America 's Greatest Weapon Against The Nazi Regime

By acknowledging the potential military disaster, catalyzed by another country, Churchill emphasizes the significance of the successful withdrawal of his troops, inspiring a sense of immense nationalism and pride in his audience. He perfectly seizes the opportunity before him, as he knew that he had to stir his people to rise up and rebuild in order to win his war. Churchill’s ultimate goal was to keep fighting until either his country was destroyed or had vanquished his enemies, and this escape, solely due to German error, provided a chance to bring the British to victory. He knew the situation was still dire for him and his country. The British were vastly outnumbered, and the loss of the Belgian army dealt a blow to the Allies. The speech was meant to prime the British people for what was to come

Their finest hour is a famous speech given by Winston Churchill on 18, June, 1940. What happens in the unusual 1940? Let us walk into that year, an extremely terrible year, when England is fluttering about in the storm. In the Germen’s crazy assault, Austria, Finland, Belgium…already have licked the dust. Maybe the German is fully prepared, France, which claims to be the first power in the European Continent, capitulates to Germany in an unbelievably short time. No too surprise, England becomes the lonely country standing alone in the way to against the threat of invasion. Undoubtedly, horror and panic have filled this not big island. This country is exposed to an utterly dangerous circumstance. There is only one outcome: surviving or dying.

“This was their finest hour” is a quote by Winston Churchill, the British wartime Prime Minister. Winston Churchill was appointed the Prime Minister of Britain in 1940, shortly after Neville Chamberlain resigned after his unpopular appeasement policies were ignored by Hitler, with his reputation tarnished by the British defeat in Norway. One month into Churchill’s appointment, France, who before the war was said to have the best army in mainland Europe, was defeated within a month and a half. On the previous day, Vichy France, a Nazi Germany-friendly puppet state, was propped up, headed by Marshal Petain after a French armistice was agreed. General Maxime Weygand, while in England, called the Battle of France over. Churchill, leading the only Allied nation remaining fighting on the Western Front, faced disaster.

In the Blitzkrieg bombing of Britain, the country needed support more than ever as their patience was growing thin. It was at this very crucial moment in history when the British were about fall to the Germans overwhelming military when Winston Church gave his famous speech, “Their Finest Hour.” This would be the speech that changes the tide of the war, and inspired the British people to rally together against the German forces. In his famous speech, he focuses on the patriotism of the British people and letting them know that this war was far from over, and they weren’t going to go down without one heck of a fight. The reason this speech was so successful and uplifting was because Churchill was able to present it in a way to make all the British

Winston Churchill’s Their Finest Hour speech propelled Great Britain’s involvement in World War II. After the great defeat of the francophone countries by the Nazis, Winston’s words provided motivation and encouragement for the country to not give up. Churchill is commonly known as a great orator by his use of pathos in his speech. In this speech he makes plain that the war with France has ended, and now the battle for britain is about to begin. He appeals to the emotions of the audience. In this thought provoking statement, Churchill states “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.” At the time of the speech, Britain was under attack by the germans using Blitzkrieg bombing, and Paris was defeated by Germans.

However, what truly defines poverty? Is it a lack of money, or lack of food or even lack of proper hygiene? Although these characteristics alone or combined can often define people living in poverty, the truth is that these are only perceptions. To live in poverty means that your income falls below the official poverty line for a given family size. In a broader sense, the living conditions of the poor are difficult to measure, both because annual cash income is only one factor related to living conditions, and because the poor are quite heterogeneous (Federman, Garner & Short, 1997). The perceptions or "myths" that the population has about poverty are distinguished by a "high degree of constancy" across generations and by an "equally pronounced capacity for evolution", adapting to changes in knowledge and social circumstance (Blumenburg, 1995 pp.34). Society buying into these myths and some impoverished adhering to the myths feed the fuel for society's beliefs and perceptions.

