温斯顿·丘吉尔 “他们最光辉的时刻”
Winston Churchill “ THEIR FINEST HOUR ” June 18 ， 1940
Winston Churchill
“THEIR FINEST HOUR”
June 18，1940
I spoke the other day of the colossal military disas- ter which occurred when the French High Com- mand failed to withdraw the northern armies fromBelgium at a moment when they knew that the French front was decisively broken at Sedan and onthe Meu.urgent用法
This delay entailed the loss of fifteen or six- teen French divisions and threw out of action thewhole of the British Expeditionary Force.
Our army were indeed rescued by the BritishNavy from Dunkirk，but only with the loss of alltheir cannon，vehicles and modern equipment.
This loss inevitably took some weeks to repair，and in the first two of the weeks the Battle ofFrance had been lost.
Now I put all this aside.I put it on the shelffrom which the historians may lect their docu- ments in order to tell their story.We have to thinkof the future and not of the past.
There are many who wish to hold an inquest upon the conduct of the government and of Parlia- ment during the years which led up to this catas-trophe.They wish to indict tho who were re- sponsible for the guidance of our affairs.
This also would be a foolish and perniciousprocess.There are too many in it.Let each manarch his conscience and arch his speeches，as Ifrequently arch mine.Of this I am quite sure，that if we open a quarrel between the past and theprent we shall find that we have lost the future.光棍节的由来
The military events which have happened inFrance during the last fortnight have not come tome with any n of surpri； indeed，I indicateda fortnight ago as clearly as I could to the Hou，that the worst possibilities were open and I made itperfectly clear that whatever happened in France，it would make no difference to the resolve ofBritain and the British Empire to fight on，if neces-sary for years，and if necessary alone.
We have under arms at the prent time in thisisland over 1，250，000 men.Behind the we havethe local defen volunteers，numbering 500，000，only a portion of whom，however，are armed withrifles or other firearms.
We have incorporated into our defen force amass of weapons and we expect very large addi-tions to the weapons in the near future.Inpreparation，we intend to call up，drill and train，further large numbers at once.
We also have the Dominion armies here.TheCanadians had actually landed in France，but havenow been safely withdrawn much disappointed andare here with all their artillery and equipment.The very high-class forces from the dominionswill now take part in the defen of their mothercountry.
Thus，the invasion of Great Britain at thistime would require the transport across the as ofhostile armies on a very large scale and after theyhad been so transported，they would
gravel
have to becontinually maintained with all the immen massof munitions and supplies which are required forcontinuous battle，as continuous battle it wouldbe.
Now here is where we come to the navy.Af- ter all，we have a navy； some people em to for- get it.We must remind them.For more than thir-ty years I have been concerned in discussions aboutthe possibility of an overas invasion and I tookthe responsibility on behalf of the Admiralty at thebeginning of the last war of allowing all the regulartroops to be nt out of the country although ourTerritorials had only just been called up and werequite untried.
It ems to me that as far as a-borne inva-sion on a great scale is concerned，we are far morecapable of meeting it than we were at many periodsin the last war and during the early months of thiswar before our troops were trained and while theBritish Expeditionary Force was abroad.
We have also a great system of mine fields，recently reinforced，through which we alone knowthe channel.If the enemy tries to sweep a channelthrough the mine fields，it will be the task of thenavy to destroy the mine-sweepers and any otherforce employed to protect them.There ought to beno difficulty about this，owing to our superiority ata.
Some people will ask why it was that theBritish Navy was not able to prevent the movementof a large army from Germany into Norway acrossthe Skagerrak.But conditions in the Channel andin the North Sea are in no way like tho whichprevail in the Skagerrak.In the Skagerrak，be- cau of the
distance，we could give no air supportto our surface ships and conquently，lying as wedid clo to the enemy's main air power in Norwe-gian waters，we were compelled to u only oursubmarines.
This brings me naturally to the great questionof invasion from the air and the impending strugglebetween the British and German Air Forces.
