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- Herausgeber: BookThug
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
An amazing journey through the speeches that made history. Leaders who managed to speak the voice of their peoples and transcend their time; protagonists of crucial moments who, thanks to their particular oral expressions, reached collective consciousness.
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Seitenzahl: 86
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015
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Introduction
“The hollow which the work of genius has burned into our surroundings is a good place in which to put one’s little light. Therefore the inspiration that emanates from genius, the universal inspiration that doesn’t only drive one to imitation,” once said German writer Franz Kafka, known by literary works such as The Trial, The Metamorphosis and The Castle. This is the effect that many speeches have historically had, and the reason why they have been quoted throughout the years. They are brilliant works that have managed to ignite the “little light” inside individuals or groups of people, inspiring them to do fascinating or terrible things, depending on each case.
At different times and under different circumstances, certain speeches have led to wars or restored peace. They have enabled people to overcome their limitations and achieve results that they considered impossible, causing nations to evolve.
So much so, that history itself seems to have developed through these speeches. The most iconic events seem to have been characterized by leaders who managed to speak the voice of the people, transcending the earthly plane. These speeches are ultimately historical moments rooted in a social, political and economic context, and they tell the story of those moments from the perspective of a person who managed to not only understand and express them through their emotions, but also to raise collective awareness of them.
Therefore, this journey through the 50 most inspiring speeches of the 20th and 21st centuries is intended, at least partially, to reconstruct some of the most iconic historic moments humankind has experienced in more than a hundred years.
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- 1 -
Mahatma Gandhi
(1916)
“There is no salvation for India…”
If we think about leaders who knew how to channel the voice of their time and enlighten people, one of the indisputable figures is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), better known by the honorific Mahatma. This lawyer, thinker and politician, called Bapu (father) in India, was the preeminent leader of India, the one who best knew how to express the independent spirit of his time.
During his 79 years of life, Gandhi left numerous legacies, among them is employment of nonviolent civil disobedience and his relentless fight, regardless of the many times he was imprisoned, which totaled 2,338 days.
The speech, included below, was pronounced before a group of young students in Benares, on the inauguration of the Banaras Hindu University on February 4, 1916. Gandhi reflected on the need for India to become independent from the United Kingdom (of which it was a colony until August 14, 1947) and to recover its native language and culture.
“I wanted to say it is a matter of deep humiliation and shame for us that I am compelled this evening under the shadow of this great college, in this sacred city, to address my countrymen in a language that is foreign to me…Our language is the reflection of ourselves…” he said on that occasion, while adding: “I compare with the richly bedecked noble men the millions of the poor. And I feel like saying to these noble men, “There is no salvation for India unless you strip yourselves of this jewelry and hold it in trust for your countrymen in India.”
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- 2 -
Clarence Darrow
(1926)
“ I believe in the law of love”
In 1920, the city of Detroit, as in other American cities, was subject to strong discrimination against black people, who represented only 4.11% of its 993,678 inhabitants. By then, the extreme right-wing organization, Ku Klux Klan (KKK), which promoted xenophobia, white supremacy and homophobia, and usually employed terrorism, violence and other intimidation acts, had approximately 4,000,000 members in the United States -- 22,000 of which resided in Detroit.
This situation was epitomized by the extreme rejection physician Ossian Sweet and his family suffered when they moved to 2905 Garland, a “white” neighborhood, on September 8, 1925. That same night, approximately 500 to 800 people gathered around their new residence, throwing stones at it. At 8:25pm the following day, Sweet shot a gun from inside the house where eleven people were living and killed Leon Breiner, a demonstrator. This event resulted in one of the most memorable trials in the history of the United States, in which Sweet was charged with murder.
American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, Clarence Darrow (1857-1938), defended Sweet and on May 11, 1926, delivered a 7-hour closing statement that inspired generations of lawyers and influenced the jury, after hours of deliberation, to declare Sweet not guilty. Following are the most emblematic fragments of his statement:
“(…) Ido not believe in the law of hate. I may not be true to my ideals always, but I believe in the law of love, and I believe you can do nothing with hatred. I would like to see a time when man loves his fellow man, and forgets his color or his creed. We will never be civilized until that time comes.”
