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| Churchills War
Winston Churchill succeeded to the highest office amidst turbulent and extraordinary events. In the early 1930s his powerful warnings about the dangers of Nazi fanatacism had been dismissed as alarmist, but by the time he became Prime Minister, on the afternoon of May 10th 1940, his grimmest forebodings had been proven all too true. Western Europe was a cauldron of war. German divisions poured effortlessly into Holland and Belgium and had begun turning for the French frontier. The prospects for Britain and her new leader were inconceivably black. French intelligence estimated that Britain could withstand a German onslaught for no more than three weeks. Hitlers forces had enjoyed unbroken and astonishing success, leading the highest levels of power in Britain to believe that Hitler could not be beaten. Churchill alone never faltered, announcing to the British people that his aim was Victory - victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror; victory however long and hard the road may be. Given the circumstances, it was an astonishing goal to set before the exhausted nation. What followed is now history, from the defeat of the mighty Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, the Battle of the Atlantic against the U-boats to the annihilation of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front. It is easy now to criticise Churchill. Good commanders like Wavel were treated unfairly by him; the ill-fated convoy PQ17 set sail to disaster at the Prime Ministers insistence. These decisions were, at the time, far from simple and whatever Churchills failings they are far outweighed by the splendour of his achievements. From the very outset he recognised the Nazi regime for what it was and fought it unswervingly. His masterful oratory not only inspired a nation but kept priceless hope alive in the hearts of millions enslaved on the Continent. In President Kennedys words, Churchill took the English language to war. |