WWII Speeches: Churchill vs. Hirohito

In both speeches, "Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat" by Churchill and Emperor Hirohito's speech on the acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration use various rhetorical devices two very different ways  in order to get two different points across.  Churchill has just become the new Prime Minister 3 days before his speech and he is ready for a total war in order to save the entire "human civilization".  However, Hirohito is do the complete opposite.  He is graciously accepting defeat against America and Britain.  But both of them use pathos and logos to convince their audiences.

Churchill is an active user of logos throughout his essay. For example, in his first two paragraphs, he opens introducing the changes he is making, including "three fighting services" and "A War Cabinet of five members".  And because he is using logos to show the evident effort he has put into winning the war, he is indirectly building his ethos, showing the England that he ready to fight for them and bring them to justice. Hirohito takes a different approach with logos.  Since he is surrendering from the war, he uses logos to justify his reasons for withdrawing.  For example, in the fifth paragraph, he tries to explain that "the enemy is employing a new and most cruel bomb...taking toll of many innocent lives".  He uses the bomb and the effects of it to account for leaving the war.  This builds his ethos as well because his reason shows that he is only looking out for the well being of the population.

Later in Churchill's speech, he shifts from logos to pathos, to boost the audience's spirit towards to war more.  For example, in the last paragraph, he simply says that his policy is "to wage war, by sea, land and air,with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us".  His strong, emotional diction such as "war", "might", "strength", and especially "God", provokes the audience to action.  I mean, God has given us the strength, so we must do it, it is our duty!  Hirohito uses pathos a little differently.  Instead of calling his audience to action, he uses the sense of regret and guilt to invoke sympathy from the audience towards his decision.  For example, in the fourth paragraph from the bottom, he says, "We cannot but express the deepest sense of regret to our allied nations of East Asia..."  He uses a hyperbole by saying "deepest sense of regret" to express how hard his decision is and how sorry he is for having to give up on the war.

Both Churchill and Hirohito use similar rhetorical devices to express their decisions and views on the war but in two completely different ways, preparing for war and surrendering against war.