Winston Churchill: A Life From Beginning to End (World War 2 Biographies), by Hourly History.

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Winston Churchill: A Life 

From Beginning to End 

(World War 2 Biographies), 

by Hourly History. 

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Worth reading despite faults. 

Or so one may opine, during first chapter or two or so.

Composed seemingly well, the book proceeds in an uneven manner, surprising a reader when one realises that, the author has given a complete bypass to those matters that Winston Churchill is remembered most for, such as the strength he gave England in his leadership, for solidarity against the nazi horrors perpetrated in Europe, and the then feared invasion of England - by the nazi forces ranged across the Channel, all along the coastline of the continent of Europe - with his stoic determination, and most of all, by his rousing speeches from time to time that inspired, energized and united England in the struggle, from the moment he was PM, through the impossible rescue at Dunkirk, through the Battle of Britain, through London Blitz, and onwards, until the tide of the war turned. 

The disgusting author and publishers hereby instead give a complete bypass, not only to the war suffered by England, but to the very speeches that Winston Churchill is not only remembered for, but identified with. 

And if one writes a book on Winston Churchill without his "fight on beaches" speech, one might be saving money for royalty, but one is producing only husk and chaff. 

In short, the book not only seeks to minimize, but hides, Britain's and Winston Churchill's hour of glory. 

Instead author and publishers seem to focus on Churchill attempting to stop what he called "the iron curtain" descending on the continent of Europe or eastern part thereof. 

This merely exposes the nazi bent of the author and the publishers. 

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"“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

Author does not date this quote. Given as it in a chapter leading from end of WWII towards cold War, author and publishers would like to make readers infer that Winston Churchill wrote this about Soviet, not nazi, rule. 

But it's unlikely that Winston Churchill said this after WWII, after cold War had set forth, about only then current times. Even if he wrote this then, it had to have taken into account the horrors perpetrated by nazis, including extermination camps, exposed at Nuremberg trials. 

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"This was followed by Roosevelt’s matter of fact response on April 7, “I regard it as militarily unsound at this stage of the proceedings to make Berlin a major objective, particularly in view of the fact that it is only thirty-five miles from the Russian lines.” For Roosevelt, the Russian occupation of the German city, which Churchill so dreaded, was just a matter of due course; as he put it, they were, in fact, “only thirty-five miles” from the target.

"In F.D.R.’s mind, it only made sense to let the Russians take on the challenge of subduing the German capital. Once again, Churchill’s long-term vision for the end game in Europe had been rebuffed. However, with the American President’s abrupt passing on April 12, 1945, Churchill would have a new man in the White House to deal with, by the name of Harry S. Truman."

Until the election in UK, when Divine replaced him with someone more amenable to independence of India. 

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"“Never, never, never give up.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

Again - that had to be written with dark days of the Battle of Britain and horror of the London Blitz in background, if not while living with them. 

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"Harry Truman had only been vice president under F.D.R. for a few months when Roosevelt abruptly died of a cerebral hemorrhage. The whole world (Harry Truman included) was completely surprised and unprepared for F.D.R.’s passing. Immediately after taking the oath of office, Truman allegedly told a crowd of assembled reporters, “Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now. 

"“I don’t know if you fellas ever had a load of hay fall on you, but when they told what happened yesterday, I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me.” For his part, however, Churchill had full confidence in the new President and called him the “type of leader the world needs when it needs him most.” Churchill continued to hold this view when on May 7, 1945, Truman led the Allies in the final defeat of Nazi Germany.

"The complete surrender of Germany was held as a great day of celebration in England, with Churchill himself standing up on a balcony of the Ministry of Health building in London to address a large crowd that had gathered below, congratulating them, “This is your victory!” The crowd, feeling that Churchill was indeed the man of the hour, however, was quick to shout back, “No! It is yours!”

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"Churchill, at last, was getting the recognition he felt he deserved for pulling his country, and to a larger extent the world, through one of the worst catastrophes in history. However, despite such local critical acclaim, Churchill was still very much struggling to get a grip on the post-war order, with one of the most challenging post-war incidents occurring just one month after Germany’s surrender when the French attempted to regain the territory in Syria and Lebanon that they had lost after German occupation."

"local"???? 

"The local Lebanese and Syrian populations, who had just had a taste of independence, did not take too kindly to their returning colonial masters and rose up in revolt. This then prompted the French General Charles de Gaulle to order French troops to shoot into a crowd of Syrian demonstrators on May 20, as well as dropping bombs right on top of protestors in Damascus and Aleppo.

"By May 31, with the Syrian death toll at the hands of the French reaching well over a thousand, Churchill decided that he had to act and sent de Gaulle a direct order to have his troops commit to a “cease fire and withdraw” back “to their barracks.” This directive from Churchill was ignored by the French, however, and British troops were sent marching into Syria as a consequence."

This is rarely mentioned in context of WWII, Winston Churchill or Charles de Gaulle, where it belongs. 

But again, this author and the publishers are only foing so in an effort to pull the latter two down, and in this, mentioning the acclaim by the London crowd as "local" in the paragraph above gives a clue to the effect aimed at by the author and the publishers. 

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"The French were hopelessly outnumbered by the troops Churchill had sent in and as a result ultimately decided it would be wise to heed his demand, returning to their bases with a full British military escort at their heels. Although Churchill was victorious in the dispute, it would come to cost him dearly when it came to relations with post-war France. Charles de Gaulle even went so far to say that he believed that Churchill had armed and stirred up the Syrian protesters in a clandestine attempt to interfere with French affairs in the region."

Or it was the then nascent CIA, in cahoots with nazis who'd fled to Levant, apart from the continental shores of South Atlantic and interiors thereof? 

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"However, in the summer of 1945, the agitated French were the least of Churchill’s concerns; still taking first place in Winston’s worried mind, of course, was the Soviet Union. At this time, Churchill drafted the first known Cold War contingency plan against the Soviets called “Operation Unthinkable” in which Churchill’s military strategists hypothesized a surprise attack on the Soviet forces that were occupying Germany.

"This plan was almost immediately rejected as unfeasible, but a lighter weight defensive strategy emerged from its ashes, a plan established in case the Soviets pushed through to the Atlantic to threaten England in light of an American withdrawal from the continent. Even though he had just seen the defeat of Nazi Germany, Winston Churchill was not taking any chances with Joseph Stalin, even if it cost him an election."

Author and publishers hereby insinuate that this cost him the election, thereby making UK seem riddled by left. This is false, even though labour won the election. 

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"“Kites rise highest against the wind – not with it.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

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"On July 26, when the results of Great Britain’s 1945 election came in, it was a stunning blow to Churchill and those who were close to him. That the “British Bulldog” that had led their nation through its darkest hour had been so handily defeated in a national election was a surprise to say the least, but the writing had been on the wall for some time, and despite Churchill’s good stewardship throughout the war, it was the British working class who had the final say in the election."

A far better judgement is shown by those that opined that British public had chosen a more appropriate leader for peace, after the war was over. 

"Despite Churchill’s heroic status, it was the social reform and redistribution of national income proposed by Churchill’s opponent that decided the results. The day after the election results came in, Churchill gave a farewell address that many did indeed believe would be his last. After Mr. Churchill’s ousting from Parliament, he would remain active on the international stage, and for the next six years, he would head the opposition party.

"It was during this time that Winston Churchill would give his famous “Iron Curtain” speech. It was during a visit to Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri on March 5, 1946, in which he declared, “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an Iron Curtain has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest, and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere.”"

Again, not only mentioning but giving the gist of this speech - which is rarely identified with Winston Churchill - while not only not quoting but completely leaving unmentioned his most famous speech (- about fighting in streets, fighting on beaches, ... ), shows the nias of the author and the publishers, which is not merely one of obliterating of the continent of Europe from thought, but that of a bias that is pro-nazi, and not merely anti-leftist. 

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"At face value, Winston Churchill would appear to be an unlikely candidate for prominence on the world stage. The nature of his short and stout physique seems in itself as a disqualifier. Instead of a bold and majestic hero making his way through Parliament in big strides, Churchill ambled about with a limp."

"At face value" as author puts it, that paragraph may not seem so, but it's highly racist - and anyone having read George Eliot, John Galsworthy cannot but be definitely aware of the caste system in place that incorporates, among other lines of demarcation, such racial criteria as above. 

So author in writingthat paragraph, and publishers in allowing it published, have exhibited their own racism on their own flags as it were, without embarrassment. 

It reminds one of just how often a presidential candidate in US is selected - and more often than anyone not completely illiterate would like to think, elected - for cosmetic reasons. 

Its converse is seen easily enough as well, in just how often an atrocious tenure is wiped of all criticism and glorified subsequently, or a less cosmetic president is constantly harrangued and harassed for even right, tightrope taut wire walk difficult policies executed, not merely during but long after the presidential tenure. 

Fortunately for world civilisation, post Munich conference was the one occasion when UK went with sense and not cosmetic racism. 

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"When he wasn’t tottering about on his uncertain feet in the House of Commons, he just may have been still home in bed under the covers suffering from severe and debilitating depression. Churchill and those who knew him best were so used to his frequent bouts of melancholy that Churchill even decided to name it, often referring to his personal despair as a “black dog” that followed close to his heels wherever he went."

Or was it something he wasn't aware of at conscious levels, a premonition about just how wrong things were to go, and what an hour of severe test Britain was to face, and subsequent loss of empire when the rest had been passed despite difficulties? 

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"When Churchill was successful in keeping this black dog at bay, he was able to achieve some of the most impressive feats of statecraft that the world has ever seen. On the opposite end of Churchill’s depression was a manic energy and passion that drove him to work tirelessly, staying up days on end working to pass proposals and legislation. 

"He was both a vigorous speaker and writer, and when he wasn’t voicing his opinions in the British Parliament, he was writing them down in lengthy books and treatises that are still being researched by academics to this day. Churchill often had so many projects and efforts unfolding all at the same time that the American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt once remarked with a bit of sarcasm, “He has a thousand ideas a day, four of which are good.”

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"These were just friendly little quips on the part of F.D.R., but even this good-natured humor serves as a testament to just how energetic and effective Churchill really was. However, this frenetic pace came at a cost, and Winston Churchill, like many who suffered from destabilizing mood disorders, often found himself attempting to augment the wild swings of his mental state by self-medicating. Churchill was an alcoholic for much of his life, and he was also dependent on routine doses of barbiturates and amphetamines just to get him through the day."

And yet he was a chief reason that British could, along with Russians (post 1941), stand a firm bulwark against the nazi tide threatening to sweep civilisation off planet. 

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"“My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

Wonder when he wrote that. 

If post WWII, was that humour? 

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"In many ways, the life of Winston Churchill was a struggle from the very beginning. It seems that even on the very day he was born, Winston was in for the fight of his life. On November 30, 1874, Winston Churchill came into this world severely underweight and in poor health. His premature birth was brought on when his mother accidentally fell down, triggering an early labor. 

"Churchill’s father, Lord Randolph Churchill, a man of British nobility related to the 1st Duke of Marlborough, had thoroughly planned in advance a great reception for Churchill’s projected birth of January in a posh home he had rented just for the occasion. However, as is often the case with the best-laid plans of mice and men, these overtures came to naught when Winston Churchill abruptly arrived on November 30 in a plain, nondescript, unfurnished bedroom at Blenheim Palace, in Oxfordshire, England.

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"Despite his premature entrance into this world, however, the young Winston Churchill would grow into a healthy, and as some say, even a “stocky” child, with a strong appetite for life. By April 17, 1888, when Churchill was 13 years of age and enrolled at the Harrow Boarding School in London, he vigorously put this appetite to use when he joined the elite “Harrow Rifle Corps.”

"This first stint in military training would then lead him to enroll at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in 1893 as a Cadet Officer. It took Churchill three tries to pass the entrance exam, but once he made it into the school, Churchill was determined to get off to a good start. The curriculum was exciting to him, and Churchill loved learning basic military principles that were taught at the Academy such as Military Fortification, Military Law, Tactics, and even Topography.

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"It was actually topography, the study of maps, which garnered the most attention from Churchill. He became fascinated with map making and would go on to draw several detailed contoured maps and charts of the land surrounding the academy. Not all of his studies were quite so cerebral; some were quite physical, such as when he was required to blow up entire bridges on the Academy grounds and then quickly fashion wooden substitutions for what he had just destroyed.

"The ability to quickly engineer bridges to cross treacherous tracts of land would later serve Churchill well after his training at Sandhurst sent him into active service for the Queen’s Fourth Hussars. This already world-renowned fighting unit would take him all the way to Cuba, in which he took on an observational role in the Spanish-American War.

"In the 1890s when Churchill took part in this conflict the United States, a former colony of England, was still not on the friendliest of terms with Great Britain. This sentiment that was well demonstrated by the fact that Churchill was awarded a medal for bravery by the Spanish who were, at the time, America’s antagonist in the Caribbean.

