Winston S. Churchill “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” Address Broadside.

CHURCHILL, Winston S.

Item Number: 126304

London: Fosh & Cross Ltd., 1941.

Rare original broadside displaying the most resounding phrase from Churchill’s famous “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” speech, his first address as Prime Minister to the House of Commons, delivered on May 13, 1940. One page, lithographic broadside with text in red and black. In near fine condition. Rare and desirable.

After having been offered the King's commission the previous Friday, to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the first year of World War II, Churchill gave his first address to the House of Commons, in which he asked the House to declare its confidence in his Government. This was the first of three speeches which he gave during the period of the Battle of France, which commenced with the German invasion of the Low Countries on May 10, 1940. The phrase, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat," was likely a paraphrase of one uttered on 2 July 1849 by Giuseppe Garibaldi when rallying his revolutionary forces in Rome: "I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battle, and death." The circumstances under which Garibaldi made that speech—with the revolutionary Roman Republic being overwhelmed and Garibaldi needing to maintain the morale of his troops towards a highly hazardous retreat through the Apennine mountains—was in some ways comparable to Britain's situation with France being overwhelmed by the German offensive.