♪ And she won't worry
you anymore, more, more, ♪ ♪ No, she won't worry you anymore ♪ - It wasn't too soon. Time was running out. The Nazis had begun their shattering blitz on Britain. [explosions and raid siren] - [Edward] Hello, America, this is Edward Murrow speaking from
London. There were more German planes over the coast of Britain today than at any
time since the war began. Anti-aircraft guns were in action along
the southeast coast today. ♪ [music] ♪ [explosions] [cackling fire] - Back on Main Street, U.S.A., daily we followed Britain's life struggle, for if Britain died, we would be in grave
peril. Our first line of defense in the Atlantic, the British fleet, might go to Nazi Germany. We would be unprotected, our shores, our people, our homes in danger. Britain must not fall. In our harbors, idle and rotting, lay
ancient destroyers. They had been built for World War I, but this was World War II, and this gave us an idea. Fifty tired, over-age destroyers were revitalized, transferred to Great Britain. In return, we acquired further protection
of our shores. We received a chain of bases stretching from Newfoundland to
British Guiana. These bases threw a steel wall around the Caribbean. These bases
gave new safety to the Panama Canal. It was now clear to the aggressors that we
were conscious of the threat they represented to our country. Mr. Berle, Assistant Secretary of State, will tell us how they got together and
tried to scare us off. - [Mr. Berle] From 1936 on, it became
increasingly clear to the world that Germany, Italy, and Japan were pursuing
a common pattern of aggression, both in Europe and in the Far East. On September 27, 1940, these three powers signed the so-called Pact of Berlin, or
Tripartite Pact, a treaty of far-reaching alliance. By that treaty, it was provided that the three countries would assist one another with full political, economic, and
military means when one of the powers was attacked. Note particularly the use of the
word "attacked." By a power not then involved in the European war or in the
Chinese-Japanese conflict. The last of these provisions was aimed
directly at the United States. - Tokyo celebrated. [cheering] Rome cheered. [foreign language and cheering] Berlin Heiled itself hoarse. [crowd chanting] It was clear now that the
three Axis countries definitely stood against us. More anxious than ever, we
watched the life and death struggle for the possession of the skies over Britain. [raid siren] ♪ [music] ♪ [explosions and gunfire] ♪ [music] ♪ - [Charles] Despite the propaganda and confusion of recent months, it is now obvious that England is losing the war. - [Wendell] England will
not only survive, England will win! ♪ [music] ♪ [glass breaking] ♪ [music] ♪ - So, when we were asked, "Should we keep
out of war or aid Britain, even at the risk of war?" Aid Britain,
even at the risk of war, 68%. Thus the march of conquest of the
self-termed master races changed our national attitude from 1936, when only 1
out of 20 Americans thought we would be involved in war, to 1941, when 14 out of
20 Americans were willing to risk war if war was necessary to ensure Axis defeat. - I ask this Congress for authority and for funds sufficient to manufacture additional
munitions and war supplies of many kinds to be turned over to those nations which
are now in actual war with aggressor nations. Our most useful and immediate role is to act as an arsenal for them as well as for ourselves. We shall send in ever-increasing numbers ships, planes, tanks, guns. That is our
purpose and our pledge. - By an overwhelming majority, Congress passed Lend-Lease, bill number 1776, another declaration of independence, independence
from tyranny, 1941-style. ♪ [music] ♪ On April 6th, 1941, the Nazi juggernaut
overran into Yugoslavia and Greece. ♪ [music] ♪ On June 22nd, 1941, the success-crazy
Nazis took their longest step toward world conquest. Without any declaration of
war, they blitzed into Russia. [boat engine noise] ♪ [music] ♪ [explosions] We were determined not to let
down any nations defending themselves against unprovoked attack, so we extended
Lend-Lease to these new victims. Now the Lend-Lease products of our
factories were being unloaded in the bombed ports of Great Britain, at the Red Sea ports for the British in Africa. Lend-Lease was being hauled over the Burma
Road to China. Lend-Lease was piling up in Murmansk and Iran for Russia. ♪ [music] ♪ Why did we supply war materials to the countries defending themselves against
Axis aggression? Was it our natural sympathies for people unwilling to lose
their freedom? Was it our ancient antagonism to conquerors imposing their
rule on others by force? Yes, partly, but principally, it was
because the American people had become certain that they were on the list of free
nations to be conquered. - Two worlds are in conflict, two
philosophies of life, one of these two worlds must break asunder. - And we were
the leading example of that free world that Hitler was committed to breaking
asunder. What would have been our defensive position, if the aggressors had
succeeded in conquering Britain, Russia, and China? - [Narrator 3] German
conquest of Europe and Africa would bring all their raw materials, plus their entire
industrial development, under one control. Of the two billion
people in the world, the Nazis would rule roughly one-quarter, the 500 million
people of Europe and Africa forced into slavery to labor for Germany. German conquest of Russia would add the vast raw materials and the production facilities of
another of the world's industrial areas. And of the world's people, another 200
million would be added to the Nazi labor pile. Japanese conquest of the Orient
would pour into their factory, the almost unlimited resources of that
area. And of the peoples of the Earth, a thousand million would come under their
