by Winston Churchill

Following Germany's abrupt invasion of France in May 1940, British forces, who saw their French ally crumble before the German onslaught, fell back to the coast of northem France. Here they secured a small area around the seaside resort of Dunkirk and mounted a massive evacuation of not only their own troops but also some 110,000 French soldiers. On June 4, Prime Minister Winston Churchill recounted these events to the House of Commons, at the same time proclaiming in ringing oratory his and his nation's unwavering opposition to the Nazi threat.

Events in History at the Time of the Speech

Churchill's "wilderness years." Winston Churchill's political career is one of the most extraordinary in British history. Raised in a family tradition of Victorian upper-class privilege and political leadership, he spent much of his childhood in unhappy rebellion, often...