The great political speeches thread

[joegrundman]

Originally Posted by MH

It was clear to many that hitler wanted more that pre ww1 status.
I agree that he was scared an coward and went to great effort to avoid confrontaion with Germany not facing reality.
Hitler was supraised that Britan declared war after inviding Poland
Chamberlain' it seems send this kind of massege by his weak dyplomacy.
He is a true example that certain idologies must be faced with big stick as well.

a) Hindsight is what we have, not what they had
b)I said "scarred", not "scared", and yes it is obviously the case that his strategy was not successful. In the end obvious to him too.
c) in the end, however, it was Chamberlain who declared war on Germany. Not the Soviets, not the Americans. Nor was it Churchill. It was Britain, under Chamberlain, and France.

The thing that makes the speech great is the gravity and emotion that comes with knowing the horrors ahead, and seeing the failure of your attempts to avoid it, going ahead and declaring the war that will bring the horrors you fear. It is filled with humanity and dignity (neither of which are present in the Patton speech, but that is great for a different reason)