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| Winston Churchill |
According to the Russians, the Cold War began on March 5, 1946. On that day, Winston Churchill came to Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri and gave the speech titled “The Sinews of Peace” that gave rise to the term the “iron curtain”, which is still well-known today.
The impact of this speech is largely due to the masterful use of rhetorical devices by Churchill, who was a world-renowned orator. I noticed particularly in his speech very purposeful arrangement of his ideas and a huge respect and advantage taken of Kairos, or context in which the speech was given.
The speech begins with a joke about his being British and glowing praise of the President and of the United States. From there he jumps quickly into addressing the tensions of the day and continues on to lay out his recommendations for navigating those treacherous waters.
This structure feels very logical but maintains natural flow. The order of the presentation of ideas follows the way a person would approach any encountered problem. The difference is that Churchill very readily provides the solution where we would otherwise have to dwell for quite some time on the issue.
Another aspect of arrangement I noticed was that right after Churchill introduces the brunt of his proposed solution, he very quickly quiets a potential concern or counterargument that listeners might be having. His solution is to make a cooperative world organization, but he knows that spreading knowledge of the atom bomb is a huge concern to the American people and assures the listeners that that would not be something that would be shared.
This ties in to Churchill’s use of Kairos. It is given after the Second World War. The world is still recovering and in terrible fear of a third, even more destructive thermonuclear war. This allows Churchill to pull on the raw emotions tied to the destruction and suffering from the wars to add to his plea for peace and cooperation.
This speech was monumental in looking at the approaches to the Cold War. Churchill’s oratory genius imprinted the words “iron curtain” into the American mind and urged us towards steps for peace.
Image Credit: Winston Churchill Wikipedia Commons
It's amazing how affecting words can be. Churchill had only to give one metaphor and it sparked a flame that led to conflict. It seems that "no good deed goes unpunished." Even when there are good intentions, there can be negative outcomes. It just seems like the image of iron conveyed the idea that only force could take it down.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting that you point out the immediate counter-argument. In school we are taught to save the counter argument until the second to last paragraph. I think the difference might be the medium: in speech, the audience wont remember the original argument by the time you get to the counter argument. With written text the can go back and reference. That's neat that Churchill can use that to his advantage.
ReplyDeleteWhat really stuck out to me from this talk is what people have chosen to remember and what they have forgotten. Although the focuses just as much on the "Sinews of Peace" and the importance of meaningful cooperation, it is "Iron Curtain" that people remember and seek to fight against.
ReplyDeleteWhile it was the beginning of the cold war, I think this speech served Churchill's purpose of ensuring that western democracy prevailed and western countries united against destructive ideologies. Not to discount the terror of the Cold War.
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