【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 nding over all these years, was proved, for example, in the early days during the quarter century of wars following the french revolution. while the napoleonic struggle did threaten interests of the united states because of the french foothold in the west indies and in louisiana, and while we engaged in the war of 1812 to vindicate our right to peaceful trade, it is nevertheless clear that neither france nor great britain nor any other nation was aiming at domination of the whole world.
　　and in like fashion, from 1815 to 1914ninetynine yearsno single war in europe or in asia constituted a real threat against our future or against the future of any other american nation.
　　except in the maximilian interlude in mexico, no foreign power sought to establish itself in this hemisphere. and friendly strength。 it is still a friendly strength.
　　even when the world war broke out in 1914 it seemed to contain only small threat of danger to our own american future. but as time went on, as we remember, the american people began to visualize what the downfall of democratic nations might mean to our own democracy.
　　we need not overemphasize imperfections in the peace of versailles. we need not harp on failure of the democracies to deal with problems of world reconstruction. we should remember that the peace of 1919 was far less unjust than the kind of pacification which began even before munich, and which is being carried on under the new order of tyranny that seeks to spread over every continent today.
　　the american people have unalterably set their faces against that tyranny.
　　i suppose that every realist knows that the democratic way of life is at this moment being directly assailed in every part of the worldassailed either by arms or by secret spreading of poisonous propaganda by those who seek to destroy unity and promote discord in nations that are still at peace.
　　during sixteen long months this assault has blotted out the whole pattern of democratic life in an appalling number of independent nations, great and small. and the assailants are still on the march, threatening other nations, great and small.
　　therefore, as your president, performing my constitutional duty to “。give to the congress information of the state of the union,”。 i find it unhappily necessary to report that the future and the safety of our country and of our democracy are overwhelmingly involved in events far beyond our borders.
　　armed defense of democratic existence is now being gallantly waged in four continents. if that defense fails, all the population and all the resources of europe and asia, africa and australia will be dominated by conquerors. and let us remember that the total of those populations in those four continents, the total of those populations and their resources greatly exceeds the sum total of the population and the resources of the whole of the western hemisphereyes, many times over.
　　in times like these it is immature and, incidentally, untruefor anybody to brag that an unprepared america, singlehanded and with one hand tied behind its back, can hold off the whole world.
　　no realistic american can expect from a dictatoramp。rsquo。s peace international generosity, or return of true independence, or world disarmament, or freedom of expression, or freedom of religionor even good business. such a peace would bring no security for us or for our neighbors. those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
　　as a nation we may take pride in the fact that we are softhearted。 but we cannot afford to be softheaded. we must always be wary of those who with sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal preach the ism of appeasement. we must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the american eagle in order to feather their own nests.
　　i have recently pointed out how quickly the tempo of modern warfare could bring into our very midst the physical attack which we must eventually expect if the dictator nation win this war.
　　there is much loose talk of our immunity from immediate and direct invasion from across the seas. obviously, as long as the british navy retains its power, no such danger exists. even if there were no british navy, it is not probable that any enemy would be stupid enough to attack us by landing troops in the united states from across thousands of miles of ocean, until it had acquired strategic bases from which to operate.
　　but we learn much from the lessons of the past years in europeparticularly the lesson of norway, whose essential seaports were captured by treachery and surprise built up over a series of years.
　　the first phase of the invasion of this hemisphere would not be the landing of regular troops. the necessary strategic points would be occupied by secret agents and by their dupesand great numbers of them are already here and in latin america.
　　as long as the aggressor nations maintain the offensive they, not we, will choose the time and the place and the method of their attack.
　　and that is why the future of all the american republics is today in serious danger. that is why this annual message to the congress is unique in our history. that is why every member of the executive branch of the government and every member of the congress face great responsibilitygreat accountability.
　　the need of the moment is that our actions and our policy should be devoted primarilyalmost exclusivelyto meeting this foreign peril. for all our domestic problems are now a part of the great emergency.
　　just as our national policy in internal affairs has been based upon a decent respect for the rights and dignity of all our fellow men within our gates, so our national policy in foreign affairs has been based on a decent respect for the rights and the dignity of all nations, large and small. and the justice of morality must and will win in the end.
　　our