The phrase "blood, sweat, and tears" derives from a speech Winston Churchill gave before the House of Commons on May 13, 1940. Churchill had just become prime minister and it was his first public statement. With his nation facing the greatest threat it had ever encountered, Churchill told the British people, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." This phrase, usually shortened to "blood, sweat, and tears," came to stand for Britain's spirit of resistance against the Nazis in her darkest hour.