Rhetorical Analysis: We Shall Fight On The Beaches

The German Wehrmacht was annihilating all opposition throughout Europe in 1940. After a failed attempt to assist Belgium in repelling the Nazis, The British Expeditionary Force made a miraculous retreat back to their home island. There was a sense of relief prominent in Great Britain due to the soldiers unexpectedly escaping certain death or captivation. Winston Churchill, however, knew the dreadful struggle his country was about to face and reported to the House of Commons to prepare the country for the coming battle. In his speech commonly referred to as, “We Shall Fight on the Beaches”, Prime Minister Churchill successfully inspired the English people to fight until the bitter end by presenting the grim honest facts of the situation

Under attack from the Germans, Belgium requested aid from its allies Britain and France. Both countries obliged but during the defense, the Belgian king unexpectedly surrendered to the Nazis. Since the Belgian army was protecting the flank, their surrender left the British and French forces exposed and vulnerable to obliteration. Lines of communication and retreat to the sea were cut off. It was expected that the majority of the forces would be lost. However, due to fierce fighting of the allies and mistakes by the Germans, a much larger percentage than expected escaped the situation. Among the people of Great Britain, there were mixed feelings of joy at the fortunate retreat and also fear of inevitable invasion. So with his speech, Churchill sought to control impractical optimism by giving an honest assessment of how serious the situation was but also give hope and motivate the people to fight to the best of their

He states, “…our losses in men have exceeded 30,000 killed, wounded and missing.” And about the battle of Calais, which was crucial in the retreat, “…in all about four thousand strong, defended Calais to the last… Only 30 unwounded survivors were brought off by the Navy.” The casualties are significant and give a serious tone to his speech. They emphasize what the enemy is capable of and subdue any feelings that the retreat was some huge victory. He also uses statistics to give hope. Although this was a defeat, over 335,000 men made it back when they only expected 20,000 to 30,000. This obviously would make for a better defense of the country. Historical facts were a part of his speech as well. He uses examples of other times in history when outside forces wanted to invade Great Britain but failed. This conveys to the audience that they’ve done it before so they can do it