Out of government during his so-called "wilderness years" in the 1930s, Churchill took the lead in calling for rearmament to counter the threat ofmilitarism inNazi Germany. At the outbreak of the Second World War he was re-appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. In May 1940, he became prime minister, succeedingNeville Chamberlain. Churchill formed anational government and oversaw British involvement in theAllied war effort against theAxis powers, resulting invictory in 1945. After the Conservatives' defeat in the1945 general election, he becameLeader of the Opposition. Amid the developingCold War with theSoviet Union, he publicly warned of an "iron curtain" of Soviet influence in Europe and promoted European unity. Between his terms, he wroteseveral books recounting his experience during the war. He was awarded theNobel Prize in Literature in 1953. He lost the1950 election but was returned to officein 1951. Hissecond term was preoccupied with foreign affairs, especiallyAnglo-American relations and preservation of what remained of theBritish Empire, with India no longer a part of it. Domestically, his government's priority was their extensive housebuilding programme, in which they were successful. In declining health, Churchill resigned in 1955, remaining an MPuntil 1964. Upon his death in 1965, he was givena state funeral.
One of the 20th century's most significant figures, Churchill remains popular in the UK and the rest of theAnglosphere. He is generally viewed as a victorious wartime leader who played an integral role in defendingliberal democracy against the spread offascism. A staunch imperialist, he has sometimes been criticised forcomments on race, in addition to some wartime decisions such as area bombing. Historians rank Churchill as one of thegreatest British prime ministers.
In 1876, Churchill's paternal grandfather,John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough, was appointedViceroy of Ireland. Randolph became his private secretary and the family relocated toDublin.[6] Winston's brother,Jack, was born there in 1880.[7] For much of the 1880s, Randolph and Jennie were effectively estranged,[8] and the brothers cared for by their nanny,Elizabeth Everest.[9] When she died in 1895, Churchill wrote "she had been my dearest and most intimate friend during the whole of the twenty years I had lived".[10]
Churchill beganboarding school atSt George's inAscot, Berkshire, aged 7, but he was not academic and his behaviour was poor.[11] In 1884, he transferred toBrunswick School inHove, where his academic performance improved.[12] In April 1888, aged 13, he passed the entrance exam forHarrow School.[13] His father wanted him to prepare for a military career, so his last three years at Harrow were in the army form.[14] After two unsuccessful attempts to gain admittance to theRoyal Military College, Sandhurst, he succeeded.[15] He was accepted as acadet in thecavalry, starting in September 1893.[16] His father died in January 1895.[17]
In February 1895, Churchill was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the4th Queen's Own Hussars regiment of theBritish Army, based atAldershot.[19] Eager to witness military action, he used his mother's influence to get posted to a war zone.[20] In the autumn, he and friendReggie Barnes, went to observe theCuban War of Independence and became involved in skirmishes after joining Spanish troops attempting to suppress independence fighters.[21] Churchill sent reports to theDaily Graphic in London.[22] He proceeded to New York and wrote to his mother about "what an extraordinary people the Americans are!"[23] With the Hussars, he went toBombay in October 1896.[24] Based inBangalore, he was in India for 19 months, visitingCalcutta and joining expeditions toHyderabad and theNorth West Frontier.[25]
In India, Churchill began a self-education project,[26] reading widely includingPlato,Edward Gibbon,Charles Darwin andThomas Babington Macaulay.[27] The books were sent by his mother, with whom he shared frequent correspondence. To learn about politics, he asked her to send him copies ofThe Annual Register, the political almanack.[28] In an 1898 letter, he referred to his beliefs, saying: "I do not accept the Christian or any other form of religious belief".[29] Churchill had beenchristened in theChurch of England[30] but underwent a virulently anti-Christian phase in his youth,[31] and as an adult was an agnostic.[32] In another letter to a cousin, he referred to religion as "a delicious narcotic" and expressed a preference forProtestantism overRoman Catholicism because he felt it "a step nearer Reason".[33]
Using London contacts, Churchill got attached to GeneralHerbert Kitchener's campaign in the Sudan as a21st Lancers subaltern while, working as a journalist forThe Morning Post.[42] After participating in one of the British Army's lastcavalry charges in theBattle of Omdurman in September 1898, the 21st Lancers were stood down.[43] In October, Churchill returned to England and began writingThe River War about the campaign; it was published in 1899. He decided to leave the army[44] as he was critical of Kitchener's actions, particularly the unmerciful treatment of enemy wounded and his desecration ofMuhammad Ahmad's tomb.[45]
On 2 December 1898, Churchill embarked for India to settle his military business and complete his resignation. He spent much time playingpolo, the only ball sport in which he was ever interested. Having left the Hussars, he sailed from Bombay on 20 March 1899, determined to launch a career in politics.[46]
Politics and South Africa: 1899–1901
Churchill in 1900 around the time of his first election to Parliament[47]
Churchill spoke at Conservative meetings[48] and was selected as one of the party's two candidates for the June1899 Oldham by-election.[49] While campaigning, he referred to himself as "a Conservative and a Tory Democrat".[50] Although the seats had been held by the Conservatives, the result was a narrow Liberal victory.[51]
As a journalist for theMorning Post, Churchill anticipated the outbreak of theSecond Boer War between Britain and theBoer republics, leading him to sail toSouth Africa.[52][53] In October, he travelled to the conflict zone nearLadysmith, which was under siege byBoer troops, and then headed toColenso.[54] At theBattle of Chieveley, his train was derailed by Boer artillery shelling, and he was captured as aprisoner of war (POW) and interned in aPOW camp inPretoria.[55] In December, Churchill escaped and evaded his captors by stowing aboard freight trains and hiding in a mine. He made it to safety inPortuguese East Africa.[56] His escape attracted much publicity.[57]
In January 1900, Churchill briefly rejoined the army as a lieutenant in theSouth African Light Horse regiment, joiningRedvers Buller's fight to relieve theSiege of Ladysmith and take Pretoria.[58] He was among the first British troops into both places. With his cousinCharles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough, he demanded and received the surrender of 52 Boer prison camp guards.[59] Throughout the war, he publicly chastised anti-Boer prejudices, calling for them to be treated with "generosity and tolerance",[60] and afterwards urged the British to be magnanimous in victory.[61] In July, having resigned his lieutenancy, he returned to Britain. HisMorning Post dispatches had been published asLondon to Ladysmith via Pretoria and sold well.[62]
Churchill rented a flat in London'sMayfair, using it as his base for six years. He stood again as a Conservative candidate at Oldham in theOctober 1900 general election, securing a narrow victory to become a Member of Parliament aged 25.[63] In the same month, he publishedIan Hamilton's March, a book about his South African experiences,[64][65] which became the focus of a lecture tour in November through Britain, America, and Canada. Members of Parliament were unpaid and the tour was a financial necessity. In America, Churchill metMark Twain,William McKinley, andTheodore Roosevelt, who he did not get on with.[66] In spring 1901, he gave lectures in Paris, Madrid, and Gibraltar.[67]
In February 1901, Churchill took his seat in theHouse of Commons, where hismaiden speech gained widespread coverage.[68] He associated with a group of Conservatives known as theHughligans,[69] but was critical of the Conservative government on various issues, especially increases in army funding. He believed additional military expenditure should go to the navy.[70] This upset the Conservativefront bench but was supported by Liberals, with whom he increasingly socialised, particularlyLiberal Imperialists likeH. H. Asquith.[71] Churchill later wrote that he "drifted steadily to the left".[72] He privately considered "the gradual creation by an evolutionary process of a Democratic or Progressive wing to the Conservative Party",[73] or alternately a "Central Party" to unite the Conservatives and Liberals.[74]
By 1903, there was division between Churchill and the Conservatives, largely because he opposed their promotion ofprotectionism. As afree trader, he helped found theFree Food League.[22] Churchill sensed that the animosity of party members would prevent him gaining a Cabinet position under a Conservative government. The Liberal Party was attracting growing support, and so his defection in 1904 may have been influenced by ambition.[75] He increasingly voted with the Liberals.[76] For example, he opposed an increase in military expenditure,[77] supported a Liberal bill to restore legal rights to trade unions,[76] and opposed the introduction of import tariffs.[78]Arthur Balfour's government announced protectionist legislation in October 1903.[79] Two months later, incensed by Churchill's criticism of the government, the Oldham Conservative Association informed him it would not support his candidature at the next election.[80]
In May 1904, Churchill opposed the government's proposed Aliens Bill, designed to curb Jewish immigration.[81] He stated that the bill would "appeal to insular prejudice against foreigners, to racial prejudice against Jews, and to labour prejudice against competition" and expressed himself in favour of "the old tolerant and generous practice of free entry and asylum to which this country has so long adhered and from which it has so greatly gained".[81] On 31 May 1904, hecrossed the floor to sit as a member of the Liberal Party.[82]
In the new government, Churchill becameUnder-Secretary of State for theColonial Office, ajunior ministerial position he had requested.[90] He worked beneath theSecretary of State for the Colonies,Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin,[91] and tookEdward Marsh as his secretary; Marsh remained his secretary for 25 years.[92] Churchill's first task was helping to draft a constitution for theTransvaal;[93] and he helped oversee the formation of a government in theOrange River Colony.[94] In dealing with southern Africa, he sought to ensure equality between the British and Boers.[95] He announced a gradual phasing out of the use of Chinese indentured labourers in South Africa; he and the government decided a sudden ban would cause too much upset and might damage the colony's economy.[96] He expressed concerns about the relations between European settlers and the black African population; after theZulu launched theirBambatha Rebellion inNatal, Churchill complained about the "disgusting butchery of the natives" by Europeans.[97]
Churchill and his fiancéeClementine Hozier shortly before their marriage in 1908