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"Interestingly enough, it wasn’t only medals that Churchill was awarded for his efforts in Cuba; he was also given quite a few cigars. This gesture left a permanent mark on this no-nonsense Briton for the rest of his life, as he usually kept his stiff upper lip firmly wrapped around a big Cuban cigar. 

"Churchill was 22 years old when his service in Cuba came to a close, and he was eagerly looking for his next port of call. He found it on the shores of India, the pride and joy of Great Britain, which many British civil servants were beginning to view as their second home.

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"One of those British civil servants just happened to have quite an attractive daughter by the name of Pamela Plowden. Churchill came to know Plowden through India’s colonial social circles and was soon bumping into her at parties and dinners, where the young cavalry officer soon became obsessed with winning the colonial socialite’s heart. 

"Many outside observers would probably have to admit that old Winston was laying it on a little thick, but he went all out for his first love, often buying her flowers and writing her poetry. It was in his poems that he clearly expressed how much she meant for him. In one poem he explained to her that she “exercised a strange fascination” for him. 

"Unfortunately for Winston Churchill however, this fascination was not a unique phenomenon just for him, and Ms. Plowden also had several other male suitors who were just as equally fascinated with her as he was. It was this long line of admirers that Churchill had to fight through in order to obtain the woman of his dreams.

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"After a couple years of competing with the other eligible British bachelors in India without gaining much traction in his courtship, Churchill began looking for his next great adventure. In 1899, when a conflagration had erupted between Britain and the Boer Republics of South Africa, he found it. 

"He didn’t arrive on the shores of South Africa to fight; he came instead as a war correspondent for the “Morning Post” newspaper. As a newspaperman, he made it his duty to report back to Great Britain all the happenings on the southernmost tip of the African continent. Even though he wasn’t actually firing a weapon, Churchill often found himself right on the front lines of the conflict.

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"He was eventually captured and kept as a prisoner of war. Churchill would not be a POW for long, however, and the escape that he would stage would become nothing short of legendary. His initial escape was fairly simple; as soon as his guards’ backs were turned, Churchill climbed over the walls of the prison and made a break for it.

"From here he made a wild dash across the vast rural landscape of South Africa, where he had to sleep out on the open ground or even in mine shafts until he managed to travel the entire 300 miles to the safe neutrality of Portugal’s nearby colonial holdings. As a result of his daring escape, Winston Churchill would return to England the following year as a celebrated champion of the British Empire.

"This new acclaim gave Winston some hope that he could somehow use it to woo back his old flame of Pamela Plowden, but even with such heroic feats under his belt, he was still given the cold shoulder by his first love. A disappointed and despairing Churchill soon had to admit defeat, and, in his efforts to put his first love behind him, he moved on to another love that would prove much more fruitful than the first; a love of politics."

Very badly written paragraph there. Was the author in possession of a private memo by Churchill saying, "if not life with her, then, but only then, politics"?

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"“Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

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"For a man who would one day be famous for calling democracy “the worst form of government,” in 1900, Winston Churchill was actively seeking his own role in the democratic process. His efforts would pay off, with Churchill being elected as a representative at the still tender age of 26 years old.

"Despite his youthful appearance, Churchill was a firm believer in dressing the part. Upon his election, he could be seen in the House of Commons sporting a dapper long coat, loose tie, and even a wide winged collar. However, it was his preposterous, almost Fu Manchu-styled mustache that got him the most attention, so much so that a woman once openly criticized him, “I care not for your political ideas but my distaste for them is nothing compared to what I feel about that dreadful mustache.”"

Is the silly author going to proceed to quote every silly remark, or is that considered effective camouflage for refraining from serious criticism?

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"Apparently honing his craft for political debate, Churchill’s own rebuttal to this woman’s put down was fierce as he shot back, “Madam, I see no earthly reason why you should come in contact with either.” Mustache or not, Churchill was soon using his skillful oratorical delivery to rise up the ranks of the political circuit. His first big break came in 1906 when Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman appointed the energetic young Churchill as the “Under Secretary for the Colonies.”

"This position was then followed up in 1908 with a posting as the “Minister of Trade.” With these political moorings secure, Churchill finally found himself successful in the politics of romance as well, and married a woman named Clementine Hozier, whom Churchill would later claim showed him the true meaning of “happily ever after.”

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"The two were married on September 12, 1908, and did indeed remain very much married and happy for the rest of their life together. Now that he was happily married, Churchill would then beef up his resume by taking on the job of overseeing the British Navy, being appointed Navy Minister in 1911. Naval affairs were something relatively new to Churchill, but despite his naivety, he was able to master the field in relatively short order.

"As he grew to understand the Royal Navy and the men that filled up its ranks, he even went so far as to introduce new and far-reaching reforms in an effort to improve the lives of those under his charge. Among these reforms were calls to get rid of some of the more tyrannical punitive measures superior officers were known to take against lower ranking naval personnel.

"Churchill sought to make the Royal Navy a more just organization, and along with justice on the high seas, he also sought to give his naval personnel a bigger paycheck, raising their benefits more in just a few years, than they had been raised in all the decades prior to Churchill’s tenure as Navy Minister. Besides these improvements in the general civil structure of the British Royal Navy, Churchill also sought to create a more modern fleet of vessels, taking full advantage of modern technology and resources.

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"It was Churchill who spearheaded the Navy’s switch from coal to oil. This would prove to be absolutely crucial just a few years later when Great Britain was pulled into World War One. The “Great War,” as it was then known, was sparked by the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, during a visit to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo.

"The assassin was a Serbian nationalist linked to a radical terrorist group known as the “Black Hand” that violently opposed Austria’s 1908 annexation of the Balkan states Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a result of this assassination, in June 1914, just one month later, the nation that was at that time known as Austria-Hungary delivered what became known as the “July Ultimatum” in which a series of severe demands were leveled against Serbia."

Author refrains mentioning that the demands were deliberately unreasonable, so Serbia would be unable to comply with honour. 

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"After Serbia had failed to meet all of the demands asked of it, Austria-Hungary declared war on the country. This would then set into motion the dominos of world conflict since Austria-Hungary’s declaration was immediately followed by Russia siding with their Serbian allies and Germany siding with Austria-Hungary. The next domino to fall was France, getting pulled into the conflict against Germany; this was then finally followed by Great Britain declaring war on Germany on August 4, 1914.

"Just a month prior, on July 31, Churchill had inadvertently pulled one more actor into the war as well when he ordered the seizure of two Ottoman battleships that were docked in the shipyards of Britain. Just days later, the Ottoman Empire then declared its full support for Germany in the conflict. With the Central powers now assembled to square off against the European allies, Churchill made a trip to the Belgian city of Antwerp, which was under siege by the Germans.

"This proved to be a disaster for Churchill as well, with Antwerp utterly collapsing on October 10, at the cost of 2500 lives. Even so, it is believed that if it wasn’t for Churchill’s efforts, Antwerp would have caved to the German assault much sooner. Churchill’s next failure would arise once again with the Turks of the Ottoman Empire when he attempted a recapturing of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) about 500 years too late.

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"Seeking to land troops in the Gallipoli peninsula through the Dardanelle strait, the British soldiers were beaten back by fierce and well-organized Turkish machine gun fire, leading to a full retreat. Churchill took the full blame for the disaster, and many called for him to be demoted. However, rather than receiving censure for his actions, Churchill was given the rank of Lieutenant Colonel on January 5, 1916, and sent over to the Western Front to lead the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers.

"This was then followed by a July 1917 appointment as “Minister of Munitions” and then a promotion in January of 1919 as “Secretary of State.” It was with this title that Mr. Churchill would create some of Britain’s most important interwar policies, such as the recognition of Ireland as a free state on December 6, 1922. However, shortly after this grand bit of legislation, Churchill invited disaster on himself once again, and strangely enough, it was yet another fiasco involving Turkey.

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"Winston Churchill had badly fumbled the release of pertinent information in regard to the Greco/Turkish war as it was unfolding and nearly brought Britain into a war that it didn’t need or want. This led his infuriated colleagues to remove him from his position. Desperate to get back into the game, Churchill then switched parties and managed to come out on top again, this time with the more conservative party. This would be a Pyrrhic victory for Churchill, at the expense of being labeled as nothing more than a political opportunist at best and completely untrustworthy at worst.

"Despite such criticism, Churchill himself was rather blithe about the whole situation and is reported to have remarked, “My own feeling is that I have been more truly consistent than almost any other well-known public man.” Undeterred by those that would call him a traitor, Churchill would soon prepare himself for obtaining the greatest political prize of all as the next British Prime Minister."

When will people learn that being a prime minister of a nation isn't a prize any more than being a president is, but such positions are responsibilities, worthy only of those who can carry them? 

It isn't that different from the yoke that an ox or a pair must carry in ploughing a field, or pulling a cart. That yoke isn't a prize, either. 

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"“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

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"During the lead up to World War Two, you might think that Winston Churchill would have quite a few misgivings about the international situation, with most of them most likely involving the “powder keg” of Europe. In reality, the biggest concern that took up most of Churchill’s time and debates during this period was that of East India. 

"It was during the interwar years of the 1920s that a figure by the name of Mahatma Gandhi, a champion of Indian independence and civil rights, had risen to prominence on the Indian Subcontinent. It may be surprising for many to hear it, but Gandhi, the man whose very name brings to mind peace and love, was virulently hated by Winston Churchill. 

"As much as most of us today no doubt value the struggle for independence and human dignity that Gandhi espoused, for Churchill, he was just a troublemaker. As shocking as it all sounds, in 1920, Winston’s displeasure with Gandhi had become so great that he declared that Gandhi “ought to be lain bound hand and foot at the gates of Delhi, and then trampled on by an enormous elephant with the new Viceroy seated on its back.”

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"Many would be appalled to hear a man that much of the world venerates as an ultimate champion for peace and justice to be denigrated in such a fashion, but Winston Churchill at his heart was an old school colonialist, who intended to hold on to every inch of the British Empire for as long as it was possible. Any disturbance to this colonial system Churchill viewed with the utmost repugnance. Churchill was absolutely against the independence of India, and no matter the cost, he did not want to lose the so-called “pearl” of the British Empire.

"Churchill even went so far as to claim that any move toward Indian independence would lead to an economic meltdown and civil breakdown of British society. Much more than the looming threat of a resurgent Germany, the encroaching territorial gains of Imperial Japan, the Fascist ambitions of Italy and even the Communist takeover of Russia, for most of the 1920s and even the early 1930s Winston Churchill truly believed that India was the biggest foreign policy concern that Britain faced.

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"With the rise of Hitler in 1933, Churchill’s gaze would slowly begin to shift away from India and toward Nazi Germany - a shift that could be traced back to a speech Churchill delivered to Parliament on March 23, 1933, in which he stated that the “tumultuous insurgence of ferocity and war spirit, the pitiless ill-treatment of minorities” occurring in Germany was a matter of grave concern.

"The same Churchill who had wished that an elephant would trample Mahatma Gandhi was now finally acknowledging the very real elephant in the room of Nazi Germany and its Fascist allies. Churchill would then go on to follow up this acknowledgment on August 12 by declaring that an “evil and dangerous storm cloud” was brewing in Europe.

"Even while Churchill slowly realized how dangerous the political situation in Europe was becoming, most of his contemporaries would rather continue their bickering and wrangling over internal matters of the British Empire such as India, rather than giving much thought to what the likes of Hitler was up to in Europe. This obliviousness to the political climate of Europe was probably best embodied by the then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, the famous British appeaser of Hitler who presided over Hitler’s annexation of Czechoslovakia, Austria, and other territorial expansions."

Not oblivious, but, having suffered horrors of WWI and its aftermath of loss of a generation, most people of UK and France were unwilling to repeat or risk it again, and Hitler in full awareness thereof played their fears successfully until his major strike of invading Poland. 

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"Churchill vociferously disagreed with such appeasing measures, but Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was determined to keep it up, seeking to avoid being pulled into another World War at all cost. Churchill at the time, however, rightly realized that such measures were only emboldening Hitler further, and it would simply be a matter of time before Britain would have to take a stand and act. That stand was indeed finally taken when, on September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland. 

"Just as Churchill had argued, even Neville Chamberlain now had no choice but to declare war on Hitler. Just as Churchill had warned, Chamberlain was forced into what he was desperately trying to avoid; war with Germany. Instead of stopping Germany when it was in a weaker condition, Chamberlain had allowed the threat to metastasize and grow to such a point that it was much harder to control.

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"Soon after England and France’s joint declaration of war, France was the next domino to fall, suddenly putting England right on the front lines of the conflict. Neville Chamberlain, the “Great Appeaser,” then sought to appease his own infuriated political detractors by appointing Churchill (his political foe that had been proven right) as the head of the admiralty. 

