Winston Churchill Memorial and Library - The "Sinews of Peace": Putting Fulton On The Map

The "Sinews of Peace": Putting Fulton On The Map

In 1946, Winston Churchill travelled to Westminster College in order to deliver his famous "Sinews of Peace" address as a part of the Green Lecture series. An extraordinary confluence of circumstances conspired to bring Winston Churchill to Westminster. At the time, the College had a unique connection to U.S. President Harry S. Truman's administration—Major General Harry Vaughan, a graduate of Westminster College. College president Franc McCluer asked Vaughan to see what President Truman could do to induce Churchill to come to Westminster. President Truman thought the idea of bringing Churchill to Missouri (Truman's native state) was a wonderful idea. On the bottom of Churchill's invitation from Westminster College Truman wrote: "This is a wonderful school in my home state. Hope you can do it. I will introduce you." So it was that two world leaders, Winston Churchill and President Harry Truman, descended onto the little campus of Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri.

Churchill arrived on the Westminster College campus on March 5, 1946 and delivered his address. Churchill's "Sinews of Peace" delineated the complications and tensions of that moment in world history—less than a year after World War II and at the dawn of the Cold War. Churchill had been watching the Soviet Union with increasing concern. Churchill feared another war. "A shadow has fallen upon the scenes so lately lighted by the Allied victory," he said; adding, "whatever conclusion may be drawn from these facts…this is certainly not the liberated Europe we fought to build up. Nor is it one which contains the essentials of permanent peace." Churchill noted the tensions mounting between Eastern and Western Europe. "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic," he said, "an ‘iron curtain’ has descended across the continent." Churchill then predicted what he called the formation of the "Soviet sphere."

In order to counterbalance the mounting power of the Soviet Union, Churchill called for a "fraternal association of the English-speaking peoples." Churchill hoped the United States and Britain would work together towards the "permanent prevention of war" and "establish conditions of freedom and democracy" all over the globe. The cooperation of these two nations, he hoped, would create the "sinews of peace." He went on to encourage the leaders of both the United States and Britain to begin peace-talks with the Soviet Union. Churchill feared the outbreak of a new world war, especially in light of the development of nuclear weapons. "Now war can find any nation, wherever it may dwell between dusk and dawn," he warned. Churchill knew all to well the devastation conventional bombs had wreaked on Britain during The Blitz—a similar campaign waged with nuclear weapons would be too horrible to imagine.

Reactions to the "Sinews of Peace" were mixed; some were suspicious of Churchill's proposed alliance between the United States and Britain and accused Churchill of warmongering. Others were provoked by Churchill's claim that "there never was a war in history easier to prevent by timely action than the one which has just desolated such great areas of the globe." "It could have been prevented in my opinion without firing a shot…," he continued, "but no one would listen and one by one we were all sucked into the awful whirlpool…."

Others lauded the speech for its prophetic qualities—particularly Churchill's anticipation of the formation of the Soviet Bloc—a view shared by many modern-day historians. Churchill predicted the Cold War, sounded its early warning, and defined the central problems that would occupy the leaders that followed him. As a result, the "Sinews of Peace" is widely regarded as Churchill's most famous peace-time address.

Today, visitors to the museum may view filmed selections of the speech. The podium and chair that Churchill used are on display in the museum.