Their Finest Hour

“Their Finest Hour” is the unofficial title of a speech delivered in 1940 by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, shortly after the beginning of World War II. Churchill composed the speech to boost the British people’s morale as they faced off against the Nazi regime as its blitzkrieg spread throughout Western Europe. With the Nazi occupation of Paris, the United Kingdom became the only surviving sovereign state and resorted to desperate action to preserve its national border. Churchill’s speech is seen as an important rallying cry in response to the efforts taken in Operation Dynamo and the famous evacuation at Dunkirk. “Their Finest Hour” is an example of masterful oration, blending logos and pathos to galvanize its audience into retaliatory action.

Churchill begins with a logical appeal for the likelihood of British victory over Hitler’s armies. Knowing that his forces are quickly losing morale, he reminds his audience that a number of British military cohorts have led successful attacks alongside the French. The prime minister argues that the recent French failures were the fault of their commanders and, therefore, have no bearing on the outcome of the British war effort. He also reminds his listeners that the successful evacuation at Dunkirk has bolstered the ranks of available officers seasoned in Nazi warfare to face off against Hitler, whose armies are smaller than Britain’s. He suggests that for this reason alone, Britain is effectively impenetrable. He also dismisses the idea of a successful air assault, claiming that the British air force is used to inflicting several times more losses than it suffers. He points to the example of Dunkirk, where the German air force lost three or four officers for each British loss. He speculates that when the air force is defending its own homeland, the ratio will be even higher. He then assures his audience that Britain is not alone in the fight against Nazi oppression. Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, each a former British colony, had all pledged support. Britain’s supplies were also bolstered by aid from the United States.

Churchill complements these logistical figures and speculations with an emotional appeal. He compares the plight of Britain and the formerly free states of Europe to the events of World War I. At the beginning of that war, the Allies took incredible losses and despaired for their individual and collective futures. This constant fear cast a specter over Europe until the tides of battle suddenly turned and they emerged victorious. This historical example gives Churchill the hope and emotional resilience he wishes to impart to the British people. He demonstrates a masterful use of imagery, especially the classic binary opposition between light and dark, describing Britain as a place of beauty and light that will vigorously oppose Germany’s fascism and despotism. Churchill laments that the British people would give up and let the losses of so many Poles, Czechs, French, and other Europeans be in vain. He states, moreover, the British people are responsible for the salvation of people suffering throughout Europe, especially the ones that they have promised to protect. To Churchill, it is completely insensible to accept a self-defeating prophecy; the only way to gain a fighting chance against Hitler is to conceive of it as possible in the first place.



In his speech’s climax, Churchill emphasizes the inherent Christian goodness of Britain, asserting that its religious foundation must be protected at all costs. He warns against the creation of a “Dark Age” in which the world is controlled by Hitler. Finally, he rallies for a future in which the British Empire and Commonwealth have endured for a thousand years, and whose men look back on the Second World War and recall it being “their finest hour.” From this section, the speech obtains its name, symbolizes national pride, nobility, and virtue.

The impact of Their Finest Hour immediately resonated through Britain and the rest of the world. It was said that it motivated the French general Charles de Gaulle to urge the remaining French forces to fight harder. It also foreshadowed the Battle of Britain, which began mere weeks after Churchill’s official address. When the war ended five years later, Churchill’s address was recognized as prophetic and empowering, leading to its canonization as one of the greatest oral addresses ever made.