"This last act of Chamberlain’s strategy of appeasement would prove to be yet another failure, and on May 10, 1940, shortly after the complete Nazi blitzkrieg and takeover of Norway, Neville Chamberlain answered the calls for his removal by officially resigning from office and handing over the reins of power to Winston Churchill.

"Just a few months later, on November 9, 1940, Mr. Chamberlain would pass away from terminal bowel cancer at the age of 71. In retrospect, some would claim that it was the stress of how the British media treated his political demise that led to his physical demise. This is, of course, all just convenient speculation, but it was with the death of Neville Chamberlain that the British policy of keeping Europe at arm’s length truly came to an end and the hands-on leadership of Winston Churchill truly began."

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"“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

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"Sir Winston Churchill became the Prime Minister of Great Britain on May 13, 1940, and ushered in his own election with the words, “I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined the government, ‘I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.’” Right after Churchill made this noble pledge, the people of France would soon come to take Mr. Churchill to task, and ask him to make good on his vow, for the sovereignty of France.

"In particular, during the Nazi’s devastating lighting strike against the French, the British called upon Britain’s RAF to bring fighter planes to the aid of the beleaguered nation, hoping that Britain’s pilots could knock out the rolling tanks of the Nazi blitzkrieg from the air. However, Winston Churchill saw such a maneuver to be plagued with folly, claiming that sending in the British Air Force at this point would simply be “throwing snowballs into hell.”

"He has been criticized for such pragmatism, but Churchill believed that it would be much more expedient to save the British fleet that was trapped off the shores of Dunkirk, France. In what became known as the “Battle of Dunkirk,” Churchill oversaw the evacuation of about 9/10ths of the British and Allied Forces in France. Deeming France as a lost cause, much as Churchill surmised, the French government collapsed just a few days after the Dunkirk evacuation and had a puppet government created by the Nazis instituted in its place.

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"With the collapse of Britain’s French ally, Churchill then reorganized the British war effort out of Europe and into North Africa in order to strike at the soft underbelly of the Axis by taking out Benito Mussolini’s Italian holdings on the continent. From here the British led the charge to free those who had been subjected to Italian oppression in places like Tunisia, Libya, and Ethiopia.

"Attacking the Italians first made a lot of sense to the pragmatic Churchill; rather than wasting time against the much stronger militaries of Germany and Japan that Britain was not yet prepared to defeat, Churchill knew that with a steady, concentrated effort, the defeat of Italy was within their grasp. The quick succession of victories against the Italians also served to bolster the morale of the British people, giving them a much-needed boost of confidence in the overall war effort.

"As well as encouraging the British, this string of victories in North Africa also served to foster encouragement among potential allies of the British who had the very real fear of an impending British collapse. Seeing a strong Britain fighting and winning was a good sign for any other nation sitting on the sidelines. Of these potential allies, it was the United States of America in particular that had been watching these events very closely.

................................................................................................

"Winston Churchill had been courting and seeking the aid of the Americans for several months, and even though American President F.D.R. was committed to helping the British any way he could, the American public, with the horrors of World War One still fresh in their memories, had been dead-set against being drawn into another European conflict. F.D.R. himself had campaigned against getting into war, but, sensing the desperation that the world had been thrown into by Fascist aggression, F.D.R. knew that he had to act.

"And even though the American public was not yet ready to commit themselves to lending troops, F.D.R. made sure that America lent everything else, which led to a massive aid effort that was known as the “lend-lease” program. Under this program, the United States supplied massive material assistance to Great Britain as well as other Allies floundering under Fascist oppression such as China and what remained of the French resistance.

"As part of this initiative, F.D.R. sent a large number of fighter planes, tanks, and even battleships directly to England in order to replenish Britain’s depleted resources. As helpful as all of this was, Churchill knew that he would eventually need American soldiers in addition to American hardware if Britain was going to be able to defeat the threat of Nazi Germany truly.

"It wasn’t the Germans that would lead to American involvement in World War Two; it would be the Japanese. If Americans were still skeptical of intervention, the bombs that Japan dropped on Hawaii on December 7, 1941, had completely changed their mind. Almost overnight, all isolationist sentiment seemed to disappear. Spurred on by what F.D.R. called a “dastardly” attack, America was now ready to dive head first into the conflict.

................................................................................................

"Churchill’s American reinforcement came just in the nick of time; in addition to the bombing runs on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese military, as part of their strategy, had simultaneously laid waste to the British holdings in Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong, and ultimately Singapore. The Japanese would completely overrun the latter, seize all resources, and turn the previously British base of operations into a refueling depot for the Japanese fleet.

"While Britain’s East Asian holdings were being smashed by the Japanese, the British Empire’s efforts in North Africa were being severely challenged as well, this time by a dynamic German commander named Erwin Rommel, otherwise known as the “Desert Fox,” who was doing his best to turn back the clock on any British advancement in North Africa.

"Rommel struck his most decisive blow against the British on March 24, 1941, in which he took just one German division and two Italian divisions in Libya and used them to kick the British out of the heavily fortified city of Mersa El Brega in less than 24 hours’ time. This was then followed up by the capture of Benghazi by Axis forces immediately afterward.

"It was precisely this deadly resurgence of Axis power that Churchill hoped the Americans could thwart. The answer to Churchill’s prayers came when the first American invasion force, led by a commander every bit (if not more) audacious than Rommel, General George S. Patton, arrived in Casablanca, Morocco."

That should read "every bit as audacious as (if not more audacious than)", if authors of Hourly History weren't semi-literate school children of bible belt. 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

................................................................................................

"Known as Operation Torch, the joint British and American invasion of what had previously been French North Africa began on November 8, 1942. Since the German defeat of France, and the installation of the puppet government known as “Vichy France,” about 125,000 French soldiers remained in the French colonies. The Allied invasion force was not entirely sure how the French would respond, but Churchill had some ideas of his own.

"Churchill rightly believed that the French most likely still held resentment for the drastic measures Churchill had taken in 1940 after the French surrender. Churchill, fearing that the large French fleet off the coast of Algeria at the Mers-El-Kébir naval base would fall into German hands, ordered the British Royal Air Force to conduct an air raid against the parked vessels.

"Often criticized as Churchill’s own personal version of Pearl Harbor, this sneak attack by the British against the French fleet resulted in the deaths of 1297 French soldiers, the complete obliteration of a French battleship, and considerable damage to several other vessels. As bad as this unprovoked attack may seem, Winston Churchill was adamant that it was a vital necessity since he believed if the French fleet, the second largest in the world, were commandeered by the Germans it would all but ensure Britain’s defeat.

................................................................................................

"Regardless of necessity, however, Churchill knew that the French were not going to forget the death and devastation he had inflicted upon them anytime soon. It was precisely for this reason that Churchill suggested that the invasion of French North Africa consist mostly of American troops on the land, mainly supported by British in the air.

"Churchill believed that it would be much better for everyone involved if the British played more of a shadow role in the background. In his belief that the Americans would be more palatable for the French who remained in North Africa, Churchill even went so far as to propose that the few British soldiers who were on the ground should wear American uniforms, just to avoid any animosity.

"As it turned out, French resistance to the Allies did not last very long, and on November 11, 1942, an armistice was reached. With the Vichy French knocked out of the picture, the remaining Italian and German forces could be targeted without any further distraction. Soon even the Desert Fox Erwin Rommel, after his calamitous defeat in the Battle of El Alamein, had to run for his life as the British took some 300,000 German and Italian prisoners in the wake of their victory.

................................................................................................

"With North Africa now firmly in their grasp, the Allies could then begin to look once again toward Europe. In this preparation, England would become the staging ground for what would become the largest amphibious assault in the history of warfare. The first attempt to probe the defenses of Nazi-occupied France occurred on August 19, 1942, when Allied forces launched a raid on the port town of Dieppe, in northern France.

"More than anything else, this raid was to be a trial run for a full-scale invasion with the intention of seeing just how feasible the seizure of a major French port would be. This initial experiment in storming the beaches of Nazi Germany would prove to be a major failure. Met with fierce resistance, after just 10 hours in Dieppe all of those that had landed had either been gunned down, taken prisoner, or (if they were lucky) evacuated back to England.

"But despite the bitter defeat, some valuable intelligence information had been gleaned from the boots that were on the ground, and Churchill considered the costly exercise invaluable practice for the Allies before they attempted the real thing on the shores of Normandy. In the lead up to the Normandy invasion, the British coastline was being used by the Allies in an intense wartime dress rehearsal.

................................................................................................

"The closest launching point across the English Channel from Britain was off the South East coast of Dover, directly across from the French coast of Pas de Calais. It was an obvious choice when it came to launching an amphibious invasion across the English Channel and into France, but for Winston Churchill and the other wartime planners, it was just a bit too obvious.

"This fact alone made most of the military strategists want to steer clear of this site as a landing point, but Churchill’s own chief of staff, Lieutenant-General Frederick E. Morgan, lingered on the notion as an imminent place of interest because of the German production and launch sites of the V1 and V2 rockets that had been raining down death from the Pas de Calais area.

"It was, of course, of supreme interest for the British public to have these launch sites shut down, but Churchill and other leaders knew that the Germans fully anticipated this, and Pas de Calais had been fortified as an impregnable fortress as a result. Churchill knew that a landing in Pas de Calais would have also left little room for maneuvering for Allied forces since much of their path forward would be obstructed by the canals and rivers that abound in the area.

................................................................................................

"The Normandy landing site, on the other hand, had been determined to be less fortified, as well as providing a much broader platform in which the Allied forces could maneuver. These final plans for the invasion of France were forged when Winston Churchill attended what became known as the “First Quebec Conference.” This conference was actually a series of top secret meetings between Churchill, U.S. President F.D.R., and the Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, beginning on August 17, 1943.

"In addition to these three English-speaking compatriots, the Soviet Union’s Joseph Stalin had been invited to the party as well but had to decline due to the imminent military threat from Germany that Russia was under at the time. Among other things discussed, along with the finalization of the Normandy invasion, Churchill and the Allies also came to agreements over the development of top secret nuclear technology.

"During the course of these agreements some rather obvious commitments were made, such as a pledge for the Allies (should they develop them) not to use nuclear weapons against each other (you would hope not) and to furthermore not use the weapons against the enemy without the knowledge of the other members of the alliance.

................................................................................................

"The new top secret projects and initiatives involving nuclear technology were actually a matter of intense debate during this conference, and the host nation of the talks, Canada, proved to be of consequence as well since Canada was a chief source for heavy water and uranium. 

"The allies were still a couple of years away from developing a fully developed nuclear bomb, so conventional invasion forces were still very much on the menu. It was this Quebec conference that served to finalize the invasion of France, otherwise known as Operation Overlord."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

................................................................................................

"In May 1944, about a million and a half American troops had been brought to England to join the Allied war effort. Churchill had these U.S. troops placed in specially made military barracks in southern England and kept them poised to launch an invasion of France across the English Channel at any time. 

"Additional units of Canadian troops were also housed next to these American bases, all poised to strike out at the Nazis lurking just over the Channel. The first major step of the invasion process began on June 5, 1944, when thousands of bombers were flown out of Britain, sent to obliterate Hitler’s fortifications along the Atlantic coast.

"Hitler had planned to create what he called an “Atlantic Wall” that stretched all the way from Spain, across France, and all the way up to Normandy, but this wall still had some serious gaps in it, and the Allies fully intended to exploit these gaps. So it was on June 6th, 1944, a moment in history otherwise known as D-Day, commenced. While American leadership gets a lot of credit for this monumental event, Churchill was right there behind the scenes, leading the charge.

................................................................................................

"Churchill can be credited with some of the most inventive policies leading up to and during the D-Day invasion of France. It was Churchill who championed the idea of positioning mock tanks and infantry divisions across the channel from Pas de Calais in order to confuse German intelligence as to where the Allies would actually land.

"It was also Churchill who was enthusiastically behind the infamous “Hobart’s Funnies.” Taking its name from British General Stanley Hobart, the “Hobart Funnies” were standard tanks that the British Royal Engineers outfitted for special auxiliary tasks and purposes. Some of these tanks were modified into special amphibious invasion vehicles, such as the so-called “swimming tanks” used to wade up the coastline; others were turned into “crab tanks,” which were equipped with a long tail and used to dispose of land mines.

"Probably the most impressive Hobart Funny was the “crocodile tank,” which was outfitted with a flame thrower. This tank was equally feared and despised by the German soldiers that had the misfortune of encountering it. The tank was particularly effective at rooting out German snipers who were hiding in fortified bunkers, making them a critical part of the invasion process. In addition to all of this, Winston Churchill also sponsored the creation of artificial harbors, which were installed on the beaches of Normandy on June 7, the day after the initial Allied landings.

................................................................................................

"The idea for such a massive feat of engineering allegedly occurred when, during a discussion of the invasion, the British Vice Admiral John Hughes-Hallet, in the midst of complaining about the lack of a workable harbor in Normandy, suddenly exclaimed, “Well, all I can say is, if we can’t capture a port we must take one with us.” The remark caused almost everyone at the conference to laugh until Churchill, thinking very carefully about the statement, asked, “Well, why not?”