With Campbell-Bannerman terminally ill, Asquith became prime minister in April 1908. He appointed Churchill asPresident of the Board of Trade.[98] Aged 33, Churchill was the youngestCabinet member since 1866.[99] Newly appointed Cabinet ministers were legally obliged to seek re-election at a by-election. On 24 April, Churchill lost theManchester North West by-election to the Conservative candidate by 429 votes.[100] On 9 May, the Liberals stood him in the safe seat ofDundee, where hewon comfortably.[101]
One of Churchill's first tasks as a minister was to arbitrate in an industrial dispute among ship-workers and employers, on theRiver Tyne.[107] He afterwards established a Standing Court of Arbitration to deal with industrial disputes,[108] establishing a reputation as a conciliator.[109] He worked with Lloyd George to championsocial reform.[110] He promoted what he called a "network of State intervention and regulation" akin to that in Germany.[111]
Continuing Lloyd George's work,[22] Churchill introduced theMines Eight Hours Bill, which prohibited miners from working more than aneight-hour day.[112] In 1909, he introduced theTrade Boards Bill, creating Trade Boards which could prosecute exploitative employers. Passing with a large majority, it established the principle of aminimum wage and the right to have meal breaks.[113] In May 1909, he proposed theLabour Exchanges Bill to establish over 200 Labour Exchanges through which the unemployed would be assisted in finding employment.[114] He promoted the idea of an unemployment insurance scheme, which would be part-funded by the state.[115]
To ensure funding for their reforms, Lloyd George and Churchill denouncedReginald McKenna's policy of naval expansion,[116] refusing to believe war with Germany was inevitable.[117] As Chancellor, Lloyd George presented his "People's Budget" on 29 April 1909, calling it a war budget to eliminate poverty. With Churchill as his closest ally,[22] Lloyd George proposed unprecedented taxes on the rich to fund Liberal welfare programmes.[118] The budget was vetoed by the Conservativepeers who dominated theHouse of Lords.[119] His social reforms under threat, Churchill became president of theBudget League,[22] and warned that upper-class obstruction could anger working-class Britons and lead to class war.[120] The government called theJanuary 1910 general election, which resulted in a Liberal victory; Churchill retained his seat at Dundee.[121] He proposed abolition of the House of Lords in a cabinet memo, suggesting it be succeeded by aunicameral system, or smaller second chamber that lacked an in-built advantage for the Conservatives.[122] In April, the Lords relented and the People's Budget passed.[123] Churchill continued to campaign against the House of Lords and assisted passage of theParliament Act 1911 which reduced and restricted its powers.[22]
Home Secretary: 1910–1911
In February 1910, Churchill was promoted toHome Secretary, giving him control over the police and prison services;[124] he implemented a prison reform programme.[125] Measures included a distinction between criminal andpolitical prisoners, with rules for the latter being relaxed.[126] There were educational innovations like the establishment of libraries,[127] and a requirement to stage entertainments four times a year.[128] The rules onsolitary confinement were relaxed,[129] and Churchill proposed abolition of automatic imprisonment of those who failed to pay fines.[130] Imprisonment of people aged between 16 and 21 was abolished except for the most serious offences.[131] Churchill reduced ("commuted") 21 of the 43 death ("capital") sentences passed while he was Home Secretary.[132]
A major domestic issue was women's suffrage. Churchill supported giving women the vote, but would only back a bill to that effect if it had majority support from the (male) electorate.[133] His proposed solution was a referendum, but this found no favour with Asquith and women's suffrage remained unresolved until 1918.[134] Many suffragettes believed Churchill was a committed opponent,[135] and targeted his meetings for protest.[134] In November 1910, the suffragistHugh Franklin attacked Churchill with a whip; Franklin was imprisoned for six weeks.[135]
In November 1910, Churchill had to deal with theTonypandy riots, in whichcoal miners in theRhondda Valley violently protested against working conditions.[136] The Chief Constable of Glamorgan requested troops to help police quell the rioting. Churchill, learning that the troops were already travelling, allowed them to go as far asSwindon andCardiff, but blocked their deployment; he was concerned their use lead to bloodshed. Instead he sent 270 London police, who were not equipped with firearms, to assist.[136] As the riots continued, he offered the protesters an interview with the government's chief industrial arbitrator, which they accepted.[137] Privately, Churchill regarded the mine owners and striking miners as "very unreasonable".[135]The Times and other media outlets accused him of being soft on the rioters;[138] in contrast, many in theLabour Party, which was linked to the trade unions, regarded him as too heavy-handed.[139] Churchill incurred the long-term suspicion of thelabour movement.[22]
Asquith called ageneral election in December 1910, and the Liberals were re-elected with Churchill secure in Dundee.[140] In January 1911, Churchill became involved in theSiege of Sidney Street; three Latvian burglars had killed police officers and hidden in a house in theEast End of London, surrounded by police.[141] Churchill stood with the police though he did not direct their operation.[142] After the house caught fire, he told the fire brigade not to proceed into the house because of the threat posed by the armed men. Afterwards, two of the burglars were found dead.[142] Although he faced criticism for his decision, he said he "thought it better to let the house burn down rather than spend good British lives in rescuing those ferocious rascals".[143]
In March 1911, Churchill introduced the second reading of theCoal Mines Bill; when implemented, it imposed stricter safety standards.[144] He formulated theShops Bill to improve working conditions of shop workers; it faced opposition from shop owners and only passed in a much emasculated form.[145] In April, Lloyd George introduced the first health and unemployment insurance legislation, theNational Insurance Act 1911, which Churchill had been instrumental in drafting.[145] In May, Clementine gave birth to their second child,Randolph, named after Winston's father.[146] In response to escalating civil strife in 1911, Churchill sent troops into Liverpool toquell protesting dockers and rallied againsta national railway strike.[147]
During theAgadir Crisis of April 1911, when there was a threat of war between France and Germany, Churchill suggested an alliance with France and Russia to safeguard the independence of Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands to counter possible German expansionism.[148] The Crisis had a profound effect on Churchill and he altered his views about the need for naval expansion.[149]
First Lord of the Admiralty
As First Lord of the Admiralty, Churchill's London residency was Admiralty House.
In October 1911, Asquith appointed ChurchillFirst Lord of the Admiralty,[150] and he took up official residence atAdmiralty House.[151] He created a naval war staff[22] and, over the next two and a half years, focused on naval preparation, visiting naval stations and dockyards, seeking to improve morale, and scrutinising German naval developments.[152] After Germany passed its1912 Naval Law to increase warship production, Churchill vowed that for every new German battleship, Britain would build two.[153] He invited Germany to engage in a mutual de-escalation, but this was refused.[154]
Churchill pushed for higher pay and greater recreational facilities for naval staff,[155] more submarines,[156] and a renewed focus on theRoyal Naval Air Service, encouraging them to experiment with how aircraft could be used for military purposes.[157] He coined the term "seaplane" and ordered 100 to be constructed.[158] Some Liberals objected to his level of naval expenditure; in December 1913 he threatened to resign if his proposal for 4 new battleships in 1914–15 was rejected.[159] In June 1914, he convinced the House of Commons to authorise the government purchase of a 51% share in the profits of theAnglo-Persian Oil Company, to secure oil access for the navy.[160]
The central issue in Britain wasIrish Home Rule and, in 1912, Asquith's government introduced theHome Rule Bill.[161] Churchill supported it and urgedUlster Unionists to accept it as he opposed thePartition of Ireland.[162] Concerning the possibility of partition, Churchill stated: "Whatever Ulster's right may be, she cannot stand in the way of the whole of the rest of Ireland. Half a province cannot impose a permanent veto on the nation. Half a province cannot obstruct forever the reconciliation between the British and Irish democracies".[163] Speaking in the House of Commons on 16 February 1922, Churchill said: "What Irishmen all over the world most desire is not hostility against this country, but the unity of their own".[163]Following a Cabinet decision, he boosted the naval presence in Ireland to deal with any Unionist uprising.[164] Seeking a compromise, Churchill suggested Ireland remain part of afederal UK, but this angered Liberals and Irish nationalists.[165]
As First Lord, Churchill was tasked with overseeing Britain's naval effort when the First World War began in August 1914.[166] The navy transported 120,000 troops to France and began a blockade of Germany'sNorth Sea ports. Churchill sent submarines to theBaltic Sea to assist theRussian Navy and sent the Marine Brigade toOstend, forcing a reallocation of German troops.[167] In September, Churchill assumed full responsibility for Britain's aerial defence.[168] On 7 October, Clementine gave birth to their third child,Sarah.[169] In October, Churchill visitedAntwerp to observeBelgian defences against the besieging Germans and promised reinforcements.[170] Soon afterwards, Antwerp fell to the Germans and Churchill was criticised in the press.[171] He maintained that his actions had prolonged resistance and enabled the Allies to secureCalais andDunkirk.[172] In November, Asquith called a War Council including Churchill.[173] Churchill set the development of thetank on theright track and financed its creation with Admiralty funds.[174]
Churchill was interested in theMiddle Eastern theatre, and wanted to relieve pressure on the Russians in theCaucasus by staging attacks against Turkey in theDardanelles. He hoped that the British could even seizeConstantinople.[175] Approval was given and, in March 1915, an Anglo-French task force attempted a naval bombardment of Turkish defences. In April, theMediterranean Expeditionary Force, including theAustralian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), began itsassault at Gallipoli.[176] Both campaigns failed and Churchill was held by many MPs, particularly Conservatives, to be responsible.[177] In May, Asquith agreed under parliamentary pressure to form an all-partycoalition government, but the Conservatives' condition of entry was that Churchill must be removed from the Admiralty.[178] Churchill pleaded his case with Asquith and Conservative leaderBonar Law but had to accept demotion.[179]
Churchill commanding the 6th Battalion, the Royal Scots Fusiliers, 1916.
