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"Churchill" redirects here. For other uses, see Churchill (disambiguation).
For the writer sometimes called "Winston Churchill the American", see Winston Churchill (novelist).
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can) (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of Great Britain during World War II. He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also known as an officer in the British Army, a historical writer, and an artist.
During his army career Churchill saw combat on the Northwest Frontier, in the Sudan and during the Second Boer War, during which he also gained fame and notoriety, as a war correspondent. He also served in the British Army on the Western Front and commanded the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. At the forefront of the political scene for almost sixty years, he held many political and cabinet positions. Before the First World War, he served as President of the Board of Trade and Home Secretary during the Liberal governments. In the First World War he served as First Lord of the Admiralty, Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for Air and during the interwar years, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
After the outbreak of the Second World War, Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain on 10 May 1940, he became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and led Britain to victory against the Axis powers. His speeches were a great inspiration to the embattled Allied forces. After losing the 1945 election, he became the leader of the opposition. In 1951, he again became Prime Minister before finally retiring in 1955. Upon his death the Queen granted him the honour of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of statesmen in the world.
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A descendant of the famous Spencer family,Darryl Lundy. Rt. Hon. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill. thePeerage.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, like his father, used the surname Churchill in public life.Jenkins, p. 1-20 His ancestor George Spencer had changed his surname to Spencer-Churchill in 1817 when he became Duke of Marlborough, to highlight his descent from John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. Winston\'s father, Lord Randolph Churchill, the third son of John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough, was a politician, while his mother, Lady Randolph Churchill (née Jennie Jerome) was the daughter of American millionaire Leonard Jerome. Churchill was born two months premature in a bedroom in Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire on 30 November 1874.Jenkins, p. 5 He arrived eight months after his parents\' hasty marriage,PM record breakers. Number 10 Downing Street. Retrieved on 2007-02-26. and had one brother, John Strange Spencer-Churchill.
Churchill had an independent and rebellious nature and generally did poorly in school, for which he was punished. He entered Harrow School on 17 April 1888, where his military career began. Within weeks of his arrival, he had joined the Harrow Rifle Corps.Lt. Churchill: 4th Queen\'s Own Hussars, The Churchill Centre. Retrieved 2007-12-02 He earned high marks in English and history; he was also the school\'s fencing champion. He was rarely visited by his mother (then known as Lady Randolph), but wrote letters begging her to either come to the school or to allow him to come home. He also had a very distant relationship with his father and once remarked that they barely spoke to each other.Jenkins, p. 10-11 Due to his lack of parental contact he became very close to his nanny, Elizabeth Anne Everest, whom he used to call "Woomany".Douglas J. Hall. Lady Randolph in Winston\'s Boyhood. The Churchill Centre. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill - randomhouse.com
Churchill described himself as having a "speech impediment", which he consistently worked to overcome. After many years, he finally stated, "My impediment is no hindrance." Although the Stuttering Foundation of America has claimed that he stammered, the Churchill Centre has concluded that he lisped.John Mather, M.D.. Leading Churchill Myths: He stuttered. The Churchill Centre. Retrieved on 2007-03-10. His impediment may also have been cluttering,Churchill and cluttering, WV university, accessed 2007-12-16 which would fit more with his lack of attention to unimportant details and his very secure ego. Weiss suggests that he may have "excelled because of, rather than in spite of, his cluttering."Weiss, Deso (1964). Cluttering. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 58. LC 64-25326.
Churchill at the age of 27.
Churchill met his future wife, Clementine Hozier, in a ball at the Crewe House, home of the Earl of Crewe and his wife, Margaret Primrose (daughter of Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery), in 1904.Soames, Mary: Speaking for Themselves: The Personal Letters of Winston and Clementine Churchill. p. 1 In 1908 they met again at a dinner party hosted by Lady St Helier. Churchill found himself seated alongside Hozier at the dinner party, and they soon began their lifelong romance.Soames op cit. p. 6 On August 10 1908, he proposed to Hozier in a house party in Blenheim, in a small Temple of Diana. Soames op cit. pp. 14-15 On September 12, 1908, they were married in Church of St. Margaret, Westminster. The church was packed; the Bishop of St Asaph conducted the service.Soames op cit. p. 17 In March 1909, the couple moved to a house in 33 Eccleston Square. On July 11 1909, in London, their first child, Diana, was born. After the pregnancy, Clementine moved to Sussex to recover, while Diana stayed in London with her nanny.Soames op cit. pp. 18, 22, 25. On May 28 1911, their second child, Randolph, was born in 33 Eccleston Square.Soames op cit. pp. 40, 44.
Mary Soames, his youngest daughter.
