U.S.A.

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28.8.41 [George Orwell]

August 28, 2011 in bbc, Caucasus, Churchill, Dnepropetrovsk, Germany, Gomel, Iran, Kherson, Kiev, Middle East, occupation, Political, Roosevelt, Russia, Smolensk, Tallinn, U.S.A., U.S.S.R., War-time by orwelldiaries

I am now definitely an employee of the B.B.C.

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6.7.41 [George Orwell]

July 6, 2011 in air-raids, Beaverbrook, Beresina, Catholic, Churchill, communists, England, Germany, Government, Hitler, invasion, Ireland, neutrality, New York, newspapers, People's Convention, planes, Political, Pruth, Russia, tanks, Truth, U.S.A., U.S.S.R., War-time by orwelldiaries

Several of the papers are growing very restive because we are not doing more to help the U.S.S.R. I do not know whether any action, other than air-raids, is really intended, but if nothing is attempted, quite apart from the military and political consequences this may have, it is a disquieting symptom. For if we can’t make a land offensive now, when the Germans have 150 divisions busy in Russia, when the devil shall we be able to? I hear no rumours whatever about movements of troops, so apparently no expedition is being prepared at any rate from England. [1] The only new development is the beginning of Beaverbrook’s big drive for tanks, similar to his drive for planes last year. But this can’t bear fruit for some months, and where these tanks are to be used there is no hint. I can’t believe they want them for use against a German invasion. If the Germans were in a position to bring large numbers of armoured units here, i.e. if they had complete command of the sea and air, we should have lost the war already.

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3.7.41 [George Orwell]

July 3, 2011 in Britain, Churchill, Franco, Mussolini, Political, Popular Front, Pravda, Ribbentrop, Stalin, U.S.A., War-time by orwelldiaries

Stalin’s broadcast speech is a direct return to the Popular Front, defence of democracy line, and in effect a complete contradiction of all that he and his followers have been saying for the past two years. It was nevertheless a magnificent fighting speech, just the right counterpart to Churchill’s, and made it clear that no compromise is intended, at any rate at this moment. Passages in it seemed to imply that a big retreat is contemplated, however. Britain and the U.S.A. referred to in friendly terms and more or less as allies, [1] though apparently no formal alliance exists as yet. Ribbentrop and Co. spoken of as “cannibals”, which Pravda has also been calling them. Apparently one reason for the queer phraseology that translated Russian speeches often have is that Russian contains so large a vocabulary of abusive words that English equivalents do not exist.

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23.6.41 [George Orwell]

June 23, 2011 in blimps, Catholics, Churchill, Communism, England, Germany, Hitler, Home Guard, left, nazi, new statesman, Petain, Political, Russia, speech, Stalin, U.S.A., War-time by orwelldiaries

Churchill’s speech in my opinion very good. It will not please the Left, but they forget that he has to speak to the whole world, e.g. to middle-western Americans, airmen and naval officers, disgruntled shop-keepers and farmers, and also the Russians themselves, as well as to the leftwing political parties. His hostile references to Communism were entirely right and simply emphasised the fact that this offer of help was sincere. One can imagine the squeal that will be raised over these by correspondents in the New Statesman, etc. What sort of impression do they think it would make if Stalin stood up and announced “I have always been a convinced supporter of capitalism”?

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14.3.41 [George Orwell]

March 14, 2011 in Abyssinia, Balkans, berlin, Black Sea, bombs, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Haffner, Italy, Libya, Metaxas, Norway, planes, Political, propaganda, public opinion, Salonika, Sicily, Tripoli, Turkey, U.S.A., War-time, Wavell by orwelldiaries

For the last few days there have been rumours everywhere, also hints in the papers, that “something is going to happen” in the Balkans, i.e. that we are going to send an expeditionary force to Greece.  If so, it must presumably be the army now in Libya, or the bulk of it.[1]  I had heard a month back that Metaxas [2] before he died asked us for 10 divisions and we offered him 4.  It seems a terribly dangerous thing to risk an army anywhere west of the Straits.  To have any worthwhile ideas about the strategy of such a campaign, one would have to know how many men Wavell disposes of and how many are needed to hold Libya, how the shipping position stands, what the communications from Bulgaria into Greece are like, how much of their mechanised stuff the Germans have managed to bring across Europe, and who effectively controls the sea between Sicily and Tripoli.  It would be an appalling disaster if while our own main force was bogged in Salonika the Germans managed to cross the sea from Sicily and win back all the Italians have lost.  Everyone who thinks of the matter is torn both ways.  To place an army in Greece is a tremendous risk and doesn’t offer much positive gain, except that once Turkey is involved our warships can enter the Black Sea: on the other hand if we let Greece down we have demonstrated once and for all that we can’t and won’t help any European nation to keep its independence.  The thing I fear most is half-hearted intervention and a ghastly failure, as in Norway.  I am in favour of putting all our eggs in one basket and risking a big defeat, because I don’t think any defeat or victory in the narrow military sense matters so much as demonstrating that we are the side of the weak against the strong.

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16.6.40 [George Orwell]

June 16, 2010 in Churchill, concentration camp, Conservative Party, German conquest, L.D.V., newspapers, Political, revolution, U.S.A., wages, War-time by orwelldiaries

This morning’s papers make it reasonably clear that at any rate until after the presidential election, the U.S.A will not do anything, i.e. will not declare war, which in fact is what matters. For if the U.S.A is not actually in the war there will never be sufficient control of either business or labour to speed up production of armaments. In the last war this was the case even when the U.S.A was a belligerent.

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