Chapter 2 - Churchill As Wartime Prime Minister Flashcards
What was Churchill’s stance towards the war in 1940?
Look at events during the 1940 especially May
- 13 May - dangerous situation - British army in tact, French large forces, Italy didn’t join Germany, didn’t have a good record with Norway campaign and WW1 - little enthusiasm from Roosevelt
- 14 May - Germans broke French defences - rapid defeat for France
- By 28 May, Churchill facing challenges: British army cut off from French forces, fallen back to Dunkirk. Danger of Italian entry, threaten Egypt/Suez Canal - cut off quickest sea route into India. Japan threat to possessions in South Asia. Gold reserves low, may not be able to afford fighting. Germany bombed Poland/Low countries - heavy casualties. Lord Halifax major supporter of appeasement still in cabinet
- Halifax made rational decisions as Italy was still neutral and possibility Italy would be asked to find out what Hitler would offer and then Britain could make decision necessary for national survive
- Cabinet discussed to approach Mussolini to find out peace terms Hitler could accept - Halifax proposals to Mussolini and appeal to USA rejected
- Direct appeal to USA
- 3rd July - attack on French fleet to prevent falling into German hands, RAF bombing Germany since invasions and British armoured forces to Egypt - British achieved victories against Italy
- German attention went to bombing UK cities instead of RAF to crack moral- Dowding mobilising small groups to preserve strength of RAF - Churchill didn’t back him and removed from command in November
- By end of 1940 - Britian enjoyed victories in North Africa and defeated German air offensive - established position over his rivals and his oratory had become weapon of war - determination prevented negotiations with Germany and nation had steeled itself for long struggle - Britain stood alone - considerable achievement
What was special about Churchill’s leadership style during the war?
- PM expects all His Majesty’s servants in high places to set an example of steadiness and resolution
- Fascinated by what he saw as imaginative ideas particularly the ideas of one of hi special adivsers and close associates
- worked irregular hours and exhausted hi staff - precise and concise paperwork and insisted queries and ideas presented on one sheet of paper
- Belief in establishing strong personal relations with his Allies - personal diplomacy many considered important with Stalin and Roosevelt
- Mastery of written and spoken expression, finest in 1940 and in speeches which never neglected
- personal flamboyance: no other PM appeared in such an array of uniforms/costumes
- most travelled of all PMs before him - wartime journeys undertaken at considerable hazard and lack of comfort for a man of his age
- daring and ruthlessness marked him out from his predecessors - determination to fight on in 1940 and destroy the French fleet cost thousands of lives. Plan to destroy German invaders by poison gas, didn’t look regarding the costs to other the agents of civilian population
What characterised Churchill’s relations with his generals?
- Brooke
- Wavell
- Auchinleck and Montgomery
- views dominated by experience of WW1 and heavy losses in fighting in France which attributed to politicians letting generals pursuer their costly plans without supervision
- frustrated by caution of leading military commanders during appeasement of the 30s in advising against decisive action because of theirs fears of under-preparedness
- Churchill’s unpredictable viewed by generals
Brooke - Brooke highly competent organiser and thorough professional
- in temperament he was different from Churchill: conscious of need to deploy British forces carefully and often annoyed by Churchill thinking aloud and coming up with different military ideas
- wartime diaries written about long/exhausting meetings give sense of frustration from political interference
- Personal dealings were tricky but when it came to major decisions very few disagreements
- Churchill took bold decision in 1940 - send substantial amount of equipment to Middle East to deal with threat to Egypr and Suez Canal - need to maintain Britains empire not challenged by military leaders - Brooke supported decision to send troops to North Africa
Wavell - Churchill gave little credit to Wavell after North Africa - personally disliked
- Churchill took forces away from him when Italy invaded Greece and cabinet made decision to send troops to defend it to establish Balkan Front
- Wavell not prepared properly without command in Greece as troops taken off to deeply flawed campaign
- British evacuated to Crete and there was defeat in German attack and UK forced out
- Wavell took the blame as didn’t have the resources to meet German forces under Rommel: he was demoted
Auchinleck & Montgomery - Auchinleck not prepared for premature attack on Germans and to Churchill’s annoyance - insisted on delaying
- Despite effective defence he was sacked for his delays and not being sufficiently daring and aggressive
- Montgomery replaced and won over by Churchill by his self confidence but insisted on thorough preparations involving accumulating twice the men that Rommel had before attacking El ALamein in 1942
