In 1946, former British prime minister Winston Churchill delivered a speech in Zurich in which he urged Europeans to “recreate the fabric” of their continent in the aftermath of the Second World War. Now, as Europe again grapples with complex threats to its security, do his words still resonate?
In his address, made at the University of Zurich on September 19, 1946, Churchill called for a “remedy” to prevent future conflicts, one that he said would make Europe “as free and happy as Switzerland is today.” That remedy, he said, was “to recreate the European fabric” and “build a kind of United States of Europe.”
“Churchill used the word ‘bewildered’ in his speech – how could this destruction in Europe have happened?” British Ambassador James Squire told Swissinfo on the margins of an event in Zurich celebrating the 80th anniversary of the speech. “It was a time for Europe to work out how it could preserve peace in future.”
Churchill called not just for a united Europe, but for the United States – “mighty America”, in his words – to support it.
>> Learn more about Churchill’s Zurich address and its links to the creation of the EU and the Council of Europe:
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When Winston Churchill called for European unity in neutral Zurich
Today, these “fundamental pillars of European security” are under threat, said Jamie Shea, a former top NATO official and current senior advisor at the European Policy Centre, a Brussels-based think tank. He pointed to “lots of question marks” about the future of the European Union with the rise of populist parties, alongside a waning US commitment to European defence. The challenge now, Shea said, is how to re-establish these pillars.
Amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and hybrid threats including sabotage and attacks on critical infrastructure, Squire said the message from Churchill’s speech is to confront that reality with optimism and pragmatism, just as the former wartime leader had. “We can’t take peace and freedom for granted,” Squire said. “We have to stand up for that.”
Edited by Benjamin von Wyl/ac
