Churchill the Warlord
Churchill was made PM in May 1940 after the Norway debacle, which ironically was partly Churchill's fault. Even his first commonms statement Blood Toils Tears and Sweat He was only cheered by the Labour benches. Many Tories were suspicious of a man who had swapped parties and had many failures as well as successes to his name. Many others were resentful that Chamberlain had been pushed aside. It is forgotten that motion of confidence was raised early on in his premiership.
He was more cautious this time around. "I have the medals of Antwerp, Gallipoli and Norways on my chest". His inner War Cabinet was actually full of inexperienced members who rarely held him back. He made his self Minister of Defence ( A new position). He was the one that mattered. The figure head. But he rarely imposed his will on the Generals, etc. He could argue and argue and if they did stand up to Churchill they could get their way.
He would always have hundreds of ideas. Roosevelt would say that "Churchill has a 100 ideas a day, one is sure to be right" He had a long record of sacking Generals even if it wasnt always their fault. He was going to fire all the admirals of the fleet. His great success that after the fall of France was his determination to go on. At least in public. We now know that in private Halifax wanted to sue for peace but the labour members stood with Churchil
The supreme moment in the war for Britain was the Battle of Britain directed by Downing. Downing had disagred with Churchill earlier and after the end of the Battle of Britain Churchill effectively sacked him.
The bombing campaign was more important insofar that it kept the momentum going even if it did not meet the objectives and was not successful as the land campaign. The Mediterrean campaign was idiosyncratic. British forces were there because they were there. It made a strange allure for Churchill since Galipoli. He saw it as the soft underbelly that could open the door to the axis powers. Of course they were not soft. In fact they were mountainous regions and the allies never got to Germany that way. But he felt he must to something and drew parallels with historical battles.
His phraseology were pure rhetoric and humor and surprisingly they sound better now than they often did then. He was always enthusiastic and impetuous. But his mistake was to ignore the Far East and did not think Singapore would fall and the British Empire abroad could not be defeated. His success included supporting deGaulle and eventually succeeding getting US in to the war. He says he slept peacefully after Pearl Harbour. "We have won after all" Churchill exaggerated US generousity. US believed Churchill's boasts about the Empire and wanted to see it squeezed. Churchill had been anti-Communist but was wholehearted in the support to Stalin's Russia. He wrote "I sat with the bear and buffalo and I was the english donkey who knew the way home" He wanted a great future for the Empire but it didnt work out like that. But he wanted to win at all costs even if it meant losing the Empire. His successes far eclipsed his failures. His relationship with Montgomery started strained but after his successes he warmed to him.
Ultimately like Wellington and Nelson he was a saviour of his nation.
AJP Taylor 1976
