The Significance Of Winston Churchill's Speech To The House Of Common

I read the speech given by Sir Winston Churchill on June 4, 1940 to the House of Common is the UK. Churchill gave this speech as he acted as Prime Minister. The speech was delivered after the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary Force and the French Army at Dunkirk. Churchill started by delivering an account of the last few weeks, outlining the heroic actions of soldiers from the Army and Royal Air Force as they desperately tried to stop the advance of the German Army into Belgium and France. “(The German Armed Forces) tried hard, and they were beaten back; they were frustrated in their task. We got the Army away; and (The German Armed Forces) have paid fourfold for any losses which they have inflicted” (Churchill, 1940). His speech went on to reassure Members that, while the country was going to need to take a step back and focus on rebuilding their forces and equipment, their Island would not give up easily. Furthermore, should they fail to hold out against insurmountable odds, Churchill was confident that the New World would eventually liberate the Old World from
It started with a history of the subsequent few weeks, explaining why the Prime Minister had called for a session of the House of Commons. Then, it flowed nicely into acknowledgements of heroic actions, acknowledging the brave few who had been fighting against the Nazis. There were a few points in the speech that I had to research, namely the involvement of the Belgian King Leopold III and the Fifth Column. I was surprised to read that the Belgian King was seen as a traitor and that his singular act of surrender to the German Army had precipitated much of the actions at Dunkirk. These actions were addressed very diplomatically in Churchill’s speech, leaving little room for interpretation. I did discover that these very words would have consequences for King Leopold years later. A sign of an impactful