Beginning of World War II. Birth of the Grand Alliance
"I feel very sure the Russians are going to hold this winter and that we should proceed vigorously with our plans both to supply them and to set up an air force to fight with them. I want us to be able to say to Mr. Stalin that we have carried out our obligations one hundred percent."
Roosevelt – Churchill, 27 October 1942. Roosevelt and Churchill: Their Secret Wartime Correspondence, pp. 261-262.
"Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. <...>
The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu. <...>
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.
With confidence in our armed forces – with the unbounding determination of our people – we will gain the inevitable triumph – so help us God."
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Address to Congress – Declaring War on Japan [known as “Day of Infamy address”], 8 December 1941. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum. Identifier: 122191711.
Photo by Yevgeny Khaldey.
Photo by Yevgeny Khaldey.