World War 2 Quotes

World War 2 obviously produced so many significant quotes. Here are some World War 2 quotes which are still very meaningful today.

Quotes from pre-war peace

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? I believe it is peace in our time.- Neville Chamberlain, 1938 Today we rule Germany, tomorrow, the world. - Adolf Hitler We no longer demand anything, we want war. - Germany's foreign minister, August 11, 1939.

? We must remind future generations what happened in 1936-1942, so that we will not make a wrong step again, so that our sons will have a chance to live. - Wing Commander Guy Gibson, VC, R.A.F, 1943. (Gibson was killed over occupied Europe in 1944).

Quotes about fighting totalitarian aggressors

Sure, we want to go home. We want this war over with. The quickest way to get it over with is to go get the bastards who started it. - George Patton

? No compromise is possible and the victory of the democracies can only be complete with the utter defeat of the war machines of Germany and Japan. - George Marshall ?

Quotes of leadership

We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets and on the hills. We shall never surrender. - Winston Churchill. ? I am asking of no man more than I myself was ready throughout four years to do - Adolf Hitler (In World War 1 Hitler was decorated twice for bravery in combat and was also wounded twice)

? I never worry about action, only inaction. - Winston Churchill.

? I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. - Winston Churchill. ? Quotes about courage

History knows no greater display of courage than that shown by the people of the Soviet Union. - Henry Stimson.

? Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue - Admiral Nimitz. ?

Quotes about air power

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. - Winston Churchill, about R.A.F fighter pilots.

? Air superiority is the ultimate expression of military power. - Winston Churchill. ? Air superiority is a condition for all operations, at sea, in land, and in the air. - Air Marshal Arthur Tedder.

? Anyone who fights, even with the most modern weapons, against an enemy who dominates the air, is like a primitive warrior who stands against modern forces, with the same limitations and the same chance of success. - Field Marshal Erwin Rommel ?

Quotes about Nazi war crimes

The world must know what happened, and never forget. - General Eisenhower, while visiting Nazi death camps, 1945.

? A thousand years will pass and the guilt of Germany will not be erased - Hans Frank, the Nazi governor of Poland. ?

Contemporary quotes about the war

? Historically, democratic societies have been slow to react to gathering threats, tending instead to wait to confront threats until they are too dangerous to ignore or until it is too late. Despite Nazi Germany's repeated violations of the Versailles Treaty and its string of provocations throughout the mid-1930s, the western democracies did not take action until 1939. The US Government did not act against the growing threat from Imperial Japan until the threat became all too evident at Pearl Harbor. - Dr. Condoleezza Rice, US National security advisor, 2004

 

第二篇：World War II二战中英文简介

第二次世界大战（World War II，简称二战）。19xx年9月1日—19xx年8月15日，以德国、意大利、日本法西斯轴心国( 及芬兰、匈牙利、罗马尼亚等国）为一方，以反法西斯同盟和全世界反法西斯力量为另一方进行的第二次全球规模的战争。从欧洲到亚洲，从大西洋到太平洋，先后有61个国家和地区、20亿以上的人口被卷入战争，作战区域面积2200万平方千米。据不完全统计，战争中军民共伤亡9000余万人，4万多亿美元付诸流水。第二次世界大战最后以美国、苏联、中国、英国等反法西斯国家和世界人民战胜法西斯侵略者赢得世界和平与进步而告终。根本原因　　资本主义经济政治发展的不平衡引起的。由于一战后德国经济的再次崛起，开始不甘心《凡尔赛和约》对其的严惩和限制，暗中加紧恢复国力；意大利因未能得到英法所许诺的领土而耿耿于怀；日本在入侵中国等亚洲国家的同时，美英等国禁止向日本输送战略物资，导致日本对美国的报复野心，导致第一强国美国的卷入，世界大战彻底爆发。[编辑本段]直接原因　　是由于1929——19xx年的资本主义经济危机的沉重打击，德意日法西斯为摆脱危机，转移国内人们的斗争视线，发动了第二次世界大战。为抑制日军扩张势头，美国对日本的石油、钢铁等战略物资的供应大为削减，致使深陷中国战场的日本陆军更加艰难。为此，与陆军部甚为不和的海军部极力主张打一个漂亮仗给陆军的笨蛋们看。物资供应的奇缺使天皇裕仁也倾向于向美国挑战。东条英机上台后，极力主张实行“大东亚共荣圈”政策，以便从东南亚掠夺资源支援前线，做一个幅员辽阔、物产丰富、名副其实的“大日本帝国”。罗斯福总统宣布对日宣战　　珍珠港事变前夕，日本积极实施外交和谈的政策，实行假和谈、真战争的阴谋。日本联合舰队总司令山本五十六是个痴迷的赌徒，在军事上也是一样好赌，要么大获全胜，要么一败涂地。山本在美国考察过，深知美国经济实力和军事工业的强大，本来山本是不同意贸然同美国开战的，但得知东条一意孤行的命令下达后，便服从命令。作为一个军人，山本认为，当战争无可避免的时候，就应该拿出武士道精神，同宿敌美国决一死战，他要用自己的方式与美国豪赌一把。在外交谈判上，蒙在鼓里的美国政府拒绝了日本政府提出的“甲案”和“乙案”，谈判彻底破裂。马上，日本对美宣战，与此同时，日本提前派遣的军队已袭击了菲律宾和夏威夷的珍珠港基地。 　　19xx年11月17日，偷袭珍珠港的联合舰队离开柱岛锚地；26日，集结后的攻击舰队离开单寇湾，取道北太平洋航线向珍

