Author: Little Grandpa
This avoidable war, which was also a war of aggression and counter-aggression, was a war in which the majority retreated and the minority held out at the beginning of the Second World War. The Darkest Hour is not only the title of the film, but also the fear that hung over Europe in the early days of the war.
At the beginning of the film, a black-and-white silent film tells the background of the story, the ambitious Hitler has invaded Czechoslovakia, Poland, Denmark and Norway, and three million German troops have gathered on the Belgian border, ready to invade the rest of Europe. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain also lost the trust of parliament because of his misjudgment of the international situation and was forced to step down. And when we look back at why Churchill came to power at that moment, you can certainly think that this is because the person that The Labour Party can accept is him, but this explanation is a conspiracy.
Chamberlain's ouster was clearly due to outside pressure, and when his followers praised Halifax as the new president, they were rejected by the latter, not because of the latter's modest prevarication or due to lack of ability, but because he knew that even if he came to power now, he would only repeat the mistakes of the previous prime minister. So he took a more conservative approach, that is, to let Churchill be ordered to bear the anger and dissatisfaction of the people, and when the madmen needed by the outside world fell into the abyss, he could follow the trend and become the new prime minister.
Calculating politicians are always keen to create a game of chess for themselves that will not collapse, but any appeasement of an enemy that does not follow the rules is a suicidal conservatism. Unfortunately, Hitler was not a pawn calling for peace, but a gun to promote dictatorship and tyranny. When Halifax had romantic illusions about peace talks, Churchill saw Hitler's ambitions and the naivety of his companions, knowing that this was not a war that could be ended by agreement, but an invasion that was completely aimed at robbing other countries of their resources and sovereignty.
When it was learned that all of Britain's professional military forces were besieged in Dunkirk by the Germans and were about to be destroyed, Churchill finally chose the latter in the choice between peace talks and resistance. Adversity, danger, desperation, the man who saw the light in the darkness did his miracle.
As Churchill describes himself in the film, he was an unwanted prime minister. Criticism from his colleagues and the king's questioning made it difficult for him to make every decision, not to mention that his political enemies were presupposing a "refusal to negotiate peace" trap for him, which made him vulnerable to impeachment at any time by a vote of no confidence.
However, it was not only Churchill who had no allies, but also the Britain behind Churchill. When he sought the help of France with hope and determination, the latter had no way to resist the enemy, and the United States on the other side of the ocean had already enacted the Chinese Legislation Bill, and Britain could not even obtain the P-40 fighter jets purchased from the United States.
The meaning of "The Darkest Hour" is vividly interpreted at this moment, the helpless Churchill carries a precarious Britain forward, and there are two paths ahead, either digging a lonely trench or opening a negotiation to quench his thirst. The former is to use national sovereignty as a chip to win a victory with an uncertain future, while the latter is also based on national sovereignty as a chip, but what can be exchanged for it can never be a victory, it can relieve pain, but it can never stop loss, it can save tens of thousands of lives, but these saved lives will inevitably lose the sovereignty and independence of the country and the dignity and future of the nation. The desperate Churchill saw this, but the desperate Halifax was reluctant to admit it.
Judging from the numerical value of the balance of forces between the enemy and ourselves, Britain is at an absolute disadvantage, and for war, there are too many interests to consider, too many decisions to choose. But in the midst of this consequentiality, sophisticated politicians often focus on the slightest bit of comfort, while ignoring the essence of a war, namely that it originates from an irreconcilable contradiction, and the pursuit of ease does not incubate peace, but only fuels the ambitions of the enemy.
"In war, perseverance, defeat, indomitability."
Churchill's greatness lies in the fact that when the politicians at the center of decision-making lose the bottom line of resistance in the cage of reason and hope for a letter of agreement with no credibility, he can see through the lies of the enemy and the illusions of his colleagues, he firmly believes that Britain, which voluntarily abandons the war, cannot win at the negotiating table in any sense, and even more convinced that Britain, which is willing to fight to the point of a single soldier, will not fail.
