Sir Winston Churchill – A Complicated Legacy

<script async data-uid&equals;"defcacd1dd" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;fierce-maker-9650&period;kit&period;com&sol;defcacd1dd&sol;index&period;js" data-jetpack-boost&equals;"ignore" data-no-defer&equals;"1" data-no-optimize&equals;"1" nowprocket><&sol;script>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;3 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5667 " id&equals;"quads-ad5667" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;text-align&colon;center&semi;padding&colon;0px 0 0px 0&semi;" data-lazydelay&equals;"0">&NewLine;<script async src&equals;"&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- HH3 --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9266290638607128" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"2439182190" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine;&lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div id&equals;"fb-root"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p><i>By Rick Larson Jr<&sol;i><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;12&sol;Winston-Churchill-older-History-Hustle&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Winston Churchill older History Hustle image" width&equals;"365" height&equals;"424" class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-3964" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h1>Winston Churchill&&num;8217&semi;s Early Life and Childhood<&sol;h1>&NewLine;<p>Born on November 30&comma; 1874&comma; at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire&comma; England&period; Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill grew up in Dublin&comma; Ireland&comma; where his father&comma; John Spencer-Churchill was employed by his grandfather&comma; after being made the 7th Duke of Marlborough&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Early on in his childhood school career&comma; Winston showed traits of a strong willed&comma; independent person who was not fond of ordinary schooling&comma; showing poor results at his first two schools&period; From a young age&comma; he showed traits of his father&comma; seemingly following in his father&&num;8217&semi;s footsteps&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He never had the closest relationship with his <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;nationalchurchillmuseum&period;org&sol;winston-churchills-parents&period;html" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">parents<&sol;a>&comma; though he wished he did&period; He would often write to his mother begging her to come see him while he was away in school&comma; but she rarely did&period; They were off doing the things people of their class and status would normally did&period; Going out on the town&comma; attending formal dinners&comma; garden parties and social gatherings&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;12&sol;Winston-Churchill-boy-History-Hustle&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Winston Churchill boy History Hustle image" width&equals;"346" height&equals;"395" class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-3962" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Winston&&num;8217&semi;s father would die when he was 21 years old from syphilis at the young age of 46&period; Winston never received the attention and connection with his father that he wanted&period; Nonetheless&comma; Winston was devastated by his father&&num;8217&semi;s death&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Winston Churchill&&num;8217&semi;s Military School Begins<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>In the month of April 1888&comma; Churchill started to attend Harrow School&comma; which was a boarding school near London&period; Within weeks of his enrollment&comma; Winston joined the Harrow Rifle Corps&comma; putting him on a path to a military career&period;&Tab;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But&comma; even this proved difficult&period; It took Winstom three attempts to finally pass the entrance exam into the British Royal Military College&period; Once in&comma; it was smooth sailing&period; Churchill would end up graduating 20th out 130 students in his graduating class&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Churchill serves in the Military<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>Winston joined the Fourth Queen&&num;8217&semi;s Own Hussars in 1895&comma; and served in the Indian northwest frontier and the Sudan&comma; where he saw action in the Battle <&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;3966" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-3966" style&equals;"width&colon; 385px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;12&sol;Young-winston-1-History-Hustle&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Young winston 1 History Hustle image" width&equals;"385" height&equals;"282" class&equals;"size-full wp-image-3966" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-3966" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Winston Churchill in the uniform of the Fourth Queen’s Own Hussars&comma; February 1895&period;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>of Omdurman in 1898&period; He would enter into the military ranks during the peak of England&&num;8217&semi;s vast&comma; and seemingly ever reaching military power&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The young Churchill found a love for military&comma; and this would stay for his entire life&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Winston Churchill&colon; The Man of Many Hats<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>While serving in the Army&comma; Churchill wrote military reports for the Pioneer Mail and the Daily Telegraph&period; He would also go on to write two books about his experiences while serving&period; The Story of the Malakand Field Force &lpar;1898&rpar; and The River War &lpar;1899&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Along with his military&comma; and