珠港进发，太平洋战争序幕掀开。12月7日，日军在马来半岛北部哥打巴鲁和泰南的北大年和宋卡登陆。12月8日，日本偷袭珍珠港成功并空袭英美在远东的军事设施。12月9日，日美英相互宣战，步其后尘者有加拿大、澳大利亚、新西兰等廿余个国家，太平洋战争正式爆发。12月10日，英国的“威尔斯亲王”号和“反击”号被日本海军航空兵击沉。12月25日，日军占领香港，在军官酒井隆的纵容下，暴行持续了整整三天。World War II, or the Second World War[1] (often abbreviated as WWII or WW2), was a global military conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945 which involved most of the world's nations, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million military personnel mobilised. In a state of "total war," the major participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by significant action against civilians, including the Holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare, it was the deadliest conflict in history.The war is generally accepted to have begun on 1 September 1939, with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and most of the countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth. China and Japan were already at war by this date,[2] whereas other countries that were not initially involved joined the war later in response to events such as the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the Japanese attacks on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor and on British overseas colonies, which triggered declarations of war on Japan by the United States, the British Commonwealth,[3] and the Netherlands.[4]The war ended with the total victory of the Allies over Germany and Japan in 1945. World War II left the political alignment and social structure of the world significantly changed. While the United Nations was established to foster international cooperation and prevent future conflicts, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next forty-six years. Meanwhile, the acceptance of the principle of self-determination accelerated decolonization movements in Asia and Africa, while Western Europe began moving toward economic recovery and increased political integration.Pre-war eventsInvasion of EthiopiaJapanese invasion of ChinaJapanese invasion of the USSR and MongoliaEuropean occupations and agreementsImpactCasualties and war crimesConcentration camps and slave workHome fronts and productionAdvances in technology and warfareFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, s

earch This article is about the naval base. For the attack on Pearl Harbor, see Attack on Pearl Harbor. For other uses, see Pearl Harbor (disambiguation).This article needs additional citations for verification.Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008) Pearl Harbor, U.S. Naval Base U.S. National Register of Historic Places U.S. National Historic Landmark District Aerial view of Pearl Harbor, Ford Island in center. The Arizona memorial is the small white dot on the far right side close to Ford Island. Nearest city: Pearl City, Hawai?i Coordinates: 21°20′38″N 157°58′30″W? / ?21.34389°N 157.975°W? / 21.34389; -157.975Coordinates: 21°20′38″N 157°58′30″W? / ?21.34389°N 157.975°W? / 21.34389; -157.975 Built/Founded: 1911 Governing body: Department of the Navy Added to NRHP: October 15, 1966 Designated NHLD: January 29, 1964[2] NRHP Reference#: 66000940[1] Pearl Harbor, or Pu'uloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of O?ahu, Hawai?i, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan on December 7, 1941, brought the United States into World War II.Contents [hide]1 History 1.1 Nineteenth Century 1.2 1899–1941 1.3 Sunday December 7, 1941 1.4 West Loch Explosion, 1944 2 United States Navy Base 2.1 National Historic Landmark 2.2 Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam 2.3 Surface ships presently homeported at Pearl Harbor 2.4 Submarines presently homeported at Pearl Harbor 3 References 4 External links [edit] HistoryPearl Harbor was originally an extensive, shallow embayment called Wai Momi (meaning, “pearl water”) or Pu?uloa (meaning, “long hill”) by the Hawaiians. Pu?uloa was regarded as the home of the shark goddess, Ka?ahupahau, and her brother (or son), Kahi?uka, in Hawaiian legends. Keaunui, the head of the powerful Ewa chiefs, is credited with cutting a navigable channel near the present Pu?uloa saltworks, by which made the estuary, known as “Pearl River,” accessible to navigation. Making due allowance for legendary amplification, the estuary already had an outlet for its waters where the present gap is; but Keaunui is usually given the credit for widening and deepening it.[3][edit] Nineteenth CenturyDuring the early 19th century Pearl Harbor was not used for large ships due to its shallow entrance. The interest of the United States in the Hawaiian Islands followed its whaling and trading ships in the Pacific. As early as 1820, an "Agent of the United States for Commerce and Seamen" was appointed to look after American business in the Port of Honolulu. These commercial ties to the American continent were accompanied by the work of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. American miss

