Fireside Chat

富兰克林·罗斯福/Franklin Roosevelt

富兰克林·罗斯福（1882—1945），美国第32任总统，美国历史上唯一蝉联四届（第四届未任满）的总统。罗斯福在20世纪的经济大萧条和第二次世界大战中扮演了重要的角色，被学者评为美国最伟大的三位总统之一。

我的朋友：

这次炉边谈话的内容不是关于战争，而是关于国家安全保障，因为你们的总统所有目的的核心，就是想让你们，你们的孩子，你们的子孙后代，不需要再通过拼死抵抗来维护美国的独立，以及美国的独立赋予我、你和我们大家的一切。

今晚，面对着世界危机的来临，我的思绪回到了八年前国内危机中期的一个夜晚。当时，美国工业的车轮完全停滞了，我们国家的整个银行系统停止了运转。

我记得很清楚，当我坐在白宫的书房里，准备向合众国人民演讲的时候，我眼前浮现出他们所有人的样子。我看到制造厂、矿井和工厂里的工人们；我看见柜台后的女招待；我看见小商店老板；我看到春耕的农民；我还看到担心着自己毕生积蓄的寡妇和老人们。

我努力让无数的美国人民明白，银行危机对他们的日常生活来说意味着什么。

今晚，在美国面临这场新危机的时候，我想对同样的人们做同样的一件事。

1933年，我们以勇气和现实的精神迎接了那一场危机；今天，我们以同样的勇气和现实精神来迎接这一场新的危机。

自美利坚文明在詹姆斯敦和普利茅斯岩诞生以来，我们还未遭遇过像今天这么严峻的危机。

因为在1940年9月27日——就是今年——两个欧洲强国和一个亚洲强国在柏林签署了和约。它们勾结起来威胁我们：如果美国干预或阻止这三个国家旨在控制全世界的扩张行动，它们最终将针对美国采取联合行动。

德国的纳粹头目们的野心已经昭然于世。他们不仅企图征服他们本国人民的思想和生命，还企图奴役整个欧洲，然后利用欧洲的资源来征服世界其他地方。

换句话说，轴心国不只是承认，他们还公开声明，在他们的政治哲学和我们的政治哲学之间永无调和的可能。

就这个不可否认的威胁的性质而言，我们可以明确果断地宣布：只要这些侵略国一天不明确表示放弃统治或征服世界的全部企图，美国就一天没有权利也没有理由提倡和平谈判。

此时，那些与生活在和平之中的所有人民为敌而结盟的国家的军队，已经被赶离我们的海岸；在大西洋的另一端，德国人和意大利人被英国人、希腊人，还有成千上万从沦陷中学逃出的士兵和水手们所拦截。在亚洲，在另一个伟大的保卫战中日本正受到中华民族的抵抗。

我们的舰队正巡逻在太平洋上。

……

考虑到今天和未来，我直截了当地告诉美国人民：如果我们今天尽全力去支援正在反击轴心国进攻的国家，那么合众国卷入战争的可能性就小得多；而如果我们默许他们的失败，屈从于轴心国的胜利，那么我们必将成为下一阶段战争中的攻击对象。

如果我们足够坦诚，那么我们就必须承认无论做何选择都是要承担风险的。但是，我深信，我们绝大多数人民都会同意，我所提倡的方案意味着现阶段最小的风险，却预示着未来世界和平最大的希望。

正在自卫的欧洲人民并没有要求我们替他们作战。他们要求的只是战争的装备，飞机、坦克、枪支和运输机。这些武器能够帮助他们为自己的自由以及我们的安全而战。我们必须当机立断并且尽可能多、尽可能快地把这些武器送给他们，这样，我们和我们的孩子们就能免受战争的痛苦与折磨，而其他人已不得不承受这样的痛苦与折磨。

……

我们必须成为民主的伟大武器库。对我们来说，这与战争同样紧急。我们应该以同样的决心、同样的紧迫感、同样的爱国主义和牺牲精神，来完成我们的任务，就像我们已经亲临战场。

我们已经向不列颠提供了大量的物质支援，未来还将提供更多。

在我们援助大不列颠的决心中没有“瓶颈”。无论独裁者或者独裁联盟威胁说要如何对我们的决心进行解释，都不能削弱我们这个决心。

不列颠已经得到了英勇的希腊军队以及所有流亡政府武装的难以估量的军事支持。他们的力量渐渐强大，这力量来自于视自由重于生命的人们。

最新、最有价值的情报给了我一个信念，那就是：轴心国势力绝不会赢得这场战争。

我们没有借口倡导失败主义，我们有无数个充足的理由满怀希望——满怀和平的希望，是的，还有保卫我们的文明以及在未来创造更美好的文明的希望。

我坚信，此刻，美国人民正决心以前所未有的努力去提高各种防御物资的产量，用以对抗我们民主信念所面临的威胁。

作为合众国的总统，我号召全民行动起来。我以国家的名义号召你们，因为我们热爱她、尊敬她，并以能对她有所贡献而深感荣幸与骄傲。我以我们共同事业必胜的坚定信心来号召我们的人民。

My friend，

This is not a fireside chat on war. It is a talk on national security；because the nub of the whole purpose of your president is to keep you now， and your children later， and your grandchildren much later， out of a last-ditch war for the preservation of American independence and all of the things that American independence means to you and to me and to ours.