political career&comma; Churchill was also a fabulous <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;churchillbookcollector&period;com&sol;guide-to-churchills-books&period;php" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">writer<&sol;a>&period; He would go on to publish multiple books&comma; and would win the Nobel Prize in Literature &lpar;1953&rpar; &lpar;Fortunately for us&comma; Churchill wasn&&num;8217&semi;t just a prolific writer&comma; but a damned good one&period; All of the sharp wit&comma; incisiveness&comma; rolling cadences&comma; sweeping sense of history&comma; and unusual foresight that marked his life permeate his writing&period; In many ways&comma; Churchill&&num;8217&semi;s life was writing&period; He wrote before he achieved power&period; He wrote after power passed from his aging hands&period; Words – evocative&comma; emotional&comma; reasoning&comma; reckoning – were his personal currency and daily essential&period;&rpar;<br &sol;>&NewLine; &nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Churchill leaves the Military<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>In the year 1899&comma; Churchill would leave the Army for work as a war correspondent for the Morning Post&comma; a conservative daily newspaper&period; While reporting in South Africa&comma; during the Boer war&comma; Winston was taken prisoner by the Boers while out on a scouting expedition&period; He would escape&comma; traveling about 300 miles to Mozambique&comma; the Portugese territory&period; Upon his return home&comma; he would write another book about his experiences&comma; London to Ladysmith via Pretoria &lpar;1900&rpar;&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>The Man of Two Parties<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>Winston Churchill would switch political parties during his political career&period; He started off as a conservative in the British Parliament for a town called Oldham&comma; located in Manchester&period; Stemming from his father&comma; WInston would gravitate towards becoming a supporter of social reform&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Feeling that the Conservative Party was not committed to social justice&comma; Churchill switched sides to the Liberal Party in 1904&period; He would then be elected a member of Parliament in 1908&period; From there&comma; he would be appointed to the prime minister&&num;8217&semi;s cabinet as president of the Board of Trade&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;12&sol;Churchill-face-History-Hustle&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Churchill face History Hustle image" width&equals;"382" height&equals;"382" class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-3960" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In 1911&comma; he would be named First Lord of the Admiralty&period; There&comma; he helped modernize the British Navy&comma; ordering that new warships be built with oil-fired instead of coal-fired engines&period; Churchill was also a strong supporter of military aircraft&comma; and went on to set up the Royal Navy Air Service&period; He was so enthusiastic about aviation that he took flying lessons himself to understand firsthand its military potential&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;3 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5670 " id&equals;"quads-ad5670" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;text-align&colon;center&semi;padding&colon;0px 0 0px 0&semi;" data-lazydelay&equals;"0">&NewLine;<script async src&equals;"&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;" &NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9266290638607128" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"8337030220"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>From 1919 to 1922&comma; Churchill served as minister of war and air and colonial secretary under Prime Minister David Lloyd George&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In 1922&comma; Winston rejoined the Conservative Party&period; He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer&comma; and put Britain back on the gold standard&period; He would also take a tough approach against labor strikes that threatened to cripple his country&&num;8217&semi;s economy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>With the defeat of the Conservative government in 1929&comma; Churchill would no longer a part of government&period; He was seen as out of touch with the people of Britain&comma; a right-wing extremist of sorts&period; But this wouldn&&num;8217&semi;t be the last time Winston Churchill would service in government&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Painting<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>After getting the boot from government&comma; Winston Churchill would take up painting&period; It was something that made him feel good&comma; and he enjoyed doing&period; He once said&comma;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Painting came to my rescue in a most trying time”&period; Churchill would go on to make over 500 paintings&comma; choosing mainly to paint en plein air&comma; but also still lifes and portraits&comma; on occasion&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>The 1930’s<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>Known as his &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;wilderness years”&comma; the 1930’s was a time Churchill when focused on writing&comma; and self reflection&period; Winston was responsible for publishing a memoir&comma; and a biography of the First Duke of Marlborough&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>During this time&comma; Winston would voice is distaste for India’s fight for independence from British rule&comma; and was especially harsh of Mahtma Ghandi&comma; saying &&num;8220&semi;it is alarming and also nauseating to see Mr Gandhi&comma; a seditious Middle Temple lawyer &&num;8230&semi; striding half-naked up the steps of the Vice-regal palace &&num;8230&semi; to parlay