content. you're watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend on c-span 3. the entire globe even as it trembles in passion with the birth of new nations and shrinks, is the site today of a momentous conflict. as each tries to prove its superiority and it's fought with gestures of friendship and help to uncommitted countries. even with cultural demonstrations. it is fought indeed on every level of man's experience for the stakes are high. as one of the adversaries in the conflict, we see a challenge as great as any in our historic past. a challenge not we hope to be met and joined in battle, but to be faced in the hearts and hopes of men.

it is the challenge of ideas. >> i'm edward r. morrow. i would like to review with you the great conflict of our times. one which demands and must get the attention and the involvement of each one of us. this conflict is the reason why most of you are in uniform. and some of you will be going overseas. service men. families of service men and civilians working for the department of defense. because of this conflict, many of you are already abroad. more than a million americans in 91 foreign countries. first and foremost of course, americans are overseas to help preserve the peace. by maintaining an alert readiness to meet the threat of aggression, america's armed forces in concert with those of

its allies are serving as a deterrent to war. some of you may wonder how directly involved in the contest you are. or will be. perhaps your active duty is behind you or soon will be. and with it, you may believe your involvement in the contest ends. but the truth is that involvement in this conflict is far ranging indeed. it touches not only members of the armed forces and their families, but everyone who supports the mission of the armed forces. every defenserkw[,every taxpayerwho footswhe bill,ho in ft is not]nvolved. and the conflict itself, how can it be defined? well, let's look at it this way. the communist plok woubloc woulo see the entire world under domination. the determination has convinced them that the war

would be the costly gamble, they have begun to talk more and more about their ability to win from us in the arena of ideas. this of course is fine with us. for we are a people with a traditionally great faith in our ideas. the ideas that have moved mountains and created wealth and shaped us as free men. and we are confident that history can do no other than award us the victory and any -- in any contest in which ideas are the weapons. >> i would like to say this. confidence by itself without effort does not win contests. victory in this conflict depends on much, much more than confidence. it is a contest unlike any we have ever faced in our history as a nation. it is total competition with an antagonist who is putting into everything within his capability. it is not a conflict between peoples. but between basic values and systems of government.

between the principles of life, each believes in. and we talk of these conflicting values, we are obliged to speak of that special quality which we call for want of a better phrase individual liberty. and when we talk of this liberty in america, we talk with many voices. for we are a diverse nation and there are perhaps as many concepts of what america is as there are people among us. but although we look at america through different eyes, there are many incites into the essence of our moving and growing nation that we share. >> i'm john wayne. is there any better or equal hope in the world ncoln asked than the ultimate justice of the people? we americans believe there is not. the stone work of our national life is made of this belief. we believe in many things but

this belief that man as a responsible being bears out our unique stamp as a nation. as a people, we are active. and often noisy. we are industrious. oftentimes to the bafflement of ourselves and our friends. we relax as hard as we work. we are proud. we are sentimental. beauty is of national concern for us. for some of us, its pursuit is a deadly serious pastime. the rest of us simply enjoy the results.

some of our national spirit shows up in the monuments we erect. the large ones. and the small ones. and it rings through the music which animates us. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ until i wanted to scream should have killed him because he's so darn mean ♪ ♪ we'll rock around the clock tonight rock rock till broad daylight ♪ ♪ we're gonna rock around the clock tonight ♪ ♪ my eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord ♪

♪ he is rounding out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored ♪ ♪ ♪ his truth is marching on >> we have on occasion some difference of feeling. other times we are united. we are all these things and many more. but above everything else we are free. we believe in the ultimate justice which we as free men can create. our heritage of freedom is our most priceless possession. and others have died to keep it alive. many in our times have done the same. but all our men have guided to

preserve it and may die again. the glory of this heritage is the vision of life that it's given us. a life of dignity and nobility of spirit. such as men have never before been enriched before in the long march of the history they have recorded. there is a phrase which recurs in our national documents. the literature of our story as a people which points to the source of our belief in individual freedom. and defines perhaps better than any other the conflict between the opposing systems of values, which sweep the world today. that phrase is this nation under god. that phrase and others like it t the standard of our concept of man. as a creature of god, with the ability to determine right from wrong. and the obligation to act on that right.

the belief in man as a responsible being, for a the -- flow the beliefs of the other qualifications that we expect. usually without bothering to think about them. as parts of the vague condition which we call the american way. his ability and indeed his right to explore the truth in all things. his ability to govern himself. and his ability to handle his own economic problems. >> 31, 30. >> the opposing point of view in this conflict rests on the fundamentally different vision of man. as a creature, not of god, but of the state. in this system, the value of individual man diminishes sharply and the state is all important. the state will run his life for him. his political life. his business life.

