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Role of winston churchill in world war 2 essay
Churchill's leadership during world war 2
Why was winston churchill such an important leader during wwii
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During 1931, a second grand war begin with national powers uniting together. Many nations instantly took arms, but the US decided to stay neutral. As a result, European countries established a new flourishing fear of being overthrown by eastern communist foes(“World”). Then the dreadful event on December 6, 1941, caused the US to reconsider its own stance on the war. Allied Powers realized their opportunity to use Pearl Harbor to gain a chance to determine their own fate in war. On December 26, 1941, the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, presented a speech eventually known as “Masters of Our Fate” to the US Senate and the House of Representatives(“Winston”). Through the use of esoteric rhetorical questions, vivid metaphors, …show more content…
sincere eye contact, and anticipating pauses, Prime Minister Churchill secured the decision of the patriotic US to stand up to the communism and wrongful events of Pearl Harbor, eventually leading to the defeat of the Axis Powers and securing a victory in WWII. Winston Churchill presented a deeper view on the reasons the US should join the war by containing rhetorical questions in the speech.
By procuring the American government to consider “What kind of a people do [the Axis Powers] think we are? Is it possible [the Axis Powers] do not realize that we shall never cease to persevere against them until they have been taught a lesson which they and the world will never forget?(“Winston Churchill 'Masters of Our Fate' Speech to)” Winston Churchill brings up the idea that the Axis Powers underestimate the threat of America and the Allied powers and would not stop harassing the world unless the US and the Allied Powers joined together to terminate them. As a result, the rhetorical questions influenced the US Senate and The House of Representatives to admit to considering the truth that they are needed to defeat the growing threat of the Axis Powers. The significance of Churchill's questions are still effective today because it influenced the thoughts of the American politicians on their stance on the war. After the American government decided to get involved in WWII, new wars appeared for the US join such as the Cold War against Russia, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Therefore, the original questions Churchill once asked in 1941 contains influences on the events and questions the politicians in the America we live in …show more content…
today. Metaphors performed a major component of the intro of Winston Churchill's speech the US government. Churchill admitted that “[he] may confess, however, that [he does] not feel quite like a fish out of water in a legislative assembly where English is spoken(“Winston Churchill 'Masters of Our Fate' Speech to),” before going into the main points of why America should join the Axis powers. This metaphor then helped Churchill gain the respect of the US Senate and The House of Representatives because it showed that Churchill had experience not only in public speaking but also with important international choices. This was important at that time because audiences then tended to listen and follow strong individuals that are public speakers they believed would help create a better society in the future. Such as the citizens in Germany who followed an Austrian NAZI communist politician, Adolf Hitler, because they believed he would help end their restrain caused by the Treaty of Versailles(Adolf). The is revealing for current times because it shows that any politician no matter their views can still use the same tactics to gain followers. Throughout the speech, Churchill would look up from the podium and would make eye contact with his audience. This showed the members of the US government the confidence Churchill retained with the fundamentals of his speech(“Winston Churchill 'Masters of Our Fate' Speech). Another meaning this body language showed was used to the significance of speaking in large political situations. As a result, Churchill’s eye contact helped the American politicians respect and consider the points Churchill presented. This helped persuade the politicians to decide the choice that affected the fate of the future. Currently the use of eye contact still is revealing during political speeches. The forty-fifth US President ,Donald Trump, gained his position as a president although many believed Trump was only a businessman and no politician. “Although most polls suggested that Clinton had enough support to secure victory, Trump emerged the winner on November 8, 2016. Trump claimed 290 electoral votes to Clinton’s 232, and despite losing the popular vote by almost 3 million votes, he won the presidency(“Trump”).” This was a result of the electoral college recognizing he was a person for the people and that Trump showed small body languages ,such as eye contact, to win over certain citizens across america. Churchill additionally exercised pauses throughout his speech.
Churchill would add pauses such as throughout the quote, “sure I am that this day -- now we are the masters of our fate; that the task which has been set us is not above our strength; that its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance(“Winston Churchill 'Masters of Our Fate' Speech to).” By adding these pauses Churchill added an additional weight to the situations and points brought up throughout the speech. This then revealed that Churchill had total control on the impact of certain parts of his speech. Which then points out that the pauses Churchill used could make a superior authority on the reactions of his audience. Strangely the usage of pauses Churchill entwines in his dialogue have a current effect on the world today because many politicians that currently influence the future fate of the world have copied Winston Churchill’s style of vocal
expressions. Clearly, the use of body language and rhetorical devices helped Winston Churchill show a greater worth to the points made to the embodiment of the US. In his show of true passionate wanton will for his survival of his homeland, Churchill presents an impact that is true and insightful throughout his speech because it was necessary that the US would go on to join the Allied powers, and the US would later gain victory and revenge for the victims of Pearl Harbor. Through the use of rhetorical devices, Churchill showed that there can be a deeper affect on the specific audience through powerful and prevailing speaking.
“Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.” This mantra from Margaret Mead is a somewhat humorous yet slightly satirical spin on how people tend to think of themselves as one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable human specimens. However, one English teacher from Wellesley High School takes this critique one step further with his polemic presentation at the school commencement. David McCullough, a Massachusetts English teacher, gave a seemingly somber sendoff to his graduates in 2012, with a speech that contained some unapologetically harsh sentiments. However, by looking past the outwardly dismal surface of the speech, the students can infer a more optimistic message. By incorporating devices of asyndeton, paradox, antimetabole, and anadiplosis, McCullough conveys to each student that even though none of them is unique, their commonality is not a fault they all have merit and should strive to view the world through a more selfless lens.
On a bitter cold, snow-laden, 1961 January morning, twenty thousand people waited in front of Capital Hill to listen to John F Kennedy’s (JFK) inaugural address. Besides that, his audience included eighty million Americans viewing it on televisions, and about three billion listening over the radio. JFK was elected during a time period in which the United States seemed to be at its peak. The mood from the 1950’s was that of an affluent society, a capitalistic golden age where there was a classless middle class, a rise in white-collar job, and very high paying unionized blue-collar jobs. However, there were also underlying inequalities, like the race divisions in the south, and a great fear of confrontation with communistic countries. Additionally, JFK’s predecessor created an inactive government of insufficient action and only went so far as to placate problems but not solve them. JFK needed to convince the country to change. His purpose was to challenge to young generation to get involved and contribute to society,
One of the most argued topics today, the end of World War II and the dropping of the atomic bombs still rings in the American ear. Recent studies by historians have argued that point that the United States really did not make the right choice when they chose to drop the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Also with the release of once classified documents, we can see that the United States ...
July 2, 1964 Lyndon B. Johnson gave a speech about equality for all through the eyes of god. He talks about how many Americans are denied equal treatment and even their guaranteed rights. His purpose of the speech was to achieve equality for all races and give freedom to all Americans no matter the color of their skin. This speech was given using rhetorical devices and techniques. Johnson used a lot of pathos such as “I am taking steps to implement the law.” He repetitively urges and keeps his point very simplistic. He believes that differences between race are irrelevant. All of these strategies and the fact that he was a white President of the United States contributed to a successful speech.
Through his speeches, he tried to persuade America to join in the fight against the growing power if Nazism. One of his speeches are “The Lights Are Going Out”. He said this speech in 1938, to the people of the United States. The purpose of his speech was to encourage the US to join forces with Britain to overtake Nazi Germany. The subject of his speech is the loss of other countries, and America joining the war, and the tone of the speech is urgency. Churchill’s word choices in his speech “The Lights Are Going Out” are effective through his use of rhetoric and vocal techniques.
David Reynolds has written and enlightening book named “From Munich to Pearl Harbor” discussing three main objectives dealing with World War II. The first of the three objectives is to provide a detailed and clear narrative story from the years between Munich to Pearl Harbor. The second of the three purposes or objectives of the book is to analyze and show how President Franklin Delano Roosevelt led the American people into a new perspective on international relations that were different from anything Americans had known. The last of the three objectives of the book is to show the developments between the years of 1938 through 1941. Many of these developments were very important later for the foreign policy of the United States not only during the Second World War but also during the Cold War complications with Russia and today with President Bush’s war on terror currently taking place in Iraq.
Between the years of 1939 and 1945 the world was sent spiralling in a mess of corruption, violence and uncertainty. Allied powers were faced with the unparalleled task of protecting the world from tyranny. In terms of political power, this weight was bestowed upon the shoulders of two memorable individuals. By and large Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt can be labelled as beacons of democracy and leaders of the free world in their time.
...war would only endanger the United States more than it already was. On the following day Roosevelt argued that the attack “had given us an opportunity”. Congress approved the declaration of war with only one opposing voice. America’s most vital interest, defense of American soil, had been challenged. At last America had to go to war and eventually bring an end to the rule of Nazi Germany. Hitler had convinced himself that America had declined in the 1930’s because of social crisis. This misconception also led Japan to confront the United States in 1941.