ionaries and their families became an integral part of the Hawaiian political body.An 1826 incident[4] illustrates some of the high-handed tactics used by colonizers of the islands at this time. When Percival's ship, Dolphin, arrived in Honolulu, an ordinance inspired by the missionaries, placed restrictions on alcoholic liquors and the taking of women aboard vessels in the Honolulu Harbor. Lieutenant Percival and members of his crew felt that the new vice laws were unfair and, with more than a mere threat of force, had them rescinded. This action was later renounced by the United States and resulted in the sending of an envoy to King Kauikeaouli. When Captain Thomas ap Catesby Jones arrived, in command of the Peacock, he was the first naval officer to visit Hawaii armed with instructions to discuss international affairs with the Hawaii King and Chiefs and to conclude a trade treaty.Throughout the 1820s and 1830s, many American warships visited Honolulu. In most cases, the commanding officers carried letters from the U.S. Government giving advice on governmental affairs and of the relations of the island nation with foreign powers. In 1841, the newspaper Polynesian, printed in Honolulu, advocated that the U.S. establish a naval base in Hawaii. Its pretext was protection of American citizens engaged in the whaling industry. The British Hawaiian Minister of Foreign Affairs Robert Crichton Wyllie, remarked in 1840 that "...my opinion is that the tide of events rushes on to annexation to the United States." This trend was helped by incidents with the British and French. On February 13, 1843, Lord George Paulet, of HMS Carysfort occupied the islands in an incident known as the Paulet Affair. Although an American warship, Boston, was in the harbor, its commanding officer did not interfere. Official protest was made a few days later, however, by Commodore Kearney of Constellation. The actions of Lord Paulet were disavowed by Lord Aberdeen in London. France and Britain recognized Hawaiian independence, but the United States declined.After France agitated again in the 1849 invasion, King Kamehameha III, under the influence of his American advisors, drew up a deed of cessation to the United States. The commanding officer of Vandalia had his ship stand by while awaiting Washington's reply. With the death of the king, the retirement of the French forces, and the foreign policy of the Fillmore administration, the cessation idea fell into disfavor. The Navy Department received orders, however, to keep the naval armament of the U.S. in the Pacific.With the conclusion of the Civil War, the purchase of Alaska, the increased importance of the Pacific states, the projected trade with the Orient and the desire for a duty free market for Hawaiian staples, Hawaiian trade expanded. In 1865, the North Pacific Squadron was formed to embrace the western coast and Hawaii. Lackawanna in the following year was assigned to cruise among the islands, "a locality