On 25 November 1915, Churchill resigned from the government, although he remained an MP. Asquith rejected his request to be appointedGovernor-General ofBritish East Africa.[180] Churchill decided to return to active service with the Army and was attached to the 2ndGrenadier Guards, on theWestern Front.[181] In January 1916, he was temporarily promoted tolieutenant-colonel and given command of the 6thRoyal Scots Fusiliers.[182][183] The battalion was moved to a sector of the Belgian Front nearPloegsteert.[184] For three months, they faced continual shelling, though no German offensive.[185] Churchill narrowly escaped death when, during a visit by his cousin the Duke of Marlborough, a large piece ofshrapnel fell between them.[186] In May, the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers were merged into the 15th Division. Churchill did not request a new command, instead securing permission to leave active service.[187] His temporary promotion ended on 16 May 1916, when he returned to the rank ofmajor.[188]
Back in the House of Commons, Churchill spoke out on war issues, calling for conscription to be extended to the Irish, greater recognition of soldiers' bravery, and for the introduction of steel helmets.[189] It was in November 1916 that he penned "The greater application of mechanical power to the prosecution of an offensive on land", but it fell on deaf ears.[190] He was frustrated at being out of office, but was repeatedly blamed for theGallipoli disaster by the pro-Conservative press.[191] Churchill argued his case before theDardanelles Commission, whose report placed no blame on him personally for the campaign's failure.[192]
In October 1916, Asquith resigned as prime minister and was succeeded by Lloyd George who, in May 1917, sent Churchill to inspect the French war effort.[193] In July, Churchill was appointedMinister of Munitions.[194] He negotiated an end to a strike in munitions factories along theClyde and increased munitions production.[195] In his October 1917 letter to his Cabinet colleagues, he penned the plan of attack for the next year, that would bring final victory to the Allies.[190] He ended a second strike, in June 1918, by threatening to conscript strikers into the army.[196] In the House of Commons, Churchill voted in support of theRepresentation of the People Act 1918, which gave some women the right to vote.[197] In November 1918, four days after theArmistice, Churchill's fourth child, Marigold, was born.[198]
Secretary of State for War and Air: 1919–1921
Churchill meets female workers at Georgetown's filling works nearGlasgow in October 1918.
Lloyd George called ageneral election for 14 December 1918.[199] During the campaign, Churchill called for nationalisation of the railways, a control on monopolies, tax reform, and the creation of aLeague of Nations to prevent wars.[200] He was returned as MP for Dundee and, though the Conservatives won a majority, Lloyd George was retained as prime minister.[200] In January 1919, Lloyd George moved Churchill to theWar Office as bothSecretary of State for War andSecretary of State for Air.[201]
Churchill was responsible for demobilising the army,[202] though he convinced Lloyd George to keep a million men conscripted for theBritish Army of the Rhine.[203] Churchill was one of the few government figures who opposed harsh measures against Germany,[198] and he cautioned against demobilising the German Army, warning they might be needed as a bulwark againstSoviet Russia.[204] He was outspoken againstVladimir Lenin'sBolshevik government in Russia.[205] He initially supported using British troops to assist the anti-BolshevikWhite forces in theRussian Civil War,[206] but soon recognised the people's desire to bring them home.[207] After the Soviets won the civil war, Churchill proposed acordon sanitaire around the country.[208]
In theIrish War of Independence, he supported the use of the paramilitaryBlack and Tans to combat Irish revolutionaries.[209] After British troops in Iraq clashed withKurdish rebels, Churchill authorised two squadrons to the area, proposing they be equipped with "poison gas" tobe used to "inflict punishment upon recalcitrant natives without inflicting grave injury upon them", although this was never implemented.[210] He saw theoccupation of Iraq as a drain on Britain and proposed, unsuccessfully, that the government should hand control back to Turkey.[211]
Secretary of State for the Colonies: 1921–1922
Churchill as Secretary of State for the Colonies during his visit to Mandatory Palestine, Tel Aviv, 1921Churchill's main home wasChartwell in Kent.
Churchill became Secretary of State for the Colonies in February 1921.[212] The following month, the first exhibit of his paintings took place in Paris, with Churchill exhibiting under a pseudonym.[212] In May, his mother died, followed in August by his daughter Marigold, fromsepsis.[213] Churchill was haunted by Marigold's death for the rest of his life.[214]
In September 1922, theChanak Crisis erupted as Turkish forces threatened to occupy the Dardanelles neutral zone, which was policed by the British army based inChanak. Churchill and Lloyd George favoured military resistance to any Turkish advance but the majority Conservatives in the coalition government opposed it. A political debacle ensued which resulted in the Conservative withdrawal from the government, precipitating theNovember 1922 general election.[22]
Also in September, Churchill's fifth and last child,Mary, was born, and in the same month he purchasedChartwell, in Kent, which became his family home.[219] In October 1922, he underwent anappendectomy. While he was in hospital, Lloyd George's coalition was dissolved. In the general election, Churchilllost his Dundee seat[220] toEdwin Scrymgeour, a prohibitionist candidate. Later, he wrote that he was "without an office, without a seat, without a party, and without an appendix".[221] He was elevated as one of 50 members of theOrder of the Companions of Honour, as named in Lloyd George's1922 Dissolution Honours list.[222]
Churchill spent much of the next six months at the Villa Rêve d'Or nearCannes, where he devoted himself to painting and writing his memoirs.[223] He wrote an autobiographical history of the war,The World Crisis. The first volume was published in April 1923 and the rest over the next ten years.[220] After the1923 general election was called, seven Liberal associations asked Churchill to stand as their candidate, and he selectedLeicester West, but did not win.[224] A Labour government led byRamsay MacDonald took power. Churchill had hoped they would be defeated by a Conservative-Liberal coalition.[225] He strongly opposed the MacDonald government's decision to loan money to Soviet Russia and feared the signing of an Anglo-Soviet Treaty.[226]
In March 1924, alienated by Liberal support for Labour, Churchill stood as an independent anti-socialist candidate in theWestminster Abbey by-election but was defeated.[227] In May, he addressed a Conservative meeting in Liverpool and declared there was no longer a place for the Liberal Party in politics. He said that Liberals must back the Conservatives to stop Labour and ensure "the successful defeat of socialism".[228] In July, he agreed with Conservative leaderStanley Baldwin that he would be selected as a Conservative candidate in thenext general election, which was held on 29 October. Churchill stood atEpping, but described himself as a "Constitutionalist".[229] The Conservatives were victorious, and Baldwin formed the new government. Although Churchill had no background in finance or economics, Baldwin appointed him as Chancellor.[230]
Becoming Chancellor on 6 November 1924, Churchill formally rejoined the Conservative Party.[231] As Chancellor, he intended to pursue his free trade principles in the form oflaissez-faire economics, as under the Liberal social reforms.[231] In April 1925, he controversially, albeit reluctantly, restored thegold standard in his first budget, at its 1914 parity, against the advice of leading economists includingJohn Maynard Keynes.[232] The return to gold is held to have causeddeflation and resultant unemployment with a devastating impact on the coal industry.[233] Churchill presented five budgets in all to April 1929. Among his measures were reduction of the state pension age from 70 to 65; immediate provision ofwidow's pensions; reduction of military expenditure;income tax reductions and imposition of taxes on luxury items.[234]
During theGeneral Strike of 1926, Churchill edited theBritish Gazette, the government's anti-strike propaganda newspaper.[235] After the strike ended, he acted as an intermediary between striking miners and their employers. He called for the introduction of a legally binding minimum wage.[236] In a House of Commons speech in 1926 Churchill made his feelings on the issue of Irish unity clear. He stated that Ireland should be united within itself but also "united to the British Empire."[237] In early 1927, Churchill visited Rome where he metMussolini, whom he praised for his stand againstLeninism.[238]
In the1929 general election, Churchill retained his Epping seat, but the Conservatives were defeated, and MacDonald formed his second Labour government.[239] Out of office, Churchill was prone to depression (his "black dog") but addressed this by writing.[240] He began work onMarlborough: His Life and Times, a biography of his ancestor John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough.[241][242] He had developed a reputation for being a heavy drinker, although Jenkins believes that was often exaggerated.[243]
Hoping that the Labour government could be ousted, he gained Baldwin's approval to work towards establishing a Conservative-Liberal coalition, although many Liberals were reluctant.[241] In October 1930, after his return from a trip to North America, Churchill published his autobiography,My Early Life, which sold well and was translated into multiple languages.[244] In January 1931, Churchill resigned from the Conservative Shadow Cabinet because Baldwin supported the government's decision to grantDominion Status to India.[245] Churchill believed that enhanced home rule status would hasten calls for full independence.[246] He was particularly opposed toMohandas Gandhi, whom he considered "a seditiousMiddle Temple lawyer, now posing as afakir".[247] His views enraged Labour and Liberal opinion, though he was supported by many grassroot Conservatives.[248]
