B
Beryl M
Guest
Churchill
June 1940, London.The Nazis poised to strike at Britain. The prime minister, Winston Churchill, gravely addresses Parliament. His oratory is stirring, grandiloquent, passionate: "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty," the great man intones, "and so bear ourselves that, if the British Commonwealth and its Empire lasts for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'" It was one of his greatest speeches.
We are all Churchillians now. And the clichés are flying his words a clear homage to the rolling cadences of Churchill's "we shall not flag or fail" speech before a weary, stunned Parliament in the wake of Britain's ignominious retreat from Dunkirk in the dark days of early summer, 1940
Churchill's "finest hour," his leadership in the Second World War? A great many clichés have grown up about his war years. Churchill was the "saviour of our country." But in recent years there has been much debate about this, his one seemingly unassailable achievement.
Historians have tried to knock the man off his pedestal by saying that Britain's victory came at a steep price -- the loss of its Empire, its financial enslavement to the United States and the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.- and one Alan Clark argued that Churchill should have negotiated with Hitler (thus preserving the Empire), which set off a blazing row in the British media. . . .
Historian John Charmley stirred up a lot of controversy with his book ‘The end of Glory’ Although his book wasn’t written in harsh terms, it did end on the most doubtful of notes"that Churchill's finest hour obscured the seed of Britain's own decline: Churchill stood for the British Empire, for British independence and for an 'anti-Socialist ' vision of Britain. By July 1945 the first of these was on the skid, the second was dependent solely on America and the third had just vanished in a Labour victory. was indeed the end of glory."
The politics of the Cold War are an unavoidable subtext in the interpretation of Churchill's war: His single-minded focus on defeating Germany paved the way for the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, the argument goes. (Churchill, an early strident critic of the Bolsheviks, had a soft spot for Uncle Joe.) "
Hitler and Nazism had to be fought to the end, no matter what the cost; and the British people did well to sense that it was better for them and their posterity to follow his lead, even though the road promised to be hard and rough. The war indeed did not work out to Britain's material advantage (which was not in fact aimed at or expected), but Britain did remain free, civilized and with a clear collective conscience."
For any historian, it is naturally tempting to refight World War II, and to second-guess Churchill. Yet the scholarly battles over his legacy often resemble clever parlor games: "He should have considered this," "He should have done that," Second guessing however, is often a futile exercise. . .
All the wild conjecturing in the world won't restore the Empire, or change the fact that Churchill rallied an entire nation in a dark time. In his speeches, he took a great risk in not sugar-coating the difficulties of wartime, a tactic that won him even greater respect from the British people; his forthrightness during the war was a bold gambit that paid off.
Some years after the war, in a moment of simultaneous vanity and modesty, Churchill remarked, "It was a nation and a race dwelling all around the globe who had the lion heart. I had the luck to be called on to give the roar." That more than anything illuminates how he led, the unique bond this aristocratic toff forged with British men and women from all walks
So as we face our own difficulties, it is hardly surprising that it should be Churchill we invoke. Still, some of the comparisons are a bit ridiculous. George W. Bush, who seems like a boy doing a man's job, is fortunate to have a speechwriting team full of Churchill buffs -- and even so, his invocation of Churchillian grandeur was strained and self-conscious. He will never provide the roar. . . In the end, Churchill remains a national monument, however tarnished by the work of revisionists and others. He was a man of many flaws who made numerous mistakes, there is no doubt, but to focus on his failings obscures his achievements -- not least of which are his words, the reason why politicians often turn to him now.
What other 20th century statesman possessed such a style? His prose itself is a monument. While he still inspires gushing praise – Churchill "the greatest human being ever to occupy 10 Downing Street" -- historians will continue to probe his character, and to try to downgrade his achievements. But the writer of the "Winston Churchill" entry in the "Oxford Companion to British History" has it right: "No attempts to revise or belittle his reputation have yet proved successful."
