United Europe Is Near - Churchill (1949)

'Europe Unite' Says Churchill (1948)

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill's Speech in the University of Zurich, 1946 - Parts 1 & 2 (English)

Deutsch: Im September 1946 rief Winston Churchill in einer Rede an der Universität Zürich dazu auf, „eine Art Vereinigte Staaten von Europa" zu errichten. Im selben Jahr fand ein Kongress der europäischen Föderalisten in Hertenstein in der Schweiz statt. Dort wurden zwölf Thesen verfasst, die als Hertensteiner Programm zur Grundlage der europäischen Arbeit der Nachkriegsjahre und zugleich zum politischen Gründungsdokument der Europa-Union Deutschland wurden. Ziel ist bis heute eine auf "föderativer Grundlage errichtete, europäische Gemeinschaft"

Churchill – United States of Europe

It is official! The iconic Sir Winston Churchill called for the creation of a ‘United States of Europe’ in his famous 1946 Zurich speech and presided the first European Federal Congress at The Hague in 1948. He was one of the key fathers of a united Europe and set in motion ideas and events, which would develop and grow to become the European Union.

The Telegraph: Churchill, my grandfather, always loved Europe: Today, as in the Forties, it would be madness not to play our part in saving the Continent from disaster | Nicholas Soames | Friday, February 26, 2016

The Wonderful Wit of Churchill

MARGARET THATCHER - 50th Anniversary of Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech | 1996, Fulton, MO

Fifty years after Sir Winston Churchill heralded from the podium at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, the descent of an "Iron Curtain" across Europe, another former British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, paid tribute to his legacy on 9 March 1996.

Sir Winston Churchill's Funeral Marked 50 Years On

BBC AMERICA: The boat that carried Sir Winston Churchill's coffin along the Thames in 1965 has made the same journey to mark the 50th anniversary of his funeral.

Members of the Churchill family were aboard the Havengore, which travelled to Westminster in central London.

Earlier, Prime Minister David Cameron laid a wreath in memory of Churchill, who, as prime minister, led Britain to victory in World War Two.

A service will also take place later at Westminster Abbey.

Speaking at a service in Parliament at the start of a day of commemorations, Mr Cameron said Churchill would be remembered as a "great leader and great Briton".

"If there is one aspect of this man I admire more than any other - it is Churchill the patriot," he said.

Mr Cameron said the UK needed to draw on the "courage and resolve" of Churchill to battle "every affront to freedom in this century". (+ BBC videos) » | Friday, January 30, 2015

Churchill Embodied Britain's Greatness

The story of Winston Churchill is a universal human parable,
and it is fundamentally about courage

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Winston Churchill's legacy is everywhere in the modern world. There has been no one remotely like him before or since

He disappeared in the dead of winter. It was exactly 50 years ago today that the heart of Sir Winston Churchill beat its last; and as soon as the news was broken to London and to Britain it was obvious that this death was some kind of a punctuation mark in the narrative of the country. A fierce and surging life force had been finally extinguished, after 90 event-stuffed years. The people had lost a man who had not only led Britain in war, but who had become in a sense emblematic of what greatness the nation still possessed.

When I look at the footage of the funeral that took place at the end of the month – the vast, mainly silent crowds, many of them weeping, the lipsticked and peroxided young women, the old men with sunken chaps and trilbies – I feel the weight of the event in their minds. I understand why my grandparents kept a copy of the newspaper front page. I can see why they regarded him as the greatest Englishman (or Briton, or human being, come to that) of his age. They were right, and in the last half century that judgment has been – if anything – strengthened. » | Boris Johnson | Friday, January 23, 2015

Claptrap? Sir Winston Churchill’s Family Begged Him Not to Convert to Islam, Letter Reveals

THE INDEPENDENT: He might have been a staunch protector of the British Empire, but the British Prime Minister had a love of the Orient and Islam

The family of Sir Winston Churchill urged him to “fight against” the desire to convert to Islam, a newly discovered letter has revealed.

The Prime Minister who led Britain to victory in World War Two was apparently so taken with Islam and the culture of the Orient that his family wrote to try and persuade him not to become a Muslim.

In a letter dated August 1907 Churchill’s soon to be sister-in-law wrote to him: “Please don’t become converted to Islam; I have noticed in your disposition a tendency to orientalise, Pasha-like tendencies, I really have.

