Winston Churchill Biography
by Marci RanzerWinston Churchill was born on November 30, 1874 in Blenheim Palace near Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. Churchill was born into a British aristocrat family. His father Lord Randolph Churchill was the son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough and his mother Jennie Jerome, the daughter of an American business industrialist.
In 1908 Churchill married Clementine Hozier. Hozier was the granddaughter of the 10th Earl of Airlie. Together they had five children, Diana, Randolph, Sarah, Marigold and Mary.
In his youth Churchill attended the Harrow School where he demonstrated enthusiasm for history. At age 15 he entered the Army Class at Harrow. Churchill later attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and at age 20 he joined the army. In 1899 however, Churchill left the army and opted for a career in the British Parliament. In Parliament, Churchill held many high posts in Liberal and Conservative governments during his first thirty years of involvement. He was a Member of Parliament until 1964. In 1940 he was appointed Prime Minister of Britain as well as Minister of Defense. He remained in office until 1945.
Churchill also had a notable literary career. In 1900 he published a novel called Savrola. He also published campaign reports, biographies and memoirs. In 1953 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and in that same year he was knighted, making him Sir Winston Churchill.
On January 24, 1965 Churchill died of illness after a severe stroke that occurred days earlier. He was 90 years old at his death. Churchill was buried at St. Martin Church, England.
Winston Churchill in World War 2
Winston Churchill was appointed prime minister of Britain on May the 10th, 1940, a time of great trial. He described this period as “a cataract of disasters”. Churchill entered office during World War II, just when the Germans had launched a major offence on the west. Within weeks, Holland and Belgium had been overrun. The British Expeditionary Force together with the remnants of the French Seventh Army had been cut off and driven into a narrow pocket around the Channel port of Dunkirk.
Few believed that Britain could continue the war alone. In Winston Churchill’s speech to parliament on June 4th 1940, Churchill established the spirit of defiance and of grim resolve that was to characterize Britain under his leadership for the remaining years of the war.
Excerpt from Winston Churchill’s Speech:
“We shall defend our island whatever the task may be. We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight on the fields and industries. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.”
It was a brave declaration, yet it was also an honest one. In the evacuation from Dunkirt, the great bulk of the British army’s equipment from its battle tanks to its infantry carbines had to be abandoned. An invasion and conquest of Britain was a real danger.
Under the leadership of Winston Churchill in World War 2, the British people set about the defense of their island with an unexampled determination. Though besieged by sea and air, morale remained buoyant and belief in eventual victory unassailable. To his people, Churchill was more than just a leader. In his speeches he reaffirmed the right and justice of their cause and reassured them in their struggle throughout the battle of Britain and the Blitz. Winston Churchill’s speeches and appearances sustained hope and fortitude. Churchill’s speeches were also addressed to the world at large and in particular to America. A great deal of Britain’s lonely struggle was driving her rapidly to the edge of bankruptcy. American aide, though denied to Germany, had been given to Britain on purely commercial principles. By the spring of 1941, Britain’s gold reserves had been leached to the point of exhaustion, her overseas assets stripped bare. Churchill knew that Britain had little left to give.
In Winston Churchill’s speech to the world in February 1941, he appealed unashamedly to the American people. He spoke the following: “We have confidence in us. Give us your faith and your blessing and under Providence, all will be well. Give us the tolls and we will finish the job”.
In March of that same year, the Americans passed “Lend Lease” allowing Britain to finance the war on credit. It marked a subtle turning point in the war and a great personal victory for Churchill. The tide of American opinion was turning slowly but inexorably against the axis.
As minister of defense as well as Prime Minister, Churchill was responsible for the overall conduct of the War. His energy and determination led him to take gambles that colleagues sometimes saw as reckless. The unsuccessful intervention in Greece in 1940 weakened the British in North Africa at a critical point in the Desert War. But Churchill was more aware than others of the political and moral importance of coming to the aid of that nation in its hour of greatest need. He was aware also of the importance of enterprise and aggression in warfare and understood his people’s morale would be higher the harder they fought back. For Winston Churchill in World War II, defeat was less of a failure than inaction.
When Russian and America entered the war, Churchill’s strategies were greatly constrained by his two more powerful allies. He valued Stalin’s military power and saw clearly the threat of his ambitions. The more ingenuous Roosevelt, was unable to see the global dangers of Russian expansionism and too often sided with Stalin.
The later years of the war were years of Soviet and American ascendancy. The strategy for the final conquest of Germany was largely decided by these powers. Though a minor player in these years of the Allied partnership, Churchill remained a hero to his people and to the people of many other lands, symbolizing for many the integrity and justice of the allied cause.
