QUOTE: “If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least
a favourable reference to the devil in the House of Commons.” [To his personal secretary John
Colville the evening before Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of
the Soviet Union. As quoted by Andrew Nagorski in The Greatest Battle
(2007), Simon & Schuster, pp. 150-151 ISBN
0743281101]
AUTHOR: Winston
Churchill A.K.A Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, PC, DL,
FRS, Hon. RA (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician
and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second
World War. He is widely regarded as one of the great wartime leaders. He served
as Prime Minister twice (1940–45 and 1951–55). A noted statesman and orator,
Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and
an artist. To date, he is the only British prime minister to have received the
Nobel Prize in Literature, and he was the first person to be made an honorary
citizen of the United States.
Churchill was born into the aristocratic
family of the Dukes of Marlborough, a branch of the Spencer family. His father,
Lord Randolph Churchill, was a charismatic politician who served as Chancellor
of the Exchequer; his mother, Jennie Jerome, was an American socialite. As a
young army officer, he saw action in British India, The Sudan, and the Second
Boer War. He gained fame as a war correspondent and wrote books about his
campaigns.
At the forefront of politics for fifty years,
he held many political and cabinet positions. Before the First World War, he
served as President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary, and First Lord of
the Admiralty as part of the Asquith Liberal government. During the war, he
continued as First Lord of the Admiralty until the disastrous Gallipoli
Campaign caused his departure from government. He then briefly resumed active
army service on the Western Front as commander of the 6th Battalion of the
Royal Scots Fusiliers. He returned to government as Minister of Munitions,
Secretary of State for War, and Secretary of State for Air. After the War,
Churchill served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Conservative (Baldwin)
government of 1924–29, controversially returning the pound sterling in 1925 to
the gold standard at its pre-war parity, a move widely seen as creating
deflationary pressure on the UK economy. Also controversial was his opposition
to increased home rule for India and his resistance to the 1936 abdication of
Edward VIII.
Out of office and politically "in the
wilderness" during the 1930s, Churchill took the lead in warning about
Nazi Germany and in campaigning for rearmament. On the outbreak of the Second
World War, he was again appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Following the
resignation of Neville Chamberlain on 10 May 1940, Churchill became Prime
Minister. His steadfast refusal to consider defeat, surrender, or a compromise
peace helped inspire British resistance, especially during the difficult early
days of the War when Britain stood alone among European countries in its active
opposition to Adolf Hitler. Churchill was particularly noted for his speeches
and radio broadcasts, which helped inspire the British people. He led Britain
as Prime Minister until victory over Nazi Germany had been secured.
After the Conservative Party lost the 1945
election, he became Leader of the Opposition to the Labour Government. After
winning the 1951 election, he again became Prime Minister, before retiring in
1955. Upon his death, Elizabeth II granted him the honour of a state funeral,
which saw one of the largest assemblies of world statesmen in history. Named
the Greatest Briton of all time in a 2002 poll, Churchill is widely regarded as
being among the most influential people in British history, consistently
ranking well in opinion polls of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom.
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