the Best war speech ever?

[Sennacherib 0]

my favourites are speeches from Martin Luther King and Gandhi: the nonviolence wars agaisnt racism , inequality and for freedom.

[da12thMonkey 1943]

To save all that tiresome reading:

I was going to post them but Kenneth Branagh pisses me right off :D

[Mickd 0]

There was an Iraq? one by a British commander that was really impressive, about respecting the enemy and such, can't remember the guy's name, he was considered a hero then got into some trouble a couple of years later?

Allegedly, George Bush Jr had a copy of the Tim Collins speech framed & hanging on the wall in the Oval office during his tenure. So the story goes.

[Steakslim 1]

This one?

That would be it, though I think there's some more too it, but it's kinda hard to find it all intact as one previous poster mentions, there's a lot of sites that quote that are affiliated with neo-nazi groups, which one would rather not bother drudging through. I'll post the remainder of it, probably found from the same site you found yours:

"Something of this kind is happening on the other side. As a people, we are fortunate in being somewhat less indolent than they. If someone tells us to examine ourselves we at least have the courage to do it. Our condition is not absolutely perfect, but at least we agree to take a look at other things, and take chances.We are now embarked on a risky enterprise, with no assurance of safety. We are advancing an idea of unity which is neither rich nor easily digestable, but the vast majority of the German people accept it and adhere to it, forging and forming it in an admirable collective effort.This is where we are now risking everthing. We are trying, taking due account of the attiudes of society, to change the face of the world, hoping to revive the ancient virtues buried under the layers of filth bequeathed to us by our forbears. We can expect no reward for this effort. We are loathed everywhere: if we should lose tomorrow those of us still alive after so much suffering will be judged without justice. We shall be accused of an infinity of murder, as if everywhere, at all times, men at war did not behave in the same way. Those who have an interest in putting an end to our ideals will ridicule everything we believe in. We shall be spared nothing. Even the tombs of our heroes shall be destroyed, only preserving - as a gesture of respect toward the dead - a few which contain heroes of doubtful heroism, who were never fully commited to our cause. With our deaths, all the prodigies of heroism which our daily circumstances require of us, and in memory of our comrades, dead and alive, and our communion of spirits, our fears and our hopes, will vanish and our history will never be told. Future generations will speak only of an idiotic, unqualified sacrifice. Whether you wanted it or not you are now part of this undertaking, and nothing which follows can equal the efforts you made, if you sleep tommorrow under the quieter skies of the opposite camp. In that case, you will never be forgiven for having survived. You will be either rejected or presvered like a rare animal which has escaped a rare cataclysm. With other men, you will be as cats are to dogs and you will never have any real friends.

Do you wish such an end for yourselves?"

Anyone who wishes to go but is hesitating from fear of our authority should speak to me; I will take as many nights as it needs to reassure you. I repeat: those who wish to leave should do so. We cannot count on men who feel that way, and our efforts cannot gain from their presence. Please believe that I understand your sufferings. I feel the cold and fear as you do, and I fire at the enemy as you do, because I feel that my duty as an officer requires at least as much from me as your duty does of you. I wish to stay alive, even if it's only to continue the struggle somewhere else. I wish my company to be united in thought and in deed. Once the fighting begins, I will not tolerate doubt and defeatism. We shall be suffering not only in the interests of ultimate victory, but in the interests of daily victory against those who hurl themselves at us without respite, and whose only thought is to exterminate us, without any understanding of what is at stake. You can feel certain of me, in return, and certain that I will not expose you to any unnecessary dangers.

'I would burn and destroy entire villages if by so doing I could prevent even one of us from dying of hunger. Here, deep in the wilds of the steppe, we shall be all the more aware of our unity. We are surrounded by hatred and death, and in these circumstances we shall daily oppose our perfect cohesion to the indiscipline and disorder of our enemies. Our group must be as one, and our thoughts must be identical. Your duty lies in your efforts to achieve that goal, and if we do achieve it, and maintain it, we shall be victors even in death.

Edited July 31, 2009 by Steakslim

[Placebo 29]

I was going to post them but Kenneth Branagh pisses me right off :D

He was awesome in Conspiracy, does a great Nazi ;)

He's also really good in Wallander, nice to see the beautiful land of Sweden shown so well in a TV Drama :)

Allegedly, George Bush Jr had a copy of the Tim Collins speech framed & hanging on the wall in the Oval office during his tenure. So the story goes.

Really? Well if true there's finally one reason to respect the dude :)

[Hitman 10]

Kassoha sie. Tää asja on näi. Jos sie lähet juoksemaa, nii sie saat juossa Pohjalahel saakka. Kyl hää tulloo peräs, älä yhtää eppäile. Mut jos sie pysyt paikollais etkä lähe hitoilkaa, nii minkä hää tekköö? Et sie sovi hänen kansaa sammaa monttuu. Se on tään puolustussovan ratekia.

