Free The History Buff's Guide to World War II by Thomas R. Flagel Page A

United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.”
    Churchill’s magnum opus initially received mixed reviews. Over time it became deeply inspiring and shockingly accurate. He successfully predicted a direct battle with Germany, one to be fought almost exclusively in the air. He also foretold a poor showing from fascist Italy, joking, “There is a general curiosity…to find out whether the Italians are up to the level they were at in the last war or whether they have fallen off at all.” On his prophecies of a war dominated by “perverted science,” he was all too right. That evening, as if to punctuate Churchill’s warnings of battles and technology, more than a hundred German bombers stormed over England and killed nine civilians in Cambridge. 30
Churchill delivered his speech on June 18, 1940, the 125th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.
    4. “I NOW SPEAK FOR FRANCE” (DE GAULLE—JUNE 18, 1940)
    On June 17, 1940, France’s undersecretary of state, and until recently a tank brigadier, landed in London and was brought to No. 10 Downing Street. Churchill knew the tall and stern de Gaulle, though few others had ever heard of him. When the middle-ranking Frenchman asked for BBC airtime to broadcast a message of hope, Churchill immediately agreed, as the prime minister was also diligently crafting a speech for that very purpose. Both voices would hit the airwaves the following evening.
    Hours after Churchill’s fatherly announcement, the deep and determined voice of de Gaulle commanded his countrymen to keep fighting:
For France is not alone. She is not alone! She is not alone! Behind her is a vast empire, and she can make common cause with the British Empire, which commands the seas and is continuing the struggle. Like England, she can draw unreservedly on the immense industrial resources of the United States…Tomorrow I shall broadcast again from London…I, General de Gaulle, a French soldier and military leader, realize that I now speak for France.
    Pure de Gaulle. Churchill had not granted airtime for the following night. Most important, the British had made no indication of recognizing him in any official capacity, nor had the United States, nor for that matter had the French. But de Gaulle’s speech was the first step on a long career of self-proclaimed greatness, and he gradually became the de facto head of France.
    Though he kept a small army fighting for the Allies, de Gaulle practically asked for the world in return. Repulsed by the uncooperative giant, Churchill would later say, “The heaviest cross I bear is the Cross of Lorraine.” 31
Due to a lack of equipment, committed instead to Churchill’s “Finest Hour” speech that same day, the BBC made no recording of de Gaulle’s historic proclamation, which angered the Frenchman for the rest of his life.
    5. “THE ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY” (ROOSEVELT—DECEMBER 29, 1940)
    By his own measure, Roosevelt’s most significant address between his first inaugural and the declaration of war on Japan was his Arsenal of Democracy speech, delivered as his last “fireside chat” of 1940. 32
    Though most of the U.S. population was dead set on staying out of the war, much of Europe and eastern China were under the yoke of foreign occupation. Speaking from the White House to an international radio audience, Roosevelt assured his listeners that the best way to avoid sending troops overseas would be to send weapons instead.
The people of Europe who are defending themselves do not ask where to do their fighting. They ask us for the implements of war, the planes, the tanks, the guns, the freighters which will enable them to fight