“I know the Negro race has a long road to go. I believe the life of the Negro race has been a life of tragedy, of injustice, of oppression. The law has made him equal, but man has not. And, after all, the last analysis is, what has man done?--and not what has the law done? (…)”
“Gentlemen, what do you think is your duty in this case? I have watched, day after day, these black, tense faces that have crowded this court. These black faces that now are looking to you twelve whites, feeling that the hopes and fears of a race are in your keeping (…)”
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- 3 -
Franklin D. Roosevelt
(1933)
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”
Born on January 30, 1882, democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the only President of the United States to be elected four times consecutively (1932, 1936, 1940 and 1944), serving until his death in 1945. Despite the fact that he was stricken with polio in 1921, which left him permanently paralyzed, Roosevelt didn’t quit politics until April 12, 1945, when he died of a stroke.
His distinguished speech, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” delivered on March 14, 1933 during his inauguration ceremony amidst a bank panic, is a clear demonstration of his leadership ability in times of crisis.
“This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance (…)”
“For the trust reposed in me I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time. I can do no less (…) The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it (…)”
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- 4 -
Dolores ‘La Pasionaria’ Ibarruri
(1936)
“They shall not pass”
“They shall not pass” was the motto of Spanish communist leader Dolores Ibarruri, known as ´La Pasionaria´ (“The passionflower”). Born in a conservative miner family on December 19, 1895, she joined workers’ struggles influenced by Julián Ruiz Gaviña, a socialist militant whom she married in 1916. Together with Gaviña, Ibarruri participated in a general revolutionary strike in 1917, which gave her prominence as a political speaker, giving her an influential role in the party.
Her motto belongs to the speech she delivered on behalf of the Communist Party on July 19, 1936 from the Ministry of the Interior, following a military uprising against the Second Spanish Republic that had emerged from the elections in February that year. Following are some excerpts of her speech:
“Under the battle cry ‘Fascism shall not pass; the hangmen of October shall not pass!’ workers and farmers from all Spanish provinces are joining in the struggle against the enemies of the Republic that have arisen in arms. Communists, Socialists, Anarchists, and Republican Democrats, soldiers and (other) forces remaining loyal to the Republic combined have inflicted the first defeats upon the fascist foe, who drag through the mud the very same honourable military tradition that they have boasted to possess so many times.”
“The whole country cringes in indignation at these heartless barbarians that would hurl our democratic Spain back down into an abyss of terror and death. However, they shall not pass! For all of Spain presents itself for battle (…) Let no one hesitate! All stand ready for action. All workers, all antifascists must now look upon each other as brothers in arms.”
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- 5 -
Neville Chamberlain
(1938)
“Peace for our time”
Arthur Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940), who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940, is rarely recalled positively. In fact, Winston Churchill, his successor, allegedly said of him: “Poor Neville will come badly out of history. I know, I will write that history.”
His appeasement foreign policy, with which he expected to preserve peace by providing concessions to Adolf Hitler’s expansionary requests, was one of his most unforgettable actions. It resulted in the Munich Agreement, signed on September 30, 1938, in which the United Kingdom and France agreed to divide Czechoslovakia and to transfer the Sudetes to Germany.
“My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British prime minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time ... Go home and get a nice quiet sleep,” said Chamberlain on his return to London that day.
Four months later, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia, proving signing the agreement had been a mistake. In 1939, after the invasion of Poland, the United Kingdom declared war. Chamberlain’s questionable actions during World War II led his own party to replace him with Churchill, whom Chamberlain had supported since his presidency at the Council of the State.
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- 6 -
Winston Churchill
(1940)
“Blood, toil, tears and sweat”
Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965), the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1955, is known as one of the greatest wartime leaders, a reputation he earned through his intervention during World War II. Notable orator and statesman, Churchill was also an officer of the British Army, historian, writer and artist. And he is, to date, the only British Prime Minister who has won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