However, the actions of the United States on the days of August 6, and August 9, 1945 were a necessity for the end of World War II. It was also a victory for the United States in many ways. The Japanese surrendered, and the United States suffered far fewer casualties than could ever be expected. The victory would propel the country to unparalleled levels of power and prominence. Truman was acutely aware that the country—in its fourth year of total war—also wanted victory as quickly as possible. an assessment of the possibilities to construct scenarios in which the use of the atomic bomb might have been avoided, but to most of the actors the events of 1945 had a grim logic that yielded no easy alternatives. No one will ever know whether the war would have ended quickly without the atomic bomb or whether its use really saved more lives than it destroyed. What does seem certain is that using it seemed the natural thing to do and that Truman’s overriding motive was to end the war as quickly as possible
By examining Churchill’s use of rhetoric we can see what exactly made him such a great leader. His speeches were able to do more damage to the Nazis than any bomb could have done because his language rallied the people together. His use of repetition proved his points and reminded the country of what mattered most. His descriptive words helped build up anger against the Nazi rule and persuade everyone to pull through the tough times. He used pronouns in such a way that it would personalize everything and help unify his country. Through his unique use of words Churchill was able to convince many that if they could just endure that they would at last be victorious (Bungay).
America’s involvement in World War II has often been equated to the Japanese waking the “sleeping giant”, and is often thought of as an invincible superpower. The reality is that the United States’ invincibility has never been really tested. The United States’ is separated from the rest of the Western world by an ocean on either side of its borders and has therefore only had two attacks on native soil. While America’s invincibility is not easily tested, and therefore not easily discredited, whether or not the Japanese awoke the “sleeping giant” by bombing Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, is, however, debatable. The American public before the attack on Pearl Harbor were isolationists, they may have felt sympathy for the victims of Hitler, Franco, and Mussolini, but did not in fact care enough to get involved in another war. The congressmen they elected into office from the late 1930’s to the early 1940’s respected the wishes of their constituents and therefore did everything in their power to prevent U.S involvement in World War II even after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In fact one of the only Americans to appear at all concerned with the horrific events occurring across the ocean was President Franklin Roosevelt, however, despite pleas from the heads of the allied forces, even President Roosevelt could not entirely commit to the need for U.S involvement and remained a wishy-washy figure up until the late 1930’s. It was not until 1940, that President Roosevelt was able to take a stand and begin the attempts to talk the American people into actively supporting the allied forces against Nazi forces. The Japanese may get the credit for waking the “sleeping giant”, however, it is in fact President Roosevelt and a small portion of t...
Martin Luther King Jr. overlooked more than two hundred and fifty thousand people of all genders, ages, and races at the nation’s capital on August 28th, 1963. King finally had the opportunity after recurrent protests to inform the country of the cruel and unfair treatment of its citizens. Within his speech he quotes the beginning of the preamble "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal"(King 277) Throughout this speech, King was able to use Aristotle’s appeals to help persuade the American nation to change its toxic ways and come together to make things better for everyone through passion, rationality, and reliability.
“The world must know what happened, and never forget.” (World War 2) General Eisenhower reflecting upon the world war II, and acknowledging it as a pertinent event in the history of the United States of America. War is war, it is not pretty or humane, but what it is, is a diplomatic way in which to settle disputes and aggressions between countries. By analyzing these wars of the past, the people of the country can learn many things, be it mistakes made by one side, strategy from someone else or battle field etiquette. And it is through this analysis that the human race is able to further itself to not repeat the mistakes made by their ancestors. There are many lessons to be learned from looking at the seeds of, the fighting of, and the fallout of WWII.
After the Second World War, America came out of the war with the responsibility of being the “superpower” of the world. In the past America would never get involved in foreign affairs however after World War Two things had changed. Since America was considered the most powerful natio...
On December 7, 1941, the United States’ role in the war changed completely. This date, which will forever live in infamy”, was the day the Japanese attacked the U.S. naval bases at Pearl Harbor. America which had remained a bystander all throughout the war so far was now fully involved in it. Despite the fact that the nation previously agreed to stay isolationists because of the terrible effects, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt this time knew the U.S. entrance into war was unavoidable. (Doc A) Now that the nation was involved in the war it must stay in. The United States’ goal to isolationist was forgotten about instantly.