After the start of World War I, on October 7 1914, their third child, Sarah, was born in the Admiralty House. The birth was marked with anxiety for Clementine, as Winston had been sent to Antwerp by the Cabinet to "stiffen the resistance of the beleaguered city" prior to the birth.Soames op cit. p. 105 Four days after the official end of World War I, Clementine gave birth to her fourth child, Marigold Frances Churchill, on November 15, 1918.Soames op cit. p. 217 In the early months of August, the Churchills\' children were entrusted to a French nursery governess in Kent named Mlle Rose. Clementine, meanwhile, travelled to Eaton Hall to play tennis with Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster and his family. While still under the care of Mlle Rose, Marigold had a cold, but was reported to have recovered from the illness. As the illness progressed with hardly any notice, it turned into septicaemia. Following advice from a landlady, Rose sent for Clementine. However the illness turned fatal on August 23 1921, and Marigold was buried in the Kensal Green Cemetery three days later.Soames op cit. pp. 239, 241. On September 15 1922, the Churchills\' last child, Mary, was born. Later that month, the Churchills bought Chartwell, a house that would be Winston\'s home until his death in 1965.Soames op cit. p. 262.Crowhurst, Richard (2006). Chartwell: Churchill\'s House of Refuge. Moira Allen. Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
After Churchill left Harrow in 1893, he applied to attend the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. However it took three attempts before he passed the admittance exam.Jenkins, p. 20 Once there, he graduated eighth out of a class of 150 in December 1894.Jenkins, p. 20 - 21 He was then commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 4th Queen\'s Own Hussars on 20 February 1895. In 1941, he received the honour of Colonel of the Hussars. He was accused of buggering other students while at Sandhurst, and filed a libel case against the accuser; the accuser withdrew the charges and settled with Churchill for a sum of £400.Brian Lamb. "Churchill: A Life, by Martin Gilbert". Booknotes /CSPAN December 22, 1991. Churchill: A Life, New York, 1991, ISBN 0805023968
Churchill\'s pay as a second lieutenant in the 4th Hussars was £300. However he believed that he needed at least £500 to support a style of life in keeping with other officers of the regiment. According to biographer Roy Jenkins, this is why he took an interest in war correspondence.Jenkins, p. 21-45 When he finished training he asked to be posted to areas of action in which, against all etiquette, he earned additional income as a roving war correspondent for the London newspapers."On the character and achievement of Sir Winston Churchill". The Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science, Vol 23, No. 2 May, 1957 (May, 1957): pp 173-194.
Lord Deedes explained to a gathering of the Royal Historical Society in 2001 why Churchill went to the front line: "He was with Grenadier Guards, who were dry [without alcohol] at battalion headquarters. They very much liked tea and condensed milk, which had no great appeal to Winston, but alcohol was permitted in the front line, in the trenches. So he suggested to the colonel that he really ought to see more of the war and get into the front line. This was highly commended by the colonel, who thought it was a very good thing to do.""Churchill Remembered: Recollections by Tony Benn MP, Lord Carrington, Lord Deedes and Mary Soames". Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Vol 11, 2001 (2001): p 404. Retrieved on 2007-06-17.
In 1895, Churchill travelled to Cuba to observe the Spanish fight the Cuban guerrillas; he had obtained a commission to write about the conflict from the Daily Graphic. To his delight, he came under fire for the first time on his twenty-first birthday.Russell, Douglas S. (1995-10-28). Lt. Churchill: 4th Queen\'s Own Hussars. Churchill Centre. Retrieved on 2007-02-26. He had fond memories of Cuba as a "...large, rich, beautiful island..."Churchill, Winston S. 1951 The Second World War, Volume 5: Closing the Ring. Houghton Miffin Edition. Bantam Books, New York No ISBN or other number provided. p. 606. “Prime Minister to Foreign Secretary 5. Feb (19)44. Your minute about raising certain legations to the status of embassy. I must say that Cuba has as good a claim as some other places –“la perla de Las Antillas.” Great offence will be given if all the others have it and this large, rich, beautiful island, the home of the cigar, is denied. Surely Cuba has much more claim than Venezuela. You will make a bitter enemy if you leave them out, and after a bit you will be forced to give them what you have given to the others.” He soon received word that his nanny, Mrs Everest, was dying; he then returned to England and stayed with her for a week until she died. He wrote in his journal "She was my favourite friend." In My Early Life he wrote: "She had been my dearest and most intimate friend during the whole of the twenty years I had lived."T. E. C. Jr. M.D (5 November 1977). "Winston Churchill\'s Poignant Description of the Death of his Nanny". PEDIATRICS Vol. 60 No.: pp. 752. In early October 1896, he was transferred to Bombay, India. He was considered one of the best polo players in his regiment and led his team to many prestigious tournament victories.R. V. Jones. "Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill. 1874-1965". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, Vol. 12, Nov., 1966 (Nov., 1966): pp. 34-105.
About this time Churchill read William Winwood Reade\'s Martyrdom of Man, a classic of Victorian atheism, which completed his loss of faith in Christianity and left him with a sombre vision of a godless universe in which humanity was destined, nevertheless, to progress through the conflict between the more advanced and the more backward races. When he was posted to India, and began to read avidly to make up for lost time, he was profoundly impressed by Darwinism.Young, Adam (2004-02-27). The Real Churchill. Ludwig von Mises Institute. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. He lost whatever religious faith he may have had through reading Edward Gibbon, he said and took a particular dislike, for some reason, to the Catholic Church, as well as Christian missions.Young, Adam (2004-02-27). The Real Churchill. Ludwig von Mises Institute. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. He became, in his own words, "a materialist to the tips of my fingers," and he fervently upheld the worldview that human life is a struggle for existence, with the outcome the survival of the fittest.Young, Adam (2004-02-27). The Real Churchill. Ludwig von Mises Institute. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. This philosophy of life and history he expressed in his one novel, Savrola.
