Iron Curtain Speech

Winston Churchill emphasizes the need for collaboration throughout his speech. At the crux of his proposal for ensuring world peace is the British Commonwealth and the United States working together more intimately than ever before. Churchill believes that developing a strong fraternal relationship between the two countries, or an “association of the English-speaking peoples” (22), especially in terms of the military, is key for the common good of each country and for the peace and prosperity of the world at large. This proposed connection, which Churchill argues could be built on the affinity that each country already has for one another, is capsulized in the now famous phrase “special relationship.”

Part of this proposal comes from the realization that, post-war, the United States will be the dominate force in the world for a significant period of time, and that England and the United Kingdom are emerging from the war significantly weakened. Despite their post-war state, England is still burdened with a victor’s responsibilities toward the defeated nations. In fact, at this point, all of Europe, including Germany, Russia, France, Italy, and others, have vast amounts of infrastructure that has been damaged and needs repair. Not addressing those issues threatens the existence of the surviving governments.