The Courage to Continue

Winston Churchill is often credited with having said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” He never said those words, but the misquotation likely arose from the legend of Britain’s lonely stand against Germany. After the Germans overran Holland, Belgium and northern France, forcing the evacuation of British and French troops at Dunkirk, the French government capitulated to German occupation in June 1940. For twelve months, Britain faced Germany alone, enduring bombing raids that devastated London and southern England—though with military support from the US in the form of the “Lend-Lease” program. The British people’s proud defiance of German tyranny during the Battle of Britain is a commonplace of popular history. But this narrative was invented by Churchill himself a month before France’s capitulation, in the speech he delivered on the occasion of the Dunkirk evacuation: “We shall go on to the end.” Such is the power of his words that they did not merely rally popular support; they created the legend that we invariably repeat whenever we rehearse the history of the months that followed.

For class, please listen to Churchill’s Dunkirk speech. The video linked here has visuals drawn from contemporary photographs. You may find them helpful or you may find them distracting; either way, your focus should be on Churchill’s words, tone, pacing, delivery.

Then listen to Franklin Delano Roosevelt Pearl Harbor speech. Delivered before a joint session of Congress just a day after the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec 7, 1941, Roosevelt made a brief but persuasive case for war; Congress declared war on Japan just 33 minutes later.

In the Comments section, post:

• Something that FDR or Churchill does that strikes you as distinctly different from Hitler’s oratory. Please note the time signature of the video.
• Something that FDR or Churchill does that strikes you as distinctly similar to Hitler’s oratory. Please note the time signature of the video.