TheOctober 1931 general election was a landslide victory for the Conservatives.[249] Churchill nearly doubled his majority in Epping, but was not given a ministerial position.[250] The Commons debated Dominion Status for India on 3 December and Churchill insisted on dividing the House, but this backfired as only 43 MPs supported him.[251] He embarked on a lecture tour of North America, hoping to recoup financial losses sustained in theWall Street crash.[249][251] On 13 December, he was crossingFifth Avenue in New York when he was knocked down by a car, suffering a head wound from which he developedneuritis.[252] To further his convalescence, he and Clementine took ship toNassau for three weeks, but Churchill became depressed about his financial and political losses.[253] He returned to America in late January 1932 and completed most of his lectures before arriving home on 18 March.[253]
Having worked onMarlborough for much of 1932, Churchill in August decided to visit his ancestor's battlefields.[254] InMunich, he metErnst Hanfstaengl, a friend ofHitler, who was then rising in prominence. Hanfstaengl tried to arrange a meeting between Churchill and Hitler, but Hitler was unenthusiastic: "What on earth would I talk to him about?"[255] Soon after visitingBlenheim, Churchill was affected byparatyphoid fever and spent two weeks at a sanatorium inSalzburg.[256] He returned to Chartwell on 25 September, still working onMarlborough. Two days later, he collapsed after a recurrence of paratyphoid which caused an ulcer to haemorrhage. He was taken to a London nursing home and remained there until late October.[257]
Warnings about Germany and the abdication crisis: 1933–1936
After Hitler came to power in January 1933, Churchill was quick to recognise the menace of such a regime, and expressed alarm that the British government had reduced air force spending, and warned that Germany would soon overtake Britain in air force production.[258][259] Armed with data provided clandestinely by senior civil servants,Desmond Morton andRalph Wigram, Churchill was able to speak with authority about what was happening in Germany, especially the development of theLuftwaffe.[260] He spoke of his concerns in a radio broadcast in November 1934,[261] having denounced the intolerance and militarism of Nazism in the House of Commons.[262] While Churchill regarded Mussolini's regime as a bulwark against the threat of communist revolution, he opposed the Italian invasion of Ethiopia,[263] despite describing the country as a primitive, uncivilised nation.[264] He admired the exiled king of SpainAlfonso XIII and feared Communism was making inroads during theSpanish Civil War. He referred toFranco's army as the "anti-red movement", but later became critical of Franco as too close to Mussolini and Hitler.[265][266]
Between October 1933 and September 1938, the four volumes ofMarlborough: His Life and Times were published and sold well.[267] In December 1934, theIndia Bill entered Parliament and was passed in February 1935. Churchill and 83 other Conservative MPs voted against it.[268] In June 1935, MacDonald resigned and was succeeded as prime minister by Baldwin.[263] Baldwin then led the Conservatives to victory in the1935 general election; Churchill retained his seat, but was again left out of the government.[269] In January 1936,Edward VIII succeeded his father,George V, as monarch. His desire to marry an American divorcee,Wallis Simpson, caused theabdication crisis.[270] Churchill supported Edward and clashed with Baldwin on the issue.[271] Afterwards, although Churchill immediately pledged loyalty toGeorge VI, he wrote that the abdication was "premature and probably quite unnecessary".[272]
In May 1937, Baldwin resigned and was succeeded as prime minister byNeville Chamberlain. At first, Churchill welcomed Chamberlain's appointment but, in February 1938, matters came to a head after Foreign SecretaryAnthony Eden resigned over Chamberlain'sappeasement of Mussolini,[273] a policy which Chamberlain was extending towards Hitler.[274] In 1938, Churchill warned the government against appeasement and called for collective action to deter German aggression.[275][276] Following theAnschluss, Churchill spoke in the House of Commons:
A country like ours, possessed of immense territory and wealth, whose defence has been neglected, cannot avoid war by dilating upon its horrors, or even by a continuous display of pacific qualities, or by ignoring the fate of the victims of aggression elsewhere. War will be avoided, in present circumstances, only by the accumulation of deterrents against the aggressor.
He began calling for a mutual defence pact among European states threatened by German expansionism, arguing this was the only way to halt Hitler.[278] In September, Germany mobilised to invade theSudetenland in Czechoslovakia.[279] Churchill visited Chamberlain and urged him to tell Germany that Britain would declare war if the Germans invaded Czechoslovak territory; Chamberlain was unwilling to do this.[280] On 30 September, Chamberlain signed theMunich Agreement, agreeing to allow German annexation of the Sudetenland. Speaking in the House of Commons on 5 October, Churchill called the agreement "a total and unmitigated defeat".[281][282][283] Following the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, Churchill and his supporters called for the foundation of a national coalition. His popularity increased as a result.[22]
First Lord of the Admiralty: September 1939 to May 1940
On 3 September 1939, the day Britain declared war on Germany, Chamberlain reappointed Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty and he joinedChamberlain's war cabinet.[284] Churchill was a highest-profile minister during the so-called "Phoney War". Churchill was ebullient after theBattle of the River Plate on 13 December 1939 and welcomed home the crews, congratulating them on "a brilliant sea fight".[285] On 16 February 1940, Churchill ordered CaptainPhilip Vian of the destroyerHMS Cossack to board the German supply shipAltmark in Norwegian waters freeing 299 British merchant seamen who had been captured by theAdmiral Graf Spee. These actions, and his speeches, enhanced Churchill's reputation.[285] He was concerned about German naval activity in the Baltic and wanted to send a naval force, but this was soon changed to a plan, codenamedOperation Wilfred, to mine Norwegian waters and stop iron ore shipments fromNarvik to Germany.[286] Due to disagreements,Wilfred was delayed until 8 April 1940, the day before theGerman invasion of Norway.[287]
After theAllies failed to prevent the German occupation of Norway, the Commons held a debate from 7 to 9 May on the government's conduct of the war. This became known as theNorway Debate, one of the most significant events in parliamentary history.[288] On the second day, the Labour opposition called for adivision which was in effect avote of no confidence in Chamberlain's government.[289] Churchill was called upon to wind up the debate, which placed him in the difficult position of having to defend the government without damaging his prestige.[290] Although the government won the vote, its majority was drastically reduced amid calls for a national government.[291]
Early on 10 May, German forces invaded Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands as a prelude to theirassault on France.[292] Since the division vote, Chamberlain had been trying to form a coalition, but Labour declared on the Friday they would not serve under his leadership, although they would accept another Conservative. The only two candidates were Churchill andLord Halifax, the Foreign Secretary. The matter had already been discussed at a meeting on the 9th between Chamberlain, Halifax, Churchill, andDavid Margesson, the governmentChief Whip.[292] Halifax admitted he could not govern effectively as a member of the House of Lords, so Chamberlain advised the King to send for Churchill, who became prime minister.[293] Churchill later wrote of a profound sense of relief, as he now had authority over the whole scene. He believed his life so far had been "a preparation for this hour and for this trial".[294][295][296]
At the end of May, with theBritish Expeditionary Force in retreat to Dunkirk and theFall of France imminent, Halifax proposed the government should explore a peace settlement using the still-neutral Mussolini as an intermediary. There were high-level meetings from 26 to 28 May, including with the French premierPaul Reynaud.[304] Churchill's resolve was to fight on, even if France capitulated, but his position remained precarious until Chamberlain resolved to support him. Churchill had the full support of the two Labour members but knew he could not survive as prime minister if both Chamberlain and Halifax were against him. By gaining the support of his outer cabinet, Churchill outmanoeuvred Halifax and won Chamberlain over.[305]
Churchill succeeded as an orator despite being handicapped from childhood with a speech impediment. He had alateral lisp and was unable to pronounce the letters, verbalising it with a slur.[306] He worked on his pronunciation by repeating phrases designed to cure his problem with the sibilant "s". He was ultimately successful, turning the impediment into an asset, as when he called Hitler a "Nar-zee" (rhymes with "khazi"; emphasis on the "z"), rather than a Nazi ("ts").[307] His first speech as prime minister, delivered to the Commons on 13 May, was the "blood, toil, tears and sweat" speech.[308] Churchill made it plain to the nation that a long road lay ahead and that victory was the final goal:[309][310]
I would say to the House... that I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. You ask, what is our policy? I will say: it is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: it is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
Churchill's use of rhetoric hardened public opinion against a peaceful resolution – Jenkins says Churchill's speeches were "an inspiration for the nation, and acatharsis for Churchill himself".[311]
Operation Dynamo and the Battle of France
TheDunkirk evacuation of 338,226 Allied servicemen, ended on 4 June when the French rearguard surrendered. The total was far in excess of expectations and gave rise to a popular view Dunkirk had been a miracle, even a victory.[312] Churchill himself referred to "a miracle of deliverance" in his "we shall fight on the beaches" speech to the Commons that afternoon. The speech ended on a note of defiance, with a clear appeal to the United States:[313][314]
We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the Old.
Germany initiatedFall Rot, in France, the following day, and Italy entered the war on the 10th.[315] The Wehrmacht occupied Paris on the 14th and completed their conquest of France on 25 June.[316] It was now inevitable that Hitler would attack and probably try to invade Great Britain. Faced with this, Churchill addressed the Commons on 18 June with one of hismost famous speeches, ending with this peroration:[317][318][319]
What General Weygand called the "Battle of France" is over. I expect that theBattle of Britain is about to begin. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Commonwealth and Empire lasts for a thousand years, men will still say: "This was their finest hour".
