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[PHOTO SOURCE: http://izquotes.com/quote/219033]
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One may dislike Hitler's system and yet admire his patriotic achievement. If our country were defeated, I hope we should find a champion as indomitable to restore our courage and lead us back to our place among the nations.
["Hitler and His Choice", The Strand Magazine (November 1935).]
AUTHOR: Sir Winston Leonard
Spencer-Churchill,
KG,
OM,
CH, TD, PC,
DL, FRS,
RA
(30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman who was
the Prime
Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951
to 1955. Churchill was also an officer
in the British Army, a historian, a writer (as
Winston S. Churchill), and an artist. He won the Nobel Prize in
Literature, and was the first person to be made an honorary
citizen of the United States.
Churchill was born into the 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 Anglo–Sudan War,
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 Asquith's 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 under Lloyd George
as Minister of
Munitions, Secretary of
State for War, Secretary of
State for Air, then Secretary
of State for the Colonies. After two years out of Parliament, he
served as Chancellor
of the Exchequer in Baldwin's Conservative
government of 1924–1929, 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.
Out of office and politically "in the
wilderness" during the 1930s because of his opposition to increased home
rule for India and his resistance to the 1936 abdication of Edward VIII, Churchill took the lead in
warning about Nazi Germany and
in campaigning for rearmament. At 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 speeches and radio
broadcasts helped inspire British resistance, especially during the difficult
days of 1940-1 when the British Commonwealth and Empire stood almost alone in
its active opposition to Adolf Hitler. 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.
He publicly warned of an "Iron Curtain" of Soviet influence in
Europe and promoted European unity. After winning the 1951 election, Churchill
again became Prime Minister. His second term was preoccupied by foreign
affairs, including the Malayan Emergency,
Mau Mau Uprising,
Korean War, and a UK-backed coup d'état in
Iran. Domestically his government laid great emphasis on
house-building. Churchill suffered a serious stroke in 1953 and retired as
Prime Minister in 1955, although he remained a Member of Parliament until 1964.
Upon his death aged ninety in 1965, Elizabeth II granted him the honour of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest
assemblies of world statesmen in history.[1] 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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