PCGUIA 10/PC Guia 10.iso/database/shared.dir/01258_Field_36.cap.txt

Text File | 1996-03-14 | 5KB | 298 lines

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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
#
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
@
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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