Churchill ordered the commencement of theWestern Desert campaign on 11 June, a response to the Italian declaration of war. This went well at first while Italy was the sole opposition andOperation Compass was a success. In early 1941, however, Mussolini requested German support. Hitler sent theAfrika Korps toTripoli underGeneralleutnantErwin Rommel, who arrived not long after Churchill had haltedCompass so he could reassign forces to Greece where theBalkans campaign was entering a critical phase.[320]
In other initiatives through June and July 1940, Churchill ordered the formation of theSpecial Operations Executive (SOE) andCommandos. The SOE was ordered to promote and execute subversive activity in Nazi-occupied Europe, while the Commandos were charged with raids on military targets there.Hugh Dalton, theMinister of Economic Warfare, took political responsibility for the SOE and recorded that Churchill told him: "And now go and set Europe ablaze".[321]
On 20 August 1940, at the height of the Battle of Britain, Churchill addressed the Commons to outline the situation. In the middle of it, he made a statement that createda famous nickname for the RAF fighter pilots involved in the battle:[322][323]
The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
The Luftwaffe altered its strategy from 7 September 1940 and beganthe Blitz, which was intensive through October and November. Churchill's morale was high and told his private secretaryJohn Colville, in November, he thought the threat of invasion was past.[324] He was confident Great Britain could hold its own, given the increase in output, but was realistic about its chances of winning the war without American intervention.[325]
Lend-Lease
In September 1940, the British and American governments concluded thedestroyers-for-bases deal, by which 50 Americandestroyers were transferred to the Royal Navy in exchange for free US base rights inBermuda, theCaribbean andNewfoundland. An added advantage for Britain was that its military assets in those bases could be redeployed elsewhere.[326] Churchill's good relations with PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt helped secure vital food, oil and munitions via the North Atlantic shipping routes.[327] It was for this reason that Churchill was relieved when Roosevelt wasre-elected in 1940. Roosevelt set about implementing a new method of providing necessities to Great Britain, without the need for monetary payment. He persuaded Congress that repayment for this costly service would take the form of defending the US. The policy was known asLend-Lease and was formally enacted on 11 March 1941.[328]
Operation Barbarossa
Churchill and Roosevelt seated on the quarterdeck ofHMS Prince of Wales for a Sunday service during the Atlantic Conference, 10 August 1941
Hitler launched hisinvasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. Churchill had known since April, fromEnigma decrypts atBletchley Park, that the attack was imminent. He had tried to warnJoseph Stalin via the ambassador to Moscow,Stafford Cripps, but Stalin did not trust Churchill. The night before the attack, already intending to address the nation, Churchill alluded to his hithertoanti-communist views by saying to Colville: "If Hitler invaded Hell, I would at least make a favourable reference to the Devil".[329]
Atlantic Charter
In August 1941, Churchill made his first transatlantic crossing of the war on boardHMS Prince of Wales and met Roosevelt inPlacentia Bay, Newfoundland. On 14 August, they issued the joint statement known as theAtlantic Charter.[330] This outlined the goals of both countries for the future of the world and is seen as the inspiration for the 1942Declaration by United Nations, itself the basis of the UN, founded in 1945.[331]
Pearl Harbor to D-Day: December 1941 to June 1944
Pearl Harbor and United States entry into the war
In December 1941, the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor was followed by theirinvasion of Malaya and, on the 8th, Churchill declared war on Japan. With the hope of using Irish ports for counter-submarine operations, Churchill sent a telegram to Irish Prime MinisterÉamon de Valera in which he obliquely offers Irish unity: "Now is your chance. Now or never! A nation once again! I will meet you wherever you wish." No meeting took place and there is no record of a response.[332] Churchill went to Washington to meet Roosevelt for theArcadia Conference. This was important for "Europe first", the decision to prioritise victory in Europe over victory in the Pacific, taken by Roosevelt while Churchill was still in the mid-Atlantic. The Americans agreed with Churchill that Hitler was the main enemy and defeat of Germany was key to Allied success.[333] It was also agreed that the first joint Anglo-American strike would beOperation Torch, the invasion ofFrench North Africa. Originally planned for the spring 1942, it was launched in November 1942 when the crucial Second Battle of El Alamein was underway.[334]
On 26 December, Churchill addressed a joint meeting of theUnited States Congress. Later that night, he suffered a heart attack, which was diagnosed by his physician,Sir Charles Wilson, as acoronary deficiency, requiring several weeks' bed rest. Churchill insisted he did not need bed rest and journeyed toOttawa by train, where he gave a speech to theCanadian Parliament that included the "some chicken, some neck" line in which he recalled French predictions in 1940 that "Britain alone would have her neck wrung like a chicken".[335] He arrived home mid-January, having flown from Bermuda toPlymouth in the first transatlantic air crossing by a head of government, to find there was a crisis of confidence in his government and him;[336] he decided to face a vote of confidence in the Commons, which he won easily.[337]
While he was away, theEighth Army, having relieved theSiege of Tobruk, had pursuedOperation Crusader against Rommel's forces in Libya, successfully driving them back to a defensive position atEl Agheila inCyrenaica. On 21 January 1942, however, Rommel launched a surprise counter-attack which drove the Allies back toGazala. Elsewhere, British success in theBattle of the Atlantic was compromised by theKriegsmarine's introduction of itsM4 4-rotor Enigma, whose signals could not be deciphered by Bletchley Park for nearly a year.[338] At a press conference in Washington, Churchill had to play down his increasing doubts about the security of Singapore, given Japanese advances.[339]
Fall of Singapore and loss of Burma
Churchill already had grave concerns about the quality of British troops after the defeats in Norway, France,Greece andCrete.[340] Following thefall of Singapore to the Japanese on 15 February 1942, he felt his misgivings were confirmed and said: "(this is) the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British military history".[341] On 11 February the Kriegsmarine pulled off its audacious "Channel Dash", a massive blow to British naval prestige. The combined effect of these events was to sink Churchill's morale to its lowest point of the war.[340]
The Bengal Famine
Meanwhile, theJapanese had occupied most of Burma by the end of April 1942. Counter-offensives were hampered by themonsoon season and disordered conditions inBengal andBihar, as well as asevere cyclone which devastated the region in October 1942. A combination of factors, including the curtailment of essential rice imports from Burma, poor administration, wartime inflation and large-scale natural disasters such as flooding and crop disease led to theBengal famine of 1943,[342] in which an estimated 2.1–3.8 million people died.[343]
From December 1942, food shortages had prompted senior officials to ask London for grain imports, although the colonial authorities failed to recognise the seriousness of the famine and responded ineptly.[344] Churchill's government was criticised for refusing to approve more imports, a policy it ascribed to an acute shortage of shipping.[345] When the British realised the full extent of the famine in September 1943, Churchill ordered the transportation of 130,000 tons of grain and the cabinet agreed to send 200,000 tons by the end of the year.[346][347] During the last quarter of 1943, 100,000 tons of rice and 176,000 tons of wheat were imported, compared to averages of 55,000 and 54,000 tons respectively earlier in the year.[348]
In October, Churchill wrote to the Viceroy of India,Lord Wavell, charging him with the responsibility of ending the famine.[346] In February 1944, as preparation forOperation Overlord placed greater demands on Allied shipping, Churchill cabled Wavell saying: "I will certainly help you all I can, but you must not ask the impossible".[347] Grain shipment requests continued to be turned down by the government throughout 1944, and Wavell complained to Churchill in October that "the vital problems of India are being treated by His Majesty's Government with neglect, even sometimes with hostility and contempt".[345][349] The impact of British policies on the famine death tollremains controversial.[350]
International conferences in 1942
Huge portraits of Churchill and Stalin,Brisbane, Australia, 31 October 1941
On 20 May 1942, the Soviet Foreign minister,Vyacheslav Molotov, arrived in London to sign a treaty of friendship. Molotov wanted it done on the basis of territorial concessions regarding Poland and the Baltic countries. Churchill and Eden worked for a compromise and a twenty-year treaty was formalised, with the question of frontiers placed on hold. Molotov also sought a Second Front in Europe; Churchill confirmed preparations were in progress and made no promises on a date.[351]
Churchill felt pleased with these negotiations.[352] However, Rommel had launched his counter-offensive,Operation Venice, to begin theBattle of Gazala on 26 May.[352] The Allies were driven out of Libya and suffered a defeat in thefall of Tobruk on 21 June. Churchill was with Roosevelt when the news reached him, and was shocked by the surrender of 35,000 troops which was, apart from Singapore, "the heaviest blow" he received in the war.[353] The Axis advance was halted at theFirst Battle of El Alamein in July and theBattle of Alam el Halfa in September. Both sides were exhausted and in need of reinforcements and supplies.[354]
Churchillreturned to Washington on 17 June. He and Roosevelt agreed on the implementation ofOperation Torch as the necessary precursor to an invasion of Europe. Roosevelt had appointed GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower as commanding officer of theEuropean Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA). Having received the news from North Africa, Churchill obtained shipment from America to the Eighth Army of 300 Sherman tanks and 100 howitzers. He returned to Britain on 25 June and had to face another motion of no confidence, this time in his direction of the war, but again he won easily.[355]
In August, despite health concerns, Churchill visited British forces in North Africa, raising morale, en route to Moscow forhis first meeting with Stalin. He was accompanied by Roosevelt's special envoyAverell Harriman.[356] He was in Moscow 12–16 August and had lengthy meetings with Stalin. Though they got along well personally, there was little chance of real progress given the state of the war. Stalin was desperate for the Allies to open the Second Front in Europe, as Churchill had discussed with Molotov in May, and the answer was the same.[357]
Churchill meetingKing Farouk in Cairo in December 1942
As 1942 drew to a close, the tide of war began to turn with Allied victories inEl Alamein, successfulNorth Africa landings going on andStalingrad. Until November, the Allies had been on the defensive, but afterwards, the Germans were. Churchill ordered church bells to be rung throughout Great Britain for the first time since 1940.[358] On 10 November, knowing El Alamein was a victory and Operation Torch yet a success, he delivered one of his most memorable speeches[359] atMansion House in London: "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning".[358]