“If you come into contact with Islam your conversion might be effected with greater ease than you might have supposed, call of the blood, don’t you know what I mean, do fight against it.”

The letter, discovered by a history research fellow at Cambridge University, Warren Dockter, was written by Lady Gwendoline Bertie who married Churchill’s brother Jack.

"Churchill never seriously considered converting," Dr Dockter told The Independent. "He was more or less an atheist by this time anyway. He did however have a fascination with Islamic culture which was common among Victorians." » | Matilda Battersby | Sunday, December 28, 2014

This article seems to be ludicrous, given the fact that Churchill wrote the following about Islam:

How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property – either as a child, a wife, or a concubine – must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen: all know how to die: but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome.

Source: Wiki »

Churchill Bust in Jerusalem Pays Tribute to Great Leader, Friend
ARUTZ SHEVA: Winston Churchill was honored in Jerusalem with a statue proclaiming him a friend of the Jewish people and supporter of Zionist aspirations.

Almost half a century after his death, Winston Churchill was honored in Jerusalem on Sunday with a statue and tribute proclaiming him a friend of the Jewish people and supporter of Zionist aspirations.

A large bronze bust, constructed by renowned sculptor Oscar Nemon, was unveiled at Mishkenot Sha'ananim, outside of the Old City walls, in recognition of the wartime British leader, who remains arguably one of the most outstanding historical personalities.

The ceremony was attended by the former prime minister's great grandson, Randolph Churchill, as well as Israeli and British diplomats and politicians.

While many argue that Churchill's failure to bomb the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz outweighed his support for the Jewish people, he is widely regarded as a friend of the Jewish nation and the state of Israel. » | Rachel Hirshfeld | Monday, November 05, 2012

What Kind of People Have We Become?

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Churchill would be dismayed by modern Britain’s capitulation to jackboot egalitarians, says Jeff Randall.

Between Christmas and New Year, the 70th anniversary of an event, which in no small way helped change the course of history, passed almost unnoticed. On December 26, 1941, less than three weeks after Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor, Winston Churchill addressed both branches of Congress in the United States. The prime minister, who was in Washington to agree military strategy with President Roosevelt, used the invitation from Senators and Representatives to excoriate the Axis powers and pose a simple question: “What kind of people do they think we are?”

This wasn’t Churchill’s finest oratorical effort, but it was clever. As well as denouncing the forces of darkness and the enormity of their aggression, it was an invitation to ordinary Britons, suffering the horrors of war at home, to reflect on the challenge ahead. He was, in effect, asking fellow citizens: “Of what are we made?”

Seven decades later, one wonders how the great man would view the kind of people the British have become. What has happened to the freedoms and independence for which he urged us to fight? It’s hard to imagine our wartime chieftain being anything other than dismayed by the erosion of sovereignty, capitulation to the “equalities industry” and enslavement by debt. We have lost control of domestic borders, ceded legal primacy to Europe and allowed the Storm Troopers of political correctness to stamp their corrosive version of right and wrong on British law.

For evidence of our self-inflicted abasement, look no further than this month’s ruling from Europe’s Court of Human Rights that Abu Qatada, a radical Islamist preacher, regarded as one of al-Qaeda’s main inspirational leaders in Europe, cannot be deported from Britain to his native Jordan because his trial there might have contained evidence obtained by torture. » | Jeff Randall | Monday, January 30, 2012

'Lehi Considered Assassinating Winston Churchill'
THE JERUSALEM POST: Report: Declassified MI5 files reveal Jewish underground member wanted to kill British PM, foreign secretary in attempt to end the mandate.

The Lehi considered killing Winston Churchill, The Telegraph reported on Monday, citing declassified MI5 files.

Eliyahu Bet-Zuri, a member of the underground group during the time of the British mandate, reportedly suggested in November 1944 that Lehi, or Stern Gang, members fly to London to kill the prime minister and force the British out of Mandatory Palestine, sparking concern in MI5 that Jewish extremists might try to assassinate foreign secretary Ernest Bevin, as well.

"As soon as [Bet-Zuri] returned to Stern Group headquarters, he proposed to suggest a plan for the assassination of highly placed British political personalities, including Mr. Churchil, for which purpose eimssaries should be sent to London," a sources within the Lehi told Major James Robertson from MI5's Middle East section.

