On June 16, 1940, Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, one of France’s heroes of the First World War, formed a new French government to be headquartered in Vichy, France, and the next day that government sued for an armistice with the Nazi Reich. Great Britain now stood alone against Europe’s Axis powers. Many political leaders in Britain, including Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax, wanted to follow Petain’s lead and make a deal with Hitler. But not Britain’s Prime Minister. On June 18, 1940, Winston Churchill rose to speak in the House of Commons.
Churchill told his colleagues in Parliament about the “colossal military disaster” in France. And he reminded them of what he had said a few weeks before:“that whatever happened in France would make no difference to the resolve of Britain and the British Empire to fight on ‘if necessary for years, if necessary alone.’” Then he mentioned the miracle of Dunkirk – the rescue and evacuation of more than 300,000 troops and “a great mass of supplies” from the French coast. The next crucial battles, Churchill said, will be on the seas and in the air. He warned of “the severity of the ordeal which lies before us,” but expressed his belief that “every man and every woman will have the chance to show [their] finest qualities.”
Churchill also reminded his colleagues of his historic offer to “conclude a union of common citizenship [with the French people] in this struggle.” “[W]e will never lose our sense of comradeship with the French people,” he pledged. And, “if we are now called upon to endure what they have been suffering,” he continued, “we shall emulate their courage, and if final victory rewards our toils they shall share the gains, aye, and freedom shall be restored to all.” But not just France. “Czechs, Poles, Norwegians, Dutch, Belgians have joined their causes to our own. All these shall be restored.”
Churchill concluded with some of his most unforgettable remarks:
What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization.
Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of lour institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.
Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and it Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.”
Churchill’s speech is one that should not only be read, but also listened to, by all those who cherish Western civilization. The words were intended to raise the spirits of the British people in the face of France’s defeat, and to prepare Britain for air attacks and possible invasion by German forces. The speech included a specific reference to the United States – and was part of Churchill’s ceaseless campaign to get America to join the war effort against the Axis powers. It was also a warning of what the world would look like if Britain was defeated – a “new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.” It was also a promise to the French people and other European nations that had been conquered by the Nazis that Britain’s victory would mean their liberation. Finally, it was a call to bring out the best in the British people and to rally them to fight on against considerable odds.
Perhaps journalist Edward R. Murrow best explained the importance of Churchill’s speeches to the war effort. Churchill, Murrow said, “mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.” Never more so than in his “finest hour” speech.
Read Full Article »
