But all of Europe was on the verge of life or death every moment from 1940 to 1945. Three days after Winston Churchill assumed the role of Great Britain's Prime Minister, he delivered these famous words to a divided House of Commons on May 13, 1940:
I would say to the House as I have said to those who have joined this government: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."
Three weeks later, with bad news mounting after the Allied disaster at Dunkirk, the fall of Belgium, and the imminent collapse of France to Axis hands, Churchill again addressed the House on June 4:
Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, 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, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.
Another two weeks hence, on June 18, when France did fall to Germany and all of England seemed on the verge of direct attack from the Axis powers, Churchill tried to unite his fellow citizens, indeed the world, with another address to the House:
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."
The war raged on. Millions of soldiers fell in battle. Countless families lost their homes in bombing raids. Food was in short supply everywhere. The British were looking for some reason for optimism. That moment came on November 10, 1942, when Churchill, emerging from recent Allied victories in El Alamein, Egypt and Stalingrad, Russia, ordered church bells rung throughout Great Britain. He had an opportunity to deliver false hope in a position far from the end of a war. He wanted to strike a balance between announcing clear military victories and warning of the ominous days ahead. Here is what he said at the Lord Mayor's Luncheon in Mansion House, London:
Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
Churchill's triadic statement takes more than a moment to absorb. It does not claim absolute victory, nor does it assert certain victory. No fist-pumping or end-zone dancing here. But by ending on a positive note, he assures his audience that England is gaining strength and momentum and should stay the course. History proves Churchill's words prophetic. Victory in Europe Day came on May 8, 1945, 30 months after Churchill uttered those surprising words and 5 years after he became Prime Minister. Such exquisite writing, as well as his oratorical penchant for making memorable remarks at the perfect historical moments, contributed to his winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953.
