We Shall Fight To The Beaches
We Shall Fight To the Beaches
“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”, exclaimed Winston Churchill in a speech during World War II in June 4, 1940. That is just an excerpt of the passion filled speech given in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Churchill was your typical British speaker: a stiff upper lip which is the ability to suppress ones’ emotions and refrain from your upper lip from trembling, as that is a sign of a person not capable of handling their emotions. This particular speech came in a time of a grave crisis and the British Isles was left to fight the Nazi war machine by herself as a large majority of Europe had been conquered by Nazi Germany. Churchill’s speech was to raise the morale of the British people during the war, to continue the fight no matter the cost, and to ultimately defeat the Nazis. The date was June 4, 1940 and the speech remains as one of the most important and memorable speeches during World War II. It was delivered after the events of the Dunkirk Evacuation which around 338,000 Allied troops hastily evacuated from Dunkirk to Britain. Churchill had to make this speech that would be able to fire up the British people and to give a sense of urgency that bleak times were coming and an unavoidable crisis was headed to the British people. Churchill’s speech expressed an imperative urgency to defend Britain no matter what the cost. It was the exigency of unity that was required to win the war and to fend off the Nazi pressures and attacks. Churchill wanted the British audience to accept the fact that while Nazi Germany seemed unstoppable at the time, he wanted to convince his audience that a united nation in a time of need could fend off such a strong foe. Churchill makes good use of pathos. He uses dismal facts like, “Even though large tracts of Europe and many
“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”, exclaimed Winston Churchill in a speech during World War II in June 4, 1940. That is just an excerpt of the passion filled speech given in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Churchill was your typical British speaker: a stiff upper lip which is the ability to suppress ones’ emotions and refrain from your upper lip from trembling, as that is a sign of a person not capable of handling their emotions. This particular speech came in a time of a grave crisis and the British Isles was left to fight the Nazi war machine by herself as a large majority of Europe had been conquered by Nazi Germany. Churchill’s speech was to raise the morale of the British people during the war, to continue the fight no matter the cost, and to ultimately defeat the Nazis. The date was June 4, 1940 and the speech remains as one of the most important and memorable speeches during World War II. It was delivered after the events of the Dunkirk Evacuation which around 338,000 Allied troops hastily evacuated from Dunkirk to Britain. Churchill had to make this speech that would be able to fire up the British people and to give a sense of urgency that bleak times were coming and an unavoidable crisis was headed to the British people. Churchill’s speech expressed an imperative urgency to defend Britain no matter what the cost. It was the exigency of unity that was required to win the war and to fend off the Nazi pressures and attacks. Churchill wanted the British audience to accept the fact that while Nazi Germany seemed unstoppable at the time, he wanted to convince his audience that a united nation in a time of need could fend off such a strong foe. Churchill makes good use of pathos. He uses dismal facts like, “Even though large tracts of Europe and many