So much has rightly been made of Winston Churchill's other-worldly, charismatic oratory talents, during World War II in particular. His parliamentary and radio speeches brought supporters, foes and Britain's citizenry alike to their collective feet at a time when sitting idly would've spelled the end of what was left of western European democracy. An English domino falling to the German bulldozer of war would no doubt have splashed across the ocean tipping America to eventually fend for its own self, sans Allied support, with no future strategic points to strike from within Britain in a future European war theatre.
Churchill's bolstering words of motivation and calls to arms sent men and women across Great Britain to share his deep belief that they as Englishmen were privileged to be in this life and country-threatening spot. From May 1940 through the early months of 1942, from the young to the elderly, Brits across The Isle hung on WSC's words ready to defend their shores, cities, farms and countrysides from German attack, or, as was thought possible by most in those years, outright invasion.
Winston may have seemed "movie-dramatic" with his public, and private, orations. With astounding detail and recall he often quoted poetry and passages from great works that dovetailed with whatever the present subject-matter as he mingled or sat with generals, heads-of-state or his staff. But this was the real Winston. When we observe his speeches we know it's not some peppered and salted-up act.
From his "Finest Hour" speech we see:
"...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."
Sitting in the House of Commons or in your home in London listening to the radio you remembered a line like that because his point, as much as his choice of words left you the Englander with no doubt about the consequences of failure to act, and to understand how difficult victory would be to reach. He was the great seamstress of writing the words and orator of delivering them.
Yet in Churchill's genius and delivery, like no one who's spoken since, he follows the above with this which so many of us are familiar:
"Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour.""
Sends chills for me now. Makes me want to get up and go do something important right away.
His influence and crucial placement as Prime Minster in the early 1940's cannot be underestimated. When so many, not only Chamberlain, were ready to offer a brokered peace with Hitler, it was Churchill who lead the way to say, "No, we stand and fight, win or fail", utilizing his speeches as arguably the #1 weapon in his arsenal.
Now, I understand what heads-of-state do, especially when addressing their citizens and the world; they have to put a spin on events and circumstances. That involves some stretching of truths and/or appeasing certain factions to ensure everyone doesn't, and won't, take their eyes of the ball. Especially early on, whether when England attempted to assist France with keeping the Blitzkrieg at bay, or when spinning to his people how wondrous an ally Stalin was, Churchill had to present a picture of progress and moving in the direction of victory. It would be a little mundane in this space to give examples of this but suffice to say he usually but a convincing spin on the few positives which came out of the jaws of defeat.
Still, when we read his public offerings on early war events, events that presented little to no wins for the British people to grab onto, who can doubt this PM's straight-talk and honesty, for instance about the massive rescue of thousands of British troops from Dunkirk in June, 1940?
"We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations."
So he he maintained the call to fight. Later in this same speech he gave his parliament & people, and posterity, a little-known gem when extolling the opportunity for England's young men to shine in battle for their island home:
"The Knights of the Round Table, the Crusaders, all fall back into the past-not only distant but prosaic; these young men, going forth every morn to guard their native land and all that we stand for, holding in their hands these instruments of colossal and shattering power, of whom it may be said that
Every morn brought forth a noble chance
And every chance brought forth a noble knight,
deserve our gratitude, as do all the brave men who, in so many ways and on so many occasions, are ready, and continue ready to give life and all for their native land."
This speech was aptly named "We Shall Fight On". If I had to pluck a few words out of it along with any of his speeches from that period, I think his core message was they'd fight "if necessary for years, if necessary alone". But maybe that's not enough.
Thus, I'd have to couple that with the most well-known quote from this speech:
"...we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender..."
Without his fervor, loyalty, daring, willingness to fight and oratory, England would not have been held with much esteem throughout the world. They would've been defined as a collection of lazy aristocracy hoarding over their "lower" classes still too frought with the wrongful ideals of empire and commonwealth. The way Germany was rolling over most every square foot of Europe like a dastardly amoeba, the rest of the world, outside Japan & Italy, sat and waited for the English to fall. Yet Churchill was there to pick up and shake his people and spur them into a game-changing fight which lead to victory in The Battle of Britain.
But his influence and reach went beyond that---we'll cover that in another post soon...
Peace.
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