RA 12: Speech

Winston Churchill's first speech as Prime Minister was a stirring rhetoric for the British people to "Arm Yourselves and Be Ye Men of Valour." In a time marked with desperation and fear, Great Britain needed a little persuasion to fight back the ensuing horde of German troops. Churchill spoke these words to his audience of British nationalists who needed encouragement that the fight was not lost. The enthymeme for this speech is German armored vehicle attacks will not be enough to destroy this people because German attacks do not have the same passion and cause that the defenders possess. Churchill reassures them that the forces fighting against Germany have great records and skill. He boasted that the French and English armies recover and counterattack well and have dogged endurance and extreme fighting power. These words would conjure pride in where they come from and where they want to be. It would have been easy to say all is lost and this will be a very costly war in terms of destruction of property and lives lost if they continued. Churchill persuaded them that even though the situation looked bleak, it was far from lost. He used phrases that they could agree with logically. The army of tanks could not just roll over the armies of 3-4 million Frenchmen. He claimed with statistical evidence that they were equally matched with manpower and resources. His authority as the prime minister who meets regularly with the generals and leaders of other countries would give him more knowledge about what was really happening for the whole effort rather than the hearsay rumors spreading through families and communities. His position and confidence would be very persuasive for a majority of his listeners. He committed that the parties of England that once were divided now stand unified and agreed on the best course of action. Those people who side with one ideology or another would be sure that their interests were protected and their voice was heard. The unity of the whole country was paramount to their winning the war. This speech changed many opinions about the war they thought futile.


(Text of Winston Churchill's Speech)

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/winstonchurchillbemenofvalor.htm

I speak to you for the first time as Prime Minister in a solemn hour for the life of our country, of our empire, of our allies, and, above all, of the cause of freedom. A tremendous battle is raging in France and Flanders. The Germans, by a remarkable combination of air bombing and heavily armored tanks, have broken through the French defenses north of the Maginot Line, and strong columns of their armored vehicles are ravaging the open country, which for the first day or two was without defenders. They have penetrated deeply and spread alarm and confusion in their track. Behind them there are now appearing infantry in lorries, and behind them, again, the large masses are moving forward. The re-groupment of the French armies to make head against, and also to strike at, this intruding wedge has been proceeding for several days, largely assisted by the magnificent efforts of the Royal Air Force...
Today is Trinity Sunday. Centuries ago words were written to be a call and a spur to the faithful servants of truth and justice:
Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour, and be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altars. As the will of God is in Heaven, even so let it be.