In January 1943, Churchill met Roosevelt at theCasablanca Conference. It was attended by GeneralCharles de Gaulle from theFree French Forces. Stalin had hoped to attend but declined because of Stalingrad. Although Churchill expressed doubts on the matter, the so-called Casablanca Declaration committed the Allies to securing "unconditional surrender".[360][361] From Morocco, Churchill went to Cairo,Adana,Cyprus, Cairo again andAlgiers. He arrived home on 7 February having been out of the country for a month. He addressed the Commons on the 11th and became seriously ill withpneumonia the following day, necessitating more than a month of convalescence: he moved toChequers. He returned to work in London on 15 March.[362]
Churchill made two transatlantic crossings during the year, meeting Roosevelt at thethird Washington Conference in May and thefirst Quebec Conference in August.[363] In November, Churchill and Roosevelt met Chinese GeneralissimoChiang Kai-shek at theCairo Conference.[364] The most important conference of the year was 28 November to 1 December atTehran, where Churchill and Roosevelt met Stalin in the first of the "Big Three" meetings, preceding those atYalta andPotsdam. Roosevelt and Stalin co-operated in persuading Churchill to commit to opening of second front in western Europe and it was agreed Germany would be divided after the war, but no decisions were made about how.[365] On their way back, Churchill and Roosevelt held aSecond Cairo Conference with Turkish presidentİsmet İnönü, but were unable to gain commitment from Turkey to join the Allies.[366]
Churchill went toTunis, arriving on 10 December, initially as Eisenhower's guest (soon afterwards, Eisenhower took over as Supreme Allied Commander of the newSHAEF). Churchill became seriously ill withatrial fibrillation and was forced to remain in Tunis, until after Christmas while specialists were drafted in to ensure recovery. Clementine and Colville arrived to keep him company; Colville had just returned to Downing Street after two years in the RAF. On 27 December, the party went on toMarrakesh for convalescence. Feeling much better, Churchill flew toGibraltar on 14 January 1944 and sailed home on theKing George V. He was back in London on 18 January and surprised MPs by attendingPrime Minister's Questions in the Commons. Since 12 January 1943, when he set off for Casablanca, Churchill had been abroad or seriously ill for 203 of the 371 days.[367]
Invasions of Sicily and Italy
Churchill in the Carthage theatre, near the ancient Carthage Amphitheatre, to address 3,000 British and American troops, June 1943
In the autumn of 1942, after Churchill's meeting with Stalin, he was approached by Eisenhower, commanding theNorth African Theater of Operations, US Army (NATOUSA), and his aides on the subject of where the Western Allies should launch their first strike in Europe. According to GeneralMark W. Clark, the Americans admitted a cross-Channel operation in the near future was "utterly impossible". As an alternative, Churchill recommended "slit(ting) the soft belly of the Mediterranean" and persuaded them to invade Sicily and then mainland Italy, after they had defeated the Afrika Korps. After the war, Clark still agreed Churchill's analysis was correct, but added that, when the Allieslanded at Salerno, they found Italy was "a tough old gut".[368]
The invasion of Sicily began on 9 July and was completed by 17 August. Churchill was not keen onOverlord as he feared an Anglo-American army in France might not be a match for the fighting efficiency of the Wehrmacht. He preferred peripheral operations, including a plan calledOperation Jupiter for an invasion of Norway.[369] Events in Sicily had an unexpected impact in Italy.King Victor Emmanuel sacked Mussolini on 25 July and appointedMarshal Badoglio as prime minister. Badoglio opened negotiations with the Allies which resulted in theArmistice of Cassibile on 3 September. In response, the Germans activatedOperation Achse and took control of most of Italy.[370]
Although he still preferred Italy to Normandy as the Allies' main route into the Third Reich, Churchill was concerned about the strong German resistance at Salerno and, after the Allies successfully gained their bridgehead atAnzio but still failed to break the stalemate, he caustically said that instead of "hurling a wildcat onto the shore", the Allied force had become a "stranded whale".[371][372] The big obstacle wasMonte Cassino and it was not until May 1944 when it was finally overcome, enabling the Allies to advance on Rome, which was taken on 4 June.[373]
Preparations for D-Day
Churchill is greeted by a crowd inQuébec City, Canada, 1943
The difficulties in Italy caused Churchill to change heart about strategy; when the Anzio stalemate developed after his return to England from North Africa, he threw himself into the planning ofOverlord and set up meetings with SHAEF and the British Chiefs of Staff. These were attended by Eisenhower or his chief of staff GeneralWalter Bedell Smith. Churchill was especially taken by theMulberry harbours, but was keen to make the most of Allied airpower which by 1944, had become overwhelming.[373] Churchill never lost his apprehension about the invasion, and underwent mood fluctuation as D-Day approached. Jenkins says he faced potential victory with much less buoyancy than when he defiantly faced the prospect of defeat four years earlier.[374]
Need for post-war reform
Churchill could not ignore the need for post-war reforms. TheBeveridge Report with its five "Giant Evils" was published in November 1942 and assumed great importance amid popular acclaim.[375] Even so, Churchill spent most of his focus on the war, and saw reform in terms of tidying up. His attitude was demonstrated in a radio broadcast on 26 March 1944. He was obliged to devote most of it to reform and showed a distinct lack of interest. Colville said Churchill had broadcast "indifferently" andHarold Nicolson said that, to many people, Churchill came across the air as "a worn and petulant old man".[376] In the end, however, it was demand for reform that decided the 1945 general election. Labour was perceived as the party that would deliver Beveridge. Attlee, Bevin and Labour's other coalition ministers, were seen as working towards reform and earned the trust of the electorate.[377][378]
Defeat of Germany: June 1944 to May 1945
Churchill's crossing of theRhine river in Germany, duringOperation Plunder on 25 March 1945
D-Day: Allied invasion of Normandy
Churchill was determined to be actively involved in theNormandy invasion and hoped to cross the Channel onD-Day (6 June 1944) or at least D-Day+1. His desire caused unnecessary consternation at SHAEF, until he was effectively vetoed by the King. Churchill expected an Allied death toll of 20,000 on D-Day but fewer than 8,000 died in all of June.[379] He made his first visit to Normandy on 12 June to visit Montgomery, whose HQ was five miles inland. That evening, as he was returning to London, the firstV-1 flying bombs were launched. On 22–23 July, Churchill went toCherbourg andArromanches where he saw the Mulberry Harbour.[380]
Quebec Conference, September 1944
Churchill met Roosevelt at theSecond Quebec Conference in September 1944. They reached agreement on theMorgenthau Plan for the Allied occupation of Germany, the intention of which was not only to demilitarise, but de-industrialise. Eden opposed it and was able to persuade Churchill to disown it. US Secretary of StateCordell Hull opposed it and convinced Roosevelt it was infeasible.[381]
Moscow Conference, October 1944
At thefourth Moscow conference in October 1944, Churchill and Eden met Stalin and Molotov. This conference has gained notoriety for the so-called "Percentages agreement" in which Churchill and Stalin effectively agreed the post-war fate of theBalkans.[382] By then, the Soviet armies were in Rumania and Bulgaria. Churchill suggested a scale of predominance throughout the whole region so as not to, as he put it, "get at cross-purposes in small ways".[383] He wrote down some suggested percentages of influence per country and gave it to Stalin who ticked it. The agreement was that Russia would have 90% control of Romania and 75% control of Bulgaria. The United Kingdom and United States would have 90% control of Greece. Hungary and Yugoslavia would be 50% each.[384] In 1958, five years after the account of this meeting was published (inThe Second World War), Soviet authorities denied Stalin had accepted such an "imperialist proposal".[382]
Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at theYalta Conference, February 1945
From 30 January to 2 February 1945, Churchill and Roosevelt met for theirMalta Conference ahead of the second "Big Three" event atYalta from 4 to 11 February.[385] Yalta had massive implications for the post-war world. There were two predominant issues: the question of setting up theUnited Nations Organisation, on which much progress was made; and the more vexed question of Poland's post-war status, which Churchill saw as a test case for Eastern Europe.[386] Churchill faced criticism for the agreement on Poland. For example, 27 Tory MPs voted against him when the matter was debated in the Commons at the end of the month. Jenkins, however, maintains that Churchill did as well as possible in difficult circumstances, not least the fact that Roosevelt was seriously ill and could not provide Churchill with meaningful support.[387]
Another outcome of Yalta was the so-calledOperation Keelhaul. The Western Allies agreed to the forcible repatriation of all Soviet citizens in the Allied zones, includingprisoners of war, to the Soviet Union and the policy was later extended to all Eastern Europeanrefugees, many of whom were anti-communist. Keelhaul was implemented between August 1946 and May 1947.[388][389]
On the nights of 13–15 February 1945, 1,200 British and US bombers attackedDresden, which was crowded with wounded and refugees from the Eastern Front.[390][391] The attacks were part of anarea bombing campaign initiated by Churchill in January with the intention of shortening the war.[392] Churchill came to regret the bombing because initial reports suggested an excessive number ofcivilian casualties close to the end of the war, though an independent commission in 2010 confirmed a death toll of about 24,000.[393] On 28 March, he decided to restrict area bombing[394] and sent a memo toGeneral Ismay for theChiefs of Staff Committee:[395][396]
The destruction of Dresden remains a serious query against the conduct of Allied bombing.... I feel the need for more precise concentration upon military objectives.... rather than on mere acts of terror and wanton destruction, however impressive.
HistorianFrederick Taylor has pointed out that the number of Soviets who died from German bombing was roughly equivalent to the number of Germans who died from Allied raids.[397] Jenkins asks if Churchill was moved more by foreboding than by regret, but admits it is easy to criticise with the hindsight of victory. He adds that the area bombing campaign was no more reprehensible thanPresident Truman's use of thesecond atomic bomb on Nagasaki six months later.[394]Andrew Marr, quotingMax Hastings, says that Churchill's memo was a "calculated political attempt...to distance himself...from the rising controversy surrounding the area offensive".[396]
VE Day (Victory in Europe Day)
Churchill waving theVictory sign to the crowd inWhitehall on the day he broadcast to the nation that the war with Germany had been won, 8 May 1945.
