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Second World War
The Churchill Project - Hillsdale College > Second World War
Great Contemporaries: Fleet Admiral William Leahy
12
Jan
2023
By LARRY KRYSKE
The crippled President claimed Leahy was his “leg man,” but really used him to help understand complex military issues associated with waging a world war against two technologically advanced and aggressive nations. Leahy was also to serve as the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff above General Marshall, Admiral King, and General Arnold of the Army Air Corps. Leahy rarely took a contentious point of view during JCS deliberations. Instead he preferred to persuade FDR in private on courses of action he favored.
Benjamin Hett on Leadership during the “Gathering Storm”
22
Dec
2022
By William John Shepherd
This excellent commentary notes how Gallipoli, the great millstone of failure, was hung round Churchill’s neck, while the Norway campaign, first great failure of the Second World War, was blamed almost entirely upon Chamberlain. Churchill loyally defended the Prime Minister and, in a display of character, tried to take responsibility. But Chamberlain was wrongheaded and arrogant, while Churchill displayed wit and respect for democracy.
John Smithback Discovers Churchill’s Sins in Asia
02
Nov
2022
By WILLIAM JOHN SHEPHERD
Britain was truly overstretched trying to deter Far East attacks with inexperienced troops and second-rate weaponry. That was because all the best soldiers and materials were sorely needed in war against Germany and Italy. And they were spread throughout Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Churchill was very well aware of this. Yet he sent the battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse to Singapore hoping to cow the Japanese. They would act, he said, as “a vague menace.” It is hard to consider such actions—however doomed—efforts to signal British weakness.
How Churchill Saw the Second World War as a Moral Conflict
20
Oct
2022
1
By JUSTIN D. LYONS
Hitler appealed to everything that is darkest in the human heart. Churchill himself appealed to different passions. He summoned the virtues of the British people and helped them find strength within themselves. He sought to elevate rather than to debase; to raise Britons from a desire for security above all to a contemplation of the just and the noble; to embolden them to face sacrifice and death rather than see the armies of evil pound their booted rhythms on the earth.
Alistair Cooke, Churchill at the Time (Part 2): Politics and Principle
08
Sep
2022
By ALISTAIR COOKE KBE
Churchill’s virtues included the acceptance of defeats as necessary to wielding power; a tough but generous relation with rivals in politics, magnanimity toward a defeated enemy; a willingness to experiment; and above all, in the supreme crisis, an absolute refusal to compromise or surrender. From all this, there is powerful evidence to support Isaiah Berlin’s judgment of him as “the largest human being of our time.”
How Arcadia Blueprinted History’s Greatest Wartime Coalition
18
Aug
2022
By RAYMOND A. CALLAHAN
Although it commands less historical attention than some of the war’s later “summits,” Arcadia was very important. It brought together for the first time the small group that, sustainably unchanged, would manage the largest, most complex coalition war in recorded history. It also shaped the Allies’ controlling machinery and grand strategy. Without it, effective Anglo-American cooperation and coordination would have been much harder, if not impossible.
Great Contemporaries: Anthony Eden (Part 3), 1939-1977
04
Aug
2022
By FRED GLUECKSTEIN
As war approached, Eden and Churchill developed an increasingly close friendship. Churchill Eden “was a devoted adherent of the French Entente…he was anxious to have more intimate relations with Soviet Russia. He felt and feared the Hitler peril. It might almost be said that there was not much difference of view between him and me, except, of course that he was in harness.”
Kluger and Evans on the Atlantic Charter: Less Than Meets the Eye
25
Jan
2022
Mary Churchill at War: A Historical Treasure
31
Oct
2021
Sir Winston Churchill’s Three Outstanding War Books
03
Dec
2020
9
By RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
Churchill's best war books: “fascinating products of the human spirit, epic tales filled with the depravities, miseries, and glories of man.”
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How Winston Churchill Lost the 1945 British General Election
27
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2020
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Dieppe: The Truth about Churchill’s Involvement and Responsibility
01
Dec
2017
By TERRY REARDON
Churchill had valid reasons to favour the raid on Dieppe. Principally, the Prime Minister wanted to attempt to take pressure off the Russian front. But for planning and conduct of the raid he had to rely on his military and naval experts. Clearly their plan suffered from insufficient due diligence. Many disparate components needed to mesh for success. This was unrealistic. Together with shortcomings by the naval component, and communication problems, the result was inevitable.