CHURCHILL, A Great Leader

By LeBooks Editions

Winston Churchill was an extraordinary man. He served as Prime Minister of England during one of the most difficult periods in history: World War II. With great skill, he led his people to victory against the advancing Nazism in Europe. In addition to being a great statesman and military leader, Churchill was a war correspondent, painter, and writer, having authored over forty books and receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lebooks Editora
• Release date: Mar 19, 2024
• ISBN: 9786558943266

Book preview

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LeBooks Editions

CHURCHILL

A Great Leader

First Edition

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Contents

INTRODUCTION

Winston S. Churchill Biography

Early life

Liberal MP: 1904 – 1908

Asquith government: 1908 – 1915

Military service, 1915 – 1916

Lloyd George government: 1916 – 1922

Out of Parliament: 1922 – 1924

Chancellor of the Exchequer: 1924 – 1929

The Wilderness Years: 1929 – 1939

First Lord of the Admiralty: September 1939 to May 1940

Prime Minister: 1940 – 1945

Pearl Harbor to D-Day: December 1941 to June 1944

Defeat of Germany: June 1944 to May 1945

Leader of the Opposition: 1945 – 1951

Prime Minister: 1951–1955

Later life: 1955 – 1965

Artist, historian, and writer

Legacy and assessments

INTRODUCTION

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Winston Churchill

1874 - 1965

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (Woodstock, November 30, 1874 – London, January 24, 1965), known as Winston Churchill, was a British politician, military officer, writer, and statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, during World War II, and again from 1951 to 1955 as a member of the Conservative Party. Though best known for his wartime leadership as Prime Minister, Churchill also served as a soldier after studying at Sandhurst, was an award-winning writer and historian, a prolific painter, and one of the longest-serving politicians in British history. With the exception of two years, between 1922 and 1924, he was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1900 to 1964, representing a total of five electoral districts. Ideologically liberal and economically capitalist, for most of his career he was affiliated with the Conservative Party, which he led from 1940 to 1955, though he was also a member of the Liberal Party from 1904 to 1924.

Of mixed English and American descent, Churchill was born in Oxfordshire to a wealthy and aristocratic family. He joined the British Army in 1895 and saw action in British India, the Anglo-Sudanese War, and the Second Boer War, gaining fame as a war correspondent and writing books about his campaigns. Elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament in 1900, he crossed over to the Liberals in 1904. In H. H. Asquith's Liberal government, Churchill served as President of the Board of Trade and Home Secretary, advocating for penal reform and worker social security. As First Lord of the Admiralty during World War I, he oversaw the Gallipoli Campaign, but after its failure, he was demoted to Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He resigned in November 1915 and joined the Royal Scots Fusiliers on the Western Front for six months. In 1917, he returned to government under David Lloyd George and subsequently served as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War, Secretary of State for Air, and Secretary of State for the Colonies, overseeing the Anglo-Irish Treaty and British foreign policy in the Middle East. After two years outside of Parliament, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Stanley Baldwin's Conservative government, returning the pound sterling to the gold standard in 1925 at its pre-war parity, a move considered to have created deflationary pressure and depressed the UK economy.

Outside of government during his so-called wilderness years in the 1930s, Churchill took the lead in advocating British rearmament to counter the growing threat of militarism in Nazi Germany. Upon the outbreak of World War II, he was reappointed as First Lord of the Admiralty. In May 1940, he was appointed Prime Minister, replacing Neville Chamberlain. Churchill oversaw British involvement in the Allied war effort against the Axis powers, resulting in victory in 1945. After the Conservatives' defeat in the 1945 general election, he became Leader of the Opposition. Amidst the development of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, he publicly warned of an Iron Curtain of Soviet influence in Europe and promoted European unity. Re-elected as Prime Minister in 1951, his second term was concerned with foreign affairs, especially Anglo-American relations and, despite ongoing decolonization, the preservation of the British Empire. Domestically, his government emphasized housing construction and developed a nuclear weapon. Due to deteriorating health, Churchill resigned as Prime Minister in 1955, though he remained a Member of Parliament until 1964. Upon his death in 1965, he received a state funeral.

Widely considered one of the most important figures of the 20th century, Churchill remains popular in the UK and the Western world, where he is seen as a victorious wartime leader who played a significant role in defending European liberal democracy against the spread of fascism.

In this brief biography, the reader will get to know the main moments of the life of this great statesman.

Winston S. Churchill Biography

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill[a] (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Apart from two years between 1922 and 1924, he was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1900 to 1964 and represented a total of five constituencies. Ideologically an adherent to economic liberalism and imperialism, he was for most of his career a member of the Conservative Party, which he led from 1940 to 1955. He