From the Mouth of Experience

When I read about the events of the two world wars, I can't help but feel some pride in the United States and the role we played to end them. I feel a strong sense of patriotism to think that we were able to go in and end what no other country seemed able to do. Of course I also think that it could be just biased opinion and that the other countries involved surely didn't feel that way. But then listening to "Sinews of Peace," it felt nice to know that the other countries did see that and appreciate it. I wanted to cheer when Winston Churchill recognized our great efforts, and I felt enormous pride knowing that we were trusted with our power. I felt moved by not only his appreciation but also his call for peace. I felt the urgency to break down the "iron curtain" and free the world from the oppression of communism.

Now if I felt that way listening to it on my cellphone over seventy years later, sitting in an office, never having been personally affected by the devastation of war, imagine what those listening to him in person, recovering from destruction and death, must have felt. Churchill knew what his audience felt because he was in the middle of the carnage. He watched his country get blown to pieces; he watched the brave soldiers lay down their lives for their country;

Churchill inspecting Polish troops. 1943

he knew the consequences abused power. He hardly needed to establish authority in this speech, but he drew on his experience as a leader in the war to convince the people that their could have been another way. Telling the people that if he had been allowed to make the decisions, World War II could have been avoided was a perfect way to establish credibility to people who are picking up the pieces and are desperate to avoid war. They will do anything to prevent more destruction.

This kairotic moment allowed him to tap into the emotions of those listening and also the reality of the situation, satisfying their pathos and logos needs. He knew they didn't want war and that the memory of the war would be enough for them to want to establish peace, but he didn't rely on that. He brought in a logistical side as well. He related the situation to the world, discussing how the current issues would affect the governments of different countries and the UNO.

Churchill's brilliance shows undeniable in this speech. He makes a call for peace, and I can't imagine there was anyone listening who didn't answer.

image credit: public domain images via Wikimedia Commons

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

Plight of the Ordinary Family

Winston Churchill begins his speech by addressing all and then proceeds with using “I.” He uses “I’ to compliment and show respect. He then switches to “we” as a show of solidarity. His voice is powerful, yet not overpowering. He speaks slowly, giving the audience time to take in every word. He pauses when he should, and he gives time for the audience to clap.

                                          Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/45909111

There are several examples of Churchill using alliteration. When he says, “preach what we practice––let us practice what we preach,” he uses both repetition and alliteration. This rhetorical style gets the attention it desires. In that same paragraph, there is “poverty and privation” used. In the last paragraph of the speech, the alliteration is strong: “walk forward in sedate and sober strength seeking….”

Churchill uses a fair amount of metaphors, beginning with those used in his paragraph on the UNO. He says that the UNO is “already at work…that its work is fruitful…that it is a temple of peace…not merely a cockpit in a Tower of Babel.” And that “…we must be certain that our temple is built, not upon the shifting sands or quagmires, but upon a rock.” He continues with “…our path will be difficult and also long….” By quoting from the Bible, he is appealing to religious beliefs. He alludes to religion two other times when he says, “God has willed…” and “In my father’s house are many mansions.”

One of the most powerful paragraphs is a good example of appeal to pathos, with repetition and metaphors added in. In speaking of “the myriad of cottage or apartment homes where the wage-earner strives amid the accidents and difficulties of life…” he describes well their plight: “They must be shielded from two gaunt marauders, war and tyranny. We all know the frightful disturbance in which the ordinary family is plunged when the curse of war swoops down upon the breadwinner….” He shows empathy to the common man by bringing to attention “… the designs of wicked men…aggressive urge of mighty States…humble folk are confronted with difficulties with which they cannot cope.”

He ends with the powerful sentence: “For them is all distorted, all is broken, all is even ground to a pulp.” A visual description of the plight of the common man.