Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1941

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Key Figures

Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill was the prime minister of Britain and one of the most important leaders of the Allied forces through the Second World War (WWII). A career politician, military man, historian, and author, Churchill remains to this day one of the most recognizable and celebrated figures in British history.

Prior to the outbreak of WWII, Churchill had already served in high political office as a member of the Conservative Party and had risen to the military rank of First Lord of the Admiralty. During the 1930s, he adopted an unpopular stance against appeasement, vocally condemning the Munich Agreement, which allowed Adolf Hitler’s Germany to annex further territory on the promise it would be last. Though this stance compounded Churchill’s temporary position as something of a political pariah, the outbreak of WWII saw him rise to prominence in the political and public spheres. He was appointed prime minister on May 10, 1940, following Neville Chamberlain’s resignation, and addressed the House of Commons for the first time as prime minister with his “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” speech three days later. Once in power, Churchill proved himself as a strong and capable leader, bringing the nation together and leading the Allied Forces to victory. His iconic speeches inspired the British public through the war and provided some of the most inspirational and recognizable quotes of the era.

Following the Allied victory in 1945, Churchill was one of the Big Three leaders who shaped the post-war conditions and treaties at conferences such as Potsdam, alongside Stalin of the Soviet Union (USSR) and Roosevelt of the United States. Shortly afterwards, Churchill was voted out of office in favor of a Labor government, though he returned to power for several years from 1951. His primary focus thereafter was the writing of history books and memoirs of WWII, for which he won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1956. Ideologically, he remained a staunch imperialist and economic liberal until his death in 1965.

Due in no small part to records of his iconic speeches, Churchill’s legacy as one of the great leaders, speakers, and statesmen of the 20th century remains firmly intact, with a 2002 national BBC poll seeing him voted The Greatest Briton in history.

Neville Chamberlain

Neville Chamberlain was the prime minister of Britain between 1937 and 1940, best known for his policy of appeasement toward Nazi Germany. Although he was very popular through much of his premiership, his fall from grace and subsequent resignation saw him harshly criticized, and he is now a deeply controversial figure.

Chamberlain had served in numerous high political offices as a Conservative representative prior to his appointment as prime minister in 1937. His political interests lay more with domestic affairs than matters of foreign policy, and he initially hoped to settle European conflicts peacefully so as to focus on domestic reform. In the face of increasing fascist aggression and expansionism on the continent, he championed a policy of appeasement, culminating in the Munich Agreement of 1938 that ceded the Czechoslovakian territory of Sudetenland to German annexation. His announcement that the agreement had secured “Peace in our time!” seems darkly ironic in retrospect, but at the time it was met with rapturous acclaim and widespread support. Churchill was one of very few outspoken critics of appeasement, which made him less than popular among the many Brits keen to avoid another war so soon after the collective trauma of WWI.

It was only after the German invasion of Poland and the declaration of war that support for Chamberlain began to wane. Criticism mounted over the Phony War period, coming to a head in the Norway Debate. With a seriously diminished majority in the House of Commons barely defeating a motion of no confidence, and the Labor party refusing to form a coalition government under his leadership, Chamberlain resigned on May 10, 1940. His first choice of successor was his close ally Lord Halifax, but due to Halifax’s concerns about his own eligibility, Chamberlain ultimately recommended Churchill as his replacement. Although his fall from grace left him deeply depressed, Chamberlin was gracious in defeat, accepting a position on Churchill’s War Cabinet and rallying his party behind their new leader. He took over much of the governance of domestic affairs and worked until ill health forced his resignation.

Chamberlain died of cancer in November 1940, and with vicious polemics such as “Guilty Men” shaping much of the narrative around him, his legacy has since been one of criticism, condemnation, and controversy.

The House of Commons

The House of Commons, often referred to as “the House” or “Commons,” is the popularly elected legislative body of the British Parliament. Technically, it is the lower house of the British Parliament, with the House of Lords as its upper house equivalent, but the primacy of the House of Commons means that in practice it alone is often referred to as “parliament.” The House consists of 650 Members of Parliament elected to represent constituencies across the UK, and was the audience of Churchill’s “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” speech.

Raising a motion before parliament and addressing the House was a highly formalized process, and Churchill’s speech carries the hallmarks of this formal style in, for instance, the opening formality “I beg to move” (Paragraph 1) and his reference to the Speaker who chairs the debates. Churchill had plenty of experience speaking before parliament through his long political career, although this speech marked his first time doing so in his capacity as prime minister. At the time of Churchill’s “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” speech, there were three main political parties in the House of Commons: the Liberals, the Labor Party, and the Conservatives. The Liberals had won the last general election in 1935 with an outright majority of votes cast, and it was to this party that Churchill belonged.

Representatives from all major political parties were appointed to key positions in Churchill’s coalition government in 1940, with the three party leaders serving “either in the War Cabinet or in high executive office” (Paragraph 3). Despite the nonpartisan composition of his government, Churchill was not himself a particularly popular figure in the House. He had spent much of the prior decade as a political outsider and was still considered something of a warmonger and maverick. The response from the House of Commons to both his appointment as prime minister and his “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” speech was decidedly lackluster. Nonetheless, Parliament voted unanimously in support of the new coalition government, and within a matter of months Churchill’s leadership and oratory had won over much of the House along with the nation.