Tonight， in the presence of a world crisis， my mind goes back eight years to a night in the midst of a domestic crisis. It was a time when the wheels of American industry were grinding to a full stop， when the whole banking system of our country had ceased to function.

I well remembered that while I sat in my study in the White House， preparing to talk with the people of the United States， I had before my eyes the picture of all those Americans with whom I was talking. I saw the workmen in the mills， the mines， the factories；the girl behind the counter；the small shopkeeper；the farmer doing his Spring plowing；the widows and the old men wondering about their life's savings.

I tried to convey to the great mass of American people what the banking crisis to them in their daily lives.

Tonight I want to do the same thing， with the same people， in this new crisis， which faces America.

We met the issue of 1933 with courage and realism. We face this new crisis—this new threat to the security of our nation—with the same courage and realism.

Never before since Jamestown and Plymouth Rock has our American civilization been in such danger as now.

For on September 27，1940—this year—by an agreement signed in Berlin， three powerful nations， two in Europe and one in Asia， joined themselves together in the threat that if the United States of America interfered with or blocked the expansion program of these three nations—a program aimed at world control—they would unite in ultimate action against the United States.

The Nazi masters of Germany have made it clear that they intend not only to dominate all life and thought in their own country， but also to enslave the whole of Europe， and then to usethe resources of Europe to dominate the rest of the world.

In other words， the Axis not merely admits but the Axis proclaims that there can be no ultimate peace between their philosophy—their philosophy of government—and our philosophy of government.

In view of the nature of this undeniable threat， it can be asserted， properly and categorically， that the United States has no right or reason to encourage talk of peace until the day shall come when there is a clear intention on the part of the aggressor nations to abandon all thought of dominating or conquering the world.

At this moment the forces of the States that are leagued

against all peoples who live in freedom are being held away from our shores. The Germans and the Italians are being blocked on the other side of the Atlantic by the British and by the Greeks， and by thousands of soldiers and sailors who were able to escape from subjugated countries.In Asia the Japanese are being engaged by the Chinese nation in another great defense.

In the Pacific Ocean is our fleet.

…

Thinking in terms of today and tomorrow， I make the direct statement to the American people that there is far less chance of the United States getting into war if we do all we can now to support the nations defending themselves against attack by the Axis than if we acquiesce in their defeat， submit tamely to an Axisvictory， and wait our turn to be the object of attack in another war later on.

If we are to be completely honest with ourselves， we must admit that there is risk in any course we may take. But I deeply believe that the great majority of our people agree that the course that I advocate involves the least risk now and the greatest hope for world peace in the future.

The people of Europe who are defending themselves do not ask us to do their fighting. They ask us for the implements of war， the planes， the tanks， the guns， the freighters which will enable them to fight for their liberty and for our security.Emphatically we must get these weapons to them， get them to them in sufficient volume and quickly enough so that we and our children will be saved the agony and suffering of war which others have had to endure.

…

We must be the great arsenal of democracy. For us this is an emergency as war itself.We must apply ourselves to our task with the same resolution， the same sense of urgency， the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as we would show were we at war.

We have furnished the British great material support and we will furnish far more in the future.

There will be no "bottlenecks" in our determination to aid Great Britain. No dictator， no combination of dictators， will weakenthat determination by threats of how they will construe that determination.

The British have received invaluable military support from the heroic Greek Army and from the forces of all the governments in exile. Their strength is growing.It is the strength of men and women who value their freedom more highly than they value their lives.

I believe that the Axis powers are not going to win this war. I base that belief on the latest and best of information.

We have no excuse for defeatism. We have every good reason for hope—hope for peace， yes， and hope for the defense of our civilization and for the building of a better civilization in the future.

I have the profound conviction that the American people are now determined to put forth a mightier effort than they have ever yet made to increase our production of all the implements of defense， to meet the threat to our democratic faith.

As president of the United States， I call for that national effort. I call for it in the name of this nation which we love and honor and which we are privileged and proud to serve.I call upon our people with absolute confidence that our common cause will greatly succeed.