"It was Winston Churchill who spurred on much of the great innovation that made much of what happened on D-Day possible. On June 12, just a few days after the invasion had commenced, Churchill wanted to see the efforts first hand. Arriving by boat off the shores of St. Nazaire in Western France, Churchill made it his personal mission to rally the Allied troops.

"Churchill also made his rounds to some of the civilians in the French countryside, many of whom, he would later claim, did not seem too enthusiastic about the intrusion of the Allies, who were supposed to be liberating them. As he toured the countryside in Western France, Churchill was amazed at how the life of the French farmer had continued on, for the most part, completely uninterrupted.

................................................................................................

"Despite this perceived lack of enthusiasm of those who resided in the French countryside Churchill was confident that the Western Front had been secured, and with these gains in the West, Churchill now turned his eyes to the East. Although the Soviet Union was technically an ally of both Britain and the United States, Churchill had been immensely worried for quite some time as to what the totalitarian regime of Stalin might do with any territory that the Soviets had “liberated” from the Germans.

"Churchill was under no illusions to Joseph Stalin’s ambitions to create a communist empire in Europe. However, when he attempted to discuss such fears with F.D.R. and other American allies, such warnings usually fell upon deaf ears. The Americans, for the most part, downplayed any perceived Russian aggression, and in some cases even passed off such belligerence as a mere jest.

"Churchill was not laughing, however, and saw the loose language as an honest report from Stalin of just the kind of wanton brutality he would inflict upon any territory that fell under his dominion. The Soviet domination of the European continent in post-war Europe became Churchill’s greatest fear, and without any serious attempt from the part of the Americans to acknowledge and see the Soviet threat for what it was, by October 1944, Churchill was ready to take matters into his own hands.

................................................................................................

"He believed that if he could not convince the Americans to take Stalin to task, he would have to go right over their heads and deal with the communist dictator himself. Churchill arrived in Moscow to personally discuss with Stalin how the two of them could create their own “spheres of interest” a strategic move on Churchill’s part to attempt to strike a bargain with the devil he saw in Joseph Stalin while he still had room to negotiate and soften the blow of an all-out Soviet takeover in the East.

"When word came back to the U.S. State Department of such happenings, however, it was viewed as nothing more than Winston Churchill’s attempt to carve up the Balkans for Britain’s own imperialist ambitions. After this last ditch attempt of Churchill to prevent the fall of the Soviet Iron Curtain upon Europe, for much the rest of the war, Churchill would be criticized, derided, and accused of putting British colonial ambition ahead of the real war effort. Soon after the end of World War Two, however, his detractors would soon realize just how wrong they were."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

Author does not date this quote. Given as it in a chapter leading from end of WWII towards cold War, author and publishers would like to make readers infer that Winston Churchill wrote this about Soviet, not nazi, rule. 

But it's unlikely that Winston Churchill said this after WWII, after cold War had set forth, about only then current times. Even if he wrote this then, it had to have taken into account the horrors perpetrated by nazis, including extermination camps, exposed at Nuremberg trials. 

................................................................................................

"As World War Two drew to a close, Churchill found himself at odds with the other Allied Nations on many fronts. Besides the obvious tension with Soviet Russia, many disagreements with America over the shape of the post-war world began to take hold. In the Italian theater for example, after Benito Mussolini was removed from power, Churchill had an immediate bone to pick with his proposed replacement, Count Sforza, considering him a radical.

"Churchill felt that the Americans were haphazardly foisting figures like Count Sforza in the highest levels of government without even considering any qualms that the British may have had. Voicing his concerns to the British Parliament on December 8, 1944, Churchill passionately stated his displeasure, “Poor old England! We have to assume the burden of the most thankless tasks, and in undertaking them to be scoffed at, criticized, and opposed from every quarter.”

"As Germany itself came into the Allies’ grasp in 1945, Churchill would continue to face stiff opposition when it came to his further attempts at shaping the post-war world. It was over the fate of Berlin in particular that Churchill relentlessly campaigned, with Churchill sending Roosevelt the ominous warning just five weeks before the war in Europe ended that “if the Russians also take Berlin, will not their impression that they have been the overwhelming contributor to the common victory be unduly printed in their minds, and may this not lead them into a mood which will raise grave and formidable difficulties in the future?”

................................................................................................

"This was followed by Roosevelt’s matter of fact response on April 7, “I regard it as militarily unsound at this stage of the proceedings to make Berlin a major objective, particularly in view of the fact that it is only thirty-five miles from the Russian lines.” For Roosevelt, the Russian occupation of the German city, which Churchill so dreaded, was just a matter of due course; as he put it, they were, in fact, “only thirty-five miles” from the target.

"In F.D.R.’s mind, it only made sense to let the Russians take on the challenge of subduing the German capital. Once again, Churchill’s long-term vision for the end game in Europe had been rebuffed. However, with the American President’s abrupt passing on April 12, 1945, Churchill would have a new man in the White House to deal with, by the name of Harry S. Truman."

Until the election in UK, when Divine replaced him with someone more amenable to independence of India. 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“Never, never, never give up.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

Again - that had to be written with dark days of the Battle of Britain and horror of the London Blitz in background, if not while living with them. 

................................................................................................

"Harry Truman had only been vice president under F.D.R. for a few months when Roosevelt abruptly died of a cerebral hemorrhage. The whole world (Harry Truman included) was completely surprised and unprepared for F.D.R.’s passing. Immediately after taking the oath of office, Truman allegedly told a crowd of assembled reporters, “Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now. 

"“I don’t know if you fellas ever had a load of hay fall on you, but when they told what happened yesterday, I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me.” For his part, however, Churchill had full confidence in the new President and called him the “type of leader the world needs when it needs him most.” Churchill continued to hold this view when on May 7, 1945, Truman led the Allies in the final defeat of Nazi Germany.

"The complete surrender of Germany was held as a great day of celebration in England, with Churchill himself standing up on a balcony of the Ministry of Health building in London to address a large crowd that had gathered below, congratulating them, “This is your victory!” The crowd, feeling that Churchill was indeed the man of the hour, however, was quick to shout back, “No! It is yours!”

................................................................................................

"Churchill, at last, was getting the recognition he felt he deserved for pulling his country, and to a larger extent the world, through one of the worst catastrophes in history. However, despite such local critical acclaim, Churchill was still very much struggling to get a grip on the post-war order, with one of the most challenging post-war incidents occurring just one month after Germany’s surrender when the French attempted to regain the territory in Syria and Lebanon that they had lost after German occupation."

"local"???? 

"The local Lebanese and Syrian populations, who had just had a taste of independence, did not take too kindly to their returning colonial masters and rose up in revolt. This then prompted the French General Charles de Gaulle to order French troops to shoot into a crowd of Syrian demonstrators on May 20, as well as dropping bombs right on top of protestors in Damascus and Aleppo.

"By May 31, with the Syrian death toll at the hands of the French reaching well over a thousand, Churchill decided that he had to act and sent de Gaulle a direct order to have his troops commit to a “cease fire and withdraw” back “to their barracks.” This directive from Churchill was ignored by the French, however, and British troops were sent marching into Syria as a consequence."

This is rarely mentioned in context of WWII, Winston Churchill or Charles de Gaulle, where it belongs. 

But again, this author and the publishers are only foing so in an effort to pull the latter two down, and in this, mentioning the acclaim by the London crowd as "local" in the paragraph above gives a clue to the effect aimed at by the author and the publishers. 

................................................................................................

"The French were hopelessly outnumbered by the troops Churchill had sent in and as a result ultimately decided it would be wise to heed his demand, returning to their bases with a full British military escort at their heels. Although Churchill was victorious in the dispute, it would come to cost him dearly when it came to relations with post-war France. Charles de Gaulle even went so far to say that he believed that Churchill had armed and stirred up the Syrian protesters in a clandestine attempt to interfere with French affairs in the region."

Or it was the then nascent CIA, in cahoots with nazis who'd fled to Levant, apart from the continental shores of South Atlantic and interiors thereof? 

................................................................................................

"However, in the summer of 1945, the agitated French were the least of Churchill’s concerns; still taking first place in Winston’s worried mind, of course, was the Soviet Union. At this time, Churchill drafted the first known Cold War contingency plan against the Soviets called “Operation Unthinkable” in which Churchill’s military strategists hypothesized a surprise attack on the Soviet forces that were occupying Germany.

"This plan was almost immediately rejected as unfeasible, but a lighter weight defensive strategy emerged from its ashes, a plan established in case the Soviets pushed through to the Atlantic to threaten England in light of an American withdrawal from the continent. Even though he had just seen the defeat of Nazi Germany, Winston Churchill was not taking any chances with Joseph Stalin, even if it cost him an election."

Author and publishers hereby insinuate that this cost him the election, thereby making UK seem riddled by left. This is false, even though labour won the election. 

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"“Kites rise highest against the wind – not with it.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

................................................................................................

"On July 26, when the results of Great Britain’s 1945 election came in, it was a stunning blow to Churchill and those who were close to him. That the “British Bulldog” that had led their nation through its darkest hour had been so handily defeated in a national election was a surprise to say the least, but the writing had been on the wall for some time, and despite Churchill’s good stewardship throughout the war, it was the British working class who had the final say in the election."

A far better judgement is shown by those that opined that British public had chosen a more appropriate leader for peace, after the war was over. 

"Despite Churchill’s heroic status, it was the social reform and redistribution of national income proposed by Churchill’s opponent that decided the results. The day after the election results came in, Churchill gave a farewell address that many did indeed believe would be his last. After Mr. Churchill’s ousting from Parliament, he would remain active on the international stage, and for the next six years, he would head the opposition party.

"It was during this time that Winston Churchill would give his famous “Iron Curtain” speech. It was during a visit to Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri on March 5, 1946, in which he declared, “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an Iron Curtain has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest, and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere.”"

Again, not only mentioning but giving the gist of this speech - which is rarely identified with Winston Churchill - while not only not quoting but completely leaving unmentioned his most famous speech (- about fighting in streets, fighting on beaches, ... ), shows the nias of the author and the publishers, which is not merely one of obliterating of the continent of Europe from thought, but that of a bias that is pro-nazi, and not merely anti-leftist. 

................................................................................................

"This speech is often heralded as the beginning of the Cold War, and when it was uttered in early 1946, the rest of the world had finally begun to catch on to the dangers that Soviet Russia presented. Just as Churchill had told them, Soviet domination seemed to be spreading, and places in Eastern Europe who had next to no communist political structure were becoming communist police states almost overnight. 

"When it came to the rest of Europe that had managed to escape Stalin’s grasp, Churchill began to describe his plan to help them resist Soviet Expansion. His idea to bolster the strength of Western Europe was to create the European Union. In the world of today, in light of Brexit and other rumblings, a United States of Europe still seems to be a rather tenuous prospect.

"However, Churchill believed, as many still do today, that the only way to make the small countries of Europe strong is to unite them together as one political entity. Such a feat had been the desire of monarchs, Emperors and yes, brutal dictators for centuries. It was, after all, both Hitler and Mussolini’s goal to create a new European Empire united under their totalitarian regimes.

................................................................................................

"Instead of uniting Europe through force, however, the union that Churchill sought to achieve was one that all of free Europe would voluntarily join out of a mutual desire to help each other within one democratic unit, working together for every European’s greater good. As Churchill described it, “The movement for European unity must be a positive force, deriving its strength from our sense of common spiritual values.”

"When it came to England’s own role in such a proposed union, however, Churchill quickly found himself backtracking. When Churchill looked into it further, he found that linking the economy of Britain to the countries of continental Europe would be a disaster. These countries were still struggling to rise from the rubble of World War Two and would drastically lower the standard of living of the average Briton.

"Churchill, knowing full well that the British public would be dead-set against losing British sovereignty to the European Union, began to distance himself from the very idea that he had—in large part—helped to create. It was another stunning reversal from Churchill, but such departure from policies that many of his more nationalist-minded countrymen viewed as “radical” helped Churchill to get re-elected in 1951 eventually."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

"For the most part, Winston Churchill was re-elected with the full expectation of being a dynamic figure that would make some major waves on the world scene for the British, just like he did during the war. For many of the British who saw the continued dwindling of the British Empire, Churchill seemed to be an answer to stop the bleeding of imperial ambition. Churchill’s first challenge to his dream of maintaining Britain’s imperial legacy came right on the heels of his re-election when, on October 23, 1951, protests erupted in Britain’s previous stronghold of Cairo, Egypt.

"As the Egyptian autumn turned into the winter of 1951-52, Egypt’s nationalist police force began to actively protect and promote the Egyptian resistance movement known as the “Fedayeen.” This support would soon prove fatal for the British at the shipyards of Ismailia, where several British soldiers and personnel were ambushed and killed.

