The man for the moment Churchill had become prime minister of the United Kingdom in May 1940 At the time many powerful people had questioned some of his past decisions and were less than enthusiastic about giving him this role But as the German Army stormed across Europe and overwhelmed France the majority of people came to believe that Churchill was the right man for the moment A U S journalist for the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote of Churchill’s first speech as prime minister He proved himself an honest man as well as a man of action Britain has reason to be enheartened by his bluntness and his courage 2 So what were the qualities that made Churchill such an inspirational war leader and helped to win the Battle of Britain And what crucial decisions did Churchill make as the United Kingdom struggled to come to terms with the disastrous fall of France in 1940 as well as the threat of imminent German invasion Decisive words Churchill alone Everything depended on him and him alone Only he had the power to make the nation believe that it could win 3 Edward Bridges cabinet secretary writing about Winston Churchill between 1940 and 1942
Who Was Winston Churchill Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born on November 30 1874 at Blenheim Palace near Oxford England His father Lord Randolph Churchill was the youngest son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough which meant that Churchill was descended from one of the United Kingdom’s most famous generals John Churchill 1650 1722 1st Duke of Marlborough His mother Jennie Jerome was the daughter of a wealthy banker from New York Blenheim Palace was a gift from Queen Anne and the nation to John Churchill in thanks for his part in the victory at the Battle of Blenheim in 1704 Winston Churchill was born there in 1874 As was usual for the time Winston Churchill was raised mostly by a much-loved nanny Mrs Everest and was then sent to boarding school at the age of seven He did not shine academically at Harrow School and he later wrote of his time
there I was on the whole considerably discouraged by my school days 1 He did however manage on the third attempt to pass the exams to enter the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst the place where all officers in the British Army are trained Churchill graduated in 1894 taking up a post as a cavalry officer a soldier on horseback the following year Churchill may have come from a grand and wealthy family but largely due to the huge costs of running and maintaining Blenheim Palace his family was constantly short of money After his father’s death in 1895 Churchill received an allowance from his mother in addition to his army pay But it was never enough to allow him to live him in the style he considered appropriate This may have been one reason why he began to take on work as a war correspondent for various newspapers often alongside his army duties Reporting from Cuba in 1895 he came under fire for the first time on his 21st birthday He also acquired his lifelong love of Cuban cigars 2 Start of a political career Even as he began his army career Churchill was thinking about the possibilities beyond it His father had been active in UK politics as a member of Parliament MP for the Conservative Party a political party that emphasized the traditional values of stability and continuity Churchill was therefore already well connected in the world of politics and after his father’s death he relied on his mother to promote his cause In 1899 Churchill decided to leave the army and pursue a political career His first attempt to become a member of parliament ended in failure But in the general election of 1900 he succeeded in his bid to be Conservative MP for Oldham in the northwest of England Churchill quickly made his mark in politics As an elected MP he entered the House of Commons the lower chamber of Parliament His first speech in the Commons was about the situation in southern Africa and he called for the fair treatment of the defeated Boers 3
Escaped prisoner In 1899 Churchill worked as a correspondent to report on the war in southern Africa between the British and the Boers of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State In an episode of high drama he showed great bravery in helping to rescue an armored train that was ambushed by the Boers He was taken prisoner but a month later he managed to escape by scrambling over the outer wall of the prison After his safe return Churchill found that he had become a hero His newfound fame played a major part in his election as an MP in 1900 4 It was Churchill’s support for the policy of free trade that caused the first major upheaval of his political career Some members of the Conservative Party including Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain wanted to introduce tariffs taxes on food and other goods that were imported into the United Kingdom They argued that such tariffs would protect UK manufacturing and businesses from what they considered unfair competition from abroad Churchill and other supporters of free trade disagreed It was over this issue that Churchill made the decision in May 1904 to leave the Conservatives and join the opposition Liberal Party This was a bold move and soon Churchill was speaking out against his former colleagues The issue of free trade eventually caused the Conservative prime minister to resign and there was a general election in 1906 When the Liberals won Churchill accepted a post dealing with colonial matters in the new government Class traitor In the following years Churchill played a major role in the Liberal government working at the Board of Trade the committee responsible for the country’s economic life Then in 1910 he became home secretary meaning he was in charge of the HomeOffice with responsibility for security the police immigration and more He helped to introduce many anti-poverty laws and was involved in prison reform
