名人英語演講

1、名人英語演講Harry S. Truman: The Truman DoctrineMr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Congress of theUnited States:The gravity of the situation which confronts the world todaynecessitates my appearance before a joint session of theCongress. The foreign policy and the national security of thiscountry

2、are involved. One aspect of the present situation, whichI present to you at this time for your consideration and decision,concerns Greece and Turkey. The United States has receivedfrom the Greek Government an urgent appeal for financial andeconomic assistance. Preliminary reports from the AmericanEc

3、onomic Mission now in Greece and reports from the AmericanAmbassador in Greece corroborate the statement of the GreekGovernment that assistance is imperative if Greece is to surviveas a free nation.I do not believe that the American people and the Congresswish to turn a deaf ear to the appeal of the

4、 Greek Government.Greece is not a rich country. Lack of sufficient natural resourceshas always forced the Greek people to work hard to make bothends meet. Since 1940, this industrious, peace loving countryhas suffered invasion, four years of cruel enemy occupation,and bitter internal strife.When for

5、ces of liberation entered Greece they found that theretreating Germans had destroyed virtually all the railways,roads, port facilities, communications, and merchant marine.More than a thousand villages had been burned. Eighty-five percent of the children were tubercular. Livestock, poultry, and draf

6、tanimals had almost disappeared. Inflation had wiped outpractically all savings. As a result of these tragic conditions, amilitant minority, exploiting humanwant and misery, was able tocreate political chaos which, until now, has made economicrecovery impossible.Greece is today without funds to fina

7、nce the importation ofthose goods which are essential to bare subsistence. Underthese circumstances, the people of Greece cannot makeprogress in solving their problems of reconstruction. Greece is indesperate need of financial and economic assistance to enableit to resume purchases of food, clothing

8、, fuel, and seeds. Theseare indispensable for the subsistence of its people and areobtainable only from abroad. Greece must have help to importthe goods necessary to restore internal order and security, soessential for economic and political recovery. The GreekGovernment has also asked for the assis

9、tance of experiencedAmerican administrators, economists, and technicians to insurethat the financial and other aid given to Greece shall be usedeffectively in creating a stable and self-sustaining economy andin improving its public administration.The very existence of the Greek state is today threat

10、ened bythe terrorist activities of several thousand armed men, led byCommunists, who defy the governments authority at a numberof points, particularly along the northern boundaries. ACommission appointed by the United Nations security Council isat present investigating disturbed conditions in northe

11、rn Greeceand alleged border violations along the frontiers betweenGreece on the one hand and Albania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslaviaon the other.Meanwhile, the Greek Government is unable to cope with thesituation. The Greek army is small and poorly equipped. It needssupplies and equipment if it is to rest

12、ore authority of thegovernment throughout Greek territory. Greece must haveassistance if it is to become a self-supporting andself-respecting democracy. The United States must supply thisassistance. Wehave already extended to Greece certain typesof relief and economic aid. But these are inadequate.

13、There is noother country to which democratic Greece can turn. No othernation is willing and able to provide the necessary support for ademocratic Greek government.The British Government, which has been helping Greece, cangive no further financial or economic aid after March 31st. GreatBritain finds

14、itself under the necessity of reducing or liquidatingits commitments in several parts of the world, including Greece.We have considered how the United Nations might assist inthis crisis. But the situation is an urgent one, requiring immediateaction, and the United Nations and its related organizatio

15、ns arenot in a position to extend help of the kind that is required.It is important to note that the Greek Government has askedfor our aid in utilizing effectively the financial and otherassistance we maygive to Greece, and in improving its publicadministration. It is of the utmost importance that w

16、e supervisethe use of any funds made available to Greece in such a mannerthat each dollar spent will count toward making Greeceself-supporting, and will help to build an economy in which ahealthy democracy can flourish.No government is perfect. One of the chief virtues of ademocracy, however, is tha

17、t its defects are always visible andunder democratic processes can be pointed out and corrected.The Government of Greece is not perfect. Nevertheless itrepresents eighty-five per cent of the members of the GreekParliament who were chosen in an election last year. Foreignobservers, including 692 Amer

18、icans, considered this election tobe a fair expression ofthe views of the Greek people.The Greek Government has been operating in an atmosphereof chaos and extremism. It has made mistakes. The extension ofaid by this country does not mean that the United Statescondones everything that the Greek Gove

19、rnment has done orwill do. Wehave condemned in the past, and we condemn now,extremist measures of the right or the left. Wehave in the pastadvised tolerance, and we advise tolerance now.Greeks neighbor, Turkey, also deserves our attention. Thefuture of Turkey, as an independent and economically soun