of great and increasing interest and importance." This vessel surveyed the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands toward Japan. As a result the United States claimed Midway Island. The Secretary of the Navy was able to write in his annual report of 1868, that in November, 1867, 42 American flags flew over whaleships and merchant vessels in Honolulu to only six of other nations. This increased activity caused the permanent assignment of at least one warship to Hawaiian waters. It also praised Midway Island as possessing a harbor surpassing Honolulu's. In the following year, Congress approved an appropriation of $50,000 on March 1, 1869, to deepen the approaches to this harbor.After 1868, when the Commander of the Pacific Fleet visited the islands to look after "American interests," naval officers played an important role in internal affairs. They served as arbitrators in business disputes, negotiators of trade agreements and defenders of law and order. Periodic voyages among the islands and to the mainland aboard U.S. warships were arranged for members of the Hawaiian royal family and important island government officials. When King Lunalilo died in 1873, negotiations were underway for the cessation of Pearl Harbor as a port for the duty-free export of sugar to the U.S. With the election of King Kalākaua in March, 1874, riots prompted landing of bluejackets from USS Tuscorora and Portsmouth. The British warship, HMS Tenedos, also landed a token force. During the reign of King Kalākaua the United States was granted exclusive rights to enter Pearl Harbor and to establish "a coaling and repair station."This treaty continued in force until August 1898, the U.S. did not fortify Pearl Harbor as a naval base. The shallow entrance constituted a formidable barrier against the use of the deep protected waters of the inner harbor as it had for 60 years.Astronaut photograph of Pearl HarborThe United States and the Hawaiian Kingdom signed the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875 as supplemented by Convention on December 6, 1884 and ratified in 1887. On January 20, 1887, the United States Senate allowed the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base[5] (the US took possession on November 9 that year). The Spanish-American War of 1898 and the desire for the United States to have a permanent presence in the Pacific both contributed to the decision.[edit] 1899–1941Following the annexation, Pearl Harbor was refitted to allow for more navy ships. In May 1899, Commander F. Merry was made naval representative with authority to transact business for the Navy Department and its Bureaus. He immediately assumed control of the Coal Depot and its equipment. To supplement his facilities, he was assigned the Navy tug Iroquois and two coal barges. Inquiries that commenced in June culminated in the establishment of the "Naval Station, Honolulu" on November 17, 1899. On February 2, 1900, this title was changed to "Naval Station, Hawaii."The creation of the Naval Stati

on allowed the Navy Department to explore territorial outposts. In October 1899, Nero and Iroquois made extensive surveys and sounding of the waterways to Midway and Guam. One of the reasons for these explorations was to select a possible cable route to Luzon.A coal famine and an outbreak of the bubonic plague were the only two incidents that hindered the Commandant from fulfilling his primary functions. Because of the severe coal shortage in September 1899, the Commandant sold coal to the Oahu Railway and Land Company and the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company, Ltd. Although this indicated the affinity of economic ties with the Navy, it was to a certain extent counteracted by the quarantine of the naval establishment from December 1899-February 1900, because of the bubonic plague. Approximately 61 deaths were recorded in Honolulu for this period. Work was consequently delayed on nascent Navy projects in Honolulu Harbor.From 1900-1908, the Navy devoted its time to improving the facilities of the 85 acres (34 ha) that constituted the naval reservation in Honolulu. Under the Appropriation Act of March 3, 1901, this tract of land was improved with the erection of additional sheds and housing. Improvements included a machine shop, smithery and foundry, Commandant's house and stables, cottage for the watchman, fencing, 10-ton wharf crane, and water-pipe system. The harbor was dredged and the channel enlarged to accommodate larger ships. On May 28, 1903, the first battleship, Wisconsin, entered the harbor for coal and water. However, when the vessels of the Asiatic station visited Honolulu in January 1904, Rear Admiral Silas Terry complained that they were inadequately accommodated with dockage and water.Under the above Appropriation Act, Congress approved the acquisition of lands for the development of a naval station at Pearl Harbor and the improvement of the channel to the Lochs. The Commandant, under the direction of the Bureau of Equipment, attempted to obtain options on lands surrounding Pearl Harbor that were recommended for naval use. This endeavor was unsuccessful when the owners of the property refused to accept what was deemed to be a fair price. Condemnation proceedings, under the Hawaiian law of eminent domain, were begun on July 6, 1901. The land acquired by this suit included the present Navy Yard, Kauhua Island, and a strip on the southeast coast of Ford Island. The work of dredging the coral reef that blocked Pearl Harbor progressed rapidly enough to allow the gunboat Petrel to proceed to the upper part of Main Loch in January 1905.One of the early concerns of the growing station was that the Army would make claims on its property. Because of their facilities, as wharves, cranes, artesian wells, and coal supplies, many requests were made by the Army for their use. By February 1901, the Army had made application for the privilege of establishing on Navy docks movable cranes for handling coal and other stores, a saluti