A young Winston Churchill on a lecture tour of the United States in 1900
In 1897, Churchill attempted to travel to both report and, if necessary, fight in the Greco-Turkish War, but this conflict effectively ended before he could arrive. Later, while preparing for a leave in England, he heard that three brigades of the British Army were going to fight against a Pashtun tribe and he asked his superior officer if he could join the fight.Sir Winston S. Churchill. The Story Of The Malakand Field Force - An Episode of Frontier War. arthursclassicnovels.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-17. He fought under the command of General Jeffery, who was the commander of the second brigade operating in Malakand, in what is now Pakistan. Jeffery sent him with fifteen scouts to explore the Mamund Valley; while on reconnaissance, they encountered an enemy tribe, dismounted from their horses and opened fire. After an hour of shooting, their reinforcements, the 35th Sikhs arrived, and the fire gradually ceased and the brigade and the Sikhs marched on. Hundreds of tribesmen then ambushed them and opened fire, forcing them to retreat. As they were retreating four men were carrying an injured officer but the fierceness of the fight forced them to leave him behind. The man who was left behind was slashed to death before Churchill’s eyes; afterwards he wrote of the killer, "I forgot everything else at this moment except a desire to kill this man". However the Sikhs\' numbers were being depleted so the next commanding officer told Churchill to get the rest of the men and boys to safety.
Before he left he asked for a note so he would not be charged with desertion.Churchill, Winston (October 2002). My Early Life. Eland Publishing Ltd, p. 143. ISBN 0907871623. He received the note, quickly signed, and headed up the hill and alerted the other brigade, whereupon they then engaged the army. The fighting in the region dragged on for another two weeks before the dead could be recovered. He wrote in his journal: "Whether it was worth it I cannot tell.""Two opposition views of Afghanistan: British activist and Dutch MP want to know why their countries are participating in a dangerous adventure", Spectrazine, 20 March 2006. Retrieved on 2007-03-17. "Churchill On The Frontier - Mamund Valley III", UK Commentators, 11 December 2004. Retrieved on 2007-03-17. An account of the Siege of Malakand was published in December 1900 as The Story of the Malakand Field Force. He received £600 for his account. During the campaign, he also wrote articles for the newspapers The Pioneer and The Daily Telegraph.Jenkins, p. 29-31 His account of the battle was one of his first published stories, for which he received £5 per column from The Daily Telegraph.WINTER 1896-97 (Age 22) - "The University of My Life". Sir Winston Churchill. Retrieved on 2007-03-17.
The River War was published in 1899
Churchill was transferred to Egypt in 1898 where he visited Luxor before joining an attachment of the 21st Lancers serving in the Sudan under the command of General Herbert Kitchener. During his time he encountered two future military officers, whom he would later work with, during the First World War: Douglas Haig, then a captain and John Jellicoe, then a gunboat lieutenant.Jenkins, p. 40 While in the Sudan, he participated in what has been described as the last meaningful British cavalry charge at the Battle of Omdurman in September 1898. He also worked as a war correspondent for the Morning Post. By October 1898, he had returned to Britain and begun his two-volume work; The River War, an account of the reconquest of the Sudan published the following year.
Churchill stood for parliament in 1899 as a Conservative candidate in Oldham in a by-election, which he lost, coming third in the contest for two seats.Jenkins, p. 45-50Gilbert, Martin (2001). Churchill: A Study in Greatness (one volume edition). London: Pimlico. 978-0712667258.
After Churchill\'s failure to win the election in Oldham, he went to South Africa in 1899 to report on the Second Boer War. On 12 October 1899, the war between Britain and the Boer Republics broke out in South Africa. He was captured and held in a POW camp in Pretoria. He escaped from the prison camp and travelled almost 300 miles (480 km) to Portuguese Lourenço Marques in Delagoa Bay, with the assistance of an English mine manager.Jenkins, p. 55-62 His escape made him a minor national hero for a time in Britain, though instead of returning home, he rejoined General Redvers Buller\'s army on its march to relieve the British at the Siege of Ladysmith and take Pretoria.Jenkins, p. 61-62 This time, although continuing as a war correspondent, he gained a commission in the South African Light Horse Regiment. He was among the first British troops into Ladysmith and Pretoria. In fact, he and the Duke of Marlborough, his cousin, were able to get ahead of the rest of the troops in Pretoria, where they demanded and received the surrender of 52 Boer prison camp guards.Jenkins, p. 62-64
In 1900, Churchill returned to England on the RMS Dunottar Castle, the same ship on which he set sail for South Africa eight months earlier,FinestHour (pdf). Journal of the Churchill Center and Societies, Summer 2005. Retrieved on 2007-08-02. and published books on the Second Boer War including London to Ladysmith via Pretoria and Ian Hamilton\'s March, which he then marked by a small tour of the United StatesJenkins, p. 69
Churchill\'s election poster for the 1899 by-election in Oldham, which he lost.
