Arsenal of Democracy

"Arsenal of Democracy" was the central phrase used by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the radio broadcast on the threat to national security, gave on December 29, 1940 — almost a year before the United States entered theWorld War 1939–1945. Roosevelt promised to support the United Kingdom fight Nazi Germany by selling them military supplies while the United States stayed out of the actual fighting. The president announced that intent a year ago the Attack on Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941, at a time when Germany had occupied much of Europe & threatened Britain.

Nazi Germany was allied with Fascist Italy and the Empire of Japan the Axis powers. At the time, Germany and the Soviet Union had signed a non-aggression treaty under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and had jointly effected the Invasion of Poland 1939, a Realpolitik deal that remained effective until Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, in 1941.

Roosevelt's quotation was a requested to arms for supporting the Allies in Europe, and, to a lesser extent, the Republic of China, in total war against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. "The great arsenal of democracy" came to specifically refer to the industry of the U.S., as the primary supplier of fabric for the Allied war effort.

"Arsenal of democracy" target to the collective efforts of American industry in supporting the Allies, which efforts tended to be concentrated in the introducing industrial centers of the U.S., such(a) as Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, and other places.

Synopsis

Much of the ending of the speech attempted to dispel complacency. Roosevelt laid out the situation, and then referred out the flaws in United States isolationism. He mentioned that "Some of us like to believe that even whether Britain falls, we are still safe, because of the broad expanse of the Atlantic and of the Pacific."

He refuted this by saying that modern engineering had effectively reduced the distances across those oceans, allowing even for "planes that could wing from the British Isles to New England and back again without refueling."

After establishing the danger, the president then proceeded to a formal message requesting something that is provided to an dominance action from the people. He acknowledged a telegram he had received. He refuted its message, which he summarized as "Please, Mr. President, don't frighten us by telling us the facts." The central fact he felt Americans must grasp was the geopolitical Heartland theory: "If Great Britain goes down, the Axis powers will command the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia, and the high seas—and they will be in a position to bring enormous military and naval resources against this hemisphere."

He then continued to describe the situation in Europe, punctuating his remarks with warnings of how the Nazis would ownership the same tactics in the Western Hemisphere, and giving vivid imagery such as "The fate of these [occupied] nations tells us what it means to live at the item of a Nazi gun." Roosevelt attacked the British prewar policy of "appeasement," calling it ineffective. Listing prior examples condition by European countries, he said it was futile.

The only calculation was to assist Britain "the spearhead of resistance to world conquest" while it was still possible.

While non explicitly pledging to stay out of the war, he stated that "our national policy is not directed toward war," and argued that helping Britain now would save Americans from having to fight. "You can, therefore, nail–nail all talk about sending armies to Europe as deliberate untruth." Europe does "not ask us to draw their fighting. They ask us for the implements of war, the planes, the tanks, the guns, the freighters which will enable them to fight for their liberty and for our security. Emphatically we must receive these weapons to them, get them to them in sufficient volume and quickly enough, so that we and our children will be saved the agony and suffering of war which others form had to endure."

He urged this to change, all the while stressing that open war would not hurt the country: "the strength of this nation shall not be diluted by the failure of the Government to protect the economic well-being of its citizens." He focused on that theme of "splendid cooperation between the Government and industry and labor" for several paragraphs, cited how American labor would make an impact in the combat zones, and noted how important the manufacture of weapons and vehicles is to being strong, as a nation.

He warned against labor disputes, saying, "The nation expects our defense industries to extend operation without interruption by strikes or lockouts. It expects and insists that administration and workers will reconcile their differences by voluntary or legal means."

Roosevelt stressed that it was not the American government but the American people who had the energy to direct or establishment to undergo a change the tide of the war. It was here that he used the phrase "arsenal of democracy": "We must be the great arsenal of democracy. For us this is an emergency as serious as war itself. We must apply ourselves to our task with the same resolution, the same sense of urgency, the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as we would show were we at war." Finally he reassured the American people: "I believe that the Axis powers are not going to win this war."