"The British were then able to track those who were responsible for the attack to a nearby police station, but the Egyptian police continued to protect those involved and refused to release them. In the skirmish that ensued, some fifty Egyptian police officers were eventually killed as Egypt broke out into an all-out riot. This revolt in Egypt was then followed by the “Mau Mau Rebellion” in Kenya, causing the British to have to dispatch troops to keep the peace there as well.

................................................................................................

"In addition to these happenings in Africa, there was also sudden unrest in South East Asia in the British colony of Malay. The British Empire had long had tin and rubber mining interests in the area, and all of these money making enterprises had come to a screeching halt due to the chaos that had erupted. Regardless of all of this disruption, however, for his part, Churchill was steadfast in his desire to hold it all together, telling his associates at the time, “I will not preside over a dismemberment.” 

"It was the British Empire that Churchill had spent most of his life trying to keep intact, and now it was falling completely apart. Some say that the stress of this imploding Empire was too much for even Winston Churchill’s broad shoulders, leading to the massive stroke he suffered on June 23, 1953. Quite amazingly, however, even with a completely paralyzed left side, Churchill still managed to attend a cabinet meeting the next morning.

"Despite such displays of fortitude by the British Bulldog, the next couple of years in office would go by quite unremarkably. On the domestic front during his final tenure in office, instead of making any major waves, Churchill seemed to be primarily concerned with not rocking the boat. Much to the surprise of those who knew him well, the same Churchill who so often railed against the Soviet Menace seemed to take the 1953 Soviet crackdown of protesters in East Germany completely in stride."

He'd expected it, perhaps. 

................................................................................................

"For someone who was usually ready to point out the evils of the Evil Empire, Churchill was strangely muted on the subject. Questioned about it, he simply remarked that he thought “the Russians were surprisingly patient about the disturbances in East Germany.” These “disturbances” had left over 500 Germans dead, yet Churchill was rather reticent about the whole affair."

Perhaps he was comparing this with British treatment of India. 

" ... Soon he would be planning his final resignation as Prime Minister. He would make good on his resignation as Prime Minister in 1955, with the veteran British politician Anthony Eden taking his place. Even after this resignation, however, Churchill would still remain a Member of Parliament until he finally removed himself during the 1964 general election."

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

" ... Churchill would still re-emerge from time to time to actively engage in public life. Due to such public service, from across the pond in the United States, in recognition of his efforts, he was even made an honorary citizen - something that would have doubtlessly made his American mother very proud. 

"For a man who had often feared a short life with few accomplishments, Winston Churchill had achieved more than most. By the time of his passing on January 15, 1965, at the ripe old age of 90, the whole world had to admit that the wily old British Bulldog had indeed indelibly left his mark on the world ... "

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

Table of Contents 

................................................................................................
................................................................................................

Introduction 

Love and War 

Churchill Comes into His Own 

A More Hands-On Approach 

Courting the Americans 

The Allies Show their Teeth 

A Warning Unheeded 

Preparing for the Post-war World 

Wrestling the Reins of Power 

Churchill’s Hiatus 

The End of an Empire 

Conclusion
................................................................................................
................................................................................................

................................................................................................
................................................................................................

REVIEW 
................................................................................................
................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................
Introduction 

................................................................................................
................................................................................................

"At face value, Winston Churchill would appear to be an unlikely candidate for prominence on the world stage. The nature of his short and stout physique seems in itself as a disqualifier. Instead of a bold and majestic hero making his way through Parliament in big strides, Churchill ambled about with a limp."

"At face value" as author puts it, that paragraph may not seem so, but it's highly racist - and anyone having read George Eliot, John Galsworthy cannot but be definitely aware of the caste system in place that incorporates, among other lines of demarcation, such racial criteria as above. 

So author in writingthat paragraph, and publishers in allowing it published, have exhibited their own racism on their own flags as it were, without embarrassment. 

It reminds one of just how often a presidential candidate in US is selected - and more often than anyone not completely illiterate would like to think, elected - for cosmetic reasons. 

Its converse is seen easily enough as well, in just how often an atrocious tenure is wiped of all criticism and glorified subsequently, or a less cosmetic president is constantly harrangued and harassed for even right, tightrope taut wire walk difficult policies executed, not merely during but long after the presidential tenure. 

Fortunately for world civilisation, post Munich conference was the one occasion when UK went with sense and not cosmetic racism. 

................................................................................................

"When he wasn’t tottering about on his uncertain feet in the House of Commons, he just may have been still home in bed under the covers suffering from severe and debilitating depression. Churchill and those who knew him best were so used to his frequent bouts of melancholy that Churchill even decided to name it, often referring to his personal despair as a “black dog” that followed close to his heels wherever he went."

Or was it something he wasn't aware of at conscious levels, a premonition about just how wrong things were to go, and what an hour of severe test Britain was to face, and subsequent loss of empire when the rest had been passed despite difficulties? 

................................................................................................

"When Churchill was successful in keeping this black dog at bay, he was able to achieve some of the most impressive feats of statecraft that the world has ever seen. On the opposite end of Churchill’s depression was a manic energy and passion that drove him to work tirelessly, staying up days on end working to pass proposals and legislation. 

"He was both a vigorous speaker and writer, and when he wasn’t voicing his opinions in the British Parliament, he was writing them down in lengthy books and treatises that are still being researched by academics to this day. Churchill often had so many projects and efforts unfolding all at the same time that the American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt once remarked with a bit of sarcasm, “He has a thousand ideas a day, four of which are good.”

................................................................................................

"These were just friendly little quips on the part of F.D.R., but even this good-natured humor serves as a testament to just how energetic and effective Churchill really was. However, this frenetic pace came at a cost, and Winston Churchill, like many who suffered from destabilizing mood disorders, often found himself attempting to augment the wild swings of his mental state by self-medicating. Churchill was an alcoholic for much of his life, and he was also dependent on routine doses of barbiturates and amphetamines just to get him through the day."

And yet he was a chief reason that British could, along with Russians (post 1941), stand a firm bulwark against the nazi tide threatening to sweep civilisation off planet. 

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November 03, 2022 - November 03, 2022. 

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Chapter 1. Love and War 
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................................................................................................

"“My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

Wonder when he wrote that. 

If post WWII, was that humour? 

................................................................................................

"In many ways, the life of Winston Churchill was a struggle from the very beginning. It seems that even on the very day he was born, Winston was in for the fight of his life. On November 30, 1874, Winston Churchill came into this world severely underweight and in poor health. His premature birth was brought on when his mother accidentally fell down, triggering an early labor. 

"Churchill’s father, Lord Randolph Churchill, a man of British nobility related to the 1st Duke of Marlborough, had thoroughly planned in advance a great reception for Churchill’s projected birth of January in a posh home he had rented just for the occasion. However, as is often the case with the best-laid plans of mice and men, these overtures came to naught when Winston Churchill abruptly arrived on November 30 in a plain, nondescript, unfurnished bedroom at Blenheim Palace, in Oxfordshire, England.

................................................................................................

"Despite his premature entrance into this world, however, the young Winston Churchill would grow into a healthy, and as some say, even a “stocky” child, with a strong appetite for life. By April 17, 1888, when Churchill was 13 years of age and enrolled at the Harrow Boarding School in London, he vigorously put this appetite to use when he joined the elite “Harrow Rifle Corps.”

"This first stint in military training would then lead him to enroll at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in 1893 as a Cadet Officer. It took Churchill three tries to pass the entrance exam, but once he made it into the school, Churchill was determined to get off to a good start. The curriculum was exciting to him, and Churchill loved learning basic military principles that were taught at the Academy such as Military Fortification, Military Law, Tactics, and even Topography.

................................................................................................

"It was actually topography, the study of maps, which garnered the most attention from Churchill. He became fascinated with map making and would go on to draw several detailed contoured maps and charts of the land surrounding the academy. Not all of his studies were quite so cerebral; some were quite physical, such as when he was required to blow up entire bridges on the Academy grounds and then quickly fashion wooden substitutions for what he had just destroyed.

"The ability to quickly engineer bridges to cross treacherous tracts of land would later serve Churchill well after his training at Sandhurst sent him into active service for the Queen’s Fourth Hussars. This already world-renowned fighting unit would take him all the way to Cuba, in which he took on an observational role in the Spanish-American War.

"In the 1890s when Churchill took part in this conflict the United States, a former colony of England, was still not on the friendliest of terms with Great Britain. This sentiment that was well demonstrated by the fact that Churchill was awarded a medal for bravery by the Spanish who were, at the time, America’s antagonist in the Caribbean.

................................................................................................

"Interestingly enough, it wasn’t only medals that Churchill was awarded for his efforts in Cuba; he was also given quite a few cigars. This gesture left a permanent mark on this no-nonsense Briton for the rest of his life, as he usually kept his stiff upper lip firmly wrapped around a big Cuban cigar. 

"Churchill was 22 years old when his service in Cuba came to a close, and he was eagerly looking for his next port of call. He found it on the shores of India, the pride and joy of Great Britain, which many British civil servants were beginning to view as their second home.

................................................................................................

"One of those British civil servants just happened to have quite an attractive daughter by the name of Pamela Plowden. Churchill came to know Plowden through India’s colonial social circles and was soon bumping into her at parties and dinners, where the young cavalry officer soon became obsessed with winning the colonial socialite’s heart. 

"Many outside observers would probably have to admit that old Winston was laying it on a little thick, but he went all out for his first love, often buying her flowers and writing her poetry. It was in his poems that he clearly expressed how much she meant for him. In one poem he explained to her that she “exercised a strange fascination” for him. 

"Unfortunately for Winston Churchill however, this fascination was not a unique phenomenon just for him, and Ms. Plowden also had several other male suitors who were just as equally fascinated with her as he was. It was this long line of admirers that Churchill had to fight through in order to obtain the woman of his dreams.

................................................................................................

"After a couple years of competing with the other eligible British bachelors in India without gaining much traction in his courtship, Churchill began looking for his next great adventure. In 1899, when a conflagration had erupted between Britain and the Boer Republics of South Africa, he found it. 

"He didn’t arrive on the shores of South Africa to fight; he came instead as a war correspondent for the “Morning Post” newspaper. As a newspaperman, he made it his duty to report back to Great Britain all the happenings on the southernmost tip of the African continent. Even though he wasn’t actually firing a weapon, Churchill often found himself right on the front lines of the conflict.

................................................................................................

"He was eventually captured and kept as a prisoner of war. Churchill would not be a POW for long, however, and the escape that he would stage would become nothing short of legendary. His initial escape was fairly simple; as soon as his guards’ backs were turned, Churchill climbed over the walls of the prison and made a break for it.

"From here he made a wild dash across the vast rural landscape of South Africa, where he had to sleep out on the open ground or even in mine shafts until he managed to travel the entire 300 miles to the safe neutrality of Portugal’s nearby colonial holdings. As a result of his daring escape, Winston Churchill would return to England the following year as a celebrated champion of the British Empire.

"This new acclaim gave Winston some hope that he could somehow use it to woo back his old flame of Pamela Plowden, but even with such heroic feats under his belt, he was still given the cold shoulder by his first love. A disappointed and despairing Churchill soon had to admit defeat, and, in his efforts to put his first love behind him, he moved on to another love that would prove much more fruitful than the first; a love of politics."

Very badly written paragraph there. Was the author in possession of a private memo by Churchill saying, "if not life with her, then, but only then, politics"?

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November 03, 2022 - November 03, 2022. 

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Chapter 2. Churchill Comes into His Own 
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................................................................................................

"“Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

................................................................................................

"For a man who would one day be famous for calling democracy “the worst form of government,” in 1900, Winston Churchill was actively seeking his own role in the democratic process. His efforts would pay off, with Churchill being elected as a representative at the still tender age of 26 years old.

"Despite his youthful appearance, Churchill was a firm believer in dressing the part. Upon his election, he could be seen in the House of Commons sporting a dapper long coat, loose tie, and even a wide winged collar. However, it was his preposterous, almost Fu Manchu-styled mustache that got him the most attention, so much so that a woman once openly criticized him, “I care not for your political ideas but my distaste for them is nothing compared to what I feel about that dreadful mustache.”"

Is the silly author going to proceed to quote every silly remark, or is that considered effective camouflage for refraining from serious criticism?

................................................................................................

"Apparently honing his craft for political debate, Churchill’s own rebuttal to this woman’s put down was fierce as he shot back, “Madam, I see no earthly reason why you should come in contact with either.” Mustache or not, Churchill was soon using his skillful oratorical delivery to rise up the ranks of the political circuit. His first big break came in 1906 when Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman appointed the energetic young Churchill as the “Under Secretary for the Colonies.”

"This position was then followed up in 1908 with a posting as the “Minister of Trade.” With these political moorings secure, Churchill finally found himself successful in the politics of romance as well, and married a woman named Clementine Hozier, whom Churchill would later claim showed him the true meaning of “happily ever after.”