It ems quite clear that no invasion on a scalebeyond the capacity of our ground forces to crushspeedily is likely to take place from the air untilour air force has been definitely overpowered.Inthe meantime，there may be raids by parachutetroops and attempted descents by air-borne soldiers.We ought to be able to give tho gentrya warm reception，both in the air and if they reachthe ground in any condition to continue their dis- pute.（The great question is，can we break Hitler'sair weapon？）
Now，of cour，it is a very great pity that wehave not got an air force at least equal to that of the most powerful enemy within reach of our shores，but we have a very powerful air force，which has proved itlf far superior in quality bothin men and in many types of machines to what wehave met so far in the numerous fierce air battleswhich have been fought.
There remains the danger of the bombing at- tacks，which will certainly be made very soon uponus by the bomber forces of the enemy.It is quitetrue that the forces
bombardmentare superior in number toours，but we have a very large bombing force alsowhich we shall u to strike at the military targetsin Germany without intermission.
I do not at all underrate the verity of the or-deal which lies before us，but I believe that ourcountrymen will show themlves capable of stand-ing up to it and carrying on in spite of it at least aswell as any other people in the world.
It will depend upon themlves，and everyman and woman will have the chance of showingthe finest qualities of their race and of renderingthe highest rvice to their cau.
For all of us，whatever our sphere or station，it will be a help to remember the famous lines：He nothing common did，or mean Upon that memorable scene.
I have thought it right on this occasion to givethe Hou and the country some indication of thesolid，practical grounds upon which we are basingour invincible resolve to continue the war，and I can assure them that our professional advirs ofthe three rvices unitedly advi that we should doit，and that there are good and reasonable hopes offinal victory.
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We have fully informed all the lf-governingdominions and we have received from all PrimeMinisters messages couched in the most movingterms，in which they endor our decision and de- clare themlves ready to share our fortunes andpervere to the end.
We may now ask ourlves in what way hasour position worned since the beginning of thewar.It is worned by the fact that the Germanshave conquered a large part of the coast of the Al- lies in Western Europe，and many small and countrieshave beed overrun by them.This aggravates thepossibility of air attack and adds to our naval pre-occupation，but it in no way diminishes，but on thecontrary definitely increas，the power of ourlong-distance blockade.
Should military resistance come to an end inFrance—which is not yet，though it will in anyca be greatly diminished—the Germans can con-centrate their forces both military and industrial upon us.But for the reason given to the Hou thiswill not be easy to apply.
If invasion becomes more imminent，we havebeen relieved from the task of maintaining a largearmy in France and we have a far larger and moreefficient force here to meet it.
If Hitler can bring under despotic control theindustries of the countries he has conquered，thiswill add grestly to his already vast armament out-put.On the other hand，this will not happen im-mediate
ly and we are now assured of immen con-tinued and increasing support in munitions of allkinds from the United States，and especially of air-planes and pilots from across the ocean.They willcome from regions beyond the reach of enemybombers.I do not e how any of the factors can oper-ate to our detriment，on balance，before the Win-ter comes，and the Winter will impo a strain up-on the Nazi regime，with half Europe writhing andstarving under
its heel，which，for all their ruth-lessness，will run them very hard.
joke是什么意思 Therefore in casting up this dread balancesheet and contemplating our dangers with a disillu-sioned eye，I e great reasons for inten exertionand vigilance，but none whatever for panic or de- spair.During the first four months of the last warthe Allies experienced nothing but disaster and dis- appointment，and yet at the end their morale washigher than that of the Germans，who had movedfrom one aggressive triumph to another.
17作业网英语
During that war we repeatedly asked ourlvesthe question，“How are we going to win？”and noone was ever able to answer it with much preci-sion，until at the end，quite suddenly and unex- pectedly，our terrible foe collapd before us andwe were so glutted with victory that in our folly wecast it away.
We do not yet know what will happen inFrance or whether the French resistance will beprolonged both in France and in the French Empireoveras.The French Government will be throw- ing away great opportunities and casting away theirfuture if they do not continue the war in accordancewith their treaty obligations，from which we havenot felt able to relea them.