Churchill in 1904.
A year later he won the seat following the 1900 general election. Churchill again stood for Oldham in the 1900 general election. He won, but before taking his seat in the Houses of Parliament, he embarked on a speaking tour throughout Britain and the United States, raising £10,000 for himself. In Parliament, he became associated with a faction of the Conservative Party led by Lord Hugh Cecil, the Hughligans. During his first parliamentary session, he opposed the government\'s military expenditureJenkins, p. 74-76 and Joseph Chamberlain, who proposed extensive tariffs intended to protect Britain\'s economic dominance. His own constituency effectively deselected him, although he continued to sit for Oldham until the next general election. After the Whitsun recess in 1904 he crossed the floor to sit as a member of the Liberal Party. As a Liberal, he continued to campaign for free trade.When the Liberals took office, with Henry Campbell-Bannerman as Prime Minister, in December 1905, Churchill became Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies dealing mainly with South Africa after the Boer War.
From 1903 until 1905, Churchill was also engaged in writing Lord Randolph Churchill, a two-volume biography of his father which was published in 1906 and received much critical acclaim. However, filial devotion caused him to soften some of his father\'s less attractive aspects.Jenkins, p. 101 He won the seat of Manchester North West in the 1906 general election. When Campbell-Bannerman was succeeded by Herbert Henry Asquith in 1908, Churchill was promoted to the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade. Under the law at the time, a newly appointed Cabinet Minister was obliged to seek re-election at a by-election; Churchill lost his seat but was soon back as the member for Dundee constituency. As President of the Board of Trade he joined newly appointed Chancellor Lloyd George in opposing First Lord of the Admiralty, Reginald McKenna\'s proposed huge expenditure for the construction of Navy dreadnought warships, and in supporting the Liberal reforms.Toye, Richard (2007). Lloyd George and Churchill: Rivals for Greatness. London: Macmillan. 978-1405048965. . In 1908 he introduced the Trade Boards Bill setting up the first minimum wages in Britain, Churchill, Randolph. Winston S. Churchill: Young Statesman. (c) 1967 C & T Publications: pp. 287-9 In 1909 he set up Labour Exchanges to help unemployed people find work. Jenkins, p. 150-151 He helped draft the first unemployment pension legislation, the National Insurance Act of 1911.Jenkins, p. 152
Churchill also assisted in passing the People\'s Budget.Jenkins, p. 157-166becoming the President of the Budget League, an organisation set up in response to the opposition\'s "Budget Protest League".Jenkins, p. 161The budget included the introduction of new taxes on the wealthy to allow for the creation of new social welfare programmes. After the budget bill was sent to the Commons in 1909 and passed, it went to the House of Lords, where it was vetoed. The Liberals then fought and won two general elections in January and December of 1910 to gain a mandate for their reforms. The budget was then passed following the Parliament Act of 1911 for which he also campaigned. In 1910, he was promoted to Home Secretary. His term was controversial, after his responses to the Siege of Sidney Street and the dispute at the Cambrian Colliery and the suffragettes.
Winston Churchill (highlighted) at Sidney Street, 3 January 1911
In 1910, a number of coal miners in the Rhondda Valley began what has come to be known as the Tonypandy Riot. The Chief Constable of Glamorgan requested troops be sent in to help police quell the rioting. Churchill, learning that the troops were already traveling, allowed them to go as far as Swindon and Cardiff but blocked their deployment. On 9 November, the Times criticized this decision. In spite of this, the rumour persists that Churchill had ordered troops to attack, and his reputation in Wales and in Labour circles never recovered.Churchill, Randolph. Winston S. Churchill: Young Statesman. (c) 1967 C & T Publications: 359-65
In early January 1911 Churchill made a controversial visit to the Siege of Sidney Street in London. There is some uncertainty as to whether he attempted to give operational commands. A biographer, Roy Jenkins, comments that the reason he went was because "he could not resist going to see the fun himself" and that he did not issue commands.Jenkins, p. 194 His role and presence attracted much criticism. After an inquest, Arthur Balfour remarked, "He [Churchill] and a photographer were both risking valuable lives. I understand what the photographer was doing but what was the Right Honourable gentleman doing?"Ibid, p. 195 Churchill\'s proposed solution to the suffragette issue was a referendum on the issue but this found no favour with Herbert Henry Asquith and women\'s suffrage remained unresolved until after the First World War.Jenkins, p. 186
In 1911, Churchill was transferred to the office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, a post he held into World War I. He gave impetus to several reform efforts, including development of naval aviation (he undertook flying lessons himself),Churchill took flying lessons, 1911, The Aerodrome.com, the construction of new and larger warships, the development of tanks, and the switch from coal to oil in the Royal Navy, .Naval innovation: from coal to oil, Erik J. Dahl, Joint Force Quarterly, 2000
On 5 October 1914 Churchill went to Antwerp which the Belgian government proposed to evacuate. The Royal Marine Brigade was there and at Churchill’s urgings the 1st and 2nd Naval Brigades were also committed. Antwerp fell on 10th October with the loss of 2500 men. At the time he was attacked for squandering resources.The World Crisis (new edition), Odhams 1938 p. 323 It is more likely that his actions prolonged the resistance by a week (Belgium had proposed surrendering Antwerp on 3rd October) and that this time saved Calais and Dunkirk.Robert Rhode James. Churchill: A Study in Failure. Pelican, 1973. p. 80.