Four months later, Bet-Zuri was executed in Cairo for assassinating Lord Moyne, the British Minister in the Middle East. » | JPOST.COM STAFF | Monday, April 04, 2011

Leadership Now; Leadership Then
On the steps of Number 10: David Cameron, Winston Churchill
Which British prime minister inspires confidence? Which British prime minister has offered us true leadership? Under whose leadership would you feel secure? Fact is that we are under attack by Al-Qaeda and radical Islam. Radical Islam is out to destroy the West. I’m sure that OBL and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are quaking in their leather thongs observing David Cameron kissing his new born child so tenderly on the steps of Number 10.

Of course, it is normal for a father to kiss and love his baby. But is such a show of tender affection on the steps of Number 10 really necessary in these dangerous times? David Cameron is obviously such a new man. I wonder if he does the vacuuming between cabinet sessions. All he needs is a ‘pinnie’! – © Mark

Winston Churchill 'Ordered Assassination of Mussolini to Protect Compromising Letters’
THE TELEGRAPH: Winston Churchill ordered the assassination of Benito Mussolini as part of a plot to destroy potentially compromising secret letters he had sent the Italian dictator, a leading French historian has suggested.

Pierre Milza, an expert on fascist Italy, theorizes that the wartime prime minister may have wanted Mussolini dead to prevent the letters, in which Churchill expressed his admiration for his Italian counterpart before the outbreak of the Second World War, coming to light.

“There is no doubt, judging by his public declarations back in the 1920s and early 1930s, that Churchill was a fan of Mussolini. Roosevelt too,” Mr Milza said.

“Churchill even once said: 'Fascism has rendered a service to the entire world... If I were Italian, I am sure I would have been with you entirely’.

“But that was understandable in 1927, as then a fascist did not mean a friend of Hitler and accomplice to genocide. But when you are head of state and legitimate war hero of the British people, you don’t really want all that put up in lights.” >>> Henry Samuel, Paris | Thursday, September 02, 2010

Winston Churchill's Cigar Airbrushed from Picture
THE TELEGRAPH: A photograph of Winston Churchill giving his victory salute has been airbrushed to remove his signature cigar.

The original image (left) was taken in 1948 during the opening of a new military headquarters, and (right) the airbrushed image. Photographs: The Telegraph
In the well-known original image, Churchill makes a "V" shaped symbol with his fingers – while gripping a cigar in the corner of his mouth.

But in a reproduction of the picture, hanging over the main entrance to a London museum celebrating the wartime leader, he has been made into a non-smoker through the use of image-altering techniques.

It is unclear who is responsible for doctoring the photograph, with the museum – The Winston Churchill's Britain at War Experience – claiming not to have noticed the cigar was missing.

John Welsh, manager of the museum, admitted he was shocked to learn of the alteration, but declined to reveal who was responsible for the display and for enlarging the image. >>> Nick Collins | Tuesday, June 15, 2010

MAIL ONLINE: Spot the difference: How today’s airbrushing PC censors decided Churchill could do without his cigar >>> Beth Hale | Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Media Hype? Nick Clegg Nearly as Popular as Winston Churchill
THE SUNDAY TIMES: NICK CLEGG, the Liberal Democrat leader who until a few days ago was little known to voters, is now the most popular party leader since Winston Churchill, a new Sunday Times poll reveals.

Following his decisive victory in last week’s television debate, Clegg has surged to a higher approval rating than Tony Blair at the peak of new Labour’s popularity.

Last night, as the YouGov survey showed that the three parties are almost neck and neck, Labour and the Tories desperately tried to respond to the Clegg phenomenon.

The general election has become a genuine three-way contest with the Lib Dems, on 29%, enjoying their strongest support in almost 30 years. >>> Jonathan Oliver and David Smith | Sunday, April 18, 2010

MAIL ON SUNDAY: Lib Dems in Front for First Time in 104 Years >>> | Sunday, April 18, 2010

Le Vieux Lion Roars Again Among a Generation Hungry for Greatness
TIMES ONLINE: President Sarkozy may have cooled to Gordon Brown, but France has just fallen for the charms of another British leader — Sir Winston Churchill.

“Le Vieux Lion,” as the British leader was known, has found new popularity thanks to two bestselling books — a fresh translation of his Second World War memoirs and a prize-winning biography.

