“The dangers threatening us are great but great too is our strength, and there is no reason why we should not succeed in achieving our aims and establishing the structure of this united Europe whose moral concepts will be able to win the respect and recognition of mankind, and whose physical strength will be such that no one will dare to hold up its peaceful journey towards the future” (Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 12 August 1949, Strasbourg. One of the founding fathers of the Council of Europe).
Winston Churchill's speech in full:
"Beware! I am going to speak in French.
In this ancient city still scarred by the wounds of war, we are meeting to set up an assembly which we hope will one day be the parliament of Europe. We have taken the first step and it is the first step that counts. This magnificent gathering of the people of Strasbourg was summoned by the European Movement to show the world what strength lies in the idea of a united Europe, what force it has, not only in the minds of political thinkers but also in the hearts of the great mass of people in all the countries of Europe where the peoples are free to express their opinion.
I feel encouraged but also astonished by the remarkable results we have achieved in so little time. It is barely more than a year ago that, at our congress in The Hague, we asked for a European assembly to be set up. Public opinion had to be mobilised in order to persuade power¬ful governments to turn our requests into realities. Serious hesitations had to be overcome.
But we also have on our side, with us, many friends of this great cause of a united Europe, including friends who wield ministerial power. None of these friends has done more for the European Movement than Mr Spaak who, for a long time, has been the champion of a European parliament and who here today, in this city, was unanimously elected its first president.
We are meeting here in this new Assembly not as representatives of our different countries or different political parties but as Europeans marching forward, hand in hand, if necessary shoulder to shoulder, in order to revive the former glories of Europe and enable this illustrious continent to regain in a world organisation its place as an independent member, able to look after itself. That primary and sacred fidelity which everyone owes to his own country is not difficult to reconcile with this broader feeling of European camaraderie. On the contrary, it will be found that all legitimate interests tally harmoniously and that each of us will serve our countries' real interest and security better if we broaden • our feeling both of common citizenship and sovereignty. And if we encapsulate in that feeling the whole of this continent of states and nations which share the same way of living.
These principles which govern us are defined in the Constitution of the United Nations where Europe should be a vigorous and leading element ; these principles are also set out in general terms in the Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the United Nations in Geneva. Therefore we shall not only find the road to rebirth and prosperity in Europe but, at the same time, protect ourselves against any risk of being overrun, crushed by whatever form of totalitarian tyranny, be it the detested domination of the nazis whom we have swept away or any other kind of despotism.
As far as I am concerned I am the enemy of no race and no nation in the world. It is not against a race, it is not against any nation that we are meeting. It is against tyranny in all forms. Tyranny is always the same regardless of its false promises, regardless of the name it adopts, regard¬less of the disguises in which it dresses its henchmen. But if we wish to conquer our supreme reward, we must thrust away every hindrance and become our own masters. We must rise above those passions which have ravaged Europe and turned it into ruins. We must put an end to our old quarrels; we must renounce territorial ambi¬tions ; national rivalries must become a creative emulation in every area where we can render the most genuine services to our common cause.
Furthermore, we must take all of the necessary measures and precautions in order to be certain that we will have the power and that we will have the time to achieve that transformation of Europe in which the European Assembly, now effectively meeting in Strasbourg, has such a great role to play. It will only be able to play that role if it shows that it possesses those qualities of common sense, tolerance, independence and, above all, courage without which nothing great can be achieved in this world.
Finally I ask for the help of this great gathering of the citizens of Strasbourg; you are part of these enormous masses of people whom we claim to represent and whose rights and interests it is our duty to defend; there are in Europe on both sides of the iron curtain millions of simple homes whose hearts are with us. Will they ever be given a chance to prosper and flourish ? Will they ever live in security ? Will they ever be able to enjoy the simple joys and freedoms that God and nature have granted them ? Will the man honestly earning his bread ever be able to raise healthy and happy children in the hope of better days to come? Will he ever be free from fear, the fear of foreign invasion, the fear of the explosion of bombs and shells, the fear of the loud marching of enemy patrols and above all - and this is the worst of all - the fear of a knock at the door by the political police, coming to take away a father or brother from the normal protection of law and justice - whereas every day through a single spontaneous effort of his will that man, that European, could awake from that nightmare and stand up free and virile in the light of day?
In our long history we have triumphed over the dangers of religious and dynastic wars; after thirty years of fighting I am confident that we have reached the end of nationalist wars. After all our victories and all our suffering are we now going to slide into a final chaos, in the ideological wars unleashed among us by barbaric, criminal oligarchies, prepared by the agitators of the fifth column infiltrating and conspiring in so many countries?
No, I am certain that it is within our powers to overcome the dangers still before us, if we so wish. Our hopes and our work point to an era of peace, prosperity and abundance and the inexhaustible wealth and genius of Europe will turn it once again into the very source and inspi¬ration of the world's life. In all of this we advance with the support of the powerful republic across the Atlantic and the sovereign states which are members of the empire and commonwealth of Britannic nations. The dangers threatening us are great but great too is our strength, and there is no reason why we should not succeed in achieving our aims and establishing the structure of this united Europe whose moral concepts will be able to win the respect and recognition of mankind, and whose physical strength will be such that no one will dare to hold up its peaceful journey towards the future". © Council of Europe
Ernest Bevin
United Kingdom Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
5 May 1949
"We are witnessing today the establishment of a common democratic institution on this ancient continent of Europe".
His speech:
"Gentlemen, We have met together now for the ceremony of signature of the Statute of the Council of Europe, and of the agreement concerning the establishment of the preparatory commission.
Like the rest of my colleagues I want to express my feeling that this is a truly historic occasion. This Statute which we are signing today is the result of many months of friendly negotiations between ten of the principal countries of Western Europe. It took shape in Paris during the discussions at the end of last year under the chairmanship of that distinguished French statesman Monsieur Herriot, and it has been continued in London by the diplomatic representatives of the ten countries. Now it has been put into final shape in this treaty. This agreement lays the foundations of something new and hopeful in European life. We are witnessing today the establishment of a common democratic institution on this ancient continent of Europe".
© Council of Europe
The European National Anthem
The British Bull Dog spirit which became European wine.
I'll drink to that.
No comments:
Post a Comment