ng battery and a flag staff on the naval reservation, and an artesian well of its own. All these requests were rejected by the Bureau of Equipment on the theory that, once granted, they "will practically constitute a permanent foothold on the property, and end in dividing it between the two Departments, or in the entire exclusion of the Navy Department on the ground of military expediency as established by frequency of use." However, the Army Depot Quartermaster at Honolulu contracted for the sinking of an artesian well on the Naval Station with the Commandant's approval, who, in turn, acted on a recommendation of the Bureau of Yards and Docks. The flow of water obtained amounted to over 1.5 million gallons per day, sufficient for all purposes of the Army and Navy. The Bureau of Equipment felt that its word of caution was justified when the Depot Quartermaster in 1902 let it be known that any water used by the Navy from the artesian well was "only given by courtesy of the Army."Despite the warnings of the Bureau of Equipment, the War Department, the Department of Labor and Commerce, and the Department of Agriculture had secured permission to settle on the naval reservation. By 1906, the Commandant believed that it was necessary for the Bureau of Yards and Docks to develop a policy on the future of the station. The docks were being used to a greater extent by the Army transports, than by Navy ships, and the Army was actually attempting to get possession of Quarantine Wharf (which was built by the Territorial Government on the Naval Reservation, with the understanding that it could be taken over at any time by the Navy Department upon the payment of its appraised value.) In 1903, the Department of Labor and Commerce received about 7 acres (2.8 ha) for an Immigration Station. The Department of Agriculture had, in the meanwhile, secured part of the site intended for a hospital as an experimental station. The Commandant felt that, if the station was going to develop beyond a mere coaling depot, these territorial encroachments on the part of other departments should be stopped, particularly when they were enjoying the benefits of naval appropriations. "On the other hand," he wrote, "if it is the intention to improve Pearl Harbor and eventually abandon this station every effort should be made to begin work there as soon as possible. . . . I am informed that important commercial interests will make a strong effort next year to have Pearl Harbor improved, and I think that will be an opportune time for the Navy Department to make efforts in the same direction."In 1908, the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard was established. The period from 1908-1919 was one of steady and continuous growth of the Naval Station, Pearl Harbor, with the exception of the discouraging collapse of the drydock in 1913. Work on the dock started on September 21, 1909 and on February 17, 1913, the entire drydock structure rumbled, rocked, and caved in. It was ceremonially opened to

flooding by Mrs. Josephus Daniels, wife of the Secretary of the Navy, on August 21, 1919. The Act of May 13, 1908 authorized the enlargement and dredging of the Pearl Harbor channel and lochs "to admit the largest ships," the building of shops and supply houses for the Navy Yard, and the construction of a drydock. Work progressed satisfactorily on all projects, except the drydock. After much wrangling with Congress to secure an appropriation of over three million dollars for its construction, it was wrecked by "underground pressure. " In 1917, Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor was purchased for joint Army and Navy use in the development of military aviation in the Pacific.As the Japanese military pressed its war in China, concern over Japan's intentions caused the U.S. to begin taking defensive measures. On February 1, 1933, the U.S. Navy staged a mock attack on the base at Pearl Harbor as part of a preparedness exercise.[citation needed] The attack "succeeded" and the defense was deemed a "failure".The actual attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan on December 7, 1941 brought the United States into World War II.[edit] Sunday December 7, 1941USS Arizona (BB-39) sinking during the attack.Main article: Attack on Pearl HarborAircraft and midget submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy began an attack on the U.S. The Americans had deciphered Japan's code earlier and knew about a planned attack before it actually occurred. However, due to difficulty in deciphering intercepted messages, the Americans failed to discover Japan's target location before the attack occurred.[6] Under the command of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the attack was devastating in loss of life and damage to the U.S. fleet. At 06:05 on December 7, the six Japanese carriers launched a first wave of 183 planes composed mainly of dive bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters.[7] The Japanese hit American ships and military installations at 07:51. The first wave attacked military airfields of Ford Island. At 08:30, a second wave of 170 Japanese planes, mostly torpedo bombers, attacked the fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. The battleship Arizona was hit with an armor piercing bomb which penetrated the forward ammunition compartment, blowing the ship apart and sinking it within seconds. Overall, nine ships of the U.S. fleet were sunk and 21 ships were severely damaged. Three of the 21 would be irreparable. The overall death toll reached 2,350, including 68 civilians, and 1,178 injured. Of the military personnel lost at Pearl Harbor, 1,177 were from the Arizona. The first shots fired were from the destroyer Ward on a midget submarine that surfaced outside of Pearl Harbor; Ward sank the midget sub at approximately 06:55, about an hour before the assault on Pearl Harbor. Japan would lose 29 out of the 350 planes they attacked with.