God you'd need one of those long envelopes to fit all of that in !
I think he was a hero, but a flawed one. And if it hadn't been for Hitler he would have been remembered as a failure.
I’ve read quite a bit about him. He was certainly intrepid, devoted to his country and made a fine symbolic and practical war time leader. It’s quite possible that England could have weathered the Nazi storm and given those Germans all they could have handled and more without him, those R.A.F. Pilots were really brave and skilled aerial killers. But Winnie had something about him, he realized the diplomatic importance of ‘courting’ F.D.R. (If ‘courting’ is the right word) and the manufacturing abilities of The U.S. at that time.
I’m aware that he had some Imperial, old school opinions about some of the various people under British rule at the time but I feel like he was the right man for the job when the world was burning up.
I’d say we’re all pretty lucky that we had Churchill on the right side.
Yes Churchill was definitely the man for the job in WW2. Too many of his compatriots ( remembering the horror of WW1 ) wanted to negotiate for peace with Hitler and that would have been a terrible mistake. And as you say Churchill understood the importance of schmoozing up to allies and he was good at it. But the Brits were too nice for the "modern" world. Churchill said that "We should all be pals together" and he believed it. But the world is too nasty a place for that. FDR and Stalin basically sidelined Churchill in 1943 at Tehran. They were the Superpowers and Britain was finished as a world power. Realpolitik.
There is an ugly theory that Churchill was responsible for the Indian famine of 1943 that killed millions of people because he didn't care whether they lived or died. But if you look into it the thing is bullshit. Churchill was 5,000 miles away and was kind of busy at the time what with the war and all. Even so he did what he could and arranged for a million tons of grain to be sent from Australia and Canada in spite of the shortage of shipping and the Japanese submarines lurking in the Bay of Bengal.
As for claims that he was a White Supremacist and a racist well Britain had been the greatest Empire the world had ever seen and most British people would have believed that the white race was superior because all of the evidence backed that up. Churchill may have said some off colour things in the heat of the moment, particularly about Ghandi who was basically a traitor in Churchill's eyes. But he was also full of praise for India and Indians in their contribution to the fighting in WW2.
All interesting points.
Let’s call Churchill an interesting historical figure, I genuinely admired him but I’m aware that a bit of criticism is warranted.
Flawed hero. Major alcoholic and made his secretaries cry, among other flaws, but kept the Nazis from invading and conquering his country, when his country couldn't actually afford the kind of army required.
I highly recommend the recent movie "Darkest Hour" (2017), for which Gary Oldman won a well-deserved Oscar. Damn good movie and Oldman is excellent, and it's both entertaining and interesting. I will, of course, leave the discussion of how accurate it is to others, I'm not an expert.
Yes he must have been both a lovable and an infuriating man. So appallingly lacking in judgement sometimes and spot on at other times.
what is forgotten about churchill was that he almost lost power in 1942. members of his cabinet wanted to get rid of him and negotiate with hitler. the labour party under atlee was his biggest supporter.
shareAnd Lord Halifax would have been Prime Minister in WW2 because he had the numbers but he declined in favour of Churchill.
halifax was in contention in 1940, not sure about 1942. halifax was ambassador to the usa by then.
shareThat's right, it was 1940.
i should get this book
https://www.amazon.com/1942-Winston-Churchill-Britains-Darkest/dp/1639362320/ref=sr_1_1?crid=QOL1VNALO5F4&keywords=1942+churchill&qid=1689734329&sprefix=1942+ch%2Caps%2C2735&sr=8-1
On Youtube there is a Channel called The Rest is History that has a series of programs on Churchill that are quite interesting. Going from his childhood through the Wars and afterwards.
Greatest orator of the 20th century
shareI have a book called ‘Franklin And Winston: An Intimate Portrait Of An Epic Friendship’ by Jon Meacham, it is a very interesting bit of history.
It’s available in soft cover on Amazon for about 15 bucks, we’ll worth reading.
Favorite portrayals
Young Winston (1972)
Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981) - Robert Hardy
The Winds of War (1983) - Howard Lang
War and Remembrance (1988) - Robert Hardy
The Gathering Storm (2002) - Albert Finney
Into the Storm (2009) - Brendan Gleeson
Darkest Hour (2017) - Gary Oldman
Hero. Period.
shareHero
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