................................................................................................

"The two were married on September 12, 1908, and did indeed remain very much married and happy for the rest of their life together. Now that he was happily married, Churchill would then beef up his resume by taking on the job of overseeing the British Navy, being appointed Navy Minister in 1911. Naval affairs were something relatively new to Churchill, but despite his naivety, he was able to master the field in relatively short order.

"As he grew to understand the Royal Navy and the men that filled up its ranks, he even went so far as to introduce new and far-reaching reforms in an effort to improve the lives of those under his charge. Among these reforms were calls to get rid of some of the more tyrannical punitive measures superior officers were known to take against lower ranking naval personnel.

"Churchill sought to make the Royal Navy a more just organization, and along with justice on the high seas, he also sought to give his naval personnel a bigger paycheck, raising their benefits more in just a few years, than they had been raised in all the decades prior to Churchill’s tenure as Navy Minister. Besides these improvements in the general civil structure of the British Royal Navy, Churchill also sought to create a more modern fleet of vessels, taking full advantage of modern technology and resources.

................................................................................................

"It was Churchill who spearheaded the Navy’s switch from coal to oil. This would prove to be absolutely crucial just a few years later when Great Britain was pulled into World War One. The “Great War,” as it was then known, was sparked by the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, during a visit to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo.

"The assassin was a Serbian nationalist linked to a radical terrorist group known as the “Black Hand” that violently opposed Austria’s 1908 annexation of the Balkan states Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a result of this assassination, in June 1914, just one month later, the nation that was at that time known as Austria-Hungary delivered what became known as the “July Ultimatum” in which a series of severe demands were leveled against Serbia."

Author refrains mentioning that the demands were deliberately unreasonable, so Serbia would be unable to comply with honour. 

................................................................................................

"After Serbia had failed to meet all of the demands asked of it, Austria-Hungary declared war on the country. This would then set into motion the dominos of world conflict since Austria-Hungary’s declaration was immediately followed by Russia siding with their Serbian allies and Germany siding with Austria-Hungary. The next domino to fall was France, getting pulled into the conflict against Germany; this was then finally followed by Great Britain declaring war on Germany on August 4, 1914.

"Just a month prior, on July 31, Churchill had inadvertently pulled one more actor into the war as well when he ordered the seizure of two Ottoman battleships that were docked in the shipyards of Britain. Just days later, the Ottoman Empire then declared its full support for Germany in the conflict. With the Central powers now assembled to square off against the European allies, Churchill made a trip to the Belgian city of Antwerp, which was under siege by the Germans.

"This proved to be a disaster for Churchill as well, with Antwerp utterly collapsing on October 10, at the cost of 2500 lives. Even so, it is believed that if it wasn’t for Churchill’s efforts, Antwerp would have caved to the German assault much sooner. Churchill’s next failure would arise once again with the Turks of the Ottoman Empire when he attempted a recapturing of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) about 500 years too late.

................................................................................................

"Seeking to land troops in the Gallipoli peninsula through the Dardanelle strait, the British soldiers were beaten back by fierce and well-organized Turkish machine gun fire, leading to a full retreat. Churchill took the full blame for the disaster, and many called for him to be demoted. However, rather than receiving censure for his actions, Churchill was given the rank of Lieutenant Colonel on January 5, 1916, and sent over to the Western Front to lead the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers.

"This was then followed by a July 1917 appointment as “Minister of Munitions” and then a promotion in January of 1919 as “Secretary of State.” It was with this title that Mr. Churchill would create some of Britain’s most important interwar policies, such as the recognition of Ireland as a free state on December 6, 1922. However, shortly after this grand bit of legislation, Churchill invited disaster on himself once again, and strangely enough, it was yet another fiasco involving Turkey.

................................................................................................

"Winston Churchill had badly fumbled the release of pertinent information in regard to the Greco/Turkish war as it was unfolding and nearly brought Britain into a war that it didn’t need or want. This led his infuriated colleagues to remove him from his position. Desperate to get back into the game, Churchill then switched parties and managed to come out on top again, this time with the more conservative party. This would be a Pyrrhic victory for Churchill, at the expense of being labeled as nothing more than a political opportunist at best and completely untrustworthy at worst.

"Despite such criticism, Churchill himself was rather blithe about the whole situation and is reported to have remarked, “My own feeling is that I have been more truly consistent than almost any other well-known public man.” Undeterred by those that would call him a traitor, Churchill would soon prepare himself for obtaining the greatest political prize of all as the next British Prime Minister."

When will people learn that being a prime minister of a nation isn't a prize any more than being a president is, but such positions are responsibilities, worthy only of those who can carry them? 

It isn't that different from the yoke that an ox or a pair must carry in ploughing a field, or pulling a cart. That yoke isn't a prize, either. 

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November 03, 2022 - November 03, 2022. 

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Chapter 3. A More Hands-On Approach 
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"“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

................................................................................................

"During the lead up to World War Two, you might think that Winston Churchill would have quite a few misgivings about the international situation, with most of them most likely involving the “powder keg” of Europe. In reality, the biggest concern that took up most of Churchill’s time and debates during this period was that of East India. 

"It was during the interwar years of the 1920s that a figure by the name of Mahatma Gandhi, a champion of Indian independence and civil rights, had risen to prominence on the Indian Subcontinent. It may be surprising for many to hear it, but Gandhi, the man whose very name brings to mind peace and love, was virulently hated by Winston Churchill. 

"As much as most of us today no doubt value the struggle for independence and human dignity that Gandhi espoused, for Churchill, he was just a troublemaker. As shocking as it all sounds, in 1920, Winston’s displeasure with Gandhi had become so great that he declared that Gandhi “ought to be lain bound hand and foot at the gates of Delhi, and then trampled on by an enormous elephant with the new Viceroy seated on its back.”

................................................................................................

"Many would be appalled to hear a man that much of the world venerates as an ultimate champion for peace and justice to be denigrated in such a fashion, but Winston Churchill at his heart was an old school colonialist, who intended to hold on to every inch of the British Empire for as long as it was possible. Any disturbance to this colonial system Churchill viewed with the utmost repugnance. Churchill was absolutely against the independence of India, and no matter the cost, he did not want to lose the so-called “pearl” of the British Empire.

"Churchill even went so far as to claim that any move toward Indian independence would lead to an economic meltdown and civil breakdown of British society. Much more than the looming threat of a resurgent Germany, the encroaching territorial gains of Imperial Japan, the Fascist ambitions of Italy and even the Communist takeover of Russia, for most of the 1920s and even the early 1930s Winston Churchill truly believed that India was the biggest foreign policy concern that Britain faced.

................................................................................................

"With the rise of Hitler in 1933, Churchill’s gaze would slowly begin to shift away from India and toward Nazi Germany - a shift that could be traced back to a speech Churchill delivered to Parliament on March 23, 1933, in which he stated that the “tumultuous insurgence of ferocity and war spirit, the pitiless ill-treatment of minorities” occurring in Germany was a matter of grave concern.

"The same Churchill who had wished that an elephant would trample Mahatma Gandhi was now finally acknowledging the very real elephant in the room of Nazi Germany and its Fascist allies. Churchill would then go on to follow up this acknowledgment on August 12 by declaring that an “evil and dangerous storm cloud” was brewing in Europe.

"Even while Churchill slowly realized how dangerous the political situation in Europe was becoming, most of his contemporaries would rather continue their bickering and wrangling over internal matters of the British Empire such as India, rather than giving much thought to what the likes of Hitler was up to in Europe. This obliviousness to the political climate of Europe was probably best embodied by the then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, the famous British appeaser of Hitler who presided over Hitler’s annexation of Czechoslovakia, Austria, and other territorial expansions."

Not oblivious, but, having suffered horrors of WWI and its aftermath of loss of a generation, most people of UK and France were unwilling to repeat or risk it again, and Hitler in full awareness thereof played their fears successfully until his major strike of invading Poland. 

................................................................................................

"Churchill vociferously disagreed with such appeasing measures, but Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was determined to keep it up, seeking to avoid being pulled into another World War at all cost. Churchill at the time, however, rightly realized that such measures were only emboldening Hitler further, and it would simply be a matter of time before Britain would have to take a stand and act. That stand was indeed finally taken when, on September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland. 

"Just as Churchill had argued, even Neville Chamberlain now had no choice but to declare war on Hitler. Just as Churchill had warned, Chamberlain was forced into what he was desperately trying to avoid; war with Germany. Instead of stopping Germany when it was in a weaker condition, Chamberlain had allowed the threat to metastasize and grow to such a point that it was much harder to control.

................................................................................................

"Soon after England and France’s joint declaration of war, France was the next domino to fall, suddenly putting England right on the front lines of the conflict. Neville Chamberlain, the “Great Appeaser,” then sought to appease his own infuriated political detractors by appointing Churchill (his political foe that had been proven right) as the head of the admiralty. 

"This last act of Chamberlain’s strategy of appeasement would prove to be yet another failure, and on May 10, 1940, shortly after the complete Nazi blitzkrieg and takeover of Norway, Neville Chamberlain answered the calls for his removal by officially resigning from office and handing over the reins of power to Winston Churchill.

"Just a few months later, on November 9, 1940, Mr. Chamberlain would pass away from terminal bowel cancer at the age of 71. In retrospect, some would claim that it was the stress of how the British media treated his political demise that led to his physical demise. This is, of course, all just convenient speculation, but it was with the death of Neville Chamberlain that the British policy of keeping Europe at arm’s length truly came to an end and the hands-on leadership of Winston Churchill truly began."

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November 03, 2022 - November 03, 2022. 

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Chapter 4. Courting the Americans 

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"“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

................................................................................................

"Sir Winston Churchill became the Prime Minister of Great Britain on May 13, 1940, and ushered in his own election with the words, “I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined the government, ‘I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.’” Right after Churchill made this noble pledge, the people of France would soon come to take Mr. Churchill to task, and ask him to make good on his vow, for the sovereignty of France.

"In particular, during the Nazi’s devastating lighting strike against the French, the British called upon Britain’s RAF to bring fighter planes to the aid of the beleaguered nation, hoping that Britain’s pilots could knock out the rolling tanks of the Nazi blitzkrieg from the air. However, Winston Churchill saw such a maneuver to be plagued with folly, claiming that sending in the British Air Force at this point would simply be “throwing snowballs into hell.”

"He has been criticized for such pragmatism, but Churchill believed that it would be much more expedient to save the British fleet that was trapped off the shores of Dunkirk, France. In what became known as the “Battle of Dunkirk,” Churchill oversaw the evacuation of about 9/10ths of the British and Allied Forces in France. Deeming France as a lost cause, much as Churchill surmised, the French government collapsed just a few days after the Dunkirk evacuation and had a puppet government created by the Nazis instituted in its place.

................................................................................................

"With the collapse of Britain’s French ally, Churchill then reorganized the British war effort out of Europe and into North Africa in order to strike at the soft underbelly of the Axis by taking out Benito Mussolini’s Italian holdings on the continent. From here the British led the charge to free those who had been subjected to Italian oppression in places like Tunisia, Libya, and Ethiopia.

"Attacking the Italians first made a lot of sense to the pragmatic Churchill; rather than wasting time against the much stronger militaries of Germany and Japan that Britain was not yet prepared to defeat, Churchill knew that with a steady, concentrated effort, the defeat of Italy was within their grasp. The quick succession of victories against the Italians also served to bolster the morale of the British people, giving them a much-needed boost of confidence in the overall war effort.

"As well as encouraging the British, this string of victories in North Africa also served to foster encouragement among potential allies of the British who had the very real fear of an impending British collapse. Seeing a strong Britain fighting and winning was a good sign for any other nation sitting on the sidelines. Of these potential allies, it was the United States of America in particular that had been watching these events very closely.

................................................................................................

"Winston Churchill had been courting and seeking the aid of the Americans for several months, and even though American President F.D.R. was committed to helping the British any way he could, the American public, with the horrors of World War One still fresh in their memories, had been dead-set against being drawn into another European conflict. F.D.R. himself had campaigned against getting into war, but, sensing the desperation that the world had been thrown into by Fascist aggression, F.D.R. knew that he had to act.

"And even though the American public was not yet ready to commit themselves to lending troops, F.D.R. made sure that America lent everything else, which led to a massive aid effort that was known as the “lend-lease” program. Under this program, the United States supplied massive material assistance to Great Britain as well as other Allies floundering under Fascist oppression such as China and what remained of the French resistance.

"As part of this initiative, F.D.R. sent a large number of fighter planes, tanks, and even battleships directly to England in order to replenish Britain’s depleted resources. As helpful as all of this was, Churchill knew that he would eventually need American soldiers in addition to American hardware if Britain was going to be able to defeat the threat of Nazi Germany truly.

