Winston Churchill was a British politician and the most significant political figure in the entire world. UK in the 20th century. He was prime minister on two occasions, once during the Second World War, when he served as his country's leader in the fight against Nazi Germany.
Churchill belonged to an aristocratic family, had military training, participated in conflicts in Cuba, South Africa, Sudan and India, and entered politics in 1900. He was a British MP for virtually all of his life from 1900 onwards. He died in 1965 as a result of a stroke.
Read too: Adolf Hitler — the biography of the leader of Nazi Germany
Summary on Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill was a British politician, recognized as one of the great personalities of the 20th century.
He was born into an aristocratic family and had a military background.
He acted as a military man and a journalist in different war scenarios.
He was elected parliamentarian in 1900, remaining in politics until the end of his life.
He was British Prime Minister on two occasions, one during World War II.
Biography of Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill's Early Years
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born on November 30, 1874, at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock. Churchill came from a family of aristocracy British, and his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a member of the English Parliament, assuming important functions in the British government throughout his life.
A Churchill's mother was named Jennie Spencer-Churchill, American and the daughter of a very wealthy American businessman. Churchill still had a brother, born in 1880, who was named Jack, and the creation of the two brothers was done by their paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Ann Everest. This was because Churchill's parents maintained a hectic social schedule and neglected to raise their own children.
Churchill's education was geared towards a military career, and he studied in the best schools in the England, although he was not a brilliant student. In 1893, he was accepted into the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, a military school, as a cadet in the cavalry. He finished his studies at Sandhurst in 1895.
Winston Churchill's Military Career
After completing his studies, Churchill wanted to join the battlefield and witness ongoing conflicts. Due to the influence of his family, he was sent to Cuba, in 1895, where he joined the Spanish battalions fighting Cuban forces in the wars of cuba independence. There he also sent news of what was happening to an English newspaper.
In 1896, Churchill went to India, staying there for a year and a half and becoming involved in battles fought in the north of that country. In 1898 he went to another war scene and joined a cavalry battalion that was fighting in the Sudan, where he also produced texts informing the scenario for an English newspaper.
Churchill still went to South Africa to make journalistic reports about the Boer WarIt iss from 1899. During this conflict, he was taken prisoner by Boer troops and held in a military prison, until he escaped and took refuge in Mozambique. He later returned to South Africa to briefly serve on the battlefield. These war experiences allowed Churchill to write his first books.
Winston Churchill's Political Career
In 1900, Churchill returned to England as he wanted to enter politics. He joined the Conservative Party and ran as a candidate for Parliament in the general election of 1900. Churchill was elected, becoming a member of the British Parliament at the age of 25. His early years as a politician were marked by disagreements with his own party, and he moved to the Liberal Party in 1904, where he remained until 1924.
His political career was marked by ups and downs, and, from 1905 onwards, he became a more popular figure in British politics as he began to accumulate other government posts. He assumed the undersecretary of the portfolio responsible for colonial administration, and, in 1908, took over as Minister of Commerce.
In 1911, he took over as First Lord of the Admiralty, a position that allowed him to command the British navy. He was concerned with the military strengthening of the Germany and spent years using resources to strengthen and modernize the British navy. His prestige in that position was damaged by the failure of a military offensive in Türkiyein 1915, during the First World War. Churchill also briefly took part in fighting on the battlefield.
After the First World War, Churchill held different positions within the British government, always remaining as a member of Parliament. Between 1917 and 1919 he was Minister of Munitions; between 1919 and 1921, Minister of War; between 1921 and 1922, Minister of the Colonies; and between 1924 and 1929 he was Minister of the Treasury.
From 1924, Churchill returned to the Conservative Party, and, for the next decade, he did not assume any great position in the British government, mainly because his party did not obtain good results in the elections general. In any case, he remained a member of Parliament. The 1930s were marked by the Churchill's intransigent stance towards the strengthening of Nazi germany.
Churchill saw the risks that existed in Germany's posture, which constantly disrespected the Treaty of Versailles. He feared German armament, the growth of the army in that country, and did not agree with the policy conciliatory approach adopted by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, considering it lenient with the Nazi expansionism.
Winston Churchill as Prime Minister
With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Churchill was again invited to take over the British Admiralty. Chamberlain's rule collapsed after Norway's defeat by the Nazis, and when France was invaded by the Germans, the British Prime Minister resigned.
This allowed Winston Churchill to assume the position of British Prime Minister, an event considered fundamental to British continuity in this conflict. Churchill approached the U.S and maintained cordial relations with the Soviet Union, in order to secure their support in the fight against the Nazis.
![Churchill, Roosevelt (American leader) and Stalin (Soviet leader) at the Yalta Conference at the end of World War II.[1]](/f/b5f6303ef064d5438de49539237f5c4d.jpg)
In addition, he was responsible for promoting a campaign that encouraged the population's resistance to the Nazi bombings in their country. Churchill's daily speeches were followed by thousands of people via English radios. His performance as prime minister throughout the Second World War made him a true hero in the collective memory of the British.
However, new studies have shown that some of the actions taken by Churchill during his government causeram a great famine in Bengal, region of India and English colony at the time. This famine would have been caused by the English policy of prioritizing food shipments to soldiers. on the battlefield, also preventing actions from being taken to mitigate the effects of famine on Walking stick. The result was that between 3-4.5 million people died of starvation in India between 1943 and 1945.
Last years and death of Winston Churchill
With the end of World War II, the Labor Party won the British general election and Churchill resigned as Prime Minister in 1945. He stayed in British politics and began to use its influence to denounce the advance of the Soviet Union through Europe, a sign that the Cold War started.
In 1951, he took over as British Prime Minister again and remained in the position until 1955, when he resigned to take care of his health, which showed strong signs of decline. He took no further positions in the British government, but retained his position as an MP. His appearances in Parliament became increasingly rare from 1959 onwards.
On January 12, 1965, Churchill suffered a stroke., dying as a result on January 24, 1965.
Read more: Josef Stalin — was also one of the greats of the 20th century
Winston Churchill quotes
“A fanatic is one who cannot change his mind and refuses to change the subject.”
“An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile in the hope that it will eat him last.”
“In the course of my life, I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found a healthy diet.”
“It is better to die in combat than to see our nation and our altar outraged.”
“Politics is almost as exciting as war, and almost as dangerous. In war you are killed once, but in politics many times.”
fragment of Churchill's Inaugural Address as prime minister, alluding to the challenges of the Second World War:
I will say the same thing to the Chamber as I said to those who joined this Government: I only have blood, suffering, tears and sweat to offer. We have before us a severe trial. We have before us many long months of struggle and suffering. You ask: what is our plan of action? I can say: it is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalog of human crimes. This is our action plan. You ask: what is our objective? I can answer in one word: it is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and arduous the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.
image credits
[1] Grambaba / Wikimedia Commons
By Daniel Neves
History teacher
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/biografia/winston-churchill.htm