Transcript by Winston S. Churchill

Lesson Five: Speech on Hitler’s Invasion of
the U. S. S. R.
by Winston S. Churchill
Ⅰ. Background Information
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1. Introduction of Winston S. Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can) (30
November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician known chiefly for his
leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime
Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955.
A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a
historian, a Nobel Prize-winning writer, and an artist.
During his army career, Churchill saw combat in India, in the Sudan and the
Second Boer War. He gained fame and notoriety as a war correspondent and
through contemporary books he wrote describing the campaigns. He also served
briefly in the British Army on the Western Front in World War I, commanding the
6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers.
At the forefront of the political scene for almost fifty years, he held many
political and cabinet positions. Before the First World War, he served as President
of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary and First Lord of the Admiralty as part of
the Asquith Liberal government. During the war he continued as First Lord of the
Admiralty until the disastrous Battle of Gallipoli caused his departure from
government. He returned as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War and
Secretary of State for Air. In the interwar years, he served as Chancellor of the
Exchequer in the Conservative government.
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After the outbreak of the Second World War, Churchill was again appointed
First Lord of the Admiralty. Following the resignation of Neville
Chamberlain on 10 May 1940, he became Prime Minister of the United
Kingdom and led Britain to victory against the Axis powers. Churchill was
always noted for his speeches, which became a great inspiration to the British
people and embattled Allied forces.
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After losing the 1945 election, he became Leader of the Opposition. In
1951, he again became Prime Minister before finally retiring in 1955.
Elizabeth II offered to create him Duke of London, but this was declined due
to the objections of his son Randolph, who would have inherited the title on
his father's death. Upon his death the Queen granted him the honour of a state
funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of statesmen in the world.
 2. The process of the Second World War
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In March 1939, Britain and France started talks with the Soviet Union on
possible cooperation against Fascist Germany. At that time Britain under
Chamberlain and France under Daladier were pursuing a policy of
appeasement. After 3 month’s fruitless negotiation, the talks were broken off.
Then in order to protect itself, the Soviet Union signed the Non-aggression
Pact with Hitler’s Germany on August, 23.
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On September 1st, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland. On September 17th, Soviet troops
also crossed the border and moved into Poland. Later Finn and Rumania.
Before the fall of Poland, British intelligence officers managed to get hold of a
German coding machine and a group of code-breaking experts, soon they discovered
how the machine worked, with the help of this machine, the British were able to
decipher all German coded message.
So on June 6, the British had already learnt that Hitler was to attack Russia and
passed on a warning to the Soviet Union, which was unheeded. On June 20th, two
days before the invasion, Churchill worked on a speech to be broadcast to the world
when the invading forces rolled into Russia. So in the beginning of the text, here’s a
sentence “ this changed conviction into certainty”.
Ⅱ. Questions after the detailed study of the text.
 1.When and how did the Germans attack the Soviet Union?
 2.What was Churchill’s reaction to the news of Hitler’s
invasion of Russia?
 3. What policy did Churchill declare Britain would pursue?
 4. What, according to Churchill, was Hitler’s motive in
invading Russia?
 5. Why did Churchill side with the Soviet Union since he had
always been an avowed enemy of communism?
Ⅲ. Analysis and Appreciation of the text
 1. The outline of the text
 2. Type of literature: a piece of argumentation
 3. The purpose of a piece of argumentation:
 ---to persuade, that is, to defend what is true and to attack
what is false by the use of reason
 4. Ways of developing a piece of argumentation:
 ---by deduction
 ---by induction
Ⅳ. Effective Writing Skills
 1. using a lot of repetitions and parallel structures to
achieve emphasis
 2. using periodic sentences, rhetorical questions, and
inverted sentences to make his speech vivid and
forceful.
Ⅴ.Special difficulties in the text
 1. paraphrasing some sentences
 2. identifying figures of speech
VI . Rhetorical Devices
 1. alliteration
 …just as the cause of any Russian fighting for his hearth and
home is the cause of free men and free peoples in every
quarter of the globe.