Churchill was involved with the development of the tank, which was financed from naval research funds..The First World War, The development of the Tank, sponsored by Winston Churchill. Retrieved on 2007-12-16. He then headed the Landships Committee which was responsible for creating the first tank corps and, although a decade later development of the battle tank would be seen as a tactical victory, at the time it was seen as misappropriation of funds.The First World War, The development of the Tank, sponsored by Winston Churchill. Retrieved on 2007-12-16. In 1915 he was one of the political and military engineers of the disastrous Gallipoli landings on the Dardanelles during World War I.Callwell, C.E. (2005). Dardanelles, a study of the strategical and certain tactical aspects of the Dardanelles campaign. London: Naval & Military Press Ltd. 978-1845742737. He took much of the blame for the fiasco, and when Prime Minister Asquith formed an all-party coalition government, the Conservatives demanded his demotion as the price for entry.Jenkins, p. 282-88
For several months Churchill served in the sinecure of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. However on 15 November 1915 he resigned from the government, feeling his energies were not being used.Jenkins, p. 287 and, though remaining an MP, served for several months on the Western Front commanding the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, under the rank of Colonel. Jenkins, p. 301 In March, 1916 Churchill returned to England after he had become restless in France and wished to speak again in the House of Commons.Jenkins, p. 309 In July 1917, Churchill was appointed Minister of Munitions, and in January 1919, Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for Air. He was the main architect of the Ten Year Rule, a principle that allows the Treasury to dominate and control strategic, foreign and financial policies under the assumption that "there would be no great European war for the next five or ten years".Ferris, John. Treasury Control, the Ten Year Rule and British Service Policies, 1919-1924. The Historical Journal, Vol. 30, No. 4. (Dec., 1987), pp. 859-883.
A major preoccupation of his tenure in the War Office was the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. Churchill was a staunch advocate of foreign intervention, declaring that Bolshevism must be "strangled in its cradle".Jeffrey Wallin with Juan Williams (2001-09-04). Cover Story: Churchill\'s Greatness.. Churchill Centre. Retrieved on 2007-02-26. He secured, from a divided and loosely organised Cabinet, intensification and prolongation of the British involvement beyond the wishes of any major group in Parliament or the nation — and in the face of the bitter hostility of Labour. In 1920, after the last British forces had been withdrawn, Churchill was instrumental in having arms sent to the Poles when they invaded Ukraine. He became Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1921 and was a signatory of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which established the Irish Free State. Churchill was involved in the length negotiations of the treaty and to protect British maritime interests, he engineered part of the Irish Free State agreement to include three Treaty Ports—Queenstown (Cobh), Berehaven and Lough Swilly—which could be used as Atlantic bases by the Royal Navy.Jenkins, p. 361-65 Under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Trade Agreement the bases were returned to the newly constituted Éire in 1938.
In September the Conservative Party withdrew from the Coalition government after a meeting of backbenchers dissatisfied with the handling of the Chanak Crisis This precipitated the October 1922 General Election was looming. The Liberal Party continued to be beset by internal division which affected Churchill\'s ability when campaigning. He came only fourth in the poll for Dundee losing to the prohibitionist Edwin Scrymgeour. Churchill later quipped that he left Dundee "without an office, without a seat, without a party and without an appendix".Hall, Douglas J. (1950). All the Elections Churchill Ever Contested (HTML). Churchill and... Politics. The Churchill Centre. Retrieved on 2007-02-26. Churchill stood for the Liberals again in the 1923 general election, losing in Leicester and then as an independent, first in a by-election in the Westminster Abbey constituency and then successfully in the General Election of 1924, for Epping. The following year, he formally rejoined the Conservative Party, commenting wryly that "Anyone can rat [betray], but it takes a certain ingenuity to re-rat."[www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/apr/06/election2005.uk Labour defector asks to return]. Guardian Unlimited (2005). Retrieved on 2007-07-13.
