Stop Ten: Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri
Having recently been defeated in by the Labor Party in Great Britain, former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, traveled Europe, speaking to massive crowds. Accepting the invitation of Westminster College to speak at the commencement ceremonies and receive an honorary degree, Churchill traveled to the small town of Fulton, Missouri in 1946. In front of a large audience, and President Harry Truman who came to Fulton to accept an honorary degree as well, in the college gymnasium, Churchill delivered what would become the hallmark speech of his career, and possibly of the Cold War itself. Unlike his friend and peer in leadership, Franklin Roosevelt, Churchill had never believed Stalin could be managed and had always viewed the U.S.S.R. with suspicion. As World War II drew to a close, Churchill became increasingly hesitant to work with Stalin, drawing parallels between compromising with Stalin and appeasing Hitler. Churchill’s vision of the Soviet Union and the dangers presented by the expansionist nation were warmly received by Truman and other American officials, increasing the sense that the U.S.S.R. needed to be met with strength and force to avoid future domination of Europe.
Primary Source: Churchill, Winston. “The Sinews of Peace.” Westminster College 5 Mar 1946. Keynote Address. Accessed on web The Churchill Centre <www.winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1946-1963-elder-statesmen/the-sinews-of-peace> 29 Apr 2015.
Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” Speech
“Ladies and gentlemen, the United States stands at this time at the pinnacle of world power. It is a solemn moment for the American democracy. For with primacy in power is also joined an awe-inspiring accountability to the future…
The power of the Soviet state is exercised without restraint, [but] It is not our duty at this time when difficulties are so numerous to interfere forcibly in the internal affairs of countries which we have not conquered in war.
A shadow has fallen upon the scenes so lately light by the Allied victory. Nobody knows what Soviet Russia and its Communist international organization intends to do in the immediate future, or what are the limits, if any, to their expansive and proselytizing[1] tendencies.
An iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in some cases, increasing measure of control from -- from Moscow. The Communist parties, which were very small in all these Eastern States of Europe, have been raised to preeminence and power far beyond their numbers and are seeking everywhere to obtain totalitarian control.
Twice we have seen them drawn by irresistible forces into these wars in time to secure the victory of the good cause, but only after frightful slaughter and devastation have occurred. Twice the United States has had to send several millions of its young men across the Atlantic to find the war; but now war can find any nation, wherever it may dwell between dusk and dawn. Surely we should work with conscious purpose for a grand pacification of Europe, within the structure of the United Nations and in accordance with our Charter…”
Primary Source: Stalin, Josef. Interview. Pravda Soviet News (March 1946) Web. Marxist Internet Archive, 2008. <www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/ 1946/03/ x01.htm> 29 Apr 2015.
Joseph Stalin’s reaction to Churchill’s speech
“The following circumstances should not be forgotten. The Germans made their invasion of the USSR through Finland, Poland, Rumania, Bulgaria and Hungary. The Germans were able to make their invasion through these countries because, at the time, governments hostile to the Soviet Union existed in these countries….Possibly in some quarters an inclination is felt to forget about these colossal sacrifices of the Soviet people who secured the liberation of Europe from Hitler. But the Soviet Union cannot forget about them. And so what can there be surprising about the fact that the Soviet Union, anxious for its future safety, is trying to see to it that governments loyal in their attitude to the Soviet Union should exist in these countries? How can anyone who has not taken leave of his senses describe these peaceful aspirations of the Soviet Union as expansionist tendencies on the part of our state?”
Analysis Questions:
Primary Source: Churchill, Winston. “The Sinews of Peace.” Westminster College 5 Mar 1946. Keynote Address. Accessed on web The Churchill Centre <www.winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1946-1963-elder-statesmen/the-sinews-of-peace> 29 Apr 2015.
Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” Speech
“Ladies and gentlemen, the United States stands at this time at the pinnacle of world power. It is a solemn moment for the American democracy. For with primacy in power is also joined an awe-inspiring accountability to the future…
The power of the Soviet state is exercised without restraint, [but] It is not our duty at this time when difficulties are so numerous to interfere forcibly in the internal affairs of countries which we have not conquered in war.
A shadow has fallen upon the scenes so lately light by the Allied victory. Nobody knows what Soviet Russia and its Communist international organization intends to do in the immediate future, or what are the limits, if any, to their expansive and proselytizing[1] tendencies.
An iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in some cases, increasing measure of control from -- from Moscow. The Communist parties, which were very small in all these Eastern States of Europe, have been raised to preeminence and power far beyond their numbers and are seeking everywhere to obtain totalitarian control.
Twice we have seen them drawn by irresistible forces into these wars in time to secure the victory of the good cause, but only after frightful slaughter and devastation have occurred. Twice the United States has had to send several millions of its young men across the Atlantic to find the war; but now war can find any nation, wherever it may dwell between dusk and dawn. Surely we should work with conscious purpose for a grand pacification of Europe, within the structure of the United Nations and in accordance with our Charter…”
Primary Source: Stalin, Josef. Interview. Pravda Soviet News (March 1946) Web. Marxist Internet Archive, 2008. <www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/ 1946/03/ x01.htm> 29 Apr 2015.
Joseph Stalin’s reaction to Churchill’s speech
“The following circumstances should not be forgotten. The Germans made their invasion of the USSR through Finland, Poland, Rumania, Bulgaria and Hungary. The Germans were able to make their invasion through these countries because, at the time, governments hostile to the Soviet Union existed in these countries….Possibly in some quarters an inclination is felt to forget about these colossal sacrifices of the Soviet people who secured the liberation of Europe from Hitler. But the Soviet Union cannot forget about them. And so what can there be surprising about the fact that the Soviet Union, anxious for its future safety, is trying to see to it that governments loyal in their attitude to the Soviet Union should exist in these countries? How can anyone who has not taken leave of his senses describe these peaceful aspirations of the Soviet Union as expansionist tendencies on the part of our state?”
Analysis Questions:
- What does Churchill see when he looks at Europe?
- How does Churchill interpret Stalin’s actions?
- How does Churchill’s understanding of the Soviet Union differ from Stalin’s justification of Soviet actions?