The Hou will have read the historic declara-tion in which.at the desire of many Frenchmenand of our own hearts，we have proclaimed ourwillingness to conclude at the darkest hour inFrench history a union of common citizenship intheir struggle.
However matters may go in France or with theFrench Government，or another French Govern-ment，we in this island and in the British Empirewill never lo our n of comradeship with theFrench people.
If we are now called upon to endure what theyhave suffered，we shall emulate their courage，andif final victory rewards our toils they shall sharethe gain—aye，freedom shall be restored to all.We abate nothing of our just demands.Czechs，Poles，Norwegians，Dutch and Belgians，who havejoined their caus with our own，all shall be re- stored.
What General Weygand called the Battle ofFrance is over.The Battle of Britain is about tobegin.On
this battle depends the survival ofChristian civilization.
Upon it depends our own British life and thelong continuity of our institutions and our empire.The whole fury and might of the enemy must verysoon be turned upon us.Hitler knows he will haveto break us in this island or lo the war.
If we can stand up to him all Europe may befreed and the life of the world may move forwardinto broad sunlit uplands； but if we fail，the wholeworld，including the United States and all that wehave known and cared for，will sink into the abyssof a new dark age made more sinister and perhapsmore prolonged by the lights of a perverted sci- ence.
Let us therefore brace ourlves to our dutyand so bear ourlves that if the British Common- wealth and Empire last for a thousand years，menwill still say“This was their fi
nest hour.”
温斯顿·丘吉尔
“他们最光辉的时刻”
翻译在线翻译1940年6月18日
前些时我曾经谈到这场非常的军事灾难：法军最高统帅部在获悉法国前线在色当和马斯河一线肯定已经被突破时，没有能及时将北面的部队从比利时撤出。
这一延误使法军丧失了十五六个师，而且使整个英国远征军完全失去作用。decency
我们的陆军诚然被海军从敦刻尔克营救出来，但已经损失了全部的大炮、车辆和其他现代化装备。这些损失不得不花好几个星期去休整。然而休整刚刚开始两个星期，法国就溃败了。
这一切现在都不必多谈了，不妨束之高阁，待历史学家们去翻档案讲故事吧。我们要思考的是将来而不是过去。
有不少人希望进行一次调查，查一查在把我们导向这场悲剧的这些年里政府和国会的所作所为。他们希望起诉那些对国务负有领导责任的人。
这也是一种愚蠢有害的做法。涉及的人太多了。让每个人去扪心自问，去反省一下自己的言论吧，就像我经常反省自己那样。我敢肯定，如果我们在过去和现在之间展开一场争吵，我们日后会发现，我们已经失去了将来。
be ud to doing 过去两个星期里法国发生的军事情况并未使我感到吃惊。其实两星期以前我已经尽可能清楚地向下院说明，最坏的可能性已见端倪。我说得非常明确，无论法国出现什么情况，决不会影响英国和英帝
国继续作战，必要时可以长期作战，必要时也可以单独作战。
眼下，本岛有125万部队处于战备状态。此外还有地方防卫志愿军50万，不过他们之中只有一部分装备有步枪或其他火器。
我们的国防部队已经集中了大量的武器，不久的将来还有望获得极大量的补充。我们正在准备立即再征集、训练大量兵员。
我们这里还有各自治领的部队。加拿大部队其实已在法国登陆，他们大失所望，不过现在已经安全地携带全部大炮和装备撤到我们这里。这些从自治领来的高水平的部队将参加保卫他们的母国。
因此，现在想侵犯大不列颠，敌军就必须极大规模地越海运输部队，而部队运输之后又必须持续供应持久战所必需的大量军火和给养，因为战争必将是持久的。
现在该谈谈海军了。毕竟我们还有一支海军，有些人似乎忘了，我们必须提醒他们。30多年来我一直关注着关于海上入侵的可能性的讨论。上次大战开始时我曾代表海军部负责运送所有的正规部队出国，虽然那时我们的本土防卫队刚刚征集，尚待考验。
我觉得，就海上大规模入侵的问题而言，比起上次大战中很多时候以及这次大战中头几个月我们的部队未及训练而英
