Blood, toil, tears, and sweat

The Blood, toil, tears, and sweat speech was a famous speech made by Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the British Parliament on 13 May, 1940. It was his first speech to the House after taking over as Prime Minister of Britain in the first year of World War II, having replaced Neville Chamberlain on 10 May.

Related Topics:
Winston Churchill - House of Commons - British - Parliament - 13 May - 1940 - Prime Minister of Britain - World War II - Neville Chamberlain - 10 May

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It was the first of three famous speeches which he gave during the period of the Battle of France. This speech (and the two others, the "We shall fight on the beaches" speech of 4 June and the "This was their finest hour" speech of 18 June) were a great inspiration to the embattled United Kingdom as it entered what was probably the most dangerous period of the entire war.

Related Topics:
Battle of France - We shall fight on the beaches - 4 June - This was their finest hour - 18 June - United Kingdom

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Churchill gave the brief speech after calling for a vote of confidence in his new broad coalition government. The speech had three goals (the first of which is now little remembered): first, to introduce the new government Churchill was forming, and also its policies and aims; second, to give to the country (both the public, and the legislators) the message that a confident, forceful and decisive leader had taken over; and third, to begin to speak plainly and directly to the country about the true magnitude of the dangerous situation the country now found itself in (a manner of address that Neville Chamberlain had eschewed), and to start to rally his countrymen to what he knew would be a long and difficult struggle.

Related Topics:
Vote of confidence - Coalition - Legislator

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Earlier in the day Churchill had stated to his new Cabinet "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat." and he repeated that phrase to Parliament in this speech. The phrase "blood, sweat, and tears" arose as a common misquotation from this speech.

Related Topics:
Cabinet - Misquotation

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