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“The World Crisis” (9): Churchill and Air Power in the Great War
13
May
2024
Despite the innovations in air power, Churchill recognized that it was “not reasonable to speak of an air offensive as if it were going to finish the war by itself.” If anything, air attacks would see “the combative spirit of the people roused, and not quelled.” This lesson, learned at a time when “the Few” were much fewer, would instruct Churchill in another even greater human conflict to come.
Churchill as Speaker: Back-Up Scripts and Pre-speech Jitters
10
May
2024
Churchill was a great speaker because he loved the classics, which informed his composition. His vast sub-text was compiled through extensive reading, led by Shakespeare and the Bible. His capacious memory enabled him to fish up exactly the right quotation to bedizen his points. But it was all carefully rehearsed. He was not a great ad libber, but often stowed away a good line for the right moment.
The Churchill Day Book: “Nothing Surpasses 1940”
06
May
2024
1
“We may, I am sure, rate this tremendous year as the most splendid, as it was the most deadly, year in our long English and British story....[N]othing surpasses 1940.... The soul of the British people and race had proved invincible. The citadel of the Commonwealth and Empire could not be stormed. Alone, but upborne by every generous heartbeat of mankind, we had defied the tyrant in the height of his triumph.” —WSC, 1949
Churchill’s Critics: Jibes, Ripostes and Insults
03
May
2024
Great Contemporaries: Stanley Baldwin, A Case for Magnanimity
29
Apr
2024
1
“As I was his chief critic my words are upon record.... The tragic course of events belied his judgment, but not all who now claim superior wisdom foresaw what was approaching. Here, then, there is erected this simple monument to the virtues and services of a good Englishman, who loved his country and faithfully sought the advance in the well-being of those whom it is now the fashion to call ‘the common people,’ but who were always dear to his heart.” —WSC
Churchillisms: “Take This Pudding Away—It Has No Theme”
26
Apr
2024
“[The government] have no theme.... They have deluded the masses of their supporters in the country into believing they are about to bring into being some vast, splendid, new world. They have climbed and ensconced themselves upon the structures of Capitalism, and they are shouting to the mob below that they are going to pull them down.” —WSC, 1930
Churchill’s Travels: Fifty-six Countries, Ninety Years
22
Apr
2024
1
Churchill, a grand traveler, visited at least fifty-six countries. Here are the dates of first visits and what he did and said about each. We omit places where we cannot confirm he went ashore, such as Port Said, Egypt en route India in 1896. If his remarks were addressed to anyone in particular, they are identified. The presentation is chronological by year or alphabetical within the same year. An appendix lists countries alphabetically.
“The World Crisis” (8): The Battle of Jutland, 1916
20
Apr
2024
1
“Churchill was right to focus on the stakes, for one of the most difficult decisions of the Battle of Jutland was whether to fight it at all. The British already held naval superiority and need not engage unless they expected to emerge victorious. The Admiralty and the Fleet Commander, Sir John Jellicoe, thought they could defeat the Germans in a traditional naval battle. But one variable gave them pause: the torpedo.”
The Whole of Churchill and Africa, Explored by C. Brad Faught
15
Apr
2024
African leaders like Jomo Kenyatta and Nelson Mandela cited the Atlantic Charter as their inspiration. Ultimately, when accompanied by civil order and democratic institutions, Churchill accepted African independence. Charges of racism are now so perversive as to be a trope, far removed from historical contextualization and based on modern notions of morality. Finely written books like Faught’s go a long way to righting the balance and revealing the truth.
The Zinoviev Letter and 1924 “Red Scare”: Was Churchill Involved?
11
Apr
2024
The effect of the Zinoviev Letter on the 1924 election was negligible, but Churchill’s political use of it was interesting. In campaigning for office, he took full advantage. Even if it were forged, he said, it was nothing new where Bolsheviks were concerned. Calling Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald a “futile Kerensky,” he even published an article about it, criticizing MacDonald's reaction to the Letter but skirting the issue of genuineness.
Churchill General Election and By-Election Results 1899-1959
09
Apr
2024
1
Churchill was the winner in fourteen out of sixteen general elections in his career, an impressive performance; his record in by-elections, two out of five, was not nearly so solid, but those losses twice led to new seats that he held for long stretches. Defeated in Manchester in 1908, he moved to Dundee, which he held for sixteen years. Starting in 1924 he represented Epping, later Woodford, without serious challenge for forty years.
“The World Crisis” (7): The “Soul-Stirring Frenzy” of Verdun
05
Apr
2024
For Churchill, Verdun was a lesson on what to avoid: protracted trench warfare and slaughter in exchange for a few yards of territory. Worse was to come, at the Somme and Passchendaele. Verdun typified the horrors ahead. It was also a proving ground for terrible new technologies like machine guns, poison gas, anti-aircraft guns and flamethrowers. All these were features of a war Churchill had feared and tried to stop.