Churchill: calling for a United States of Europe

Winston Churchill, a former army officer, war reporter and British Prime Minister (1940-45 and 1951-55), was one of the first to call for the creation of a ‘United States of Europe’. Following the Second World War, he was convinced that only a united Europe could guarantee peace. His aim was to eliminate the European ills of nationalism and war-mongering once and for all. He formulated his conclusions drawn from the lessons of history in his famous ‘Speech to the academic youth’ held at the University of Zurich in 1946: “There is a remedy which ... would in a few years make all Europe ... free and ... happy. It is to re-create the European family, or as much of it as we can, and to provide it with a structure under which it can dwell in peace, in safety and in freedom. We must build a kind of United States of Europe.”

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Churchill Europe United States war Winston Churchill European

About Jack Berlin

Founded Accusoft (Pegasus Imaging) in 1991 and has been CEO ever since.

Churchill Europe United States war Winston Churchill European

<p>EN
Winston Churchill, a former army officer, war reporter and British Prime Minister 
(1940-45 and 1951-55), was one of the first to call for the creation of a  
‘United States of Europe’. Following the Second World War, he was convinced 
that only a united Europe could guarantee peace. His aim was to eliminate the 
European ills of nationalism and war-mongering once and for all. 
He formulated his conclusions drawn from the lessons of history in his famous 
‘Speech to the academic youth’ held at the University of Zurich in 1946: “There is 
a remedy which ... would in a few years make all Europe ... free and ... happy.  
It is to re-create the European family, or as much of it as we can, and to provide it 
with a structure under which it can dwell in peace, in safety and in freedom.  
We must build a kind of United States of Europe.”
Thus the driving force behind the anti-Hitler coalition became an active campaigner for Europe’s cause.
Winston Churchill also made a name for himself as a painter and writer: in 1953 he was awarded the Nobel 
Prize for Literature.
Winston Churchill: calling for a United 
States of Europe 
Winston Churchill 1874 - 1965
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Early life
Winston Churchill was born on 30 November 1874 into the 
aristocratic Spencer-Churchill family of the noble Dukes 
of Marlborough, but his mother was born in America. After 
enjoying a privileged childhood, Churchill began his education 
in 1888 at Harrow, a top London boys’ school. He did not prove 
to be an outstanding student and school was not therefore 
something he enjoyed. 
On finishing school in 1893, it took him three attempts to pass 
the entry exam for Sandhurst, the Royal Military Academy. 
But after graduation he began a military career that, over the 
next five years, saw him fight battles on three continents, win 
four medals and an Order of Merit, write five books and win a 
seat in Parliament, all before his 26th birthday. 
Political career
While serving in the British army, Churchill was also a newspaper 
correspondent. Whilst reporting on the Boer War in South Africa, 
he made headlines when he escaped from a prisoner of war 
camp there, returning to England in 1900 to embark on a political 
career. He was elected to Parliament and served in different 
Cabinets as Home Secretary and First Lord of the Admiralty 
(Minister responsible for the navy). In 1915 he was forced 
to resign after the failure of a particular military campaign. 
He decided to join the army again and led the men of the 
6th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers in the trenches of France. 
When in 1917 a new government was formed he became 
Minister of Munitions. In the years leading up to 1929, Churchill 
held all of the most important ministerial posts except that of 
Foreign Minister. 
The Founding Fathers 
of the EU
Churchill gives the ‘V’ for victory sign during a speech at the European 
Congress in The Hague in 1948.
In 1929, he became estranged from his party, the Conservatives. 
This is the start of a period in Churchill’s life known as the 
‘Wilderness Years’. He continued writing and became a very 
productive and well published author of articles and books. 
Churchill was among the very first few people to recognise 
the growing threat of Hitler long before the outset of the 
Second World War and the first to voice his concerns. 
Second World War
In 1939, Churchill’s predictions became reality as the Second 
World War broke out. In 1940, he became Prime Minister and 
led Great Britain through the difficult war years, offering hope 
and determination to the British people with his inspirational 
speeches. His staunch refusal to consider defeat or to bargain 
with the Nazis inspired British resistance, especially at the start 
of the war when Britain stood alone in its active opposition to 
Hitler. Nevertheless, he lost the elections after the end of the war. 
He did not, however, lose his ability to interpret correctly how 
future events would play out, as proven by his famous speech in 
Fulton, Missouri about the threat from the Soviet Communists, in 
which he coined the well-known expression about the ‘Iron Curtain’.
A ‘United States of Europe’
In 1946 Churchill delivered another famous speech, at the University 
of Zurich, in which he advocated a ‘United States of Europe’, urging 
Europeans to turn their backs on the horrors of the past and look 
to the future. He declared that Europe could not afford to drag 
forward the hatred and revenge which sprung from the injuries of 
the past, and that the first step to recreate the ‘European family’ 
of justice, mercy and freedom was “to build a kind of United 
States of Europe. In this way only will hundreds of millions of 
toilers be able to regain the simple joys and hopes which make 
life worth living”. 
Council of Europe
With this plea for a United States of Europe, Churchill was 
one of the first to advocate European integration to prevent 
the atrocities of two world wars from ever happening again, 
calling for the creation of a Council of Europe as a first step. 
In 1948, in The Hague, 800 delegates from all European 
countries met, with Churchill as honorary president, at a grand 
Congress of Europe.
This led to the creation of the Council of Europe on 5 May 1949, 
the first meeting of which was attended by Churchill himself. 
His call to action can be seen as propelling further integration as 
later agreed upon during the Messina Conference in 1955, which 
led to the Treaty of Rome two years later. It was also Churchill who 
would first moot the idea of a ‘European army’ designed to protect 
the continent and provide European diplomacy with some muscle. 
Furthermore, the European Court of Human Rights was created 
in 1959 — a decade after Churchill first championed the idea. 
Providing the inspiration to the people of Europe as the 
binding factor in the allied fight against Nazism and fascism, 
Winston Churchill consequently became a driving force behind 
European integration and an active fighter for its cause. 
The Founding Fathers 
of the EU
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