Speech Analysis: “A total and Unmitigated Defeat” by Churchill
“A Total and Unmitigated Defeat” speech which was delivered to Britain’s House of Commons on October 5th, 1938 contained an essential message to the world regarding Nazi expansion in Europe. It was meant to expose the tendency of Hitler to acquire new European territories through forceful means. This was after the Nazis took over Sudetenland and Austria. Churchill criticizes the administration of Chamberlain for supporting this expansion. This is because Nazi Germany was utilizing brutal force in acquiring new territories, and the war in Europe was claiming millions of lives at the time. Churchill’s message was to caution other world powers, through the example of Chamberlain and his administration’s decision to support Hitler, not to allow Nazis to continue with their expansionist tendency. The decision to support Hitler’s annexation of Austria and Sudetenland was reached through the Munich agreement. Churchill saw this agreement as leeway for Germany to cause continental power imbalance. He warned that the agreement would not prevent Nazi expansion.
Winston Churchill also recommended countering the forceful expansionist tendency of Nazi Germany. He suggested that Britain should have collaborated with more European powers during the process of coming up with the Munich agreement. The administration of Chamberlain cooperated with only France and left out Russia. Churchill’s message was that if Britain, Russia, and France, which were the most influential European nations at the time, were to collaborate, they would overpower Nazi Germany and prevent it from annexing the rest of Europe. The less powerful countries in Europe were under the threat of Nazi annexation. Since the Munich Agreement was meant to appease Hitler and his admiration, Churchill saw that this exposed their weakness, and Nazis would take advantage of it.
Churchill also wanted to air his disagreement with Chamberlain and John Simon. This disagreement was fueled by the value collaborative powers, and other European countries would add if they were to wage war against Germany to defend Czechoslovakia. This was because the country was being used as a scapegoat to appease Germany. He cited that it was not fair for western powers to allow Czechoslovakia to lose some of its territories to Nazi Germany without a vote. He noted that “This violated the principle of self-determination, which stated, “liberal and democratic” nations must be protected from being taken over by totalitarian governments” (Churchill 1). Chamberlain, as the Prime Minister at the time, should have stood by the principles of his land.
As aforementioned, this speech was meant to expose the despicable actions that Nazi Germany undertook while expanding their territory across Europe. This occurred during the Second World War when Nazis were obsessed with expanding its territory. They used brutal force and violated all human rights while taking over the sovereign lands of some of the European countries. At the time, the three most powerful nations in Europe were Britain, France, and Russia. At the time, Winston Churchill was not the prime minister. Chamberlain was in power, and he was utilizing tactics that appeared weak concerning negotiating with the Nazis. However, Churchill used his speech to point out the errors within the Munich agreement. This speech was famous because it mobilized the rest of the western powers to collaborate and defeat the Nazis.
Works Cited
Churchill, W. “A Total and Unmitigated Defeat”. Speech. 1938.
