David Lloyd George, the British Premier, speaking at the Printers'
Pension Fund dinner in London, June 7, 1918, paid this tribute to the
American soldiers in France:
I have only just returned from France, and met a French statesman
who had been at the front shortly after a battle in which the
Americans took part. He was full of admiration not merely of their
superb valor but of the trained skill with which they attacked and
defeated the foe.
His report of the conduct of the American troops, a division
that had been in action for the first time, was one of the most
encouraging things I have heard, because they are coming in
steadily. There is a great flow, and we are depending upon them,
and the fact that we know that when they appear in the battleline
they will fight in a way which is worthy of the great traditions
of their great country is in itself a source of support and
sustenance and encouragement to all of those who with anxious
hearts are watching the conflict which is going on in France.
The toast with which you have done me the honor to associate my
name is "Success to the Allied Cause." If for any cause the Allies
were not to succeed, it would be a sorry world to live in. Most
times people are inclined to exaggerate events of the day, but
there are occasions when generations of men underestimate the
significance of events. You cannot exaggerate the importance or
significance of the issues with which we are confronted today.
In the past you have had in the history of the world great
struggles for domination of a certain civilization, a certain
ideal or a certain religion, and the fate of the world and the
destiny of man and the lives of untold millions for generations
have been fashioned upon the triumph or failure of this cause.
Take the time of Turkish military power in the past or the
Saracens' attempt to trample down and overrun the civilization
of the West. Nations were wiped out, great countries devastated.
You had untold misery and wretchedness throughout vast tracts
of territory for ages. At last that tide was stemmed. Supposing
that had failed. What a difference it would have made for European
civilization today!
At this hour there is a struggle with an ideal more material, more
sordid, more brutal, than almost any other which has been sought
to be imposed upon Europe--the Prussian military ideal, with its
contempt for liberty, its contempt for human right, its contempt
for humanity. If they were to succeed today, you would fling back
human civilization into the dark dungeons of the past.
The crisis is not past, but with a stout heart we shall win
through, and then woe to the plague. In the interests of
civilization, in the interests of the human race, it must be
stamped out. You cannot allow it to come again to darken the lives
of millions, and to desolate millions of homes. That is what we
are fighting for.
This is a country which has faced a great crisis in the past.
We hear about Ludendorff's hammer blows. Hammer blows crack and
crumble poor material. Hammer blows harden and consolidate good
metal. There is good metal in British hearts. It has stood the
test of centuries. It will stand this. So will that gallant
little people, that gallant great people across the Channel who
are fighting for their liberties, for the honor of their native
land, fighting without flinching. I have seen them. I never saw
signs of wavering in any French face. They are full of courage,
full of determination to fight through to the end, and it is a
united France more than ever. So it is a united Britain. Unity and
resolution are two qualities we need. We have sunk our political
differences. We have bigger things to think about. I am not
despising the political controversies of the past. In some form
or another they will come again. These controversies are the very
essence of freedom, but for the moment we have one purpose.
Let us be one people, one in aim, one in courage, one in the
resolve never to give in. Let Britain stand like a breakwater
against the torrent, and, God willing, we will break it in two.