Analysis: We Must Not Falter Now
The topic "We Must Not Falter Now" revolves around the critical period in 1940 when the United States faced the escalating threat of Nazi Germany during World War II. As the conflict intensified in Europe, influential figures like Henry Luce urged Americans to abandon their isolationist stance and recognize the imminent danger to their way of life. The call to action included bolstering military preparedness through compulsory service and providing support to Great Britain, the last major ally resisting German aggression.
Luce emphasized the need for unity among Americans, regardless of political affiliation, to defend democratic ideals, economic stability, and cultural freedoms that were at risk. He argued against appeasement, portraying it as a path leading to the erosion of democracy. The discussion highlighted the urgency of mobilizing both military and civilian resources to ensure the safety and integrity of the United States and its allies. This moment marked a significant shift in American public sentiment, setting the stage for deeper involvement in the war effort. The topic invites consideration of the broader themes of national responsibility, collective action, and the complexities of wartime decision-making in a global context.
Analysis: We Must Not Falter Now
Date: June 1, 1940
Authors: Henry R. Luce
Genre: speech
Summary Overview
In the spring of 1940, Congress began debate over dramatically increasing, through compulsory service, the size of the American military. Time and Life editor Henry Luce, in a CBS radio broadcast, argued that it was time for the United States to acknowledge that the war in Europe represented a threat to the United States as well. If Americans valued their way of life, he advised, they should shed the country's declared neutrality and join the war against Nazi Germany, either by supporting Great Britain and other allies with supplies and aid or by getting directly involved. He commended those leaders who had already recognized the threat and spoken out in favor of joining in the war effort, and invited others—regardless of their political ideologies—to unify in the face of the threat posed by Adolf Hitler's belligerence.
Defining Moment
By 1940, Hitler—who once told world leaders that he had no desire to go to war with his neighbors—had violated the Treaty of Versailles by inserting troops into the demilitarized Rhineland and absorbing Austria. In 1939 alone, Hitler annexed Czechoslovakia and invaded Poland, prompting France, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia to declare war in response. In 1940, the German invaders spread into Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. France also fell in 1940, as the Germans established a puppet government capital in Vichy. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Japan became allies with Germany and Italy, and, having already invaded the Chinese region of Manchuria in 1931, continued its advance into China, Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific.
In 1940, virtually every corner of the world, with the exception of the Western Hemisphere, was living under either the specter of war or actual wartime conditions. Once France fell, the last viable opponent for Germany was Britain (since Russia, to the east, had entered into a nonaggression pact in 1939 with Germany). German bombers began air attacks on London and other key targets in England. Offshore, German U-boats started sinking merchant ships en route from US to British ports.
Weary from the World War I and separated from Europe and East Asia by thousands of miles of ocean, the United States clung to a state of neutrality. A majority of Americans simply felt that the growing crisis in Europe, while troubling, did not represent an immediate threat to the Western Hemisphere, particularly since no declaration of war had been issued nor had there been any direct attacks on American interests. However, news of the relentless bombing of Britain—the last American ally standing in Europe—led many leaders to call for the United States to prepare for war.
The first step, according to leaders such as President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Senator James Byrnes (D-South Carolina), was to bolster America's military. The US Army had been significantly reduced after World War I, and the US Navy was largely occupied with the Japan crisis. In the spring of 1940 Congress took up debate on a bill that, through a system of selective compulsory service, worked to raise a military force capable of addressing the wartime threat. The bill, first heard in the Senate, passed unanimously and was put on a course for immediate passage and signature by the president. As that legislation continued through Congress, a growing number of leaders voiced their concerns that the purpose of the bill was not just to bolster the country's security but to prepare its citizens for an unavoidable war. Prominent media mogul, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Henry Luce was among this group, taking to a platform provided by CBS Radio to convince Americans to gird themselves for another major conflict.
Author Biography
Henry Robinson Luce was born on April 3, 1898, in Tengchow (now Penglai), China. His parents were Presbyterian missionaries who inspired in him the desire to play an active role in international development and affairs. He attended the Hotchkiss School from 1913 to 1916 before attending Yale University. He took time off from school to serve as a second lieutenant in the US Army during World War I. After graduating from Yale in 1920, he worked as a journalist before partnering with Hotchkiss and Yale classmate Briton Hadden to found Time magazine, first published in 1923. The two would establish two other major publications, Life and Fortune. In 1941, he penned an editorial, “The American Century,” which called for the United States to become a world leader and model for developing countries. An ardent Republican, Luce was active in a number of presidential elections during the decades after World War II. He retired in 1964, and died February 28, 1967, at his home in Phoenix, Arizona.
Document Analysis
During his radio address, Henry Luce makes clear that the American way of life is in grave danger from the belligerent German force that grew in Europe. He says that the time for denying this threat existed was over. Americans need to unite, he declares, in a collection of voices. Every American, regardless of his or her political party, needs to profess that he or she intends to work for “Peace, real Peace in a world of Peace.” The United States stands at a crossroads, he suggests: it can choose to stand tall against Germany or continue to hide behind a false sense of neutrality. Only if it chooses the former road, he says, could America's leadership and strength become manifest for the whole world to see.
Luce first appeals to Americans to take stock of what is at risk. The American way of life—a high standard of living, free enterprise, democratic government, organized labor, arts and culture, and religious freedom—were threatened by Nazi Germany. Luce emphasizes the idea that, if Hitler won the war, Christians of all sects would undoubtedly be sent into hiding. Luce calls upon Americans to take two actions to prevent these losses. The first, he says, is to work hard to improve American democracy and strengthen the economy so that they are more difficult to topple. Second, he says, Americans need to prepare to go to war in defense of these ideals. Toward this end, Luce adds, the US Senate voted unanimously to install the compulsory service system. Still, Americans need to join willingly and zealously, he says. They might hate war (and they should), he says, but Americans should still take part in it without hesitation.
Luce also assesses the situation in Europe. Hitler, he says, has a history of deceiving Germany's neighbors with diplomatic pleasantries before attacking them. The Nazi leader, Luce adds, should not be appeased, as such a policy would inevitably result in “the bloody end of all our democracy.” Additionally, Luce comments on the plight of the last-standing American ally in Europe: Britain. He says that it is possible that the British might, with no help from the United States or others, repel Hitler's attack. However, such a victory might take a great deal of time. The United States, he says, should give as much aid and support to Great Britain to help that nation defeat Hitler in a much quicker fashion. “We don't want to miss the bus,” he states. Americans should pressure their elected leaders to provide major assistance to its allies.
Luce adds that Americans should take immediate action, the first step of which is simply to speak out against Hitler and the Third Reich. Every leader, he says, whether Democratic or Republican, past or current, must stand tall and reject the Nazis. There is no room for small gestures or acts, he says. The United States should, as one nation, hold fast to its values, and reject petty “folly and miscalculation and stupidity” in the face of the looming Nazi threat.
Bibliography and Additional Reading
Brinkley, Alan. The Publisher: Henry Luce and His American Century. 2010. New York: Vintage, 2011. Print.
“Milestones: 1937–1945: Henry Luce and 20th Century US Internationalism.” History.state.gov. US Dept. of State, Office of the Historian, 2014. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
Stimson, Henry L. “Our Duty Is Clear: Compulsory Service Must Be Adopted.” House Military Affairs Committee, Washington, DC. 31 July 1940. Vital Speeches of the Day 6 (1939–40): 647–48. Print.
Whitman, Alden. “Henry R. Luce, Creator of Time-Life Magazine Empire, Dies in Phoenix at 68.” New York Times 1 Mar. 1967: n. New York Times, 2010. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.