Churchill was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1924 under Stanley Baldwin and oversaw Britain\'s disastrous return to the Gold Standard, which resulted in deflation, unemployment, and the miners\' strike that led to the General Strike of 1926.Budget Blunders: Mr Churchill and the Gold Standard (1925), BBC News. Retrieved 02-12-2007. His decision, announced in the 1924 Budget, came after long consultation with various economists including John Maynard Keynes, the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, Sir Otto Niemeyer and the board of the Bank of England. This decision prompted Keynes to write The Economic Consequences of Mr. Churchill, arguing that the return to the gold standard at the pre-war parity in 1925 (£1=$4.86) would lead to a world depression. However, the decision was generally popular and seen as \'sound economics\' although it was opposed by Lord Beaverbrook and the Federation of British Industries.James op cit p. 207.
Churchill as Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1927
Churchill later regarded this as the greatest mistake of his life. However in discussions at the time with former Chancellor McKenna, Churchill acknowledged that the return to the gold standard and the resulting \'dear money\' policy was economically bad. In those discussions he maintained the policy as fundamentally political - a return to the pre-war conditions in which he believed.James op cit p. 206. In his speech on the Bill he said "I will tell you what it [the return to the Gold Standard] will shackle us to. It will shackle us to reality."Speeches – Gold Standard Bill. The Churchill Centre (May 4, 1925). Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
The return to the pre-war exchange rate and to the Gold Standard depressed industries. The most affected was the coal industry. Already suffering from declining output as shipping switched to oil, as basic British industries like cotton came under more competition in export markets, the return to the pre-war exchange was estimated to add up to 10% in costs to the industry. In July 1925 a Commission of Inquiry reported generally favouring the miners, rather than the mine owners\' position.Jenkins, p. 405 Baldwin, with Churchill\'s support proposed a subsidy to the industry while a Royal Commission prepared a further report.
That Commission solved nothing and the miners dispute led to the General Strike of 1926, Churchill was reported to have suggested that machine guns be used on the striking miners. Churchill edited the Government\'s newspaper, the British Gazette, and, during the dispute, he argued that "either the country will break the General Strike, or the General Strike will break the country" and claimed that the fascism of Benito Mussolini had "rendered a service to the whole world," showing, as it had, "a way to combat subversive forces" — that is, he considered the regime to be a bulwark against the perceived threat of Communist revolution. At one point, Churchill went as far as to call Mussolini the "Roman genius… the greatest lawgiver among men."Picknett, Lynn, Prince, Clive, Prior, Stephen & Brydon, Robert (2002). War of the Windsors: A Century of Unconstitutional Monarchy, p. 78. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1-84018-631-3.
Later economists, as well as people at the time, also criticised Churchill\'s budget measures. These were seen as assisting the generally prosperous rentier banking and salaried classes (to which Churchill and his associates generally belonged) at the expense of manufacturers and exporters which were known then to be suffering from imports and from competition in traditional export markets, H Henderson The Interwar Years and other papers. Clarendon Press and as paring the Armed Forces too heavily James op cit p 22 212
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Churchill wrote a biography of his ancestor John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough in the mid 1930s
The Conservative government was defeated in the 1929 General Election. Churchill did not seek election to the Conservative Business Committee, the official leadership of the Conservative MPs. Over the next two years, Churchill became estranged from the Conservative leadership over the issues of protective tariffs and Indian Home Rule and by his political views and by his friendships with press barons, financiers and people whose characters were seen as dubious. When Ramsay MacDonald formed the National Government in 1931, Churchill was not invited to join the Cabinet. He was at the low point in his career, in a period known as "the wilderness years".Gilbert, Martin (2004). Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years. London: Pimlico. 978-1844134182.
He spent much of the next few years concentrating on his writing, including Marlborough: His Life and Times — a biography of his ancestor John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough — and A History of the English Speaking Peoples (though the latter was not published until well after World War II). Great Contemporaries and many newspaper articles and collections of speeches He was one of the best paid writers of his time. His political views, set forth in his 1930 Romanes Election and published as Parliamentary Government and the Economic Problem (republished in 1932 in his collection of essays "Thoughts and Adventures") involved abandoning universal suffrage, a return to a property franchise, proportional representation for the major cities and an economic \'sub parliament\'.Books Written by Winston Churchill (see Amid these Storms, The Churchill Centre, 2007
Churchill opposed Mohandas Gandhi\'s peaceful disobedience revolt and the Indian Independence movement in the 1930s, arguing that the Round Table Conference "was a frightful prospect". 247 House of Commons Debates 5s col 755 Later reports indicate that Churchill favoured letting Gandhi die if he went on hunger strike http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4573152.stm
During the first half of the 1930s, Churchill was outspoken in his opposition to granting Dominion status to India. He was one of the founders of the India Defence League, a group dedicated to the preservation of British power in India. In speeches and press articles in this period he forecast widespread British unemployment and civil strife in India should independence be granted.James op cit p. 260. The Viceroy Lord Irwin who had been appointed by the prior Conservative Government engaged in the Round Table Conference in early 1931 and then announced the Government\'s policy that India should be granted Dominion Status. In this the Government was supported by the Liberal Party and, officially at least, by the Conservative Party. Churchill denounced the Round Table Conference.