On 7 May 1945 at the SHAEF headquarters inReimsthe Allies accepted Germany's surrender. The next day wasVictory in Europe Day (VE Day) when Churchill broadcast to the nation that Germany had surrendered and that a final ceasefire would come into effect at one minute past midnight that night.[398] Churchill went toBuckingham Palace where he appeared on the balcony with the Royal Family before a huge crowd of celebrating citizens. He went from the palace toWhitehall where he addressed another large crowd: "God bless you all. This is your victory. In our long history, we have never seen a greater day than this. Everyone, man or woman, has done their best".[399]
He asked Bevin to come forward and share the applause. Bevin said: "No, Winston, this is your day", and proceeded to conduct the people in the singing of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow".[399] In the evening, Churchill made another broadcast correctly asserting that the defeat of Japan would follow in the coming months.[400]
Later in the month France attempted to put down a nationalist uprising in theSyria. Churchill intervened and on 31 May gave de Gaulle an ultimatum to desist, but this was ignored. In what became known as theLevant Crisis, British forces fromTransjordan were mobilised to restore order. The French, outnumbered, had no option but to return to their bases. De Gaulle felt humiliated, and a diplomatic row broke out – Churchill reportedly told a colleague that de Gaulle was "a great danger to peace and for Great Britain".[401]
In May 1945, Winston Churchill commissioned the Chiefs of Staff Committee to provide its thoughts on a possible military campaign against the USSR, code-namedOperation Unthinkable.[402] One plan involved a surprise attack on Soviet troops stationed in Germany to impose "the will of the United States and the British Empire" on the Soviets.[403] The hypothetical start date for the Allied invasion of Soviet-held Europe was set for 1 July 1945.[403]
With a general election looming, and with Labour ministers refusing to continue the coalition, Churchill resigned as prime minister on 23 May 1945. Later that day, he accepted the King's invitation to form a new government, known officially as theNational Government but sometimes called the caretaker ministry. It contained Conservatives,National Liberals and a few non-party figures such asSir John Anderson andLord Woolton, but not Labour orArchibald Sinclair's Official Liberals. Churchill was formally reappointed on 28 May.[404][405]
Churchill was Great Britain's representative at the Potsdam Conference when it opened on 17 July and was accompanied at its sessions by Eden and Attlee. They attended nine sessions in nine days before returning to England for their election counts. After the landslide Labour victory, Attlee returned with Bevin as the new Foreign Secretary and there were five days of discussion.[406] Potsdam went badly for Churchill. Eden later described his performance as "appalling", saying he was unprepared and verbose. Churchill upset the Chinese, exasperated the Americans and was easily led by Stalin, whom he was supposed to be resisting.[407]
Churchill mishandled theelection campaign by resorting to party politics and trying to denigrate Labour.[408] On 4 June, he committed a serious gaffe by saying in a radio broadcast that a Labour government would require "some form of Gestapo" to enforce its agenda.[409][410] It backfired and Attlee made political capital by saying in his reply broadcast next day: "The voice we heard last night was that of Mr Churchill, but the mind was that of Lord Beaverbrook". Jenkins says that this broadcast was "the making of Attlee".[411]
Although polling day was 5 July, the results did not become known until 26 July, owing to the need to collect votes of those serving overseas. Clementine and daughter Mary had been at the count inWoodford, Churchill's new constituency, and had returned to Downing Street to meet him for lunch. Churchill was unopposed by the major parties in Woodford, but his majority over a sole independent candidate was much less than expected. He anticipated defeat by Labour and Mary later described the lunch as "an occasion of Stygian gloom".[412][413] To Clementine's suggestion that defeat might be "a blessing in disguise", Churchill retorted: "At the moment it seems very effectively disguised".[412]
That afternoon Churchill's doctor Lord Moran commiserated with him on the "ingratitude" of the public, to which Churchill replied: "I wouldn't call it that. They have had a very hard time".[413] Having lost, despite enjoying personal support amongst the population, he resigned as prime minister and was succeeded by Attlee who formed the first majority Labour government.[414][415][416][417] Many reasons have been given for Churchill's defeat, key being a widespread desire for reform and that the man who had led Britain in war was not seen as the man to lead in peace.[418][419] Although the Conservative Party was unpopular, many electors appear to have wanted Churchill to continue as prime minister whatever the outcome, or to have wrongly believed this would be possible.[420]
Churchill continued to lead the Conservative Party and served asLeader of the Opposition. In 1946, he was in America from early January to late March.[421] It was on this trip he gave his "Iron Curtain" speech about the USSR and its creation of theEastern Bloc.[422] Speaking on 5 March 1946 in the company of President Truman atWestminster College inFulton, Missouri, Churchill declared:[423]
FromStettin in the Baltic toTrieste in the Adriatic, an Iron Curtain has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere.
His view was that, though the Soviet Union did not want war with the western Allies, its entrenched position in Eastern Europe had made it impossible for the three great powers to provide the world with a "triangular leadership". Churchill's desire was much closer collaboration between Britain and America. Within the same speech, he called for "aspecial relationship between the British Commonwealth and Empire and the United States",[423] but emphasised the need for co-operation within the framework of the United Nations Charter.[424]
Having lived in Ireland as a child, Churchill always opposed its partition. As a minister in 1913 and again in 1921, he suggested that Ulster should be part of aunited Ireland, but with a degree of autonomy from an independent Irish government. He was always opposed on this by Ulster Unionists.[428] While he was Leader of the Opposition, he toldJohn Dulanty andFrederick Boland, successive Irish ambassadors to London, that he still hoped for reunification.[429]
1950 and 1951 Elections
Labour won the1950 general election, but with a much-reduced majority.[430] A fresh election was called the following year and the Conservatives won a majority.
Despite losing the popular vote, the Conservatives won a majority of 17 seats in theOctober 1951 general election and Churchill became prime minister, remaining in office until his resignation on 5 April 1955.[431] Eden, his eventual successor, was restored to Foreign Affairs.[432] Future prime ministerHarold Macmillan was appointedMinister of Housing and Local Government with a manifesto commitment to build 300,000 new houses per year, Churchill's only real domestic concern. He achieved the target and, in 1954, was promoted to Minister of Defence.[433]
Health issues to eventual resignation
Churchill was nearly 77 when he took office and not in good health following minor strokes.[434] By December 1951, George VI had become concerned about Churchill's decline and intended asking him to stand down in favour of Eden, but the King had his own health issues and died on 6 February 1952.[435] Churchill developed a friendship withElizabeth II and, in spring 1953, accepted theOrder of the Garter at her request.[436] He was knighted as Sir Winston on 24 April 1953.[437] It was widely expected he would retire afterthe Queen's Coronation in June 1953 but, after Eden became seriously ill, Churchill increased his own responsibilities by taking over at the Foreign Office.[438][439][440] Eden was incapacitated until the end of the year and was never completely well again.[441] On the evening of 23 June 1953, Churchill suffered a serious stroke; the matter was kept secret and Churchill went to Chartwell to recuperate. He had recovered by November.[442][443][444] He retired in April 1955 and was succeeded by Eden.[445]
Churchill feared aglobal conflagration and firmly believed the only way to preserve peace and freedom was friendship and co-operation between Britain and America. He made four official transatlantic visits from January 1952 to July 1954.[446] He enjoyed a good relationship with Truman, but difficulties arose over the plannedEuropean Defence Community (EDC), by which Truman hoped to reduce America's military presence in West Germany.[447] Churchill wanted US military support of British interests in Egypt and the Middle East, but while Truman expected British military involvement inKorea, he viewed any US commitment to the Middle East as maintaining British imperialism.[448] The Americans recognised the British Empire was in terminal decline and had welcomed the Attlee government's policy of decolonisation. Churchill believed Britain's position as a world power depended on the empire's continued existence.[449]
Churchill had been obliged to recogniseColonel Nasser's revolutionarygovernment of Egypt, whichtook power in 1952. Much to Churchill's dismay, agreement was reached in October 1954 on the phased evacuation of British troops from theirSuez base. Britain agreed to terminate its rule inAnglo-Egyptian Sudan by 1956, though this was in return for Nasser's abandonment of Egyptian claims over the region.[450] Elsewhere, theMalayan Emergency, a guerrilla war fought by Communist fighters against Commonwealth forces, had begun in 1948 and continued until 1960. Churchill's government maintained the military response to the crisis and adopted a similar strategy for theMau Mau Uprising inBritish Kenya (1952–1960).[451]
Churchill was uneasy about the election of Eisenhower as Truman's successor. After Stalin died in March 1953, Churchill sought a summit meeting with the Soviets, but Eisenhower refused out of fear the Soviets would use it for propaganda.[452][438][453] By July, Churchill was deeply regretting that the Democrats had not been returned. Churchill believed Eisenhower did not fully comprehend the danger posed by the H-bomb and he greatly distrusted Eisenhower's Secretary of State,John Foster Dulles.[454] Churchill hosted Eisenhower at the Three-Powers Bermuda Conference, with French Prime MinisterJoseph Laniel, in December;[455][456] they met again in June/July 1954 at the White House.[457] In the end, the Soviets proposed afour-power summit, but it did not meet until July 1955, three months after Churchill's retirement.[458][459]
Elizabeth II offered to create ChurchillDuke of London, but he declined because of the objections of Randolph, who would have inherited the title.[460] Although publicly supportive, Churchill was privately scathing about Eden's handling of theSuez Crisis and Clementine believed that many of his visits to the US in the following years were attempts to repair Anglo-American relations.[461]
Churchill remained an MP until he stood down at the1964 general election.[462] By the time of the1959 general election, he seldom attended the House of Commons. Despite the Conservative landslide in 1959, his own majority fell by more than 1,000. He spent most of his retirement at Chartwell or at his London home inHyde Park Gate, and became a habitué of high society atLa Pausa on theFrench Riviera.[463]In June 1962, aged 87, Churchill had a fall inMonte Carlo and broke his hip. He was flown home to a London hospital where he remained for 3 weeks. Jenkins says Churchill was never the same after this.[462] In 1963, US PresidentJohn F. Kennedy, acting under authorisation granted by anAct of Congress, proclaimed him anhonorary citizen of the United States, but he was unable to attend the White House ceremony.[462] There has been speculation he became very depressed in his final years, but this was emphatically denied by his secretaryAnthony Montague Browne, who was with him for his last 10 years. Montague Browne wrote that he never heard Churchill refer to depression and certainly did not suffer from it.[464]
Churchill was a prolific writer. His output included a novel (Savrola), two biographies, memoirs, histories, and press articles. Two of his most famous works were his six-volume memoir,The Second World War, and the four-volumeA History of the English-Speaking Peoples.[474] In recognition of his "mastery of historical and biographical description" and oratorial output, Churchill received theNobel Prize in Literature in 1953.[475]
He used either "Winston S. Churchill" or "Winston Spencer Churchill" as his pen name to avoid confusion with the American novelistWinston Churchill, whom he had a friendly correspondence with.[476] For many years, he relied on his press articles to assuage his financial worries.[477]
Churchill became an accomplished amateur artist beginning after his resignation from the Admiralty in 1915.[478] Often using the pseudonym "Charles Morin",[479] he completed hundreds of paintings, many of which are on show in Chartwell and in private collections.[480]
Churchill was an amateurbricklayer, constructing buildings and garden walls at Chartwell.[479] He joined theAmalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers, but was expelled after he rejoined the Conservative Party.[479] He bred butterflies.[481] He was known for his love of animals and always hadseveral pets, mainly cats but also dogs, pigs, lambs,bantams, goats and fox cubs among others.[482] Churchill has been quoted as saying that "Dogs look up to you, cats look down on you. Give me a pig! He looks you in the eye and treats you as an equal".[483]
Jenkins concludes his biography of Churchill by comparing him favourably withWilliam Gladstone and summarising:[466]
I now put Churchill, with all his idiosyncrasies, his indulgences, his occasional childishness, but also his genius, his tenacity and his persistent ability, right or wrong, successful or unsuccessful, to be larger than life, as the greatest human being ever to occupy 10 Downing Street.