 2. metaphor
 It is devoid of all theme and principle except appetite and
racial domination.
VII . Detailed study of the text.
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1. conviction: a very firm and sincere belief
I speak in the full conviction that our cause is just.
He said it with conviction.
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2. lie: exist, be found, reside
The solution lies in social and political reform.
The next step lies with us.
Her chief difficulty lay in keeping people convincing her.
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3. hasten: move or happen faster, connoting urgency or sometimes a sudden and premature
result
The results of the election hastened his decision.
Hitler hastened to invade the Soviet Union before winter.
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4. count on:
Don’t count on a salary increase this year.
Can I count on you to wait there at 9 O’clock?
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5. enlist: get/win the support of
Can I enlist your help in raising the money?
I have enlisted the cooperation of my neighbors in my work.
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7. revert: revert to
He reverts to smoking under stress.
She often reverts to Italy.
If he dies without heir, his property reverts to the state.
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8. reference: an individual allusion or direction of the attention
They never made any reference to their need for technology from the oil companies.
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9. to the effect: having the result or implication, with the general meaning
He wrote to him the letter to the effect that his mother would come.
He started early to the effect that he might get there by lunch time.
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10. except for: apart from
I knew nothing about him except for the fact that he lives next door
But for
They would devoice except for the children.
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11. devoid of:
He is completely devoid of humor.
The judge was devoid of sympathy when I presented my case.
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12. fresh: newly
Fresh-killed meat, fresh-caught fire, fresh-painted door
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13. smart: feel pain and resentment
His eyes have smarted for almost 3 days.
He was still smarting form the insult.
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14. be resolved to do sth: to have strong willing to do sth.
I was fully resolved to see him.
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15. resolve:
He makes a resolve not to smoke.
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17. follow: happen as a necessary result of
Disease often follows flood.
Just because he is at the botton of the class, it doesn’t follow that he has no brain, he may be lazy.
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18. appeal to”
The government appeals to people for cherishing the water.
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19. fortify:
Fortified against the cold by a heavy coat, he went out into the snow.
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20. rescue: implying saving from immediate harm or danger by direct action
Save: more general
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21. moralize:
He’s always moralizing about the behavior of young people
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21. moralize:
He’s always moralizing about the behavior of young people.
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22. strike down:
He was struck down by cancer when he was 30 years old.
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23. impel:
The President’s speech impelled the nation to greater efforts.
I felt impelled to investigating the matter further.
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24. bring back:
The song brings me back to the childhood.
Someone insists on the death penalty should be brought back.
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27. intervene:
I will come if nothing intervenes.
The local government will intervene in a dispute between the publishing house and the
author.
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28. thrive:
A business cannot thrive without good management.
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29. be subjugated to:
She is subjugated her own desires to those of her husband.
VIII. Assignment
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1. Write a summary of the speech within 200 words.
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2. Words and expressions for dictation –
conviction, horde, enlist, croquet, revert, regime, devoid, ferocious, consistent,
spectacle, unfold, threshold, immemorial, wring (wrung), primordial, hideous,
onslaught, clank, dandify (dandified adj.), crafty, cow, docile, brutish, Hun, plod,
smart (v.), villainous, cataract, concur, irrevocable, vestige, parley, yoke,
steadfast(ly), creed, divergence, slacken, woeful(ly), moralize / moralize, folly,
catastrophe, blood-lust, impel, outrage, prelude, thrive, subjugate (subjugation),
hearth, exertion, round up, count on, be true of, go all out (to do sth.), revert to,
bow down, make references to, to the effect that (+ a clause), (be) devoid of, from
time immemorial, in due course, be resolved to (do sth.), rid … of, appeal to sb. to
do sth., in one’s efforts to do sth. be resolved upon (sth.), strike down (be struck
down)