Four things saved us. The English Channel; the combined prowess of the navy and the RAF; Mr Churchill's leadership; the fourth was something in the national character which refused to take in the staring prospect of defeat. In high and humble quarters, there was no weakening through that summer; nor was there as the nights lengthened and the sirens sounded and the winter of the Blitz drew on. It is right that we should now remember and take pride in these things. But there should be no illusions in our pride. We can never again afford to bask in a dream of island security. That will call for a much greater effort of continuous national preparedness than we have been used to in the past. But it would be equally an illusion to suppose that we can protect ourselves by standing self-reliantly alone. War prevention depends on lasting international collaboration. But on what does international collaboration depend? There can never be much prospect of it if, in periods without overt war, the nations are engaged in economic warfare; if they are struggling to ease their social problems by capturing markets and exporting unemployment wherever they succeed. Here, too, as we look back over the years of struggle, we may feel that we have accomplished a great deal. Not only have we mobilised our resources to an outstanding pitch; we have shared in a great pooling of Allied resources by methods previously unknown.
In Europe, a nightmare has lifted. What the world has been saved from, Belsen and Buchenwald show. Of the victors, the British Commonwealth alone has fought continuously from the first. That is our achievement; history will rank it high. But it is not a war to end war that we have won. That war begins when peace is declared: we lost it in the 20 years after 1918. Now our second chance is coming; let us learn from looking back how to seize and hold it firm.
