Winston Churchill
Churchill assumed the position of prime minister in 1940, a few daysafter the German army pushed into Belgium and Holland. Though he was onlyappointed after the resignation of Neville Chamberlain, Churchill was by nomeans a newcomer to warfare or public service. As a young boy, Churchillalready showed a great interest soldiers and warfare, and his earlyeducation at the Harrow school was geared towards preparing him for theRoyal Military College at Sandhurst. Churchill graduated with honors fromSandhurst and was commissioned into the British army when he was 20 years While on leave from the army, Churchill worked as a correspondent fora London newspaper, covering war stories in Cuba, Egypt, the Sudan andlater, the Boer War. Buoyed by his military record and the popularity ofhis books and dispatches, Churchill was easily elected into the House ofCommons. By 1911, Churchill was charged with preparing the country's navyfleet as the first lord of the admiralty. By 1914, Britain had entered thewar, and Churchill took his fleet to Belgium, helping the country repelGerman invasion. However, an ill-fated land campaign at the Gall
The North Africanoperation would also keep the Germans away from the Suez Canal (Wheatley). ipoliPeninsula caused great Allied losses, leading to Churchill's demotion fromthe Admiralty in 1915 (Charmley 1993: 82). As the war progressed, Churchill turnedto the United States, which was still maintaining neutrality regarding thewar. Churchill, however, managed to convince then President FranklinDelano Roosevelt to send destroyers and to provide the British militarywith arms. For Britain, World War II began in earnest in 1940, when the GermanAir Force made numerous bombing raids in London. Marshall proposed adirect cross-Channel invasion to battle German general Erwin Rommel inNorth Africa. After the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor, the two leaders further pledged to focus ondefeating Hitler's forces in Europe and in increasing their naval forces inJapan. Unfortunately, as Marshall predicted, the North African landing resulted inthousands of Allied casualties and no real strategic gain. Churchill and Roosevelt also formed a partnership, heading theCombined Chiefs of Staff (Charmley 1996: 21-22). As the national commander in chief during the war, Churchill showedextraordinary mettle in trying to hold back the Nazi threat. Churchill was re-elected into the House of Commons in 1924, for thenext five years, held the post of national finance minister. By forging an Allied Alliancewith the United States, Churchill ensured that British forces would notbear the brunt of the German assault alone. Conclusion In conclusion, Churchill's World War II leadership was defined largelyby his experiences in previous wars and by a strong desire to preserve theBritish Empire. Though he valued his French allies, Churchill turned down a French requestfor British military aid, reasoning that the air force needed to bepreserved for Britain. His most significant achievements in World War II lay not inplanning battles.
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