his social life. what we oppose fundamentally is the aggressive nature of the communist state. its unceasing effort to expand, to grow bigger, to take over, to supplant. this deadly impulse toward aggression we oppose as a continual threat to peace. these are the contrasting points of view between the major antagonists in the conflict that's become over the last decade known as the cold war. for an appraisal of this continuing and protracted conflict, we can go to a reporter who has watched the growing conflict with the perception of a trained military observer. >> i am hanson baldwin. i have here the policy statements of each of our services on the contest we are engaged in with the communists. what they boil down to is this.

is the contest for the minds and hearts of people around the world, all people. the areas in white on this map represent the world composed of ourselves and the communists seek to win an advantage of the minds in the people here and to separate us. the black portion of the map is the communist dominated part of the world controlled by the soviet union and the chinese communist regime. and of tremendous importance of that part of the world which is attached to neither camp, the uncommitted nations of the world, represented in gray on the map. for the most part, these nations are absorbed with their own problems. either they're newly independent after years of domination by a foreign power or they're still seeking independence.

the strong tide of nationalism sweeps over and they distrust the old ways of colognism. >> our own policy toward them has been one strictly of watchful, nonintrusive friendship. giving help when help is asked for. but otherwise, keeping hands off their internal affairs. the communists have been mor direct. their local party members have not hesitated to exploit to their own advantage the passions that smolder in the new states and to identify themselves in the minds of the people there when whenever possible with anticolonialism and us with its options. it is part of their worldwide technique. how do our military services adapt themselves to the conflict

and perhaps no gun will be fired? the activities and performances of all the members in every foreign country in which they're stationed will either add to or detract from the goodwill our nation needs and for the contest of the respect of the peoples of the world. the president of the united states has called developments of good relationships between united states citizens abroad and members of the host countries basic to the full attainment of the foreign policy objectives. and the services have responded by promoting such good relationships as part of the overall policy. >> the communists initiated the cold war for the same reason they would have started the hot war had that been feasible. or would now should they ever decide that the free world was weak enough for them to risk it. whatever the degree of tension they create it is a substitute for hot war.

another means of achieving their end. and their end of course is world conquest. short of war if possible. >> world conquest, by actions short of war. actions that are political, economic and ideological. >> how do the communists apply these three methods? first, we'll consider the political method and the techniques the communists use when they attempt to acquire their objectives in this way. we would do well to consider the success the communists have had by using the political method alone. as you will see from the black area on this map, they have expanded between 1940 and 1954, took over 15 countries, totaling 714 million people. since 1954, there have been major internal disruptions in nine additional countries outside the iron curtain. now, how do they go about applying this political method?

the communist coup 1948 includes taking over a country without outside intervention. destruction of its parliamentary form of government. murder of its democratic leaders when necessary. rigged elections with only the communist candidates on the ballot. once the penetration is complete, all this is backed by the naked force of military occupation. but such devices, the soviet union turned its neighboring states into satellites. political and economic puppets. in china, political action was cruder, but no less effective. here it was political action by congress.

and so overwhelming as this political conquest had been that the communists had been able to propel red china to major influence in the eastern world. the political force method include the suppression of a cy un under communist rule. there was revolution without help from the outside. in east germany in 1953, poland in 1956. hungary in the same year. and tibet in 1959. all of them brutally suppressed. finally, there's the international communist party, dedicated to the overthrow of every still government.

for the political method may not prevail, there's always the economic method. >> i'm frank mcgee. let's consider for a moment this matter of the communist use of economic methods to achieve conquest and how it's done. the present masters of the soviet union have said to us peaceful coexistence until we bury you. they propose to officiate that by catching up with us industrially and then surpassing us. they're working hard at it. today, the 200 million inhabitants of the soviet state bend their backs and their talents to the kremlin's will and sputnik's successors have proven their technical ability. throughout the vast stretches of the empire you find new industrial cities, plants,

assembly lines, the most modern equipment. soviet products of every description awaiting delivery and reaching backward areas of the world. this is economic penetration. paving the way or the political takeover. the back end of the soviet friendship which usually attempts economic penetration has been reaching into every part of the world which shows the slightest inclination to receive it. recently we have seen it extend into our own hemisphere and into turbulent cuba where it was embraced as a triumph of soviet policy. a few statistics will democr demonstrate how serious this is becoming to the free world. of the entire economic

capability, their gross national product, 70% or it may run as high as 80% is devoted to the area of heavy industry. the u.s. and free world share of gross national product is certainly not much more than 20%. in terms of volume applied to this area of gross national product, the soviet union is beginning to surge ahead. finally, the communist attempt ideological penetration. perhaps their strongest efforts go into this kind of penetration into the free world. >> before we talk about ideological penetration itself, let's take a look at the reasons why this is so important to the communists. for one thing, communist aggression has alarmed many free nations and produced the united will to resist. these nations have implemented the will to resist through a number of trade agreements.

