Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat

“Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” is at its core a piece of persuasive writing composed with the express purpose of raising support for a three-pronged state of affairs: Churchill’s appointment to the position of prime minister, the creation of a new coalition government, and the waging of war against Germany until victory. The argument that Churchill constructs in order to generate support for these issues is relatively simple, consisting of four major assertions made either implicitly or explicitly: first, Britain is currently in a historically significant but precarious situation due to the war in Europe; second, the war will cause great and sustained hardship; third, despite this hardship, it is necessary that the war be fought both out of moral obligation and in self-defense; and finally, victory is achievable if the nation comes together and fights with its combined might. This argument is intrinsically linked with the speech’s most important themes: The Historical Significance of Current Events, War as a Necessary Evil, and The Importance of National Unity.

This argument is at the heart of Churchill’s foreign policy during WWII and can be observed as a common throughline in many of Churchill’s most famous addresses from 1940, including his “We Shall Fight Them on the Beaches” and “This Was Their Finest Hour” speeches.

The first half of Churchill’s “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” speech focuses on establishing the context and purpose of Churchill’s address to the House of Commons, informing the members of the motion he is proposing and providing them with details that Churchill deems relevant to the upcoming vote. These paragraphs set the tone of the debate and, in particular, address The Importance of National Unity. A coalition government is itself a symbol and statement of national unity, one that Churchill builds on by explicitly equating his government with the concept of national unity. This coalition government, he observes, has been formed at the collective “wish and will of Parliament and the nation” (Paragraph 3), and the War Cabinet specifically represents “the unity of the nation” (Paragraph 3). To further emphasize his own dedication to that unity, Churchill notes that the assembly of these diverse figures was all “done in one single day” (Paragraph 1). His straightforward acknowledgement of the “extreme urgency and rigour of events” (Paragraph 1) serves to intensify just how important national unity is at this particular time.

Churchill then employs the traditional formulized phrasing of parliament to call the representatives to vote, saying “I now invite the House, by the Motion which stands in my name, to record its approval of the steps taken and to declare its confidence in the new Government” (Paragraph 4). However, instead of ceding the floor immediately, he uses this call as a pivot to refocus on presenting the bulk of his argument in the latter half of the speech.

Churchill focuses on speaking out in his own favor, preemptively defending himself from potential criticism, and aiming to strengthen his position in the House of Commons. He highlights the Historical Significance of Current Events by emphasizing the urgency of the situation: “In this crisis I hope I may be pardoned if I do not address the House at any length today. I hope that any of my friends and colleagues, or former colleagues, who are affected by the political reconstruction, will make allowance, all allowance, for any lack of ceremony with which it has been necessary to act” (Paragraph 5). He also declares “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat” (Paragraph 5). His repeated pleas for clemency and pardon, along with the humble and self-effacing tone, aim to elicit admiration and empathy in an audience that had historically been less than sympathetic toward him. Together such quotes preempt and undermine any potential criticisms of his conduct and lessen Churchill’s perceived culpability for any errors he may make. By working to establish himself as a sympathetic figure dedicating himself wholly to duty and patriotism, he encourages others to contribute similarly and to put aside both their qualms and personal interests.

The final paragraph of “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” is an incisive story in favor of the war in Europe, stressing Churchill’s view of War as a Necessary Evil. In this climax of the speech, Churchill leans fully into the bombastic rhetorical style for which he is known, making abundant use of evocative language and rhetorical devices to persuade his audience. He alludes to the hardships and horrors of war: “We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering” (Paragraph 6). Then, those horrors acknowledged, he immediately justifies them by expounding upon the outcome, as he sees it, should the people try to avoid them. He claims that “without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realised; no survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge and impulse of the ages, that mankind will move forward toward its goal” (Paragraph 6). With the aid of repetition, Churchill casts victory and survival as mutually exclusive. Such an absolute dichotomy—victory versus defeat so absolute as to preclude survival—is typical of the style of wartime propaganda, which is effectively persuasive, but characteristically lacking in nuance. Churchill also equates the failure of his nation, the British Empire, with the failure of human progress, another claim typical of wartime propaganda. These catastrophizing, dire predictions aim to evoke an emotional response that pushes the audience to agree with Churchill’s view.

In the final lines of the speech, however, there is an abrupt and jarring about-face in both tone and mood. Churchill declares his “buoyancy and hope” (Paragraph 6). He is certain that the “cause will not be suffered to fail among men” (Paragraph 6). These reflections end the speech on an inspirational and optimistic note, encouraging the audience to assent to Churchill’s final galvanizing mandate: “come then, let us go forward together with our united strength” (Paragraph 6).

The main aim of this speech and the argument around which it was constructed was immediately achieved with the unanimous passing of the motion of confidence in Churchill’s government. Churchill then led the nation through the most harrowing years of WWII and to victory, cementing Britain’s position as one of the Big Three global superpowers alongside the United States and Soviet Union in the postwar conferences. Finally, Churchill’s role in WWII and his skill in defining the narrative of events after the fact saw him enshrined as a national hero to the people of Britain, with an unparalleled legacy as an orator, writer, military leader, and statesman. Such success was due in no small part to the influence and impact of Churchill’s masterful speechmaking.