Does anyone on here speak German who can at least tell me if this is translated correctly? Incredibly interesting video on Hitler declaring war on the United States. If this translation is accurate, I don't understand why we don't learn about these things in school.
Anyone can make excuses.
I always thought that Hitler's declaration of war against the US was common knowledge for those who know of WWII. But then again I was homeschooled and I realized there are alot of things I thought people just knew but didn't. (I always feel like I was sheltered in HS, good thing too).
Yeah, but which sides were making the excuses to go to war? Clearly Hitler deserved terrible things to happen to him, but Stalin deserved worse.
I always thought that Hitler's declaration of war against the US was common knowledge
Haha, I always thought what I knew was common knowledge. Which it turns out kind of was 'common' knowledge, but not completely true knowledge. What exactly were you taught regarding why he decided to declare war against the United States? I've heard that he was well aware that Germany's military was nowhere near built up enough to win.
Hitler hoped that by declaring war on the United States, Japan would in turn declare war on the Soviet Union.
I also thought this was fairly common knowledge. I'm pretty sure my teachers remembered to at least mention that detail and if the teachers didn't, I'm fairly certain that the textbooks included it.
Brian: Anyone can make excuses. Yeah, but which sides were making the excuses to go to war? Clearly Hitler deserved terrible things to happen to him, but Stalin deserved worse. I always thought that Hitler's declaration of war against the US was common knowledge Haha, I always thought what I knew was common knowledge. Which it turns out kind of was 'common' knowledge, but not completely true knowledge. What exactly were you taught regarding why he decided to declare war against the United States? I've heard that he was well aware that Germany's military was nowhere near built up enough to win.
i heard that it was part of a defense pact with Japan and that since Japan attacked America, the German's hands were tied. But then again I may have been misinformed. Wouldn't be the first time but at least I'm smarter now.
''Does anyone on here speak German who can at least tell me if this is translated correctly?''
Yes, it appears to be pretty accurate. This one is no Youtube-Hitler-Parody.
I've heard that he was well aware that Germany's military was nowhere near built up enough to win.
The Germans considered the US an effective minnow in military terms. They saw it had only a small army and doubted very much it had a stomach for a fight in Europe. So the declaration of war was in their minds more or less a symbolic act and not something that was going to have a mayor effect on the course of the war.
This video is not available in your country due to terms of use violation. I did hear in history class, though, that Hitler once declared war on the US. At the time of the declaration, however, it was not considered a war-deciding event.
Sphairon: This video is not available in your country due to terms of use violation. I did hear in history class, though, that Hitler once declared war on the US. At the time of the declaration, however, it was not considered a war-deciding event.
That's not what is being discussed.
It's the substance of the speech. It says:
"The American president increasingly used his influence to create conflicts, intensify existing conflicts, and, above all, to keep conflicts from being resolved peacefully. For years this man looked for a dispute anywhere in the world, but preferably in Europe, that he could use to create political entanglements with American economic obligations to one of the contending sides, which would then steadily involve America in the conflict and thus divert attention from his own confused domestic economic policies.
His actions against the German Reich in this regard have been particularly blunt. Starting in 1937, he began a series of speeches, including a particularly contemptible one on October 5, 1937, in Chicago, with which this man systematically incited the American public against Germany . He threatened to establish a kind of quarantine against the so-called authoritarian countries. As part of this steady and growing campaign of hate and incitement, President Roosevelt made another insulting statement and then called the American ambassador in Berlin back to Washington for consultations. Since then the two countries have been represented only by charges d'affaires.
Starting in November 1938, he began systematically and consciously to sabotage every possibility of a European peace policy. In public he hypocritically claimed to be interested in peace while at the same time he threatened every country that was ready to pursue a policy of peaceful understanding by blocking credits, economic reprisals, calling in loans, and so forth. In this regard, the reports of the Polish ambassadors in Washington, London, Paris and Brussels provide a shocking insight.
This man increased his campaign of incitement in January 1939. In a message to the U.S. Congress he threatened to take every measure short of war against the authoritarian countries.
He repeatedly claimed that other countries were trying to interfere in American affairs, and he talked a lot about upholding the Monroe Doctrine. Starting in March 1939 he began lecturing about internal European affairs that were of no concern of the President of the United States. In the first place, he doesn't understand these problems, and secondly, even if he did understand them and appreciated the historical circumstances, he has no more right to concern himself with central European affairs than the German head of state has to take positions on or make judgments about conditions in the United States.