on equal terms with the representative of the King-Emperor&period;&&num;8221&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&nbsp&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;12&sol;Winston-Churchill-speech-History-Hustle&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Winston Churchill speech History Hustle image" width&equals;"378" height&equals;"325" class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-3965" &sol;><br &sol;>&NewLine;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Hitler’s Rise to Power<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>Throughout the 1930’s&comma; Winston Churchill would come to realize Adolf Hitler and the German Nazi parties potential threat to Britain&comma; along with the rest of the world&period; Throughout the decade&comma; Churchill would become one of the leading supporters for British Rearmament&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>By the year of 1938&comma; Churchill would be vocal about his feelings of Prime minister Neville Chamberlain&comma; and his appeasement with Nazi Germany&comma; and the occupation of neighboring British countries&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&nbsp&semi;&Tab;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>WWII<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The next year on September 3&comma; 1939&comma; Britain would officially declare war on Germany&period; Churchill would again be appointed to First Lord of the Admiralty&comma; and a member of the war cabinet&period; by the time of April 1940&comma; he would also go on to become chairman of the Military Coordinating Committee&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>That same month&comma; Germany would go on to occupy Norway&period; Something that Churchill tried to warn Chamberlain about&comma; but he did not listen&period;This was a bad mark on Neville’s time as prime minister&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Becoming Prime Minister<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The events of Norway would cause the British Parliament to have a vote of no confidence toward Neville Chamberlain&comma; in the month of May&period; He would be removed from power&comma; where King George VI would appoint Winston Churchill to prime minister&comma; and minister of defense&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Within hours of the changing of prime minister’s&comma; the German army would go on to invade the west&comma; including offensives on Belgium&comma; Luxembourg and the Netherlands&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Within two days&comma; Europe would also see Hitler invade France&period; The future of Europe as a whole was now hanging on by a thread&comma; and Britain had no real allies in this matter&comma; and Winston Churchill knew it&period; It was only a matter of time before they were dragged in&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>The Powers of the World Come Together<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>Beating the Nazi’s &lpar; and eventually the Japanese&rpar; would take Franklin Roosevelt&comma; Joseph Stalin&comma; Winston Churchill and their countries&comma; to come together and fight for one common cause&period; Stopping Hitler&comma; and the Nazi Party&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;But&comma; it was no easy task to get all three powers working together&comma; let alone get America on board&period; Churchill knew he needed to power and money of America to be able to beat the Germans&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Starting off supplying weapons to the British through the Lend-Lease Act&comma; America would eventually see themselves fighting side by side with their allies on continents thousands of miles away&comma; fully entrenched in the second World War&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Serving as prime minster from 1940&comma; to 1945&comma; Winston Churchill would eventually see Hitler commit suicide&comma; and the German Nazi’s Surrender&period; After the war&comma; he would go on to try and implement social reform within his country&period; But he was not able to win the public&&num;8217&semi;s support&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Despite playing a vital role in winning WWII and defeeting the Nazi’s&comma; Despite Germany&&num;8217&semi;s surrender on May 7&comma; 1945&comma; Churchill was defeated in the general election in July 1945&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Sir Winston Churchill<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>Even though he would eventually get defeated for his position in government&comma; Winston would maintain a positive image within the public’s eyes&comma; and still does to this day&period; In 1953&comma; the same year he won a Nobel Prize&comma; he would also be knighted by Queen Elizabeth&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Death<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>On January 24&comma; 1965&comma; Sir Winston Churchill would pass away in his London home at age 90&period; Just nine days after having a severe stroke&period; Bad health was the norm for Churchill&period; At one point&comma; he would even experience a heart attack while visiting the White House&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;12&sol;Churchill-Statue-History-Hustle&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Churchill Statue History Hustle image" width&equals;"301" height&equals;"350" class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-3961" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 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Rick Larson Jr.: Rick has educational experience in colonial America, the American Revolution and Civil war, the U.S. Constitution, American History from 1867-Present, American Military history, World-War II, along with Ancient and Modern World history. He has a passion for all aspects of History, with his main fascination and focus being American history.