July 14, 1940, BBC Broadcast, London
Source
During the last fortnight the British Navy, in addition to blockading
what is left of the German Fleet and chasing the Italian Fleet, has had
imposed upon it the sad duty of putting effectually out of action for the
duration of the war the capital ships of the French Navy. These, under the
Armistice terms, signed in the railway coach at Compiegne, would have been
placed within the power of Nazi Germany. The transference of these ships
to Hitler would have endangered the security of both Great Britain and the
United States. We therefore had no choice but to act as we did, and to act
forthwith. Our painful task is now complete. Although the unfinished
battleship, the Jean Bart, still rests in a Moroccan harbor and there are
a number of French warships at Toulon and in various French ports all over
the world, these are not in a condition or of a character to derange our
preponderance of naval power. As long, therefore, as they make no attempt
to return to ports controlled by Germany or Italy, we shall not molest
them in any way. That melancholy phase in our relations with France has,
so far as we are concerned, come to an end.
Let us think rather of
the future. Today is the fourteenth of July, the national festival of
France. A year ago in Paris I watched the stately parade down the Champs
Elysees of the French Army and the French empire. Who can foresee what the
course of other years will bring? Faith is given to us to help and comfort
us when we stand in awe before the unfurling scroll of human destiny. And
I proclaim my faith that some of us will live to see a fourteenth of July
when a liberated France will once again rejoice in her greatness and in
her glory, and once again stand forward as the champion of the freedom and
the rights of man. When the day dawns, as dawn it will, the soul of France
will turn with comprehension and with kindness to those Frenchmen and
Frenchwomen, wherever they may be, who in the darkest hour did not despair
of the Republic.
In the meantime, we shall not waste our breath nor
cumber our thought with reproaches. When you have a friend and comrade at
whose side you have faced tremendous struggles, and your friend is smitten
down by a stunning blow, it may be necessary to make sure that the weapon
that has fallen from his hands shall not be added to the resources of your
common enemy. But you need not bear malice because of your friend's cries
of delirium and gestures of agony. You must not add to his pain; you must
work for his recovery. The association of interest between Britain and
France remains. The cause remains. Duty inescapable remains. So long as
our pathway to victory is not impeded, we are ready to discharge such
offices of good will toward the French Government as may be possible, and
to foster the trade and help the administration of those parts of the
great French Empire which are now cut off from captive France, but which
maintain their freedom. Subject to the iron demands of the war which we
are now waging against Hitler and all his works, we shall try so to
conduct ourselves that every true French heart will beat and glow at the
way we carry on the struggle; and that not only France, but all the
oppressed countries in Europe may feel that each British victory is a step
towards the liberation of the Continent from the foulest thralldom into
which it has ever been cast.
All goes to show that the war will be
long and hard. No one can tell where it will spread. One thing is certain:
the peoples of Europe will not be ruled for long by the Nazi Gestapo, nor
will the world yield itself to Hitler's gospel of hatred, appetite and
domination.
And now it has come to us to stand alone in the breach,
and face the worst that the tyrant's might and enmity can do. Bearing
ourselves humbly before God, but conscious that we serve an unfolding
purpose, we are ready to defend our native land against the invasion by
which it is threatened. We are fighting by ourselves alone; but we are not
fighting for ourselves alone. Here in this strong City of Refuge which
enshrines the title-deeds of human progress and is of deep consequence to
Christian civilization; here, girt about by the seas and oceans where the
Navy reigns; shielded from above by the prowess and devotion of our
airmen-we await undismayed the impending assault. Perhaps it will come
tonight. Perhaps it will come next week. Perhaps it will never come. We
must show ourselves equally capable of meeting a sudden violent shock
or-what is perhaps a harder test-a prolonged vigil. But be the ordeal
sharp or long, or both, we shall seek no terms, we shall tolerate no
parley; we may show mercy-we shall ask for none.
I can easily
understand how sympathetic onlookers across the Atlantic, or anxious
friends in the yet-unravished countries of Europe, who cannot measure our
resources or our resolve, may have feared for our survival when they saw
so many States and kingdoms torn to pieces in a few weeks or even days by
the monstrous force of the Nazi war machine. But Hitler has not yet been
withstood by a great nation with a will power the equal of his own. Many
of these countries have been poisoned by intrigue before they were struck
down by violence. They have been rotted from within before they were
smitten from without. How else can you explain what has happened to
France?-to the French Army, to the French people, to the leaders of the
French people?
But here, in our Island, we are in good health and
in good heart. We have seen how Hitler prepared in scientific detail the
plans for destroying the neighbor countries
of Germany. He had his
plans for Poland and his plans for Norway. He had his plans for Denmark.