Mr. Roosevelt went even beyond that. Contrary to the rules of international law, he refused to recognize governments he didn't like, would not accept new ones, refused to dismiss ambassadors of non-existent countries, and even recognized them as legal governments. He went so far as to conclude treaties with these ambassadors, which then gave him the right to simply occupy foreign territories.
On April 15, 1939, Roosevelt made his famous appeal to me and the Duce, which was a mixture of geographical and political ignorance combined with the arrogance of a member of the millionaire class. We were called upon to make declarations and to conclude non-aggression pacts with a number of countries, many of which were not even independent because they had either been annexed or turned into subordinate protectorates by countries allied with Mr. Roosevelt. You will recall, my Deputies, that then I gave a polite but straightforward answer to this obtrusive gentleman, which succeeded in stopping, at least for a few months, the storm of chatter from this unsophisticated warmonger.
But now the honorable wife took his place. She and her sons refused to live in a world such as ours. That is at least understandable, for ours is world of work and not one of deceit and racketeering. After a short rest, though, he was back at it. On November 4, 1939, the Neutrality Act was revised and the arms embargo was repealed in favor of a one-sided supply to Germany's adversaries. In the same way, he pushed in eastern Asia for economic entanglements with China that would eventually lead to effective common interests. That same month he recognized a small group of Polish emigrants as a so-called government in exile, the only political basis of which was a few million Polish gold pieces they had taken from Warsaw.
On April 9 he froze all Norwegian and Danish assets on the lying pretext of wanting to keep them from falling into German hands, even though he knew full well, for example, that Germany has not interfered with, much less taken control of, the Danish government's administration of its financial affairs. Along with the other governments in exile, Roosevelt now recognized one for Norway. On May 15, 1940, Dutch and Belgian governments in exile were also recognized, and at the same time Dutch and Belgian assets were frozen.
This man revealed his true attitude in a telegram of June 15 to French premier Reynaud. Roosevelt told him that the American government would double its aid to France, on the condition that France continue the war against Germany. In order to give special emphasis to his desire that the war continue, he declared that the American government would not recognize acquisitions brought about by conquest, which included, for example, the retaking of territories that had been stolen from Germany. I do not need to emphasize that now and in the future, the German government will not be concerned about whether or not the President of the United States recognizes a border in Europe. I mention this case because it is characteristic of the systematic incitement of this man, who hypocritically talks about peace while at the same time he incites to war.
And now he feared that if peace were to come about in Europe, the billions he had squandered on military spending would soon be recognized as an obvious case of fraud, because no one would attack America unless America itself provoked the attack. On June 17, 1940, the President of the United States froze French assets in order, so he said, to keep them from being seized by Germany, but in reality to get hold of the gold that was being brought from Casablanca on an American cruiser.
In July 1940 Roosevelt began to take many new measures toward war, such as permitting the service of American citizens in the British air force and the training of British air force personnel in the United States. In August 1940 a joint military policy for the United States and Canada was established. In order to make the establishment of a joint American-Canadian defense committee plausible to at least the stupidest people, Roosevelt periodically invented crises and acted as if America was threatened by immediate attack. He would suddenly cancel trips and quickly return to Washington and do similar things in order to emphasize the seriousness of the situation to his followers, who really deserve pity.
He moved still closer to war in September 1940 when he transferred fifty American naval destroyers to the British fleet, and in return took control of military bases on British possessions in North and Central America. Future generations will determine the extent to which, along with all this hatred against socialist Germany, the desire to easily and safely take control of the British empire in its hour of disintegration may have also played a role.
After Britain was no longer able to pay cash for American deliveries he imposed the Lend-Lease Act on the American people. As President, he thereby obtained the authority to furnish lend-lease military aid to countries that he, Roosevelt, decided it was in America's vital interests to defend. After it became clear that Germany would not respond under any circumstances to his continued boorish behavior, this man took another step forward in March 1941.
As early as December 19, 1939, an American cruiser [the Tuscaloosa] that was inside the security zone maneuvered the passenger liner Columbus into the hands of British warships. As a result, it had to be scuttled. On that same day, US military forces helped in an effort to capture the German merchant ship Arauca. On January 27, 1940, and once again contrary to international law, the US cruiser Trenton reported the movements of the German merchant ships Arauca, La Plata and Wangoni to enemy naval forces.
On June 27, 1940, he announced a limitation on the free movement of foreign merchant ships in US ports, completely contrary to international law. In November 1940 he permitted US warships to pursue the German merchant ships Phrygia, Idarwald and Rhein until they finally had to scuttle themselves to keep from falling into enemy hands. On April 13, 1941, American ships were permitted to pass freely through the Red Sea in order to supply British armies in the Middle East.