"It wasn’t the Germans that would lead to American involvement in World War Two; it would be the Japanese. If Americans were still skeptical of intervention, the bombs that Japan dropped on Hawaii on December 7, 1941, had completely changed their mind. Almost overnight, all isolationist sentiment seemed to disappear. Spurred on by what F.D.R. called a “dastardly” attack, America was now ready to dive head first into the conflict.

................................................................................................

"Churchill’s American reinforcement came just in the nick of time; in addition to the bombing runs on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese military, as part of their strategy, had simultaneously laid waste to the British holdings in Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong, and ultimately Singapore. The Japanese would completely overrun the latter, seize all resources, and turn the previously British base of operations into a refueling depot for the Japanese fleet.

"While Britain’s East Asian holdings were being smashed by the Japanese, the British Empire’s efforts in North Africa were being severely challenged as well, this time by a dynamic German commander named Erwin Rommel, otherwise known as the “Desert Fox,” who was doing his best to turn back the clock on any British advancement in North Africa.

"Rommel struck his most decisive blow against the British on March 24, 1941, in which he took just one German division and two Italian divisions in Libya and used them to kick the British out of the heavily fortified city of Mersa El Brega in less than 24 hours’ time. This was then followed up by the capture of Benghazi by Axis forces immediately afterward.

"It was precisely this deadly resurgence of Axis power that Churchill hoped the Americans could thwart. The answer to Churchill’s prayers came when the first American invasion force, led by a commander every bit (if not more) audacious than Rommel, General George S. Patton, arrived in Casablanca, Morocco."

That should read "every bit as audacious as (if not more audacious than)", if authors of Hourly History weren't semi-literate school children of bible belt. 

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November 03, 2022 - November 03, 2022. 

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Chapter 5. The Allies Show their Teeth 
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"“Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

................................................................................................

"Known as Operation Torch, the joint British and American invasion of what had previously been French North Africa began on November 8, 1942. Since the German defeat of France, and the installation of the puppet government known as “Vichy France,” about 125,000 French soldiers remained in the French colonies. The Allied invasion force was not entirely sure how the French would respond, but Churchill had some ideas of his own.

"Churchill rightly believed that the French most likely still held resentment for the drastic measures Churchill had taken in 1940 after the French surrender. Churchill, fearing that the large French fleet off the coast of Algeria at the Mers-El-Kébir naval base would fall into German hands, ordered the British Royal Air Force to conduct an air raid against the parked vessels.

"Often criticized as Churchill’s own personal version of Pearl Harbor, this sneak attack by the British against the French fleet resulted in the deaths of 1297 French soldiers, the complete obliteration of a French battleship, and considerable damage to several other vessels. As bad as this unprovoked attack may seem, Winston Churchill was adamant that it was a vital necessity since he believed if the French fleet, the second largest in the world, were commandeered by the Germans it would all but ensure Britain’s defeat.

................................................................................................

"Regardless of necessity, however, Churchill knew that the French were not going to forget the death and devastation he had inflicted upon them anytime soon. It was precisely for this reason that Churchill suggested that the invasion of French North Africa consist mostly of American troops on the land, mainly supported by British in the air.

"Churchill believed that it would be much better for everyone involved if the British played more of a shadow role in the background. In his belief that the Americans would be more palatable for the French who remained in North Africa, Churchill even went so far as to propose that the few British soldiers who were on the ground should wear American uniforms, just to avoid any animosity.

"As it turned out, French resistance to the Allies did not last very long, and on November 11, 1942, an armistice was reached. With the Vichy French knocked out of the picture, the remaining Italian and German forces could be targeted without any further distraction. Soon even the Desert Fox Erwin Rommel, after his calamitous defeat in the Battle of El Alamein, had to run for his life as the British took some 300,000 German and Italian prisoners in the wake of their victory.

................................................................................................

"With North Africa now firmly in their grasp, the Allies could then begin to look once again toward Europe. In this preparation, England would become the staging ground for what would become the largest amphibious assault in the history of warfare. The first attempt to probe the defenses of Nazi-occupied France occurred on August 19, 1942, when Allied forces launched a raid on the port town of Dieppe, in northern France.

"More than anything else, this raid was to be a trial run for a full-scale invasion with the intention of seeing just how feasible the seizure of a major French port would be. This initial experiment in storming the beaches of Nazi Germany would prove to be a major failure. Met with fierce resistance, after just 10 hours in Dieppe all of those that had landed had either been gunned down, taken prisoner, or (if they were lucky) evacuated back to England.

"But despite the bitter defeat, some valuable intelligence information had been gleaned from the boots that were on the ground, and Churchill considered the costly exercise invaluable practice for the Allies before they attempted the real thing on the shores of Normandy. In the lead up to the Normandy invasion, the British coastline was being used by the Allies in an intense wartime dress rehearsal.

................................................................................................

"The closest launching point across the English Channel from Britain was off the South East coast of Dover, directly across from the French coast of Pas de Calais. It was an obvious choice when it came to launching an amphibious invasion across the English Channel and into France, but for Winston Churchill and the other wartime planners, it was just a bit too obvious.

"This fact alone made most of the military strategists want to steer clear of this site as a landing point, but Churchill’s own chief of staff, Lieutenant-General Frederick E. Morgan, lingered on the notion as an imminent place of interest because of the German production and launch sites of the V1 and V2 rockets that had been raining down death from the Pas de Calais area.

"It was, of course, of supreme interest for the British public to have these launch sites shut down, but Churchill and other leaders knew that the Germans fully anticipated this, and Pas de Calais had been fortified as an impregnable fortress as a result. Churchill knew that a landing in Pas de Calais would have also left little room for maneuvering for Allied forces since much of their path forward would be obstructed by the canals and rivers that abound in the area.

................................................................................................

"The Normandy landing site, on the other hand, had been determined to be less fortified, as well as providing a much broader platform in which the Allied forces could maneuver. These final plans for the invasion of France were forged when Winston Churchill attended what became known as the “First Quebec Conference.” This conference was actually a series of top secret meetings between Churchill, U.S. President F.D.R., and the Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, beginning on August 17, 1943.

"In addition to these three English-speaking compatriots, the Soviet Union’s Joseph Stalin had been invited to the party as well but had to decline due to the imminent military threat from Germany that Russia was under at the time. Among other things discussed, along with the finalization of the Normandy invasion, Churchill and the Allies also came to agreements over the development of top secret nuclear technology.

"During the course of these agreements some rather obvious commitments were made, such as a pledge for the Allies (should they develop them) not to use nuclear weapons against each other (you would hope not) and to furthermore not use the weapons against the enemy without the knowledge of the other members of the alliance.

................................................................................................

"The new top secret projects and initiatives involving nuclear technology were actually a matter of intense debate during this conference, and the host nation of the talks, Canada, proved to be of consequence as well since Canada was a chief source for heavy water and uranium. 

"The allies were still a couple of years away from developing a fully developed nuclear bomb, so conventional invasion forces were still very much on the menu. It was this Quebec conference that served to finalize the invasion of France, otherwise known as Operation Overlord."

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November 03, 2022 - November 03, 2022. 

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Chapter 6. A Warning Unheeded 
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“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

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"In May 1944, about a million and a half American troops had been brought to England to join the Allied war effort. Churchill had these U.S. troops placed in specially made military barracks in southern England and kept them poised to launch an invasion of France across the English Channel at any time. 

"Additional units of Canadian troops were also housed next to these American bases, all poised to strike out at the Nazis lurking just over the Channel. The first major step of the invasion process began on June 5, 1944, when thousands of bombers were flown out of Britain, sent to obliterate Hitler’s fortifications along the Atlantic coast.

"Hitler had planned to create what he called an “Atlantic Wall” that stretched all the way from Spain, across France, and all the way up to Normandy, but this wall still had some serious gaps in it, and the Allies fully intended to exploit these gaps. So it was on June 6th, 1944, a moment in history otherwise known as D-Day, commenced. While American leadership gets a lot of credit for this monumental event, Churchill was right there behind the scenes, leading the charge.

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"Churchill can be credited with some of the most inventive policies leading up to and during the D-Day invasion of France. It was Churchill who championed the idea of positioning mock tanks and infantry divisions across the channel from Pas de Calais in order to confuse German intelligence as to where the Allies would actually land.

"It was also Churchill who was enthusiastically behind the infamous “Hobart’s Funnies.” Taking its name from British General Stanley Hobart, the “Hobart Funnies” were standard tanks that the British Royal Engineers outfitted for special auxiliary tasks and purposes. Some of these tanks were modified into special amphibious invasion vehicles, such as the so-called “swimming tanks” used to wade up the coastline; others were turned into “crab tanks,” which were equipped with a long tail and used to dispose of land mines.

"Probably the most impressive Hobart Funny was the “crocodile tank,” which was outfitted with a flame thrower. This tank was equally feared and despised by the German soldiers that had the misfortune of encountering it. The tank was particularly effective at rooting out German snipers who were hiding in fortified bunkers, making them a critical part of the invasion process. In addition to all of this, Winston Churchill also sponsored the creation of artificial harbors, which were installed on the beaches of Normandy on June 7, the day after the initial Allied landings.

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"The idea for such a massive feat of engineering allegedly occurred when, during a discussion of the invasion, the British Vice Admiral John Hughes-Hallet, in the midst of complaining about the lack of a workable harbor in Normandy, suddenly exclaimed, “Well, all I can say is, if we can’t capture a port we must take one with us.” The remark caused almost everyone at the conference to laugh until Churchill, thinking very carefully about the statement, asked, “Well, why not?”

"It was Winston Churchill who spurred on much of the great innovation that made much of what happened on D-Day possible. On June 12, just a few days after the invasion had commenced, Churchill wanted to see the efforts first hand. Arriving by boat off the shores of St. Nazaire in Western France, Churchill made it his personal mission to rally the Allied troops.

"Churchill also made his rounds to some of the civilians in the French countryside, many of whom, he would later claim, did not seem too enthusiastic about the intrusion of the Allies, who were supposed to be liberating them. As he toured the countryside in Western France, Churchill was amazed at how the life of the French farmer had continued on, for the most part, completely uninterrupted.

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"Despite this perceived lack of enthusiasm of those who resided in the French countryside Churchill was confident that the Western Front had been secured, and with these gains in the West, Churchill now turned his eyes to the East. Although the Soviet Union was technically an ally of both Britain and the United States, Churchill had been immensely worried for quite some time as to what the totalitarian regime of Stalin might do with any territory that the Soviets had “liberated” from the Germans.

"Churchill was under no illusions to Joseph Stalin’s ambitions to create a communist empire in Europe. However, when he attempted to discuss such fears with F.D.R. and other American allies, such warnings usually fell upon deaf ears. The Americans, for the most part, downplayed any perceived Russian aggression, and in some cases even passed off such belligerence as a mere jest.

"Churchill was not laughing, however, and saw the loose language as an honest report from Stalin of just the kind of wanton brutality he would inflict upon any territory that fell under his dominion. The Soviet domination of the European continent in post-war Europe became Churchill’s greatest fear, and without any serious attempt from the part of the Americans to acknowledge and see the Soviet threat for what it was, by October 1944, Churchill was ready to take matters into his own hands.

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"He believed that if he could not convince the Americans to take Stalin to task, he would have to go right over their heads and deal with the communist dictator himself. Churchill arrived in Moscow to personally discuss with Stalin how the two of them could create their own “spheres of interest” a strategic move on Churchill’s part to attempt to strike a bargain with the devil he saw in Joseph Stalin while he still had room to negotiate and soften the blow of an all-out Soviet takeover in the East.

"When word came back to the U.S. State Department of such happenings, however, it was viewed as nothing more than Winston Churchill’s attempt to carve up the Balkans for Britain’s own imperialist ambitions. After this last ditch attempt of Churchill to prevent the fall of the Soviet Iron Curtain upon Europe, for much the rest of the war, Churchill would be criticized, derided, and accused of putting British colonial ambition ahead of the real war effort. Soon after the end of World War Two, however, his detractors would soon realize just how wrong they were."

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November 03, 2022 - November 03, 2022. 

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Chapter 7. Preparing for the Post-war World 
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"“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

Author does not date this quote. Given as it in a chapter leading from end of WWII towards cold War, author and publishers would like to make readers infer that Winston Churchill wrote this about Soviet, not nazi, rule. 

But it's unlikely that Winston Churchill said this after WWII, after cold War had set forth, about only then current times. Even if he wrote this then, it had to have taken into account the horrors perpetrated by nazis, including extermination camps, exposed at Nuremberg trials. 

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"As World War Two drew to a close, Churchill found himself at odds with the other Allied Nations on many fronts. Besides the obvious tension with Soviet Russia, many disagreements with America over the shape of the post-war world began to take hold. In the Italian theater for example, after Benito Mussolini was removed from power, Churchill had an immediate bone to pick with his proposed replacement, Count Sforza, considering him a radical.

