for the British Army. What ended up happening was far different. The British were able to rescue approximately 338,000 men from Dunkirk, despite their initial belief that they would only be able to rescue some thirty to forty thousand men. This victory was a massive one for the Allied forces, as it held off the Nazi war machine for just long enough for the Allies to regroup. It is important to remember that this was before the United States entered the war. With the information that hundreds of thousands of more men were rescued than Churchill initially believed, he gave his famous speech to the House of Commons on June 4, 1940.

In the speech, Churchill essentially talked of the victory at Dunkirk and the consequences of this victory on the immediate future of England. The Battle of Britain was a little over a month away; through his speech, Churchill prepared the House of Commons, the people of England, and the rest of the world for what was to come. Churchill spoke of what the people of England had faced in centuries before as a way to show that they had been tested in similar ways in the past:

Turning once again, and this time more generally, to the question of invasion, I would observe that there has never been a period in all these long centuries of which we boast when an absolute guarantee against invasion, still less against serious raids, could have been given to our people. In the days of Napoleon the same wind which would have carried his transports across the Channel might have driven away the blockading fleet. There was always the chance, and it is that chance which has excited and befooled the imaginations of many Continental tyrants.

Churchill reminded the people of England that the threat of invasion always existed from tyrants similar to Hitler—yet England had always fought and remained. He argued that England would carry on and survive. With this reminder, he also reminded the entire world of what England had endured and overcome.

Churchill began to lead the fight against Nazi Germany's invading armies; thus, he called to arms all those who wished to resist Hitler's tyranny. At the end of the speech, Churchill made clear reference to England's most powerful ally, which had not yet entered the war:

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

This speech is most famous for the initial lines in this conclusion; however, the last lines are the ones that made the greatest call for help. The "New World" is a clear call to the original colonies, now the United States. The "old" is a reference to the "Old World" that is England. Churchill believed that, with this victory at Dunkirk and his people's willingness to fight, the United States would come to England's and the world's aid—and they finally did on December 11, 1941.

Churchill's famous speech came at a time of considerable peril for Great Britain. The German war machine was rampaging across Western Europe and it seemed that no one was capable of stopping it.

As a consequence, the level of morale among the British people hit rock bottom. Thoughts turned to the very real prospect of a German invasion, which if launched carried with it a high chance of success.

In his speech to the House of Commons on June4 , 1940, he sought to communicate to the British people just how serious the situation was while at the same time trying to stiffen their resolve and prepare them for the challenges ahead.

In the speech's famous peroration—“We shall fight on the beaches...”—Churchill makes it clear that, in the event of a German invasion, the British people will fight until the bitter end, no matter what it takes or how long. He wants the British people to be aware of the enormous sacrifices that lie ahead, but at the same time, he wants to assure them that, in the end, they will prevail.

Those four words in the peroration—“We shall never surrender”—are intended to drive home the overwhelming sense of resolve and determination of the British government and the British people to do everything possible to defeat the Germans.