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Winston Churchill's "Finest Hour" Speech 67 Years Ago Today

Posted on 06/18/2007 2:41:58 AM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo

On June 18, 1940, the position of Great Britain looked very shaky. The German army had routed the French forces, ran the British Expeditionary Force out of Europe and France was in the process of giving up the fight. On this dark day, Churchill gave a report on the bleak situation to the House of Commons. At the close of the speech he spoke these memorable words:

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 our 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 its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: churchill; godsgravesglyphs
Logic and the conventional wisdom of the day suggested that surrender was the only way to avoid an invasion and total military defeat. Yet these "rational minds" never reckoned on the bravery of the British people and their remarkable leader.
1 posted on 06/18/2007 2:42:03 AM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
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To: Colonel Kangaroo
I think Winston Churchill rallied the British people at time when all seemed lost and reminded them of what was stake: their very existence as a free nation. They took his words to heart and the rest is history. I dare say this speech changed the course of the Second World War.

2 posted on 06/18/2007 2:57:52 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: Colonel Kangaroo
Here is a mp3 file of that speech.7.4mb
3 posted on 06/18/2007 3:02:53 AM PDT by bad company (I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous)
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

Those darn unilateral British! How dare they continue the war without any coalition partners!! /s


4 posted on 06/18/2007 3:27:33 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: goldstategop

One would have thought this was a clear enough signal to Hitler that a negotiated peace with the British was not forthcoming.


5 posted on 06/18/2007 3:36:53 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

This will just create more Nazis in Europe.


6 posted on 06/18/2007 3:39:50 AM PDT by Thrownatbirth (.....when the sidewalks are safe for the little guy.)
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Just adding this to the GGG catalog, not sending a general distribution.

Thus ended the Phony War period. The Germans couldn't cross the Channel, hadn't prepared for it, hadn't had time to prepare, and Hitler showed little interest, planning to reach an agreement and treaty with the UK. Even had Churchill been so inclined, I doubt anyone could have taken Hitler at his word about any agreement, particularly the following year when Operation Barbarossa began, ending the Nonaggression Pact between the USSR and the Third Reich.

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7 posted on 06/18/2007 3:41:47 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated June 15, 2007.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Stalin fully expected Hitler to break the pact...just not while Germany was still at war with Britain.


8 posted on 06/18/2007 3:47:51 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: Colonel Kangaroo
“What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over.”

However, Weygand odiously added... “England will have its neck wrung like a chicken.”

9 posted on 06/18/2007 4:08:49 AM PDT by johnny7 ("But that one on the far left... he had crazy eyes")
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To: mainepatsfan

The surviving members of Stalin’s staff in recent years say the opposite — that Stalin couldn’t believe the reports of the attacks, and took a great deal of convincing that Hitler had attacked. The most surprising part of this, IMHO, is that any of Stalin’s staff *survived* Stalin. ;’)

On the German side, in the book “Interrogations”, a high-ranking German general, captured and interrogated, told his Allied inquisitor that Hitler was constantly concerned about the reports of Soviet raids across the frontier after the division of Poland.


10 posted on 06/18/2007 8:42:00 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated June 15, 2007.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Whoops... (add in where needed) and Stalin couldn’t believe Hitler would break the treaty.


11 posted on 06/18/2007 8:46:20 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated June 15, 2007.)
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

Winston Churchill is one of my favorite historical figures. We need a Churchill for the war on terror.


12 posted on 06/18/2007 1:31:05 PM PDT by se_ohio_young_conservative (I just became engaged...6/16/07..)
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To: johnny7
However, Weygand odiously added... “England will have its neck wrung like a chicken.”

Churchill later responded"Some chicken! Some neck!"

Guys like Weygand, the defeatists in France and even some in England never understood the moral effect of righteousness and national heritage. Likewise, I'm afraid the president and the pro-amnesty crowd neglect the powerful effect of a shared culture and history. America, like Britain in 1940, is more than an economic balance sheet, the true strength of America is its values and history, not its supply of cheap labor.

I don't have any objection to any immigrant from anywhere who wishes to subscribe to our history and values, but we don't need a large group of people who have no respect or affection for our heritage. If we aren't careful, we will lose the quality that saved England in 1940.

13 posted on 06/19/2007 7:52:15 AM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
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To: Colonel Kangaroo
If we aren't careful, we will lose the quality that saved England in 1940.

We've lost a lot of it already.

14 posted on 06/19/2007 8:06:53 AM PDT by johnny7 ("But that one on the far left... he had crazy eyes")
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To: johnny7

I’m afraid you’re right. To too many, America is just trash in TV and movies, ballgames and bad music.


15 posted on 06/19/2007 8:14:13 AM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
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To: Colonel Kangaroo

I was thinking about this today when I first heard about the attack on Glasgow.


16 posted on 06/30/2007 7:45:33 PM PDT by rdl6989
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