Winston Churchill’s 11/16/1934 Speech About The Threat Of Nazi Germany

If you’re familiar with the build-up to WW2, then you know that the rest of Europe knew that Germany was preparing for war long before the Nazis started swallowing up their surrounding countries. Had Europe decided to step in 1934 or even 1936 when the Germans started to remilitarize the Rhineland, the world could have been spared the worst war it has ever seen.

Churchill, then a backbencher in Britain, understood the threat of the Nazis even in 1934 and he agitated for Britain to build up its military and to basically make the weak and ineffective League of Nations into a NATO like organization that would insure peace through strength.

To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, I have posted a speech Churchill made back on 11/16/34 about the dangers Britain would face in the years ahead. Here is a particularly salient quote…

“Would the invaders consent to hear Lord Beaverbrook’s exposition, or listen to the impassioned appeals of Mr. Lloyd George? Would they agree to meet that famous South African, General Smuts, and have their inferiority complex removed in friendly, reasonable debate? I doubt it. I have borne responsibility for the safety of this country in grievous times. I gravely doubt it.

But even if they did, I am not so sure we should convince them, and persuade them to go back quietly home. They might say, it seems to me, “you are rich; we are poor. You seem well fed; we are hungry. You have been victorious; we have been defeated. You have valuable colonies; we have none. You have your navy; where is ours? You have had the past; let us have the future.” Above all, I fear they would say, “you are weak and we are strong.”

Read all of the speech here.

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