CPL Rokka from Tuntematon Sotilas (unknown soldier), finnish war film from 1954. Explaining a young soldier how things go.

Translation:

Look now. Here's how it goes. If you start running away, you can run to the Bothnia Gulf, he will follow you I'm sure. But if you stay put and don't go anywhere, what can he do? There's no way you can fit with him in the same foxhole. That's the strategy for a defence war.

Another one from the same character:

Tään hyökkäyssovan ratekia on tällanen. Sie mänet. Sinnuu ammutaan, Sie juokset katsomatta ja hää pahalainen nappajaa siut. Ei, sie katsot suojat, sie katsot mis on ampuja, sie ole nopea, mut elä hätäinen. Tähtää ensin, tähtää hyvin tarkkaan, ja ammu ensin. Yhen sekunnin etumatka riittää. Silviisii se on.

This is how offensive strategy goes. You go. You get shot. You run without looking and he will get you. No, you watch the cover, you watch where the shooter is, your fast but not hasty. Aim first, aim very careful and shoot first. One second headstart is enough. That's how it goes.

[Sgt.Spoetnik 10]

there are indeed a couple off good one's posted here but this one i didn see yet and is one off my favorites;

movie :independence day, the speech given by the president at end off the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRGUqd_M6Mg

[SaBrE_UK 0]

That Independence Day one is cringe-worthy in my opinion. Good movie, though.

[ACF 0]

Brigadier James Hill summing up after briefing the officers of 3 Parachute Brigadede, 6 Airborne Division on 4 June 1944:

"Gentlemen, in spite of your excellent orders and training, do not be daunted if chaos reigns; it undoubtedly will."

Short and to the point.

[jakerod 254]

That Independence Day one is cringe-worthy in my opinion. Good movie, though.

I can kind of see where you're coming from but some how I still find it enjoyable. It is no where as good as some of the others posted but I deserves to be noted at least to me.

[JdB 151]

That Independence Day one is cringe-worthy in my opinion. Good movie, though.

A lot of movie war-speeches are uber-cheesy. If I were actually preparing for battle, and some commander felt the urge to make a speech like the one in Independence Day, the enemy would not have to bother too much, because everyone listening to it would laugh themselves to death.

[Commando84 0]

The Churchill one fight on the beaches and all is a classic epic even though its a bit slow paced, but has some depth to it sort of like brittish action movies compared to american ones :D

The independence day one is imo really awesome but the One Morpheus makes in the matrix movie is really great.

The babylon 5 ones are kick ass, its a really great tv show even though the visual fx are highly dated :p

[Macadam Cow 1]

Well I know it's more an anti-war speach but it's quite fascinating to know it has been written more than 60 years ago.

Looks like the world hasn't change in 60 years

5IvPIWzQcUY

Edited August 5, 2009 by Macadam Cow

[sanctuary 19]

It was indeed an awesome speech in that old movie

I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor. That's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white.

We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other's happiness - not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there's room for everyone and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone.

The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men's souls - has barricaded the world with hate - has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in man - cries for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say: 'Do not despair.' The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.

Soldiers! Don't give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you and enslave you - who regiment your lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don't hate, only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural!

Soldiers! Don't fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of St Luke, it is written the kingdom of God is within man not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people, have the power - the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful - to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy - let us use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world - a decent world that will give men a chance to work - that will give youth a future and old age a security.

By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfil that promise. They never will! Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfil that promise! Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason - a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness. Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us unite!

[-)rStrangelove 0]

There's nothing like hearing Churchill's speech at the beginning of 'Live after Death' tbh. Makes my skin crawl every time. Wish i had been there in Rio 84/85.

[chops 111]

I like Eisenhower's speeches. They're not overly poetical or dramatic, he states his contention clearly and plainly, yet I imagine he was quite inspirational.

DDay speech

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have

striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The

hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.

In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on

other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war

machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of

Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well

equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of

1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats,

in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their

strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home

Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions

of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men.

The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to

Victory!

I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in

battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!

Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great

and noble undertaking.

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His farewell address as President, warning of the growing power of the "military-industrial complex" - created a new phrase in the process.

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

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[maturin 12]

Here's a new one:

Skip to 5:15

[GoOB 0]

I don't know what a "war speech" entails, but my favourite ones, with war as the preliminary topic is Olof Palme's speech on the Hanoi Christmas bombings of '72. Will translate it later and put it up here.

[Akira 0]

Morpheus' speech to Zion :)

Would have been good if it didn't devolve into some weird 90's rave afterward...

[Mary Rose 10]

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[riffleman 20]

Anybody know how many war speeches at ofp.