In the meantime, in March all German ships were confiscated by the American authorities. In the process, German Reich citizens were treated in the most degrading way, ordered to certain locations in violation of international law, put under travel restrictions, and so forth. Two German officers who had escaped from Canadian captivity [to the United States] were shackled and returned to the Canadian authorities, likewise completely contrary to international law.
On March 27 the same president who is against all aggression announced support for Simovic and his clique of usurpers , who had come to power in Belgrade after the overthrow of the legal government. Several months earlier, President Roosevelt had sent Colonel Donovan, a very inferior character, to the Balkans with orders to help organize an uprising against Germany and Italy in Sofia and Belgrade. In April he promised lend-lease aid to Yugoslavia and Greece. At the end of April he recognized Yugoslav and Greek emigrants as governments in exile. And once again, in violation of international law, he froze Yugoslav and Greek assets.
Starting in mid-April US naval patrols began expanded operations in the western Atlantic, reporting their observations to the British. On April 26, Roosevelt delivered twenty high speed patrol boats to Britain. At the same time, British naval ships were routinely being repaired in US ports. On May 12, Norwegian ships operating for Britain were armed and repaired [in the USA], contrary to international law. On June 4, American troop transports arrived in Greenland to build air fields. And on June 9 came the first British report that a US war ship, acting on orders of President Roosevelt, had attacked a German submarine near Greenland with depth charges.
On June 14, German assets in the United States were frozen, again in violation of international law. On June 17, on the basis of a lying pretext, President Roosevelt demanded the recall of the German consuls and the closing of the German consulates. He also demanded the shutting down of the German “Transocean” press agency, the German Library of Information and the German Reichsbahn office.
On July 6 and 7, American armed forces acting on orders from Roosevelt occupied Iceland, which was in the area of German military operations. He hoped that this action would certainly, first, finally force Germany into war and, second, also neutralize the effectiveness of the German submarines, much as in 1915-1916. At the same time, he promised military aid to the Soviet Union. On July 10 Navy Secretary Knox suddenly announced that the US Navy was under orders to fire against Axis warships. On September 4 the US destroyer Greer, acting on his orders, operated together with British airplanes against German submarines in the Atlantic. Five days later, a German submarine identified US destroyers as escort vessels with a British convoy.
In a speech delivered on September 11, Roosevelt at last personally confirmed that he had given the order to fire against all Axis ships, and he repeated the order. On September 29, US patrols attacked a German submarine east of Greenland with depth charges. On October 17 the US destroyer Kearny, operating as an escort for the British, attacked a German submarine with depth charges, and on November 6 US armed forces seized the German ship Odenwald in violation of international law, took it to an American port, and imprisoned its crew.
I will overlook as meaningless the insulting attacks and rude statements by this so-called President against me personally. That he calls me a gangster is particularly meaningless, since this term did not originate in Europe, where such characters are uncommon, but in America. And aside from that, I simply cannot feel insulted by Mr. Roosevelt because I regard him, like his predecessor Woodrow Wilson, as geisteskrank. "
You guys need to read this thread again.
However terrible his NS ideas, it's amazing how honest Hitler was. You would think that a politician in that circumstance would at least exaggerate the facts. He didn't even metion that Roosevelt classified the Soviet Union as democratic for the purpose of his anti-authoritarian state policy.
I feel like puking writing this, but even Herr Goebbels showed a little obsession with honesty. Everytime a German defeat happened with huge losses, he insisted that it be revealed in in its full accurate detail so that German people knew how ill-prepared their army was at that point of time. In all his broadcasts about Britain, he made sure to talk about how brilliant Churchill was and how outmatched some German counterparts of British leaders were. I read an amazing article in Der Spiegel's Hitler and Churchill special on this matter.
The German notion of lying was very different from the American notion of lying. The Germans told one Big Lie, and many complete truths (this went back to WWI) while the Americans told one Complete Truth and many smaller white lies. Look how Germans propagandized the Dutch pyromaniac's burning of the Reichstag as a Communist attack on Germany, while reporting on the precise details of what Van Der Lube did. The Germans...they just have their ways. My brother went to the Holocaust Museum this year and met some German Jewish refugees who explained what Germany was like.
The Americans told a complete truth? Do tell.
I read an amazing article in Der Spiegel's Hitler and Churchill special on this matter.
Do you happen to know where it is?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,712259,00.html
That article is one big pile of BS.