Churchill always self-confidently believed himself to be "a man of destiny".[484] Because of this he lacked restraint and could be reckless.[485][486] His self-belief manifested in his "affinity with war" of which, according toSebastian Haffner, he exhibited "a profound and innate understanding".[487] Churchill considered himself a military genius, but that made him vulnerable to failure andPaul Addison says the Gallipoli disaster was "the greatest blow his self-image was ever to sustain".[488] Jenkins points out, that although Churchill was exhilarated by war, he was never indifferent to the suffering it causes.[489]
As a politician, Churchill was perceived by some to have been largely motivated by personal ambition rather than political principle.[490][491] During his early career, he was often provocative and argumentative to an unusual degree;[492] and his barbed rhetorical style earned him enemies in parliament.[493][494] Others deemed him to be an honest politician who displayed particular loyalty to his family and close friends.[495]Robert Rhodes James said he "lacked any capacity for intrigue and was refreshingly innocent and straightforward".[496]
Until the outbreak of the Second World War, Churchill's approach to politics generated widespread "mistrust and dislike",[497] largely on account of his two party defections.[498] His biographers have variously categorised him, in terms of political ideology, as "fundamentally conservative",[499] "(always) liberal in outlook",[500] and "never circumscribed by party affiliation".[501] He was nearly always opposed to socialism because of its propensity for state planning and his belief in free markets. The exception was during his wartime coalition when he was reliant upon the support of his Labour colleagues.[502][503] Churchill had long been regarded as an enemy of the working class, and his response to the Rhondda Valley unrest and his anti-socialist rhetoric brought condemnation from socialists who saw him as areactionary.[504] His role in opposing the General Strike earned the enmity of strikers and most members of the Labour movement.[505] Paradoxically, Churchill was supportive oftrade unionism, which he saw as the "antithesis of socialism".[506]
On the other hand, his detractors did not take Churchill's domestic reforms into account,[507] for he was in many respects a radical and reformer,[508] but always with the intention of preserving the existing social structure,[509] displaying what Addison calls the attitude of a "benevolent paternalist".[510] Jenkins, himself a senior Labour minister, remarked that Churchill had "a substantial record as a social reformer" for his work in his ministerial career.[511] Similarly, Rhodes James thought that Churchill's achievements were "considerable".[512]
Churchill was a staunchimperialist andmonarchist, and consistently exhibited a "romanticised view" of the British Empire and reigning monarch, especially during his last term as premier.[513][514][515] Churchill has been described as a "liberal imperialist"[516] who saw British imperialism as a form ofaltruism that benefited its subject peoples.[517] He advocated against black or indigenous self-rule in Africa, Australia, the Caribbean, the Americas and India, believing the British Empire maintained the welfare of those who lived in the colonies.[346]
When he was Home Secretary in 1910-1911, Churchill supported theforced sterilization of the "feeble minded." In a letter to Prime Minister H. H. Asquith in February 1910, he wrote " The unnatural and increasingly rapid growth of the Feeble-Minded and Insane classes […] constitutes a national and race danger which it is impossible to exaggerate. […] I feel that the source from which the stream of madness is fed should be cut off and sealed up before another year has passed."[518][519][520]
According to Addison, Churchill was opposed to immigration from the Commonwealth.[521] Addison makes the point that Churchill opposedanti-Semitism (as in 1904, when he was critical of the proposedAliens Bill) and argues he would never have tried "to stoke up racial animosity against immigrants, or to persecute minorities".[522] In the 1920s, Churchill supported Zionism but believed thatcommunism was the product of aninternational Jewish conspiracy.[523] Although this belief was not unique among politicians, few had his stature,[524] and the article he wrote on the subject was criticised byThe Jewish Chronicle.[525]
Churchill made disparaging remarks about non-white ethnicities throughout his life. Philip Murphy partly attributes the strength of this vitriol to an "almost childish desire to shock" his inner circle.[526] Churchill's response to theBengal famine was criticised by contemporaries as slow, a controversy later increased by the publication of private remarks made toSecretary for IndiaLeo Amery, in which Churchill allegedly said aid would be inadequate because "Indians [were] breeding like rabbits".[526][527] Philip Murphy says that, following the independence of India in 1947, Churchill adopted a pragmatic stance towards empire, although he continued to use imperial rhetoric. During his second term as prime minister, he was seen as a moderating influence on Britain's suppression of armed insurgencies in Malaya and Kenya; he argued that ruthless policies contradicted British values and international opinion.[526]
While biographies by Addison, Gilbert, Jenkins and Rhodes James are among the most acclaimed works about Churchill, he has been the subject of numerous others. David Freeman counted 62 in English to the end of the 20th century.[528] At a public ceremony in Westminster Hall on 30 November 1954, Churchill's 80th birthday, the joint Houses of Parliament presented him with afull-length portrait of himself, painted byGraham Sutherland.[529] Churchill and Clementine reportedly hated it and she had it destroyed.[530][531]
Churchill married Clementine Hozier in September 1908.[536] They remained married for 57 years until his death.[108] Churchill was aware of the strain his career placed on their marriage.[537] According to Colville, he had an affair in the 1930s withDoris Castlerosse,[538] although this is discounted byAndrew Roberts.[539]
The Churchills' first child, Diana, was born in July 1909;[540] Randolph, in May 1911.[146] Sarah, was born in October 1914,[169] and Marigold, in November 1918.[198] Marigold died in August 1921, fromsepsis.[541] On 15 September 1922, the Churchills' last child,Mary, was born. Later that month, the Churchills bought Chartwell, which would be their home until Winston's death in 1965.[542][543]
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Adams, Edward (2011).Liberal Epic: The Victorian Practice of History from Gibbon to Churchill. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press.ISBN978-08-13931-45-6.
Bell, Christopher M. (2011). "Sir John Fisher's Naval Revolution Reconsidered: Winston Churchill at the Admiralty, 1911–1914".War in History.18 (3):333–356.doi:10.1177/0968344511401489.S2CID159573922.
Cooper, Matthew (1978).The German Army 1933–1945: Its Political and Military Failure. Briarcliff Manor, New York: Stein and Day. pp. 376–377.ISBN978-08-12824-68-1.
Douglas, R.M. (2009). "Did Britain Use Chemical Weapons in Mandatory Iraq?".The Journal of Modern History.81 (4):859–887.doi:10.1086/605488.S2CID154708409.
Fenby, Jonathan (2011).The General: Charles de Gaulle and the France he saved. London: Simon & Schuster. pp. 42–47.ISBN978-18-47394-10-1.
Lynch, Michael (2008). "1. The Labour Party in Power, 1945–1951".Britain 1945–2007. Access to History. London: Hodder Headline. pp. 1–4.ISBN978-03-40965-95-5.
Sen, Amartya (1977). "Starvation and exchange entitlements: a general approach and its application to the Great Bengal Famine".Cambridge Journal of Economics.1 (1):33–59.doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.cje.a035349.
Sorrels, Roy W. (1984). "10 People Who Hated Portraits of Themselves". In Wallechinsky, David; Wallace, Irving; Wallace, Amy (eds.).The People's Almanac Book of Lists. New York City: William Morrow & Co.ISBN978-05-52123-71-6.
Churchill, Winston (1927).1916–1918 (Parts I and II). The World Crisis. Vol. III. London: Thornton Butterworth.
Churchill, Winston (1967b) [first published 1948].The Twilight War: 3 September 1939 – 10 May 1940. The Second World War: The Gathering Storm. Vol. II (9th ed.). London:Cassell & Co. Ltd.
Soames, Mary (1998).Speaking for Themselves: The Personal Letters of Winston and Clementine Churchill. London: Doubleday.ISBN978-03-85406-91-8.
Soames, Mary (2012).A Daughter's Tale: The Memoir of Winston and Clementine Churchill's Youngest Child. London: Transworld Publishers Limited.ISBN978-05-52770-92-7.
Imperial War Museum:Churchill War Rooms. Comprising the original underground War Rooms preserved since 1945, including the Cabinet Room, the Map Room and Churchill's bedroom, and the new Museum dedicated to Churchill's life.
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