Winston Churchill

British Prime Minister who rallied a nation amidst bombings, was committed to the idea of European integration and one of the first to call for the creation of the “United States of Europe”.
Churchill was one of many leaders with war experiences that convinced him that only a united Europe could guarantee peace.
In his speech at the University of Zurich in 1946, he called on Europeans to turn their backs on the hardships of the past and look to the future. He stated that Europe has no margin to perpetuate the climate of hatred and revenge born from the wounds of the past. For Churchill, the first step towards reconstituting the ‘European family’ of justice, mercy, and freedom was ‘the creation of a kind of United States of Europe. Only in this way could the hundreds of millions of toilers regain the simple joys and hopes that make life worth living.’