'The lights are going out'

Winston Churchill's heroics in World War II were preceded by an equally heroic 1930s, calling out fascism and Hitler's warmongering for what it was.

Since Trump’s victory, it does feel as if a weight has descended upon the world. For the first time in living memory, America has an administration committed to its own enrichment and that of key supporters, an America without a conscience or a spirit of public service, an America with a convicted felon as president who is openly hostile to democratic government and its institutions. My dad said to me in August, ‘I think I’m going to see America turn fascist in my lifetime’. I thought he was being a touch dramatic. Now I think he was spot on.

Across the world, the far right is gaining electoral support, moving from the fringes to the mainstream. It has made me think of the 1930s, and re-read speeches from individuals who were brave enough to stand up for democracy; people who recognised that however flawed our system is, a turn towards demagoguery would only result in a brutalisation of the human spirit, and injustice.

It’s time for people to stand up again, to be vigilant, and to stem the tide.

Here is Churchill’s conclusion to his ‘The lights are going out (We must arm)’ speech from 16 October 1938.

A quick note — the Speakola podcast will resume next month. I’m gathering guests now in the hope I can mount a ten or twelve episode three month season. Send suggestions for guests my way!

Winston Churchill: 'The lights are going out on Europe', Public address - 1938

Alexander the Great remarked that the people of Asia were slaves because they had not learned to pronounce the word "No." Let that not be the epitaph of the English-speaking peoples or of Parliamentary democracy, or of France, or of the many surviving liberal States of Europe.

There, in one single word, is the resolve which the forces of freedom and progress, of tolerance and good will, should take. It is not in the power of one nation, however formidably armed, still less is it in the power of a small group of men, violent, ruthless men, who have always to cast their eyes back over their shoulders, to cramp and fetter the forward march of human destiny. The preponderant world forces are upon our side; they have but to be combined to be obeyed.

We must arm. Britain must arm. America must arm. If, through an earnest desire for peace, we have placed ourselves at a disadvantage, we must make up for it by redoubled exertions, and, if necessary, by fortitude in suffering. We shall, no doubt, arm. Britain, casting away the habits of centuries, will decree national service upon her citizens. The British people will stand erect, and will face whatever may be coming.