Enthusiasm for Churchill is being fed by new interest in the war era among a generation born since France preferred to forget the trauma of the Nazi occupation. Recent war documentaries, including a spectacular colour series on the France2 channel last autumn, have brought the period closer to modern France, said François Kersaudy, author of the new biography Winston Churchill.

“The younger generation knew very little about Churchill but they are beginning to discover him through the memoirs,” Mr Kersaudy told The Times. His book, which won the Grand Prix for political biography last year, depicts the Prime Minister as a towering figure in European history.

Admiration for Churchill reflected “nostalgia for great leaders when there seem to be so many small ones around,” Mr Kersaudy said. “There is special nostalgia for Churchill with his contempt for the opinion of the man in the street when present leaders are obsessed with opinion polls.” >>> Charles Bremner in Paris | Friday, January 08, 2010

Winston Churchill: Zürich Speech
COUNCIL OF EUROPE: Mr President, ladies and gentlemen,

I am honoured today by being received in your ancient university and by the address which has been given to me and which I greatly value. I wish to speak to you to-day about the tragedy of Europe, this noble Continent, comprising on the whole the fairest and the most cultivated regions of the earth enjoying a temperate and equable climate, the home of all the great parent races of the western world, the foundation of Christian faith and Christian ethics. 



It is the origin of most of the culture, arts, philosophy, and science both of ancient and modern times. If Europe were once united in the sharing of its common inheritance there would be no limit to the happiness, the prosperity, and the glory which its 300,000,000 or 400,000,000 people would enjoy. 



Yet it is from Europe that have sprung that series of frightful nationalistic quarrels, originated by the Teutonic nations in their rise to power, which we have seen in this twentieth century and even in our own lifetime wreck the peace and mar the prospects of all mankind. 



And what is this plight to which Europe has been reduced? Some of the smaller States have indeed made a good recovery, but over wide areas are a vast quivering mass of tormented, hungry, careworn, and bewildered human beings, who wait at the ruins of their cities and their homes and scan the dark horizons for the approach of some new form of tyranny or terror. 



Among the victors there is a ballet of voices, among the vanquished the sullen silence of despair. That is all that Europeans, grouped in so many ancient states and nations, and that is all that the Germanic races have got by tearing each other to pieces and spreading havoc far and wide. Indeed, but for the fact that the great republic across the Atlantic Ocean at length realised that the ruin or enslavement of Europe would involve her own fate as well, and stretched out hands of succour and guidance; but for that, the Dark Ages would have returned in their cruelty and -squalor. They may still return. 



Yet all the while there is a remedy which, if it were generally and spontaneously adopted by the great majority of people in many lands, would as if by a miracle transform the whole scene and would in a few years make all Europe, or the greater part of it, as free and as happy as Switzerland is to-day. 



What is this sovereign remedy? It is to recreate the European fabric, or as much of it at we can, and to provide it with a structure under which it can dwell in peace, in safety, and in freedom. We must build a kind of United States of Europe. In this way only will hundreds of millions of toilers be able to regain the simple joys and hopes which make life worth living. The process is simple. All that is needed is the resolve of hundreds of millions of men and women to do right instead of wrong and to gain as their reward blessing instead of cursing. 



Much work has been done upon this task by the exertions of the pan-European union which owes so much to and which commanded the services of the famous French patriot and statesman Aristide Briand. There is also that immense body which brought into being amidst high hopes after the first world war - the League of Nations. The league did not fail because of its principles or conceptions. It faded because those principles were deserted by those States which had brought it into being, because the Governments of those States feared to face the facts and act while time remained. This disaster must not be repeated. There is therefore much knowledge and material with which to build, and also bitter, dearly bought experience to spur. 



I was very glad to read in the newspapers a few days ago that my friend President Truman had expressed his interest and sympathy with this great design. 



There is no reason why a regional organisation of Europe Should [sic] in any way conflict with the world organisation of the United Nations. On the contrary, I believe that the larger synthesis can only survive if it is founded upon broad natural groupings. There is already a natural grouping in the western hemisphere. We British have our own commonwealth of nations. These do not weaken, on the contrary they strengthen, the world organisation. They are in fact its main support. 



And why should there not be a European group, which could give a sense of enlarged patriotism and common citizenship to the distracted peoples of this mighty continent? And why should it not take its rightful place with other great groupings and help to shape the honourable destiny of man? 