the united states and other industrially strong nations of the free world are actively promoting better living conditions all over the world. this helping these countries to improve their industrial and economic position, but also of providing a defense against communist intrigue which flourishes in depressed economic areas. the free world and the divide by defensparks as a north atlantic treaty in europe. the southeast asia treaty organization. the seato treaty and the treaty to bring treaty defense. now the am lies are setting up their own defense bases with the technical know how to operate them. this is a one-sided operation. the nations involved contribute

as heavily as they can. no less valuable are the morale and friendly relations being generated between servicemen of all of the participating countries in joint training programs demonstrating respective skills to each other. they cross the language barrier to comradeship. this banding together has produced strength not only in the military a economic field. but in the moral and spiritual values as well. a meeting of the naval congress in 1959, a statement was adopted which called attention to the moral unity binding the member nations. this document recognizes respect for human dignity as the basis of civilization. among the fundamental rights of man, specifically named are respect for the sanctity of human life.

the right to freedom of speech. opinion and belief. the right of every man to work and to receive his just reward. the right of the family to stability and the right of patients over their children and education. in all these ways, economically, militarily, morally, the world outside the communist orbit draws itself together. the practical communists appraise this. it confronts them with a serious deterrent to their world ambitions, hence, they must destroy allied unity or at least weaken it. how? well, here we return to the subject of i had lo ideological penetration. if the united strength of the noncommunist world makes political penetration unfeasible and economic penetration

unsuccessful, if cultural penetration does not do the job, the communists can always hope to succeed by resorting to ideological warfare against their strongest opponent. meaning, us. americans go, home. down withimperialism. peace. yes, peace their propaganda scream. on communist terms, naturally. inside the free world, communists and their sympathizers attempt to influence our allies to eliminate our overseas bases which are protecting them as well as us. their mediums of mass communication are tireless in vilifying us as a nation and as individuals such as depicting you as a brute and a ravager.

is there a chance that the communists will succeed? is there a possibility that our allies will accept this malicious perversion of us and everything we stand for? in large part, that is going to depend on how thoroughly we understand this conflict and how dedicated we are to victory. understanding is a continuing process. it embrace ms. different aspects of our day to day living. it is, at least, a function which involves the flow of information. >> i am lowell thomasment . he live amid the abundance of kmfgs. but survey reveals an astonishingly low informational level among us. to be sure, the right to remain uninformed is one of the surest ways of losing our freedom. being informed does not mean only keeping up to date on current events, important though

that is. it means being aware of developments in our own nations and the force that's move through it. the weaknesses as well as its strengthsment we all too often dishonor our freedom and demean it. but that's not the full story. fit were, our system would have collapsed long before this. the full story is the progress we consistently make through law and through education the way free men must. the communists would like to have you as well as people in every country in the world believe otherwise. and once they have succeeded in letting the idea take root that our deficiencies are our chief characters, once they have managed to erode our faith in ourselves at least a little, that much of the battle is lost. >> a snake of a whisper is abroad that americans lost touch with their past. is it true?

it can't be. if we're to survive and win. if we understand the conflict, then we understand the need to keep america strong and our greatest challenge by keeping alive the standards and the traditions which have done her glory. what are the bull marks of our past upon which our society had been built? there are many. and we discussed some of them. our spiritual herita, our belief in individual liberty. but there is yet another as important as any of these. >> i am helen hayes. many of us who are living now will never see the end of the conflict which dominates our lives. leaders change and leadership passes from one generation to the next. but for generations, or certainly f many years, the challenge which confronts us will continue. so it becomes not just a hope

but an urgent condition for a peaceful future that those who are catapulted into the problems of maturity with every passing year will understand the challenge and devote themselves to it even as you and i must. interest cannot lag. forts can not cease. it will require th sternest kind of dedication bread as it were into the american character. the training grounds in which this discipline will be planted and perfected of the institutions which have shaped our society, particularly the home which has always been in our culture the nucleus of society itself. the home is the well spring of the strongest qualities of citizenship and it must remain so if we are to preserve the toughness of moral fiber which is our strongest heritage. >> a toughness of moral fiber.

a belief in the right as god gives us to see the light as lincoln put it in words which are carved into our national soul. these are the threads of our past. keeping america stro this is our challenge. keeping the vision of liberty bright, keeping the threats of our past, the strands of moral toughness with which our history is bound. moral toughness, the quality which made m workinstead of weep on the hostile shores of new england, which bled yet never died on hundreds of fields and oceans stretching out from valley forth, which moved strong men west bringing with them first only their pride then their railroads. ♪ beauty >> which built cities and governments. ♪ was born across the sea

and created wealth. and above all, made freedom the birthright of every man. that quality must still live within us, for without it, we are surely lost. and it will live so long as we keep faith in our future and faith in our past. this is the challenge as compelling, as severe and as crucial as americans at any age have ever faced. ♪ glory, glory hallelujah ♪ glory, glory hallelujah ♪ glory, glory hallelujah ♪ i