Halifax, Churchill's political enemy and British foreign minister at the time, was convinced that the best solution to the war was through diplomacy, and that his leverage against Churchill was the british soldiers sent to the front, or more precisely, the lives of soldiers. War is not a light chess game, but a flesh-and-blood battlefield, and what constitutes the basic elements of the battlefield is not unconscious tools, but individuals with life and emotions. For an ambition, for a homeland, they raised their guns, and they faced death.
"Sacrifice 4,000 warriors to save 300,000 military elites."
This was the choice Churchill made when he learned of the situation in Dunkirk, and in the face of the siege of the German army, he needed the garrison in Calais to attract German fire in exchange for time for the transfer of large troops. This is war, no matter how brilliant the progress of science and technology and civilization, but any kind of war has maintained a primitive barbarism, although the 4,000 soldiers are not the numbers on the financial statements, although they are flesh and blood life, but for this war, their strategic task can only be to withstand the fire and die.
When people think that Churchill is crazy, crazy, when people accuse Churchill of abandoning the room for détente and participating in a war, how can they understand that whether it is compromise or resistance, whether the war will break out will not be changed by Churchill's decisions, Hitler will still sweep the war through Europe and introduce it to Britain, Churchill has no intention of causing a war, in fact, when US President Roosevelt asked him about the name of the war, Churchill pointed out that it was a war that could not break out. But the premise of this non-outbreak is not what the appeasers such as Halifax consider diplomatic means, but the treatment of the defeated countries by the victorious powers in the hard-won peace after World War I, which largely gave birth to the rise of Nazi Germany.
In order to end the war, people participated in this war. When we think about the meaning of peace, there will certainly be people who ask whether peace is the end of this war or the beginning of another war. And as far as the evolution of history is concerned, this question is rather ironic and rather redundant. For there is not a war that is not conceived in peace, and there is not a war that does not bring peace. From this point of view, no matter what choice Churchill makes, for Britain, the period in which "The Darkest Hour" is located will be a prelude to war, which cannot be avoided, but must be dealt with.
"The world is a wheel, spinning on the axis of these giants."
Kazuo Ishiguro's "The Long Day Will End" is largely about the characteristics of British decision-making departments. They dwell above the temple, they draw up big policies by virtue of the knowledge of the endogenous circle, they claim justice, but they cannot give up vanity, they cannot abandon desire and greed, but because of this, they become weak, and this weakness makes them unable to bear the cost of war and avoid the outbreak of war, even at the expense of national sovereignty and independence as a bargaining chip.
Avoiding this war and starting a negotiated compromise with the Nazis is the opinion of Halifax, and it is the opinion of such a group of people, but is this the opinion of Britain? As Churchill grew depressed and frustrated in the midst of a rebuttal, the King of England gave an answer on how to find light in the darkness, i.e., if you are confused and confused, ask the people!
At the end of the film, the people give the answer, which is also the answer that Churchill has always insisted on: never compromise.
Halifax can be a fairly shrewd politician, but it can never be a leader who leads the people. On the question of "how to deal with an inevitable war", Halifax failed because he chose to believe in the enemy rather than the people, and he tried to use the anger of the House of Commons and the incomparably difficult status quo to wash away Churchill's prestige, but did not reflect on why the House of Commons was so aggressive, and this thorny status quo instead prompted Churchill to take sides with the people and the House of Commons, to gain the trust of the people and the Parliament, because they believed, Only such an uncompromising leader can lead them to a self-independent future.
Carrying the mission of the country, carrying the sustenance of the people, carrying the hope of the future, Churchill is an uncompromising person, his strength lies in the fact that he has always stood in the position of the country and the people, he knows that in the face of an uncertain future, there is always something similar to the light that people should insist on, fight for, and sacrifice for.
When Churchill entered the parliament with the answer, the content of his speech was no longer a blank talk at the beginning of his term of office, but a declaration of resistance with the will of the people. In the end, he withdrew from the meeting as a victor, his ears ringing with the encouragement of his colleagues, guarding the trust of the people, even if he will step into the darkness, but by no means alone.
At this point, the Darkest Hour has ended, and when the people see the light in the darkness, the belief of the people is the declaration of victory, and the road ahead will surely usher in the dawn.