In order that this may be accomplished there must be an act of faith in which the millions of families, speaking many languages, must consciously take part. 



We all know that the two world wars through which we have passed arose out of the vain passion of the newly united Germany to play a dominating part in the world. In this last struggle crimes and massacres have been committed for which there is no parallel since the invasion of the Mongols during the thirteenth century, no equal at any in human history. The guilty must be punished. Germany must be deprived of the power to rearm and make another aggressive war. 



But when all this has been done, as it will be done. as it is being done then there must be an end to retribution. There must be what Mr Gladstone many years ago, called the ' blessed act of oblivion.' We must all turn our backs upon the horrors of the past and we must look to the future. We cannot afford to must look forward across the years that are to come, hatreds and revenges which have sprung from the injuries of the past. If Europe is to be saved from infinite misery and indeed from final doom, there must be this act of faith in the European family this 'act of oblivion against all crimes and follies of the past. Can these peoples of Europe rise to the heights of the soul and of the instinct and spirit of man? If they could, the wrongs and injuries which have been indicted would have been washed away on all sides by the miseries which have been endured. Is there any need for further floods of agony? Is the only lesson of history to be that mankind is unteachable? Let there be justice, mercy, and freedom. The peoples have only to will it and all will achieve their hearts' desire. 


I am now going to say something that will astonish you. The first step in the recreation of the European family must be a partnership between France and Germany. In this way only can France recover the moral and cultural leadership of Europe. There can be no revival of Europe without a spiritually great France and a spiritually great Germany. 



The structure of the United States of Europe will be such as to make the material strength of a single State less important. Small nations will count as much as large ones and gain their honour by a contribution to the common cause. The ancient states and principalities of Germany, freely joined for mutual convenience in a federal system, might take their individual places among the United States of Europe. 



I shall not try to make a detailed programme. There are hundreds of millions of people who want to be happy and free, prosperous and safe, who wish to enjoy the four freedoms of which the great President Roosevelt spoke, and live in accordance with the principles embodied in the Atlantic Charter. 



If this is their wish, if it is the wish of Europeans from many lands, they have only to say so and means can certainly be found and the machinery erected to carry that wish to full fruition. 



But I must give you warning. Time may be short. At present there is a breathing space. The cannons have ceased firing. The fighting has stopped, but the dangers have not stopped. If we are to form a United States of Europe, or whatever name it may take, we must begin now. 



In these present days we dwell strangely and precariously under the shield, and I will even say protection, of the atomic bomb. The atomic bomb is still only in the hands of a State and nation which we know, will never use it except in the cause of right and freedom, but it may well be that in a few years this awful agency of destruction will be widespread and that the catastrophe following from its use by several warring nations will not only bring to an end all that we call civilisation but may possibly disintegrate the globe itself. 



I must now sum-up the propositions which are before you. 



Our constant aim must be to build and fortify the strength of the United Nations organisation. Under and within that world concept we must recreate the European family in a regional structure called - it may be - the United States of Europe and the first practical step will be to form a Council of Europe. 



If at first all the States of Europe are not willing or able to join a union we must nevertheless proceed to assemble and combine those who will and those who can. 



The salvation of the common people of every race and of every land from war and servitude must be established on solid foundations, and must be created by the readiness of all men and women to die rather than to submit to tyranny. 



In all this urgent work France and Germany must take the lead together. Great Britain, the British Commonwealth of Nations, mighty America, and, I trust. Soviet Russia- - for then, indeed, all would be well - must be the friends and sponsors of the new Europe and must champion its right to live. 



Therefore I say to you: ' Let Europe arise.'

Winston Churchill,
September 19, 1946,
Zürich, Switzerland [Source: Council of Europe]

Die Rede in der deutschen Sprache… >>>

Le discours en français... >>>

Obama’s Afghanistan Speech: Bush Could Have Done It Better
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOG: Barack Obama’s speech was a mild gamble from a mild-mannered man. His plan is that 30,000 extra troops will subdue the Taliban, while the Afghan army grows to the point where the Americans can scoot off before things turn nasty again. It could just work, and it might be good enough for American voters in 2012, but it was hardly Churchillian, or even Bushian. >>> Alex Spillius | Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Michael Savage: Winston Churchill on Islam