The basic message of this speech which Churchill is trying to convey is that Hitler and Nazi Germany were growing more powerful everyday, winning nearly every battle, and the threat of world domination was truly on the rise. With Germany on the move, it became known as “blitzkrieg,” or “lighting war,” and England’s troops were becoming downtrodden and morale was extremely low. Losses on the side of the United Kingdom were high, failing miserably on the front-lines. It was up to Prime Minister Winston Churchill to reignite the fire in all troops’ hearts, to bring back their hope and raise their spirits. On 18 June, 1940, a known and powerful orator, with “Their Finest Hour” delivered to the House of Commons in London, Churchill gave the country back

By telling the British population the facts about the war then following it with strong words of hope, Churchill develops a relationship of trust with the citizens. Saying “brilliant youth-who will have the glory of saving their native land, their island home, and all they love from the most deadly of all attacks”, builds pride in the people and will make them want to fight for the greater good, which in turn, will help drive Britain’s agenda of winning the war. Throughout

Alexie speaks about the problem of poverty by writing, “Poverty doesn’t give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor” (11).

“Britain not only faced an enemy ten times as powerful as she was on land and more than twice as powerful in the air. Invasion appeared imminent and inevitable. On July 16, Adolf Hitler issued a directive ‘As England despite her hopeless military situation, still shows no sign of willingness to come to terms, I have decided to prepare, and if necessary carry, a landing operation against her. The aim of this operation is to eliminate the English motherland as a base from which war against Germany can be continued…’ (Hough 13).

Newly elected Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, in his speech to the House of Commons, addresses the impending World War II. Churchill’s purpose is to acknowledge the fact that he is aware of the war coming, and what he wants the country to do about it.

Winston Churchill’s headstrong resiliency in the face of danger defined his career as a war leader. Former Prime Minister David Cameron states,” He was an incredible leader for our country, and indeed for the whole free world, at an impossibly difficult time.” (1). Five months before his inauguration, Churchill gave his speech “House of Many Mansions” wherein he urged the then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and other world

Secondly, Churchill also reflected upon Britain’s past and used events that defined them. “Therefore, we must regard the next week or so as a very important period in our history. It ranks with the days when the Spanish Armada was approaching the Channel, and Drake was finishing his game of bowls; or when Nelson stood between us and Napoleon 's Grand Army at Boulogne.” This passage is because he reflected upon some of the greatest accomplishments that the British went through. By reflecting on the past Churchill motivated the British people to look at themselves and compare themselves to the people who went through these situations. He allowed them to reflect on how these individuals were brave and resilient, and how they won despite the odds against them. That in such remarkable situations, little Britain won . In addition, Churchill through this passage compared the German army and air force to the Spanish Armada and Napoleon’s army. He implies that even at their grandiose scale the British people of the past defeated them easily . Therefore, when Churchill looking at these past events, he implied that England was already at an advantage because they previously defeated the great Spanish Armada and Napoleon and his grand troop, so in essence Germany, in his mind, could be easily defeated too.

The Secretary of State for War from 1912-1914, Jack Seely, once said about Winston Churchill, “Real danger unnerves most men; it nerved him.” Although said as a reflection of Churchill’s actions on the Western Front of the Great War, it can easily be applied to Churchill’s life, personality, and leadership style. In truth, there is no lack of words in the English language that Churchill loved so much that can be used to describe him. Both friends and enemies that knew him easily jumped at the bit to label him as arrogant, a warmonger, a bully, boastful, prideful, a glory-seeker, and obsessive. These same friends and enemies, and people that switched between the two, would also refer to him as perceptive, knowledgeable, a forward-thinker, witty, a true leader, and brilliant in the same breathe.

Churchill begins “We Shall Never Surrender” by providing vivid descriptions of the life and environment of war to describe the hardships, then follows up with showing that the strength that the troops had together helped them overcome specific events. He continues to use repetition to emphasize the importance of staying together and not losing hope in order to provide small victories, one at a time. Churchill’s courage to speak up during such a disturbing time helped assist the nations morality by providing hope and encouragement in the bloodshed time of war. When a nation felt defeated Winston Churchill used his powerful voice in “We Shall Never Surrender” to lift the nation’s spirits