Bibliography
The Second World War By John Keegan
Encarta
June 1940, London.The Nazis poised to strike at Britain. The prime minister, Winston Churchill, gravely addresses Parliament. His oratory is stirring, grandiloquent, passionate: "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty," the great man intones, "and so bear ourselves that, if the British Commonwealth and its Empire lasts for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'" It was one of his greatest speeches.
We are all Churchillians now. And the clichés are flying his words a clear homage to the rolling cadences of Churchill's "we shall not flag or fail" speech before a weary, stunned Parliament in the wake of Britain's ignominious retreat from Dunkirk in the dark days of early summer, 1940
Churchill's "finest hour," his leadership in the Second World War? A great many clichés have grown up about his war years. Churchill was the "saviour of our country." But in recent years there has been much debate about this, his one seemingly unassailable achievement.
Historians have tried to knock the man off his pedestal by saying that Britain's victory came at a steep price -- the loss of its Empire, its financial enslavement to the United States and the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.- and one Alan Clark argued that Churchill should have negotiated with Hitler (thus preserving the Empire), which set off a blazing row in the British media. . . .
Historian John Charmley stirred up a lot of controversy with his book ‘The end of Glory’ Although his book wasn’t written in harsh terms, it did end on the most doubtful of notes"that Churchill's finest hour obscured the seed of Britain's own decline: Churchill stood for the British Empire, for British independence and for an 'anti-Socialist ' vision of Britain. By July 1945 the first of these was on the skid, the second was dependent solely on America and the third had just vanished in a Labour victory. was indeed the end of glory."
The politics of the Cold War are an unavoidable subtext in the interpretation of Churchill's war: His single-minded focus on defeating Germany paved the way for the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, the argument goes. (Churchill, an early strident critic of the Bolsheviks, had a soft spot for Uncle Joe.) "
Hitler and Nazism had to be fought to the end, no matter what the cost; and the British people did well to sense that it was better for them and their posterity to follow his lead, even though the road promised to be hard and rough. The war indeed did not work out to Britain's material advantage (which was not in fact aimed at or expected), but Britain did remain free, civilized and with a clear collective conscience."
For any historian, it is naturally tempting to refight World War II, and to second-guess Churchill. Yet the scholarly battles over his legacy often resemble clever parlor games: "He should have considered this," "He should have done that," Second guessing however, is often a futile exercise. . .
All the wild conjecturing in the world won't restore the Empire, or change the fact that Churchill rallied an entire nation in a dark time. In his speeches, he took a great risk in not sugar-coating the difficulties of wartime, a tactic that won him even greater respect from the British people; his forthrightness during the war was a bold gambit that paid off.
Some years after the war, in a moment of simultaneous vanity and modesty, Churchill remarked, "It was a nation and a race dwelling all around the globe who had the lion heart. I had the luck to be called on to give the roar." That more than anything illuminates how he led, the unique bond this aristocratic toff forged with British men and women from all walks
So as we face our own difficulties, it is hardly surprising that it should be Churchill we invoke. Still, some of the comparisons are a bit ridiculous. George W. Bush, who seems like a boy doing a man's job, is fortunate to have a speechwriting team full of Churchill buffs -- and even so, his invocation of Churchillian grandeur was strained and self-conscious. He will never provide the roar. . . In the end, Churchill remains a national monument, however tarnished by the work of revisionists and others. He was a man of many flaws who made numerous mistakes, there is no doubt, but to focus on his failings obscures his achievements -- not least of which are his words, the reason why politicians often turn to him now.
What other 20th century statesman possessed such a style? His prose itself is a monument. While he still inspires gushing praise – Churchill "the greatest human being ever to occupy 10 Downing Street" -- historians will continue to probe his character, and to try to downgrade his achievements. But the writer of the "Winston Churchill" entry in the "Oxford Companion to British History" has it right: "No attempts to revise or belittle his reputation have yet proved successful."
Bibliography
The Second World War By John Keegan
Encarta
