Their Finest Hour

“Their Finest Hour” is a speech originally given by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on June 18, 1940, in the House of Commons to members of Parliament and his ministerial cabinet. Churchill delivered the speech following the disastrous campaign of the Battle of France and the hasty evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from Dunkirk. In June 1940, Nazi boots marched in Paris, and the surrender of the French government seemed imminent. The speech aimed to boost morale in Britain during a difficult time and to reaffirm the British government’s commitment to fighting Nazi Germany, reassuring the population that an Allied victory was not only possible but also probable. It explores themes of Patriotism in Dark Times, Good Versus Evil, and Unity in the Face of an External Threat.

This guide references the version of the speech published on the International Churchill Society website, citing by paragraph.

Churchill references a recent speech in which he detailed the mistakes made during the Nazi invasion of Belgium that ultimately necessitated the evacuation of British forces at Dunkirk. The same mistakes sidelined much of Britain’s military strength; Churchill believes that if more British divisions had been able to participate in the Battle of France, the Allies might have been victorious.