rule, slaves for their industrial machine. [drum beat] - We in North and South
America would be left with the raw materials of three-tenths of the Earth's
surface against the Axis with the resources of seven-tenths. We would have
one industrial region against their three industrial regions. We would have
one-eighth of the world's population against their seven-eighths. If we
together with the other nations of North and South America could mobilize 30
million fully equipped men, the Axis could mobilize 200 million. Thus
an Axis victory in Europe and Asia would leave us alone and virtually surrounded,
facing enemies 10 times stronger than ourselves. These are the reasons that led
us, the American people, to change The Neutrality Act, to send aid
to Britain, to Russia, to China, to make ourselves the arsenal of
democracy. These are the reasons why, now the first American troops set forth
into the Atlantic, to occupy new bases in Greenland and Iceland with the consent of
their local governments. In our hands, bases of defense. In Nazi
hands, bases of offense. ♪ [music] ♪ [speaking in German] The Germans opened
unrestricted submarine warfare. [missile firing] [explosions] - [Henry] If today our Navy should make secure the seas for the delivery of our munitions to Great Britain, it will render as great a service
to our country and to the preservation of American freedom as it has ever rendered in all its glorious history. - We want those cargos protected. [clapping and cheering] - An aroused Congress repealed
the entire Neutrality Act. ♪ [music] ♪ We armed our merchants. And for the first time, they steamed into
combat zones to deliver Lend-Lease. While this was going on in the Atlantic,
the Japs, by a so-called agreement with the puppet government of defeated France,
moved in on Indochina. ♪ [music] ♪ There were now only two
threats to their plan for conquest of Greater East Asia. First was their
northern neighbor, Russia, the only military power within striking distance of
Japan. The Nazis were taking care of Russia. The second threat to Japanese
conquest was us. Japanese southward expansion was too dangerous to attempt
with our bases still standing in the Philippines and our supply lines open to
Wake, to Midway, and to Hawaii. We were in their way. We
had to be removed... [lightning strike] ...but in the Japanese way. Off to Washington went
Special Ambassador Kurusu on what the Japs said was a mission of peace. But carefully
synchronized with his departure from Tokyo was the departure of a Jap task force
under sealed orders, not on a mission of peace. On November 14th, Mr. Kurusu arrived
in San Francisco, smiling his toothy smile as he sang the old song of Japanese friendship. The Japanese were a
peace-loving people. Their whole policy
was devoted to the establishment of permanent peace in Asia. Our aid to China
was delaying the establishment of that peace. Our refusal to sell them oil and
scrap was interfering with the establishment of that peace. Our
objections to their taking over the East Indies, Greater East Asia, was an
interruption in the establishment of that peace. All they wanted was peace. On November 17th, Mr. Kurusu and Japanese Ambassador Nomura were received by the
President in the presence of the Secretary of State, Cordell Hull. It very quickly
became clear that the Japanese had brought no new proposals and that the Japanese
intended to continue their campaign to conquer China and all East Asia. However,
on November 26th, our Secretary of State presented the Japanese with the basis for
peaceful agreement between the two nations. The proposal was forwarded to
Tokyo. The Japs had to stall for time, but only a short time. The task force was
nearing its goal. Sunday, December 7th, 1941. [speaking in Japanese] ♪ [music] ♪ [airplane engine noise] [speaking in Japanese] [airplane engine noise] 1:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The Japanese emissaries are expected at
the State Department to keep a 1:00 appointment they had requested in order to
present their answers to our proposals. 1:05 p.m. The Japanese planes are
approaching Hawaii. [airplane engine noise] 1:10 p.m. The Japanese emissaries
telephone to postpone their appointment until 1:45. 1:20 p.m. [airplane engine noise] [airplane noises continue] [whistle of a bomb] [explosions] [airplane engines roar] [continued explosions] [gunfire] [explosions] 2:00 p.m. The Japanese
envoys, smiling and correct, arrive at the State Department. 2:20 p.m. [explosions] [airplane engine noise] [anti-aircraft fire] Japanese planes had been sowing
death and destruction for an hour on American outposts in the Pacific when the
Japanese envoys presented a memorandum to Mr. Hull. - Here is the memorandum... presented to me. As you can see, it is quite a lengthy document. I read it hurriedly, discovering that it contained a recital of monstrous accusations against
the United Sates, charging it, among other things, with, quote, "Scheming for the extension of the war, preparing to attack Germany and Italy, two powers striving to
establish a new order in Europe, and ignoring Japan's sacrifices in the
four years of the China affair, menacing the empire's existence itself and
disparaging its honor and prestige." After reading the note, I said to the Japanese emissaries, "I have never seen a document that was more crowded with infamous
falsehoods and distortions on a scale so huge that I never imagined that any government on this planet was capable of uttering them." ♪ [music] ♪ - I ask that the Congress
declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941 a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire. ♪ Long may our land be bright,
with freedom's holy light, ♪ ♪ Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King ♪
