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This article is a shameless rip-off of Blood, toil, tears, and sweat speech, suitably modified for this speech. Noel (talk) 04:13, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)
- that's not really important; it's quite reasonable to reuse material here. This is after all a community project, so the essential premise of plagiarism doesn't apply. jamesgibbon 15:08, 8 January 2007 (UTC)
213.8.71.170 16:45, 30 September 2007 (UTC)
I wouldn't normally do this, but I see no one took notice of my above comment, and so I'm taking the liberty to change the page myself.
213.8.71.170 16:37, 2 October 2007 (UTC)
I am listening to this speech as I write this, and I happen to notice that in the recording Churchill says "What General Weygand has called the Battle of France is over. The Battle of Britain is about to begin." Yet in both this article and on Wikisource it says "...is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin." Comments? -- Pelle-Gnillot ( talk) 22:37, 25 August 2009 (UTC)
The version of the speech in wikisource differs considerably at some points from the version in the online Hansard, most noticeably in the treatment given to the support of the Dominions .
on-line Hansard | wikisource |
---|---|
I have thought it right upon this occasion to give the House and the country some indication of the solid, practical grounds upon which we base our inflexible resolve to continue the war | I have thought it right upon this occasion to give the House and the country some indication of the solid, practical grounds upon which we base our inflexible resolve to continue the war |
and | There are a good many people who say, 'Never mind. Win or lose, sink or swim, better die than submit to tyranny--and such a tyranny.' And I do not dissociate myself from them. But |
I can assure them that our professional advisers of the three Services unitedly advise that we should do so, and that there are good and reasonable hopes of final victory. We have also fully informed and consulted all the self-governing Dominions, | I can assure them that our professional advisers of the three Services unitedly advise that we should carry on the war, and that there are good and reasonable hopes of final victory. We have fully informed and consulted all the self-governing Dominions, |
these great communities far beyond the oceans who have been built up on our laws and on our civilization, and who are absolutely free to choose their course, but are absolutely devoted to the ancient Motherland, and who feel themselves inspired by the same emotions which lead me to stake our all upon duty and honor. We have fully consulted them, | |
and I have received from their Prime Ministers, Mr. Mackenzie King, Mr. Menzies, Mr. Fraser and General Smuts, | and I have received from their Prime Ministers, Mr. Mackenzie King of Canada, Mr. Menzies of Australia, Mr. Fraser of New Zealand, and General Smuts of South Africa |
that wonderful man, with his immense profound mind, and his eye watching from a distance the whole panorama of European affairs--I have received from all these eminent men, who all have Governments behind them elected on wide franchises, who are all there because they represent the will of their people | |
messages couched in the most moving terms in which they endorse our decision and declare themselves ready to share our fortunes and to persevere to the end | messages couched in the most moving terms in which they endorse our decision to fight on, and declare themselves ready to share our fortunes and to persevere to the end |
Clearly either the Hansard version has been edited down, or the wikisource speech has been expanded with explanatory matter for the benefit of an audience/readership less familiar with Dominion status etc than an MP of 1940 would have been. One would suspect the latter, and the spelling of honor would suggest that the wikisource speech has a provenance which at some point passes through the USA. So the underlying question is which version of the speech is the truth, which the legend , and of course which one should Wikipedia print? Rjccumbria ( talk) 21:12, 7 June 2010 (UTC)
Did Churchill write the whole speech himself? The article implied this, but never explicitly stated it. Lavaka ( talk) 16:53, 22 April 2011 (UTC)
I came to this page to learn something about this historic phrase and I got almost nothing. Why was it said? Who were "they"? Why was it their finest hour? This article should be rewritten in my opinion. -- Caramella1 ( talk) 09:44, 17 March 2016 (UTC)