"The Iron Curtain"
(1946)
W
:
mston Churchiil ( 1874-1965) was an artisc, writer, historian,jouqmliat
and mice prime minister of England (194045,1951-55). H e waa avigorous wartime leader, b t h in his aggmsivc milirary policier and in his inspirational speeches and public appearances. Hia wer-prtstnt cigar held
between two niscd fingers became a universal symbol of V for victory.
Churchill led a coalition government; ru an Allied dcsory in the Second
World War grm near, the elements of his codition came apart. He contested
the 1945 general election as a Conservative, but the nation returned the
tabor Party. For the nmt six years Churchill was leader of h e opposition.
Churchid had long k e n an ou~poktncritic of M e t c o r n m ~ r n
but
had quickly embraced thc Soviets aa d i m against Nazi Germany. Nmrthc1he waa wary of the peace actdement that gaw the h i t 8 conml of k t ern Europe. Earfy in 1946 Churchili accepted an invitation to tour the Unitcd
Statm. At Wcstrninsttr &liege in Fulton, Mbouri, he and P d d e n t Harry
Tnunan were both g k n honorary d e g r m and Churchill gave the npeech
that is mid to haw initiated the Cold War between East and W-L Churchdl
nuinmind char it was the duty of Britain and America oo unite q a h t the
&feat of Soviet communism.
I am glad ~a come to Wesuninster C o U t g t this
afternoon, and am compliicnad that you
should give me a degree. The name
Wesaninster"is somehow 6 m i i to IIU.I seem
to have heard of it before. Indeed,it was at Wmtminsrcr that I received a vcry Iargc pan of my tducation in politiu, dialectic, rhetoric, and one or
two other things. In fact we have both been tducated at chc same, or similar, or, at any race. kinc h i amblbhmtno.
The United States s u n & at this time at the
pinnadt of wodd power. It is a solemn moment
for the herican Democracy. For with primacy
in power if alsojoined an awcinspiring accountability to the future. Ifyou look m u n d you, you
must feel not only the sense of duty done but
abo you must feel anxiety kst you faR below the
Iwtl of achievement Opportunity is here now,
,
clear and shining for both our countries. To
reject it or ignore it o r fritter if aunv will bring
upon w all the long rtproachcs of the dte*
time. It is n c c p that constancy of mind, persistency of purpose, and the grand simplicity of
decision shall guide and rule the conduct ofthe
English-Qpealung peoples in peace as thy did in
war. We must, and I believe we shall. prove ourselves equal to this severe requirement
'
I haw a definite and practical p r o p o d to
make for action. Coum and magistram may be
set up but they cannot function without sheand constablts. The United Nations
Organization must immediately begin to be equipped with an intmational armed force. fn
such a matter we can only go step by step, but
-
we must begin now. I propose that each of
the Powers and Staccs should be invited to dele-
gate a certain number of air squadrons to
the service of the world organization. These
squadrons would be trained and prepared in
their own counuics, but would move around in
rotation from one countq to another. They
would wear the uniform d their own countries
but with different badges. They would not be
required to.act against heir own nation, but in
other respects they would be directed by the
world organization. This might be started on a
modest scale and would grow as confidence
grew. I wished to see this done after the first
world war, and I devoutly trust it may be done
forthwith.
It would neverthdess be wrong and irnprudmc to tnuust the secret knowledge or experience of the atomic bomb. which the United
Stater, Great Britain, and Canada now share, to
the world organization, while it i~ still in its
t would becriminal madqeja-tzl cast it
adrift i~ this still agitated and un-unittd world;
No one in anv c o u n v has slept less well in their
beds because thia knowledge and the method
and the raw materials to apply is, are at present
largely retained in American hands. I do not
k l i e w we should all gave slept so soundly
had the paitions been-rewned and if some
Communist or neo-Fascist State monopolized
for the time being these dread agencies. The
fear of them alone might easily ham k e n used
to enforce totalitarian systems upon the free
democratic worid. with consequences appalling
to human imagination. God has willed that tfii
shall not be and we have at least a breathing
space to set our house in order before this peril
hos to be encountered: and even then, if no
effort is spared. lVeshould still possess so formidable a superioricy as to impose effective deterrents upon its employment, or threat of employ
mcnt, by ochtn. Ultimately, when the essential
brotherhood of man is truly embodied and
exptcsstd in a world organization with all the
neccuary practical safeguatds to make it effec-
inht?t-
tive, these powen would naturally be confided
'to that world orpitation.
1
'
From Stettin i;! the Baltic to Tfitstc in the
Adriatic, an iron currain has descended across
the Continent Behind that lint lie all the capiuls of the ancient sum of Central and Eastern
@
Europe. Warsaw, k d i n , Prague, Vienna,
Budapest, Stl@e, Bucharest and Sofia, all
t h e famous tides and the populations around
them lie in w h a t 1 must call the W e t sphere,
and all m subject in one form or another, not
only to Soviet influence but to a very high and,
in many cases, increasing measure of control
from Moscow. Athens a l o n d m t c c with in
immorul gloricbia frec to decide its funuc at
an election under British, American md French
obsenation, The Rusriandominated P d i h
C;owmmtnt hm been encour~gcdto make
momous and wron#d in&
upon Gmnnny,
and mass mpulrions of milIions of Gtmma on
a scJ e grievous and undreamed-of art now taking place. Tht Cornmunut parties, which were
very nmall in all thcae k c e m Sates of Europt.
have been m i d K1 preeminence and power Ear
beyond their numbem and arc seeking everywhere w obtain totalitarian control. Police p
trnmentr arc prevailing in nearly every case.
and so hr, except in Cztchoefomkh, there in no
uae d e m w .
The safety of the world requim a new unity
in Europe, fmm which no nation should be permanently outcast. It is from the quarrels of h e
strong partnt racca in Europe that the world
wars we have witnessed, or which occumd in
former times. have sprung. W e e in our own
lifetime we have sttn the United Stam, against
their wish- and their traditions, against arguments, the force of which it is impossible not to
comprehend, drawn by irrcsistiblc forces, into
these wars in time to secure the victory of the
good c r u c , but only after frightful slaughter and devastation had accurrtd. Tivice the United
States has had to send several millions of.iu
young men acmss the Atlantic to find h e war;
but now war can find any nation, w h c m e r it
may dwell between dusk and dam. Surely we
should work with mmciour pufor a grand
pacification of Europe, within the jnrcturc of
the United Nations and in wcordvvc with its
Charter. That I feel is an open cause of policy of
~ ' egreat
q impomcc.
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