At a meeting of the West Essex Conservative Association specially convened so Churchill could explain his position he said, "It is alarming and also nauseating to see Mr Gandhi, a seditious Middle-Temple lawyer, now posing as a fakir of a type well-known in the East, striding half-naked up the steps of the Vice-regal palace...to parley on equal terms with the representative of the King-Emperor."Gilbert, Martin. Winston S. Churchill: The Prophet of Truth * 1922-1939. (c)1976 by C&T Publications, Ltd.: p. 618. He called the Indian Congress leaders "Brahmins who mouth and patter principles of Western Liberalism." speech on 18 March 1931 quoted in James op cit p. 254.
There were two incidents which damaged Churchill\'s reputation greatly within the Conservative Party in the period. Both were taken as attacks on the Conservative front bench. The first was his speech on the eve of the St George by-election in April 1931. In a secure Conservative seat, the official Conservative candidate Duff Cooper was opposed by an independent Conservative. The independent was supported by Lord Rothermere, Lord Beaverbrook and their respective newspapers. Although arranged before the by election was set, James op cit p. 262. Churchill\'s speech was seen as supporting the independent candidate and as a part of the Press Baron\'s campaign against Baldwin. Baldwin\'s position was strengthened when Duff Cooper won and when the civil disobedience campaign in India ceased with the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. The second issue was a claim that Sir Samuel Hoare and Lord Derby had pressured the Manchester Chamber of Commerce to change evidence it had given to the Joint Select Committee considering the Government of India Bill in June 193 and in doing so had breached Parliamentary privilege. He had the matter referred to the House of Commons Privilege Committee which after investigations, in which Churchill gave evidence reported to the House that there had been no breach.Rhode James op cit p269-272 The report was debated on 13 June. Churchill was unable to find a single supporter in the House and the debate ended without a division.
Churchill permanently broke with Stanley Baldwin over Indian independence and never held any office while Baldwin was Prime Minister. Later Churchill was to selectively quote Baldwin to give the impression that Baldwin put party before country by not pursuing a rearmament policy for fear of losing the 1935 election. Robert Rhodes James, Churchill: A Study in Failure (Pelican, 1973), p. 343. This canard had been first put forward in the first edition of Guilty Men but in subsequent editions (including those before Churchill wrote the Gathering Storm) had been corrected. for full discussion see R Basset "Telling the truth to the People: the myth of the Baldwin "confession\' Cambridge Journal November 1948 Some historians see his basic attitude to India as being set out in his book My Early Life (1930). James op cit p. 258. . Historians also dispute his motives in maintaining his opposition. Some see him as trying to destabilise the National Government. Some also draw a parallel between Churchill\'s attitudes to India and those towards the Nazis. Churchill India; facsimile edition see the introduction by M Weidhorn Dragonwyck Publishing 1990
Beginning in 1932 when he opposed those who advocated giving Germany the right to military parity with France, Churchill spoke often of the dangers of Germany\'s rearmament. James op cit pp. 285-6. He later, particularly in The Gathering Storm, tried to portray himself as being for a time, a lone voice calling on Britain to strengthen itself to counter the belligerence of Germany.Picknett, et al., p. 75. However Lord Lloyd was the first to so agitate. Lord Lloyd and the decline of the British Empire J Charmley pp. 1, 2, 213ff Churchill\'s attitude toward the fascist dictators was ambiguous. In 1931 he warned against the League of Nations opposing the Japanese in Manchuria "I hope we shall try in England to understand the position of Japan, an ancient state.... On the one side they have the dark menace of Soviet Russia. On the other the chaos of China, four or five provinces of which are being tortured under Communist rule". James op cit p. 329 quoting Churchill\'s speech in the Commons In contemporary newspaper articles he referred to the Spanish Republican government as a Communist front, and Franco\'s army as the "Anti-red movement". James op cit p. 408. He supported the Hoare-Laval Pact and continued up until 1937 to praise Benito Mussolini. A J P Taylor Beaverbrook Hamish Hamilton 1972 p. 375.
In his 1937 book Great Contemporaries, Churchill wrote: "One may dislike Hitler\'s system and yet admire his patriotic achievements. If our country were defeated, I hope we should find a champion as admirable (as Hitler) to restore our courage and lead us back to our place among the nations".[citation needed] Speaking in the House of Commons, in 1937, he said "I will not pretend that, if I had to choose between communism and Nazism, I would choose communism".[citation needed] In the same work, Churchill expressed a hope that despite Hitler\'s apparent dictatorial tendencies, he would use his power to rebuild Germany into a worthy member of the world community. (2001) "Churchill and the Two \'Evil Empires\'". Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 11: 331-351. Churchill\'s first major speech on defence on 7 February 1934 stressed the need to rebuild the Royal Air Force and to create a Ministry of Defence; his second, on 13 July urged a renewed role for the League of Nations. These three topics remained his themes until early 1936. In 1935 he was one of the founding members of Focus which brought together people of differing political backgrounds and occupations who were united in seeking \'the defence of freedom and peace\'. for a history of Focus see E Spier Focus Wolff 1963 Focus led to the formation of the much wider Arms and the Covenant Movement in 1936.
