Iron Curtain Speech

This study guide cites Representative American Speeches: 1945-1946, volume 19, selected by Albert Craig Bard and published in 1946.

Winston Churchill, the prime minister of the United Kingdom during most of World War II, greets his audience at Westminster College and thanks the President of the United States for introducing him. He opens by acknowledging the poignancy of this moment in time: in this post-war world, the United States faces the great opportunity and responsibility of becoming the world’s hegemonic power. As a framework, Churchill therefore adopts the metaphor of American military men addressing a serious situation by developing an “overall strategic concept” (22). The concept, he argues, is the necessity of shielding average citizens against two major threats: war and tyranny.

Regarding war, the method to support this concept is the United Nations Organization (UNO), a new world organization already working toward preventing war. Churchill proposes, furthermore, that while UNO needs an international armed force, it should not be entrusted with the secret knowledge of the atomic bomb. Regarding tyranny, though Churchill argues against interfering forcibly in other states’ internal affairs, he does call for vocal and practical support of democracy at home. If war and tyranny are removed, and if cooperation emerges, he concludes, poverty and the post-war devastation will be overcome.

Churchill reminds the audience of his prescience prior to the previous war. He had called for actions that may have prevented the war altogether, but he was ignored. Now, in 1946, he insists that this negligence cannot happen again. Under the United Nations Organization, the English-speaking world must reach an understanding with Russia that it upholds—based on this proposed solution, Churchill names his address “The Sinews of Peace.”

Churchill concludes by emphasizing the great potential of Britain uniting with the United States to bring the full power of the English-speaking world to bear via the United Nations Charter. A selfless fraternal relationship between the two nations could lead to a better future for all.