Public Access America

Winston Churchill-We Shall Fight On The Beaches-1940 It's not an American speech or even an American moment, but it is one of the greatest speeches of all time and so on this friday we present it "We Shall Fight on the Beaches" is a common title given to a speech named "We Shall Never Surrender" delivered by Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 4 June 1940. This was the second of three major speeches given around the period of the Battle of France, with the others designated as the "Blood, toil, tears, and sweat" speech of 13 May, and the "This was their finest hour" speech of 18 June. Events developed dramatically over the five-week period, and although broadly similar in themes, each speech addressed a different military and diplomatic context. In this speech, Churchill had to describe a great military disaster, and warn of a possible invasion attempt by Nazi Germany, without casting doubt on eventual victory. He also had to