Winston Churchill's Speech Ethos

“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.”” (Churchill) This is the last sentence Winston Churchill left in the last speech during the battle for France in World War II. Churchill was well known for his powerful speeches that seem to generate hope in, what seemed like, humanities darkest hour. However, it was his manipulation of rhetorical analysis that allowed him to inspire so many people. When I say rhetorical analysis, I mean his use of pathos, logos, and ethos specifically.

When talking about the use of Pathos in a speech, one has to realize this can very well be the most effective one of the three. This being said Winston Churchill use this device to inspire many of his soldiers, in what seemed like the darkest hour during the war. “Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization.” (Churchill) In this quote he utilizes pathos to invoke a fire within the men of his army. During this time Christian beliefs were held in high regard. So

when he states that the next battle could very well result in the lost of this belief, it invokes the feeling of losing literally their very lively-hood. Now I mentioned this being what many believed to the Darkest Hour in the war, Churchill says it will be remembered as their “finest hour”. Doesn’t that just spark a fire of resistance within?
Appealing to someone’s ethics, or the use of Ethos, take a little bit of understanding.

Because, depending on the audience, ethics differ from area to area. “Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire.” (Churchill) In this sentence Churchill appeals to a code of honor for the british people. Basically saying “You must protect our home, for our very lives depend on this. Churchill also appeals to the people’s code of ethics by stating, “If we can stand up to [Hitler], all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands.” He saying that if we, the people of britain, stand up to Hitler and stand up for democracy; Hitler will be stopped. Churchill refers to the future as a “sunlit uplands” invoking the thought of a Utopia type society. This is an amazing use of

Ethos.
The last rhetorical device we will go over is Churchills use of Logos, or logic, in this speech. Now, Churchill starts his speech by stating the numbers lost during the Dunkirk incident. But then states that he is “not reciting these facts for the purpose of recrimination” but rather to come face to face with what has happened. Churchill then states “I put [Dunkirk and lost of France] on the shelf, from which the historians, when they have time, will select their documents to tell their stories.” Basically telling his people to forget the past and look toward the future. Because quarreling about the past will, inevitably, ruin the future. The entire introduction is an appeal to peoples logic, or Logos. In summary, telling everyone to stop looking for someone to blame and start getting ready for the battle ahead.
In conclusion, Winston Churchill used rhetorical devices to inspire his people after what seemed like the end. Churchill did not get this result by using one device other. Rather, he inspired the crowd by using all three in a mastery level fashion. Through his use of Pathos, Ethos, and Logos; he inspired an entire nation. Maybe even the every nation affected by the Nazi regime. Winston Churchill turned what seemed the darkest hour into Britain's finest.