"Churchill felt that the Americans were haphazardly foisting figures like Count Sforza in the highest levels of government without even considering any qualms that the British may have had. Voicing his concerns to the British Parliament on December 8, 1944, Churchill passionately stated his displeasure, “Poor old England! We have to assume the burden of the most thankless tasks, and in undertaking them to be scoffed at, criticized, and opposed from every quarter.”

"As Germany itself came into the Allies’ grasp in 1945, Churchill would continue to face stiff opposition when it came to his further attempts at shaping the post-war world. It was over the fate of Berlin in particular that Churchill relentlessly campaigned, with Churchill sending Roosevelt the ominous warning just five weeks before the war in Europe ended that “if the Russians also take Berlin, will not their impression that they have been the overwhelming contributor to the common victory be unduly printed in their minds, and may this not lead them into a mood which will raise grave and formidable difficulties in the future?”

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"This was followed by Roosevelt’s matter of fact response on April 7, “I regard it as militarily unsound at this stage of the proceedings to make Berlin a major objective, particularly in view of the fact that it is only thirty-five miles from the Russian lines.” For Roosevelt, the Russian occupation of the German city, which Churchill so dreaded, was just a matter of due course; as he put it, they were, in fact, “only thirty-five miles” from the target.

"In F.D.R.’s mind, it only made sense to let the Russians take on the challenge of subduing the German capital. Once again, Churchill’s long-term vision for the end game in Europe had been rebuffed. However, with the American President’s abrupt passing on April 12, 1945, Churchill would have a new man in the White House to deal with, by the name of Harry S. Truman."

Until the election in UK, when Divine replaced him with someone more amenable to independence of India. 

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November 03, 2022 - November 03, 2022. 

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Chapter 8. Wrestling the Reins of Power 
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"“Never, never, never give up.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

Again - that had to be written with dark days of the Battle of Britain and horror of the London Blitz in background, if not while living with them. 

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"Harry Truman had only been vice president under F.D.R. for a few months when Roosevelt abruptly died of a cerebral hemorrhage. The whole world (Harry Truman included) was completely surprised and unprepared for F.D.R.’s passing. Immediately after taking the oath of office, Truman allegedly told a crowd of assembled reporters, “Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now. 

"“I don’t know if you fellas ever had a load of hay fall on you, but when they told what happened yesterday, I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me.” For his part, however, Churchill had full confidence in the new President and called him the “type of leader the world needs when it needs him most.” Churchill continued to hold this view when on May 7, 1945, Truman led the Allies in the final defeat of Nazi Germany.

"The complete surrender of Germany was held as a great day of celebration in England, with Churchill himself standing up on a balcony of the Ministry of Health building in London to address a large crowd that had gathered below, congratulating them, “This is your victory!” The crowd, feeling that Churchill was indeed the man of the hour, however, was quick to shout back, “No! It is yours!”

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"Churchill, at last, was getting the recognition he felt he deserved for pulling his country, and to a larger extent the world, through one of the worst catastrophes in history. However, despite such local critical acclaim, Churchill was still very much struggling to get a grip on the post-war order, with one of the most challenging post-war incidents occurring just one month after Germany’s surrender when the French attempted to regain the territory in Syria and Lebanon that they had lost after German occupation."

"local"???? 

"The local Lebanese and Syrian populations, who had just had a taste of independence, did not take too kindly to their returning colonial masters and rose up in revolt. This then prompted the French General Charles de Gaulle to order French troops to shoot into a crowd of Syrian demonstrators on May 20, as well as dropping bombs right on top of protestors in Damascus and Aleppo.

"By May 31, with the Syrian death toll at the hands of the French reaching well over a thousand, Churchill decided that he had to act and sent de Gaulle a direct order to have his troops commit to a “cease fire and withdraw” back “to their barracks.” This directive from Churchill was ignored by the French, however, and British troops were sent marching into Syria as a consequence."

This is rarely mentioned in context of WWII, Winston Churchill or Charles de Gaulle, where it belongs. 

But again, this author and the publishers are only foing so in an effort to pull the latter two down, and in this, mentioning the acclaim by the London crowd as "local" in the paragraph above gives a clue to the effect aimed at by the author and the publishers. 

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"The French were hopelessly outnumbered by the troops Churchill had sent in and as a result ultimately decided it would be wise to heed his demand, returning to their bases with a full British military escort at their heels. Although Churchill was victorious in the dispute, it would come to cost him dearly when it came to relations with post-war France. Charles de Gaulle even went so far to say that he believed that Churchill had armed and stirred up the Syrian protesters in a clandestine attempt to interfere with French affairs in the region."

Or it was the then nascent CIA, in cahoots with nazis who'd fled to Levant, apart from the continental shores of South Atlantic and interiors thereof? 

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"However, in the summer of 1945, the agitated French were the least of Churchill’s concerns; still taking first place in Winston’s worried mind, of course, was the Soviet Union. At this time, Churchill drafted the first known Cold War contingency plan against the Soviets called “Operation Unthinkable” in which Churchill’s military strategists hypothesized a surprise attack on the Soviet forces that were occupying Germany.

"This plan was almost immediately rejected as unfeasible, but a lighter weight defensive strategy emerged from its ashes, a plan established in case the Soviets pushed through to the Atlantic to threaten England in light of an American withdrawal from the continent. Even though he had just seen the defeat of Nazi Germany, Winston Churchill was not taking any chances with Joseph Stalin, even if it cost him an election."

Author and publishers hereby insinuate that this cost him the election, thereby making UK seem riddled by left. This is false, even though labour won the election. 

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November 03, 2022 - November 03, 2022. 

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Chapter 9. Churchill’s Hiatus 
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"“Kites rise highest against the wind – not with it.” 

"—Sir Winston Churchill"

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"On July 26, when the results of Great Britain’s 1945 election came in, it was a stunning blow to Churchill and those who were close to him. That the “British Bulldog” that had led their nation through its darkest hour had been so handily defeated in a national election was a surprise to say the least, but the writing had been on the wall for some time, and despite Churchill’s good stewardship throughout the war, it was the British working class who had the final say in the election."

A far better judgement is shown by those that opined that British public had chosen a more appropriate leader for peace, after the war was over. 

"Despite Churchill’s heroic status, it was the social reform and redistribution of national income proposed by Churchill’s opponent that decided the results. The day after the election results came in, Churchill gave a farewell address that many did indeed believe would be his last. After Mr. Churchill’s ousting from Parliament, he would remain active on the international stage, and for the next six years, he would head the opposition party.

"It was during this time that Winston Churchill would give his famous “Iron Curtain” speech. It was during a visit to Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri on March 5, 1946, in which he declared, “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an Iron Curtain has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest, and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere.”"

Again, not only mentioning but giving the gist of this speech - which is rarely identified with Winston Churchill - while not only not quoting but completely leaving unmentioned his most famous speech (- about fighting in streets, fighting on beaches, ... ), shows the nias of the author and the publishers, which is not merely one of obliterating of the continent of Europe from thought, but that of a bias that is pro-nazi, and not merely anti-leftist. 

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"This speech is often heralded as the beginning of the Cold War, and when it was uttered in early 1946, the rest of the world had finally begun to catch on to the dangers that Soviet Russia presented. Just as Churchill had told them, Soviet domination seemed to be spreading, and places in Eastern Europe who had next to no communist political structure were becoming communist police states almost overnight. 

"When it came to the rest of Europe that had managed to escape Stalin’s grasp, Churchill began to describe his plan to help them resist Soviet Expansion. His idea to bolster the strength of Western Europe was to create the European Union. In the world of today, in light of Brexit and other rumblings, a United States of Europe still seems to be a rather tenuous prospect.

"However, Churchill believed, as many still do today, that the only way to make the small countries of Europe strong is to unite them together as one political entity. Such a feat had been the desire of monarchs, Emperors and yes, brutal dictators for centuries. It was, after all, both Hitler and Mussolini’s goal to create a new European Empire united under their totalitarian regimes.

................................................................................................

"Instead of uniting Europe through force, however, the union that Churchill sought to achieve was one that all of free Europe would voluntarily join out of a mutual desire to help each other within one democratic unit, working together for every European’s greater good. As Churchill described it, “The movement for European unity must be a positive force, deriving its strength from our sense of common spiritual values.”

"When it came to England’s own role in such a proposed union, however, Churchill quickly found himself backtracking. When Churchill looked into it further, he found that linking the economy of Britain to the countries of continental Europe would be a disaster. These countries were still struggling to rise from the rubble of World War Two and would drastically lower the standard of living of the average Briton.

"Churchill, knowing full well that the British public would be dead-set against losing British sovereignty to the European Union, began to distance himself from the very idea that he had—in large part—helped to create. It was another stunning reversal from Churchill, but such departure from policies that many of his more nationalist-minded countrymen viewed as “radical” helped Churchill to get re-elected in 1951 eventually."

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November 03, 2022 - November 03, 2022. 

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Chapter 10. The End of an Empire 

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"For the most part, Winston Churchill was re-elected with the full expectation of being a dynamic figure that would make some major waves on the world scene for the British, just like he did during the war. For many of the British who saw the continued dwindling of the British Empire, Churchill seemed to be an answer to stop the bleeding of imperial ambition. Churchill’s first challenge to his dream of maintaining Britain’s imperial legacy came right on the heels of his re-election when, on October 23, 1951, protests erupted in Britain’s previous stronghold of Cairo, Egypt.

"As the Egyptian autumn turned into the winter of 1951-52, Egypt’s nationalist police force began to actively protect and promote the Egyptian resistance movement known as the “Fedayeen.” This support would soon prove fatal for the British at the shipyards of Ismailia, where several British soldiers and personnel were ambushed and killed.

"The British were then able to track those who were responsible for the attack to a nearby police station, but the Egyptian police continued to protect those involved and refused to release them. In the skirmish that ensued, some fifty Egyptian police officers were eventually killed as Egypt broke out into an all-out riot. This revolt in Egypt was then followed by the “Mau Mau Rebellion” in Kenya, causing the British to have to dispatch troops to keep the peace there as well.

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"In addition to these happenings in Africa, there was also sudden unrest in South East Asia in the British colony of Malay. The British Empire had long had tin and rubber mining interests in the area, and all of these money making enterprises had come to a screeching halt due to the chaos that had erupted. Regardless of all of this disruption, however, for his part, Churchill was steadfast in his desire to hold it all together, telling his associates at the time, “I will not preside over a dismemberment.” 

"It was the British Empire that Churchill had spent most of his life trying to keep intact, and now it was falling completely apart. Some say that the stress of this imploding Empire was too much for even Winston Churchill’s broad shoulders, leading to the massive stroke he suffered on June 23, 1953. Quite amazingly, however, even with a completely paralyzed left side, Churchill still managed to attend a cabinet meeting the next morning.

"Despite such displays of fortitude by the British Bulldog, the next couple of years in office would go by quite unremarkably. On the domestic front during his final tenure in office, instead of making any major waves, Churchill seemed to be primarily concerned with not rocking the boat. Much to the surprise of those who knew him well, the same Churchill who so often railed against the Soviet Menace seemed to take the 1953 Soviet crackdown of protesters in East Germany completely in stride."

He'd expected it, perhaps. 

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"For someone who was usually ready to point out the evils of the Evil Empire, Churchill was strangely muted on the subject. Questioned about it, he simply remarked that he thought “the Russians were surprisingly patient about the disturbances in East Germany.” These “disturbances” had left over 500 Germans dead, yet Churchill was rather reticent about the whole affair."

Perhaps he was comparing this with British treatment of India. 

" ... Soon he would be planning his final resignation as Prime Minister. He would make good on his resignation as Prime Minister in 1955, with the veteran British politician Anthony Eden taking his place. Even after this resignation, however, Churchill would still remain a Member of Parliament until he finally removed himself during the 1964 general election."

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November 03, 2022 - November 03, 2022. 

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Conclusion

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" ... Churchill would still re-emerge from time to time to actively engage in public life. Due to such public service, from across the pond in the United States, in recognition of his efforts, he was even made an honorary citizen - something that would have doubtlessly made his American mother very proud. 

"For a man who had often feared a short life with few accomplishments, Winston Churchill had achieved more than most. By the time of his passing on January 15, 1965, at the ripe old age of 90, the whole world had to admit that the wily old British Bulldog had indeed indelibly left his mark on the world ... "

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November 03, 2022 - November 03, 2022. 

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Winston Churchill: A Life 

From Beginning to End 

(World War 2 Biographies), 

by Hourly History. 

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................................................

November 03, 2022 - November 03, 2022. 

Purchased November 03, 2022.  

ASIN:- B071NM7VX8

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................................................

Winston Churchill: A Life 

From Beginning to End 

(World War 2 Biographies), 

by Hourly History

November 03, 2022 - November 03, 2022. 

Purchased November 03, 2022.  

ASIN:- B071NM7VX8

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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5082082120

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