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Churchill was 
appointed First 
Lord of the Admir-
alty in 1911. He
immediately intro-
duced a programme
of shipbuilding, 
promising to
maintain the Royal
Navy's superiority
over the German
fleet. Even in the
early days he was
considered an
ambitious, pugna-
cious politician
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Churchill described 
for US newspapers 
the issues at stake 
in the first world 
war in this inter-
view. His remarks
suggest the oratory
which he was to
use to such effect
during the second
world war
#
Churchill resigned 
from the British 
government in 
November 1915. He 
had been blamed 
for the failure of 
the Gallipoli 
landings in April, 
sacked as First
Lord of the Admir-
alty and excluded
from the inner War 
Cabinet. It was one 
of many setbacks
in his long
political career
#
Churchill returned 
to office, and was 
Chancellor of the 
Exchequer during 
the 1926 general 
strike. Never a 
friend of organized 
labor (he had sent 
in troops against 
rioting railwaymen 
in 1911, killing 
nine), Churchill
was highly critical
of the strike,
which had been
called in support
of the miners
#
During the Thirties 
Churchill called
for rearmament
in the face of 
growing militarism
in Germany. While 
the British govern-
ment pursued a 
policy of disarm-
ament and appeas-
ement, Churchill
warned: "We have 
never been so 
defenceless"
#
After long years in 
the wilderness, 
when it seemed his 
political career was 
over, Churchill was 
called to lead his 
country at the most 
critical moment in 
its history. It was 
as if his whole life 
had been a long 
preparation for 
these five years
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#
In the first months 
of the war Britain 
staggered from one 
military setback to 
another. In May 
1940 Churchill
took over from
Chamberlain
as prime minister,
and formed a
government. When 
France fell, in
June, Britain stood
in serious danger
of invasion
#
In the summer of 
1940 Britain's Royal
Air Force struggled
for control of the
skies above England.
The conflict was 
described by 
Churchill as "the 
Battle of Britain". 
British Spitfire and 
Hurricane planes 
shot down 1,300 
enemy aircraft in 
three months,
and thwarted
the planned
German invasion
#
The USA was 
neutral, but 
supported Britain's 
struggle against 
Nazism. In August 
1941 President 
Roosevelt and 
Churchill met on a 
battleship and 
drew up the 
Atlantic Charter, a 
declaration of their 
post-war aims. 
Roosevelt had 
already agreed to 
supply Britain with 
war supplies
#
Montgomery's attack on German forces in Egypt in 1942, the second Battle of
El Alamein, was a complete success - and a turning point in the war. Churchill said:
"Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat."
#
The liberation of 
western Europe 
began on D-Day,
6 June 1944, when 
more than 130,000 
troops landed on
five beaches in 
Normandy, France. 
"Overlord" was the
biggest military 
operation in 
history. Allied 
casualties on the 
first day totalled 
10,000 men
#
British military 
casualties during 
the second world 
war totalled more 
than half a million. 
The army suffered 
the most grievous 
losses: 417,425 
killed, missing or 
wounded. Churchill, 
an ex-soldier,
understood the 
needs and fears
of his troops
#
Churchill, Truman
and Stalin met at
Potsdam in Germany
to discuss the post-
war partition of 
the country. At
Yalta in the Crimea
earlier in the year, 
Stalin had agreed
with Roosevelt
(now dead) to enter
the war against
Japan. Churchill's 
exclusion from that 
arrangement was 
an indication of his 
waning influence
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Churchill's career
up to 1940 was
patchy. But at war
he proved to be 
exceptional: his 
abilities as an 
organizer, a 
strategist and an 
orator made him
an inspiring war 
leader. Victory 
secured him a
place without
equal in 
British history
#
Churchill argued 
that a "United 
States of Europe" 
was the key to 
peace on the 
continent. He was
a great champion
of the European 
movement and can 
take much credit 
for inspiring the 
formation of the 
Council of Europe, 
a forerunner of
the European Union
#
Churchill was an 
enthusiastic 
painter, and spent 
much time at his
easel during his
political exile in
the Thirties . He
was never more
than a talented
amateur, however.
He favoured 
landscapes because 
he could do them 
best, and he used 
gaudy paints 
because he liked 
bright colours
#
Churchill was prime 
minister again from 
1951 to 1955. But 
it seemed a mere 
postscript to his 
wartime premier-
ship,  and at the age
of 80 he resigned,
handing over power
to Sir Anthony Eden
#
Churchill wrote 
many books. Three 
of them - a history 
of the first world 
war, his biography 
of his ancestor
the Duke of 
Marlborough, and 
his History of the 
English-Speaking 
Peoples - ran to 
four volumes each; 
his history of The 
Second World War 
took six. In 1953, 
he was awarded 
the Nobel Prize for 
Literature
#
Churchill died in 
January 1965. His 
body lay in state 
for three days, and 
was then borne on 
a gun carriage 
through the streets
of London to St
Paul's Cathedral. 
The funeral service 
was attended by 
representatives 
from almost every 
nation on earth
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