Winston Churchill’s “Their Finest Hour” is written to encourage the citizens and soldiers of the United Kingdom to prepare for battle. This speech was written because the French had just fallen into the hands of the German army. There had also been an unexpected rescue of 338,000 British soldiers from German occupation (Burns). This was a crucial moment for the British people, prior to this speech the British were out of reach of the German army. Now that Germany controlled most of France the only thing that separated the German army from England was the English Channel. England was all that was left of eastern Europe and had now become Germany’s primary target and the battle would be brought to their shores (Burns). In order for Churchill to convey this important message, tone, foreshadowing, and pathos, were used to inform and inspire the British people.
Churchill’s tone during this speech is very important, because it will directly affect the tone of the entire nation. Churchill describes “The enemy [as] crafty and cunning and full of novel treacheries” saying that “there is no dirty trick he will not do” (Churchill 74). Here, earlier in the speech Churchill conveys a tone of fear. He uses this fear to unite the nation against the enemy and to warn them of their atrocities. Churchill informs his people that “Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian…show more content… During the speech the reader feels a sense of fear of what is to come but also feels a sense hope and determination to fend off the German army. Churchill’s relentlessness to fight to the end is contagious to everyone in the audience. The reader can not help but feel proud of their country and proud of what they are doing not only for themselves, but for future generations. There is a great deal of pressure in this speech that not only resonates with the soldiers, but also with the citizens of the United Kingdom to not lose hope, but to fight