20、dstate, is clearly no less important to the freedom-loving peoplesof the world than the future of Greece. The circumstances inwhich Turkey finds itself today are considerably different fromthose of Greece. Turkey has been spared the disasters thathave beset Greece. And during the war, the United Sta

21、tes andGreat Britain furnished Turkey with material aid.Nevertheless, Turkey now needs our support.Since the war, Turkey has sought financial assistance fromGreat Britain and the United States for the purpose of effectingthat modernization necessary for the maintenance of its nationalintegrity. That

22、 integrity is essential to the preservation of order inthe Middle East. The British government has informed us that,owing to its own difficulties, it can no longer extend financial oreconomic aid to Turkey. As in the case of Greece, if Turkey is tohave the assistance it needs, the United States must

23、 supply it.We are the only country able to provide that help.I am fully aware of the broad implications involved if theUnited States extends assistance to Greece and Turkey, and Ishall discuss these implications with you at this time. One of theprimary objectives of the foreign policy of the United

24、States isthe creation of conditions in which we and other nations will beable to work out a way of life free from coercion. This was afundamental issue in the war with Germany and Japan. Ourvictory was won over countries which sought to impose their will,and their way of life, upon other nations.To

25、ensure the peaceful development of nations,free from coercion, the United States has taken a leading part inestablishing the United Nations. The United Nations is designedto make possible lasting freedom and independence for all itsmembers. We shall not realize our objectives, however, unlesswe are

26、willing to help free peoples to maintain their freeinstitutions and their national integrity against aggressivemovements that seek to impose upon them totalitarian regimes.This is no more than a frank recognition that totalitarian regimesimposed upon free peoples, by direct or indirect aggression,un

27、dermine the foundations of international peace, and hencethe security of the United States.The peoples of a number of countries of the world haverecently had totalitarian regimes forced upon them against theirwill. The Government of the United States has made frequentprotests against coercion and in

28、timidation in violation of theYalta agreement in Poland, Rumania, and Bulgaria. I must alsostate that in a number of other countries there have been similardevelopments.At the present moment in world history nearly every nationmust choose between alternative ways of life. The choice is toooften not

29、a free one. One way of life is based upon the will of themajority, and is distinguished by free institutions, representativegovernment, free elections, guarantees of individual liberty,freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from politicaloppression. The second way of life is based upon the will

30、 of aminority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terrorand oppression, a controlled press and radio, fixed elections,and the suppression of personal freedoms.I believe that it must be the policy of the United States tosupport free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation byarm

31、ed minorities or by outside pressures.I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out theirown destinies in their own way.I believe that our help should be primarily through economicand financial aid which is essential to economic stability andorderlypolitical processes.The world is not stati

32、c, and the status quo is not sacred. Butwe cannot allow changes in the status quo in violation of theCharter of the United Nations by such methods as coercion, orby such subterfuges as political infiltration. In helping free andindependent nations to maintain their freedom, the UnitedStates will be

33、giving effect to the principles of the Charter of theUnited Nations.It is necessary only to glance at a mapto realize that thesurvival and integrity of the Greek nation are of graveimportance in a much wider situation. If Greece should fall underthe control of an armed minority, the effect upon its

34、neighbor,Turkey, would be immediate and serious. Confusion anddisorder might well spread throughout the entire Middle East.Moreover, the disappearance of Greece as an independentstate would have a profound effect upon those countries inEurope whose peoples are struggling against great difficulties t

35、omaintain their freedoms and their independence while theyrepair the damages of war.It would be an unspeakable tragedy if these countries, whichhave struggled so long against overwhelming odds, should losethat victory for which they sacrificed so much. Collapse of freeinstitutions and loss of indepe

36、ndence would be disastrous notonly for them but for the world. Discouragement and possiblyfailure would quickly be the lot of neighboring peoples striving tomaintain their freedom and independence.Should we fail to aid Greece and Turkey in this fateful hour,the effect will be far reaching to the Wes

37、t as well as to the East.We must take immediate and resolute action. I therefore askthe Congress to provide authority for assistance to Greece andTurkey in the amount of $400,000,000 for the period endingJune 30, 1948. In requesting these funds, I have taken intoconsideration the maximum amount of r

38、elief assistance whichwould be furnished to Greece out of the $350,000,000 which Irecently requested that the Congress authorize for theprevention of starvation and suffering in countries devastated bythe war.In addition to funds, I ask the Congress to authorize the detailof American civilian and mi

39、litary personnel to Greece andTurkey, at the request of those countries, to assist in the tasks ofreconstruction, and for the purpose of supervising the use ofsuch financial and material assistance as may be furnished. Irecommend that authority also be provided for the instructionand training of selected Greek and Turkish personnel. Finally, Iask that the Congress provide authority which will permit thespeediest and most effective use, in terms of neededcommodities, supplies, and equipment, of such funds as may beauthorized. I