Depois de sair de Saint Louis um pouco tarde, seguimos pela estrada que segue em direção a Kansas City. Exatamente no meio do caminho, e no meio do caminho entre a estrada principal e a capital do Missouri, uma sonolenta cidade de apenas 50 mil habitantes que responde pelo nome de Jefferson City (em homenagem ao terceiro presidente americano), fica esta pequena cidade que abriga o Westminster College (mesmo nome, talvez, do distrito eleitoral de Churchil, na Grã-Bretanha), que formulou o convite com o apoio do presidente Harry Truman, um caipira do Missouri (existe uma presidential library Harry Truman em Independence, pouco antes de Kansas City).
Sempre tive curiosidade em saber por que, diabos, Churchill teria ido falar sobre tema tão importante quanto a dominação soviética na Europa centra e oriental numa cidadezinha sem qualquer importância no plano mundial como essa aldeia perdida na caipirolândia americana. Pois bem, soube agora como isso foi acontecer, um discurso memorável que colocou no mapa do mundo, e da História (com H maiúsculo) esta pequena cidade dotada de um belo museu dedicado ao maior inglês do século 20, um detestável imperialista, um indefectível colonialista, mas um grande líder militar, um estrategista razoável e um grande mestre das palavras. Ele ganhou os ingleses basicamente pela palavra e pelos escritos, pelas frases geniais, cheias de espírito.
Relato abaixo como isso foi possível, que soube pelo guia do museu, ou doutorando em História dos EUA pelo Westminster College, e pela informação disponível na internet.
Tenho o prazer de apresentar, portanto, o
National Churchill Museum
no subsolo (ou térreo) desta bela igreja inglesa do século 17 (na verdade, do século 11, mas destruída por um incêndio, e reconstruída depois, em 1677), trazida pedra por pedra de Londres, para figurar nesse memorial construído especialmente para servir como uma espécie de panteão especial para Churchill e toda a sua história de vida, desde a juventude, até seu aparecimento inédito em Fulton.
Na verdade, a história cobre até o final da Guerra Fria, e um pedaço do muro de Berlim figura no pátio da igreja, onde falou Gorbachev, em 1992 (ver foto abaixo).
Transcrevo uma informação sobre o local, retirada da atual "mãe dos burros", a Wikipedia.
The National Churchill Museum, (formerly
the Winston Churchill Memorial and Library) located on the Westminster
College campus in Fulton, Missouri, United States, commemorates the life and times
of Sir Winston Churchill.
In 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his famous "Sinews
of Peace" address in the Westminster Historic Gymnasium. His
speech, due to one particularly famous phrase ("an ‘Iron Curtain’ has descended across the
continent"), has come to be known as the "Iron Curtain" speech. One of Churchill's
most famous speeches of all time, "Sinews of Peace" heralded the
beginning of the Cold War.
The
National Churchill Museum comprises three distinct but related elements: the
Church of St Mary Aldermanbury,
the museum, and the "Breakthrough" sculpture.
Aí estou eu, refletido no vidro da porta da entrada, para uma visita memorável, que me lembrou em algumas passagens as "catacumbas" do gabinete de guerra de Churchill em Londres, que visitamos um ano e meio atrás, quando fui dar uma palestra sobre o Brasil no King's College.
Continuo com a informação:
Beneath the church is the Churchill museum, renovated in
2006. Through interactive new exhibits, the museum tells Churchill's story,
discussing his personal and political life and his legacy. Additionally, the
Clementine-Spencer Churchill Reading Room houses an extensive research
collection about Churchill and his era.
Outside
the church stands the "Breakthrough" sculpture, formed from eight
sections of the Berlin Wall.
Churchill's granddaughter, artist Edwina Sandys, designed the sculpture in order to
commemorate both the "Sinews of Peace" speech and the fall of the
Berlin Wall.
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.
Agora uma descrição do museu, em si:
Winston
S. Churchill: A Life of Leadership gallery
Renovated in 2006, in honor of the 60th anniversary of
the "Sinews of Peace," the Churchill museum strives to bring
Churchill to life for new generations born years after Churchill's death. The
objective of the museum is to tell the story of Churchill's life, giving due
proportion both to his successes and his failures, and to let visitors make
their own determinations about the man and his place in history.
This narrative is presented in the form of a
"walkthrough" experience, organized chronologically. The exhibition
begins with Churchill's birth and proceeds through the major events of his
life, alongside an examination of the critical events of the 20th century. The
exhibit relates the story of Churchill's entire life—not only his experiences
in World War II—examining his pursuits as a politician, soldier, journalist,
family man, and painter.
Some of the highlights of this exhibition include the
"Admiralty, Army & Arsenal: 1914-1919" room. This portion of the
exhibit is housed within a recreation of a World War I trench—complete with
barbed wire, sandbags, and spent ammunition—that gives visitors a sense of a
British soldier's experience on the Western Front.
A periscope mounted on the trench wall gives visitors a glimpse of a real World
War I battlescape from period footage. An accompanying ambient audio track
plays the sound of soldiers’ conversations interspersed with distant gunfire
and shell bursts. The World War I room also examines Churchill's role in the
disasters of the Dardanelles and Gallipoliand his
contributions to the technology of warfare.
Another highlight of the exhibition is "The
Gathering Storm: 1929-1939" room which discusses Churchill's suspicion of
Hitler and the Nazi movement. In this room, five video monitors play excerpts
from Nazi propaganda films interspersed with images of the impending war,
demonstrating how Nazi rhetoric differed from policy. Against this backdrop,
the exhibit examines Churchill's view of the Nazis and his disgust for
Britain's pre-war appeasement politics.
Yet another room, "Churchill's Finest Hour: World
War II, 1939-1945", portrays World War II and Churchill's pivotal role in
that conflict. Here, a sound and light show replicates an air-raid on London
during the "Blitz". Simulated rubble surrounds the room and the room
reverberates with the sounds of bombs detonating and air raid sirens sounding.
Flashes of anti-aircraft fire and the prodding beams of searchlights illuminate
the exhibit. Segments of war-time broadcasts add to the atmosphere. After the
conclusion of the Blitzdemonstration, a short film, narrated
by Walter Cronkite,
examines Churchill's role as prime minister during the war. Around the walls of
his room, more interactive displays describe the war-time skills of code
breaking and plane spotting.
Other
museum highlights include "The Sinews of Peace" room and the
"Winston's Wit & Wisdom" room. "The Sinews of Peace"
tells the story of how and why Churchill came to visit Westminster College. Featured
in this exhibit are the lectern and chair used by Churchill during his speech
and the ceremonial robes he wore. In "Winston's Wit & Wisdom"
visitors sit in a simulated British club while listening to an audio
presentation of Churchill stories. Visitors to this room may also search
through a database of Churchill's most famous quotations and quips on a host of
topics.
Foi, até agora, o ponto alto de nossa travessia pelos Estados Unidos.
Carmen Lícia fez várias fotos do museu, e minhas, fora e dentro do museu. Posto aqui uma delas.
Amanhã, ou melhor, hoje, terça-feira, dia 17, tem mais: vamos visitar o Memorial da Primeira Guerra Mundial em Kansas City, onde tem uma exposição especial sobre os dez anos que precederam a guerra.
A viagem continua.
Paulo Roberto de Almeida
