The Words left Unspoken

The United States has always followed an isolationist policy. With the memories of foreign oppression fresh in its mind, the United States did not send a delegate to any foreign convention until 1863, when in desperate need of help from outside powers. This trend, which began with the Monroe Doctrine was critical in the start of World War Two. The United States would not join the League of Nations, and would not concern itself with Europe after the horror of the first World War. Winston Churchill called for a new era of peace and cooperation in his speech, "The Sinews of Peace".  Winston uses an impeccable sense of decorum and invention to communicate the urgency and  necessity of his message of unity.

Winston Churchill Speaking

Churchill appealed to his American audience with a combination of  division and flattery. Churchill divides the world into the English speaking peoples and everyone else. He lifts the English speaking above the rest of world claiming the "principles of freedom" as the "inheritance" of the English speaking world. He goes on to flatter his american audience by stating that these ideals were best expressed in the Declaration of Independence. Churchill knows that his american audience does not want to be scolded for waiting so long to join the war, or reprimanded for leaving the league of nations powerless. Rather than doing either of these, he starts out joking, connecting the two countries through the name Westminster, and building his ethos through praising the president of the United States, who introduced him. Churchill widens the gap by taking these freedoms of the English and showing that only "glorious Greece" under the hands of the allies has free elections, while those behind the iron curtain are leaning towards totalitarianism.

Winston further shows his decorum by appealing to his audience with religion. American religious leanings were on the rise, and would continue to rise into the 50's.  Churchill compares a powerless United Nations to a cockpit in the tower of Babel, and then calls upon the old maxim to build upon the rock and not the sand. This religious language resonates with his american audience, and lends the ethos of the Bible, and even God to his speech. Religion, and English enlightenment ideals were the "Sinews of Peace" that could hold the world together.

These devices: division and religious maxims serve to drive home Churchill's point. If the United states isolates themselves, peace can never survive, the world will be as the tower of Babel, no cooperation, and no progression. Had Winston come out and outright lampooned the late effort of the United States, and criticized its isolationism, his audience would never have acted or believed his message. With his humor, flattery, division, and especially the harsh words that he did not speak, Churchill set up an alliance that would assure peace through the Cold War.

Picture: Winston Churchill speaking, wikicommons