Churchill was holidaying in Spain when the Germans reoccupied the Rhineland in February 1936, and returned to a divided England—Labour opposition was adamant in opposing sanctions and the National Government was divided between advocates of economic sanctions and those who said that even these would lead to a humiliating backdown by Britain as France would not support any intervention. Harold Nicholson\'s letter to his wife on 13th March summed up the situation "If we send an ultimatum to Germany she ought in all reason to climb down. But then she will not climb down and we shall have war... The people of this country absolutely refuse to have a war. We would be faced with a general strike if we suggested such a thing. We shall therefore have to climb down ignominiously "Diaries and Letters 1930-1939 p. 249. Churchill\'s speech on 9 March was measured and praised by Neville Chamberlain as constructive. But within weeks Churchill was passed over for the post of Minister for Co-ordination of Defence in favour of the Attorney General Sir Thomas Inskip. James op cit pp. 333-337. . Alan Taylor called this; \'An appointment rightly described as the most extraordinary since Caligula made his horse a consul.\' The Origins of the Second World War p. 153. In June 1936 Churchill organised a deputation of senior Conservatives who shared his concern to see Baldwin, Chamberlain and Halifax. He had tried to have delegates from the other two parties and later wrote "If the leaders of the Labour and Liberal oppositions had come with us there might have been a political situation so intense as to enforce remedial action". The Gathering Storm p. 276. As it was the meeting achieved little, Baldwin arguing that the Government was doing all it could given the anti-war feeling of the electorate.
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The response of Churchill in the Abdication Crisis of King Edward VIII (pictured) caused severe damage to Churchill\'s political reputation.
In June 1936 Walter Monckton told Churchill that the rumours that King Edward VIII intended to marry Mrs Wallis Simpson were true. Churchill then advised against the marriage and said he regarded Mrs Simpson\'s existing marriage as a \'safeguard\'. Frederick Smith, 2nd Earl of Birkenhead Walter Monckton Weidenfield and Nicholson 1969 p. 129. In November he declined Lord Salisbury\'s invitation to be part of a delegation of senior Conservative backbenchers who met with Baldwin to discuss the matter. On 25 November he, Attlee and Sinclair met with Baldwin and were told officially of the King\'s intention and asked whether they would form an administration if Baldwin and the National Government resigned should the King not take the Ministry\'s advice. Both Attlee and Sinclair said they would not take office if invited to do so. Churchill\'s reply was that his attitude was a little different but he would support the government. Middlemas K R and Barnes J Stanley Baldwin Weidenfield and Nicholson 1969 p. 999.
The Abdication crisis became public, coming to head in the first fortnight of December 1936. At this time Churchill publicly gave his support to the King. The first public meeting of the Arms and the Covenant Movement was on 3rd December. Churchill was a major speaker and later wrote that in replying to the Vote of Thanks he made a declaration \'on the spur of the moment\' asking for delay before any decision was made by either the King or his Cabinet. The Gathering Storm pp. 170-1. Others including Citrine who chaired the meeting wrote that Churchill did not make such a speech. Citrine Men and Work Hutchinson 1964 p. 357. Later that night Churchill saw the draft of the King\'s proposed wireless broadcast and spoke with Beaverbrook and the King\'s solicitor about it. On 4 December he met with the King and again urged delay in any decision about abdication. On 5th December he issued a lengthy statement implying that the Ministry was applying unconstitutional pressure on the King to force him to make a hasty decision. James op cit pp. 349-351 where the text of the statement is given On 7th December he tried to address the Commons to plead for delay. He was shouted down. Seemingly staggered by the unanimous hostility of all Members he left.Beaverbrook, Lord; Edited by A. J. P. Taylor (1966). The Abdication of King Edward VIII. London: Hamish Hamilton.
Churchill\'s reputation in Parliament and England as a whole was badly damaged. Some such as Alistair Cooke saw him as trying to build a King\'s Party. Alistair Cook \'Edward VIII\' in Six Men Bodley Head 1977 Others like Harold Macmillan were dismayed by the damage Churchill\'s support for the King had done to the Arms and the Covenant Movement. H Macmillan The Blast of War Macmillan 1970 Churchill himself later wrote "I was myself smitten in public opinion that it was the almost universal view that my political life was ended." The Gathering Storm p. 171. Historians are divided about Churchill\'s motives in his support for Edward VIII. Some such as A J P Taylor see it as being an attempt to \'overthrow the government of feeble men\'. A J P Taylor English History (1914-1945) Hamish Hamilton 1961 p. 404. Others such as Rhode James see Churchill\'s motives as entirely honourable and disinterested, that he felt deeply for the King. James op cit p. 353.
Churchill later sought to portray himself as an isolated voice warning of the need to rearm against Germany. While it is true that he had little following in the House of Commons during much of the 1930s he was given considerable privileges by the Government. The “Churchill group” in the later half of the decade consisted only of himself, Duncan Sandys and Brendan Bracken. It was isolated from the other main factions within the Conservative Party pressing for faster rearmament and a stronger foreign policy.These factions were headed by Anthony Eden and
