Summary
Winston Churchill delivered the Sinews of Peace speech, also known as the Iron Curtain speech, on March 5th, 1946. The speech began with Churchill admitting that Westminster College, the venue for the speech, was important to him, having been schooled there. Then, the leader acknowledged the members present, including the president of the US, Truman, and urged the US to maintain peace and promote the well-being of the world’s people.
The leader then identified the two most common threats facing humanity during the speech as war and tyranny (Churchill, 1946). He further advocated for the formation of a global armed force that would be managed by the United Nations Organization (UN). As Churchill proposed, each country in the world would contribute a certain number of people to be included in the army, and its leadership would be rotational.
Winston Churchill pointed out that the knowledge for manufacturing atomic bombs, which was shared between the US, Canada, and the UK, would not need to be shared with the proposed UN until a more powerful institution was established. This, as Churchill explained, would be to prevent the more totalitarian states from using the weapon (Churchill, 1946). However, in the future, the speaker hoped that this power would be vested only in the organization, thus promoting brotherhood and humanity across different nations worldwide. Churchill stated that it was important for people to have freedom of speech and that governments would have to be established through free elections. The leader finished the speech by pointing out that the English-speaking nations must have military strength, as Russia and its allies do not respect nations without military power.
Analysis
The Sinews of Peace speech delivered by Churchill in 1946 is commonly referred to as the Iron Curtain speech since it is considered to have contributed to the split of Europe and the emergence of the Cold War. This speech was delivered to a highly learned audience at Westminster College. Still, it was broadcast to the general audience through the media. It was delivered in the presence of US President Truman and targeted all people across the world.
The purpose of the Iron Curtain speech was to address the world’s challenges in the aftermath of the Second World War. The speaker wanted to convince people of the importance of establishing a global armed institution to promote world peace (Churchill, 1946). Churchill specifically believed that the English-speaking nations had a significant role in preventing war and tyranny.
This speech is highly valid as a source for the course as it addresses some key topics such as the Second World War, the Cold War, and the cause of tension between the Western nations and the Soviet Union that has existed for decades. Nonetheless, this speech has been criticized for not understanding the Soviet Union’s motives and for creating the Cold War between the West and Eastern nations. This speech relates to many concepts taught during the course, including international relations among nations, the causes of the Cold War, the challenges the world faced after the First World War, and how international organizations were formed. It highlights how the tensions between the US and Russia began and how Churchill contributed to the debate on ideologies between communism and capitalism (Churchill, 1946).
In his address, Churchill had various biases, such as the belief that the English-speaking nations and Canada should be allowed to possess knowledge of the atomic bombs and were the only nations that could be trusted with such weaponry. Although Churchill provided a compelling argument for the formation of the UN, he did not address how the institution’s leaders would be elected. He also did not address ways to ensure that there was consensus among the world nations on the idea of establishing an armed world organization.
References
Churchill, W. (1946). The sinews of peace (‘Iron Curtain speech’). Westminster College, Fulton, 5. Web.