He had his plans all worked out for the doom of the peaceful, trustful
Dutch; and, of course, for the Belgians. We have seen how the French were
undermined and overthrown. We may therefore be sure that there is a
plan-perhaps built up over years-for destroying Great Britain, which after
all has the honor to be his main and foremost enemy. All I can say is that
any plan for invading Britain which Hitler made two months ago must have
had to be entirely recast in order to meet our new position. Two months
ago-nay, one month ago-our first and main effort was to keep our best Army
in France. All our regular troops, all our output of munitions, and a very
large part of our Air Force, had to be sent to France and maintained in
action there. But now we have it all at home. Never before in the last
war-or in this-have we had in this Island an Army comparable in quality,
equipment or numbers to that which stands here on guard tonight. We have a
million and a half men in the British Army under arms tonight, and every
week of June and July has seen their organization, their defenses and
their striking power advance by leaps and bounds. No praise is too high
for the officers and men-aye, and civilians-who have made this immense
transformation in so short a time. Behind these soldiers of the regular
Army, as a means of destruction for parachutists, air-borne invaders, and
any traitors that may be found in our midst (but I do not believe there
are many-woe betide them, they will get short shrift)-behind the regular
Army we have more than a million of the Local Defense Volunteers, or, as
they are much better called, the "Home Guard." These officers and men, a
large proportion of whom have been through the last war, have the
strongest desire to attack and come to close quarters with the enemy
wherever he may appear. Should the invader come to Britain, there will be
no placid lying down of the people in submission before him, as we have
seen, alas, in other countries. We shall defend every village, every town,
and every city. The vast mass of London itself, fought street by street,
could easily devour an entire hostile army; and we would rather see London
laid in ruins and ashes than that it should be tamely and abjectly
enslaved. I am bound to state these facts, because it is necessary to
inform our people of our intentions, and thus to reassure
them.
This has been a great week for the Royal Air Force, and for
the Fighter Command. They have shot down more than five to one of the
German aircraft which have tried to molest our convoys in the Channel, or
have ventured to cross the British coast line. These are, of course, only
the preliminary encounters to the great air battles which lie ahead. But I
know of no reason why we should be discontented with the results so far
achieved; although, of course, we hope to improve upon them as the
fighting becomes more widespread and comes more inland. Around all lies
the power of the Royal Navy. With over a thousand armed ships under the
White Ensign, patrolling the seas, the Navy, which is capable of
transferring its force very readily to the protection of any part of the
British Empire which may be threatened, is capable also of keeping open
communication with the New World, from whom, as the struggle deepens,
increasing aid will come. Is it not remarkable that after ten months of
unlimited U-boat and air attack upon our commerce, our food reserves are
higher than they have ever been, and we have a substantially larger
tonnage under our own flag, apart from great numbers of foreign ships in
our control, than we had at the beginning of the war? Why do I dwell on
all this? Not, surely, to induce any slackening of effort or vigilance. On
the contrary. These must be redoubled, and we must prepare not only for
the summer, but for the winter; not only for 1941, but for 1942; when the
war will, I trust, take a different form from the defensive, in which it
has hitherto been bound. I dwell on these elements in our strength, on
these resources which we have mobilized and control-I dwell on them
because it is right to show that the good cause can command the means of
survival; and that while we toil through the dark valley we can see the
sunlight on the uplands beyond.
I stand at the head of a Government
representing all Parties in the State-all creeds, all classes, every
recognizable section of opinion. We are ranged beneath the Crown of our
ancient monarchy. We are supported by a free Parliament and a free Press;
but there is one bond which unites us all and sustains us in the public
regard-namely (as is increasingly becoming known), that we are prepared to
proceed to all extremities, to endure them and to enforce them; that is
our bond of union in His Majesty's Government tonight. Thus only, in times
like these, can nations preserve their freedom; and thus only can they
uphold the cause entrusted to their care.
But all depends now upon
the whole life-strength of the British race in every part of the world and
of all our associated peoples and of all our well-wishers in every land,
doing their utmost night and day, giving all, daring all, enduring all-to
the utmost-to the end. This is no war of chieftains or of princes, of
dynasties or national ambition; it is a war of peoples and of causes.
There are vast numbers, not only in this Island but in every land, who
will render faithful service in this war, but whose names will never be
known, whose deeds will never be recorded. This is a War of the Unknown
Warriors; but let all strive without failing in faith or in duty, and the
dark curse of Hitler will be lifted from our
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