On September 1, 1939, German troops swarmed across the Polish border and unleashed the first Blitzkrieg the world had seen. Hitler had been planning his attack since March - ever since German troops occupied the remainder of Czechoslovakia. The Poles suspected as much and readied their defences. Unfortunately, the Poles based their defensive strategy on the experiences of World War I. Mobility was crucial - mobility provided by cavalry troops the Poles considered the best in the world. Indeed, their horsemen were probably the world's best - but horses offered little defence against tanks.
Britain and France had sworn to defend Poland. Honouring these obligations, the two countries sent ultimatums to Hitler demanding his withdrawal from Poland. Hitler declined to respond. On September 3, Prime Minister Chamberlain went to the airwaves to announce to the British people that a state of war existed between their country and Germany. World War II had begun.
The English translation of the following audio of Shōwa Emperor Hirohito's Imperial rescript of the termination of War World II may be difficult to read because of the format used.
This is a 1945 recording of the 'Jewel Voice Broadcast'. The 'Jewel Voice Broadcast' (玉音放送) was the radio broadcast in which Japanese Emperor Hirohito read out the 'Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the Greater East Asia War' (大東亜戦争終結ノ詔書), announcing to the Japanese people that the Japanese Government had accepted the Potsdam Declaration demanding the unconditional surrender of the Japanese military at the end of World War II. This speech was broadcast at noon Japan Standard Time on August 15, 1945. The speech was the first time that an Emperor of Japan had spoken to the common people. It was delivered in the formal Japanese that few ordinary people could easily understand. It made no direct reference to a surrender of Japan, instead stating that the government had been instructed to accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration fully. This created confusion in the minds of many listeners who were not sure whether Japan had surrendered. The poor audio quality of the radio broadcast, as well as the formal courtly language in which the speech was composed, worsened the confusion.
In this speech, Churchill had to describe a great military disaster, and warn of a possible invasion attempt by Nazi Germany, without casting doubt on eventual victory. He also had to prepare his domestic audience for France's falling out of the war without in any way releasing the French Republic to do so, and wished to reiterate a policy and an aim unchanged - despite the intervening events - from his speech of 13 May, in which he had declared the goal of "victory, however long and hard the road may be".
November 7, 1941 at 8 a.m. on the Red Square in Moscow began a military parade on the occasion of the 24th anniversary of the October Revolution. A parade was held during the Battle of Moscow, when the front line was a few dozen kilometers from the city. With the enemies at the gates, in an incredible show of normalcy, the annual October Revolution parade on Red Square still took place. Usually the Minister of Defense would deliver the commemoration speech on Red Square, however with the situation in the country dire, and the Soviet people fighting for their very survival, Joseph Stalin gives the speech to rally the troops in 1941. After this parade there would be no parades again on Red Square until 1 May 1945.