Power For Peace (1952)

[Music] [Music] today the western world is building its defenses defenses to prevent a war does not want slowly reluctantly 12 nations of free europe together with canada and the united states have turned to the heavy task of mobilizing their industrial might their manpower science and natural resources because in today's world of soviet aggression the only safety is in strength in plants all over western europe work is pushing ahead to build the weapons that alone can make foreign aggression too costly and therefore impossible ships from america laden with military and economic aid are pouring their cargos into european ports to help in the common task of erecting a vast defensive shield [Music] cooperation among the atlantic nations grows daily pledged not only in material and equipment but in the lives of their citizens as well divisions from the united states both ground and air forces have been assigned to permanent duty overseas to help the growing armies of western europe and holding the line to millions of young men north americans and europeans alike the times have brought the grim necessity of learning a second trade [Music] for to go on living and working as they want they must be equipped to defend if necessary their chosen way of life against the forces which today threaten all free nations and all free people in the great international protective force the nations of the atlantic community are welding together there is clearly rising the greatest obstacle yet to the communist aim of world domination so go home eisenhower became the red slogan from end to end of the continent and moscow ordered all europe's communists into immediate action the kremlin's alarm is betrayed by the frantic mouthings of thousands of obedient party members all shouted imperialist war mongers war mongers imperialists well let's look at the record let's go back back to ve day 1945 the war was over in europe in a few more weeks it would be over everywhere the western nations with unspeakable relief hastened to disband their victorious forces embarking for home the huge american army faded away leaving behind only a few regiments of occupation duties overseas the war was over in america as in europe the one thought was to get back to blessed peace millions of tons of equipment were left to rust and to rot where the wars ended overtaken them then the people of europe went to work clearing away the debris of violence they're facing as scars with whatever materials whatever tools were at hand they began restoring piecing together rebuilding striving to recreate the pattern of life they had known and loved [Music] but not all europe had given priority to peace russia's gigantic military machines still almost intact by far the biggest still left in the world its military budget was nearly as high as in wartime for auxiliary forces it had the growing armies of its satellite nations nations once free which the kremlin had reduced by pressure from without and treason from within lithuania latvia and estonia poland hungary bulgaria romania and albania east germany and finally czechoslovakia in berlin communists were doing their best to turn germany's capital into a drawn and quartered city in greece a savage guerrilla war inspired by moscow was being supported and prolonged by communist help from across the borders in italy the biggest communist party in western europe was stirring up revolutionary turmoil everywhere the communist technique was to break the peace to promote economic chaos and to delay recovery for among people bogged down in poverty and misery communism gains ground most easily moscow's loudest propaganda guns were trained from the start upon the marshall plan already showing results in its peaceful campaign to restore europe to economic health the whole world knows that the so-called marshall plan is just another american imperialist scheme to build up a new fascist army and incite europe to an attack on peace-loving russia [Music] [Music] foreign the truth was western europe was wholly unequipped even to defend itself american troops in europe numbered barely a hundred thousand france had only half a million men in iran's britain the same the netherlands and italy not half a million between them fewer still in belgium denmark norway and greece combined against the east of the huge red army four and a half million strong with the buffer armies of its satellite nations totaling two and a half millions more controlling and disposing these immense forces was a monolithic police state done on world domination the same kind of massive and brutal dictatorship the world had seen before to its cost the dictatorships cannot be appeased the free world had learned their ultimate aim is war and when in korea red aggression struck openly the free nations knew they must act together or go down to conquest one by one meeting at brussels the north atlantic treaty nations agreed that the time had come to build up a joint force for mutual protection a force strong enough to discourage any aggressor a community armed to keep the peace general eisenhower was called in to organize unify and lead the new protective force together with general juan of france as his top field commander and field marshal lord montgomery of britain as his deputy he appointed an international staff the french army became the backbone of western european defenses today it is steadily growing in size strength and effectiveness like the rest of the north atlantic forces [Music] to help equip the fighting men of france guns tanks and vehicles are coming from america through the new mutual defense assistance program in addition great quantities of military equipment are being turned out by french industry french tanks in service with the north atlantic forces are among the heaviest in europe backing up the land army is a recreated french air force with the latest in jet planes and france's rebuilt navy with its own air arm is back on the seas again ready to play its part in the atlantic and the mediterranean beside france and the other free european countries belgians navy like its ground and air groups is already working with nato forces denmark has pooled its navy and its army with those of its allies the netherlands has pledged three divisions britain has by now close to a million men under arms as well as western europe's strongest navy and air force [Music] the united states quarter of six divisions has already arrived canada's fighting men are back in the europe they helped liberate in 1944 italy's three division army is being expanded in norway every able-bodied man is trained and ready [Music] behind these defense forces stands all the immense economic power of the whole free world all the brains and skill of its scientists men who've harnessed atomic power today stand ready if need be to contribute new and more powerful weapons to its defense all the free world's overwhelming industrial might a productive capacity many times greater than that of the combined communist nations by far the most and richest of the earth's food producing soil lies within the free world and to make it yield there are millions of peasants and farmers who know that under communism they would soon lose not only their land but also their independence like all free men everywhere they look to the day when all their energies can be devoted to the building of a better and a more secure life but they know that for now there is another task that must share priority the task of self-defense and so it is that free men everywhere have reluctantly come to the determination to sacrifice today for the survival of all that they believe in bore tomorrow when the flags of freedom can finally fly over a world not menaced by war and dedicated to progress and well-being for all because free men remembered that eternal vigilance is the price of peace