- Churchill favoured Monty and Monty slow following up his victory after El Alamein which allowed Germans to retreat to Tunisia
Describe the events of the war in 1943 - 44
Look at in terms of the generals
- American/British forces invaded and captured Sicily and landed in southern Italy - led to long campaign through Italy and distracted by task of dealing with Germany
- Left Russia in charge of moving towards Germany
- little evidence from Brooke or generals were eager for invasion of France that RUssia were urging
- Invasion of France planned for Summer 1944
- US General Eisenhower in charge and Churcihll didn’t appear sympathetic - planning under General Morgan received limited credit. Churchill only wanted the bright ideas such a s deceiving Germans about invasion site
- British forces faced relatively limited resistance at D Day on 6 June 1944 - slow to break through from beachhead and take port of Caen
- airborne landings to outflank the Germans by taking bridges leading to invasion of the Ruhr possibly
- Montys confidence in it and US doubt - operation failed
- Operation Market Garden in 1944 was last hope for bold stroke to end the war - Churchill not managed to control the bad and costly ideas of his generals any more than in WW1
- From 1940 to 1944 Churhill and generals had occupied Germany in what was minor military action in North Africa while German army engaged and defeated with losses by Russian forces
- War in North Africa characterised by PMs obvious loss of confidence in major commanders - dominated belief that somehow war could be won in Mediterranean without British army destroying forces in the west
How effective were Churchill’s strategic decisions during the war in the Mediterranean?
North Africa
Italy
Importance of North Africa
- Mediterranean vital trade route - increased after Suez Canal was built as major link with India
- Italy joined the war in 1940 and invaded southern France, Italy troops in her North African colonies - Libya and naval base in Taranto
- Britain controlled entrance to Mediterranean - Gibraltar and Britain possessed the Suez Canal, unofficial control of Egypt, Palestine, dominated Iraq and colonies in Somalia
- 1940 defence of Empire and routeway to Empire that dominated military thinking - important part was Suez Canal
- If Germany broke through into Egypt, German forces could link up with forces in Russia and secure oil fields of southern Russia and Middle East
- Churchill hoped for Balkan Front of Greece Yugoslavia Turkey and sent fores in Greece
- Churchill staked much on an attack in Turkey in 1915 to open a soft underbelly of Europe into the Balkans and the Mediterranean
- Balkans proved not such a soft underbelly as British forces defeated in Greece and forced out. North Africa difficult battleground and 1941 Egypt under threat
- Rommel was too short of men and supplies to take Egypt and forced back after the Battle of El Alamein - Churchill determined to pursue Mediterranean strategy
Churchill and the war in Italy
- 1943 resources devoted to invasion of Sicily by UK/US forces while faile to prevent Germans retreating to mainland
- North Africa, Sicily in Allied hands, Mediterranean secured
- By 1943, Italy weakened and no longer serious threat - Germans established in Italy but British had naval supremacy and air power
- June 1944 D Day but why the long delay?
- high casualties expected that France put off, long struggle in Italy not anticipated, policy was to maintain UK dominance over Mediterranean to preserve Empire links, invasion of Sicily and Italy seemed logical steps after Battle of El Alamein
How justified were the bombings of Germany?
Look at causes, consequences, statistics, reasons
Germany had used civilian bombing in Poland to cause terror and in Low COuntries Belgium and France - British cities subject of the blitz after focus of Battle of Britian switched from attacking the RAF to major cities - public pressure to take the war in Germany the same way
RAF Bomber Command eager to sho that it could hasten the end of war by destroying morale and war capacity
However - specialist report stated bombin not effective or precise, Blitz didn’t destroy public morale in Britian, ethical objection to killing large number of civilians
Harris initiated bombing raids and destruct German cities as possible to create fire storms
Considerabl loss of like in Hamburg, Ruhr, Berlin and in Feb 1945 Dresden
Death toll in Dresden was probably 40,000 - total bombing raids killed 400,000 to 600,000
Bombing Dresden not obvious military target - sheltering thousand of refugees and remained controversial act of war - effectiveness and morality of the work and questioned - Churchill himself doubts a policy he supported
How important was Churchill’s role in the war from 1944 to 1945?
Churchill had anxieties over France but by this stage Britain was dominated by richer and more powerful USA - strategy had to be agreed. Britain conscious that USSR had made victory possible by enormous sacrifice of its people and forces - after Normandy landings British forces began heavy losses and a junior partner of the Grand Alliance lost its freedom of action.
British tried one last great campaign but Operation Market Garden fell foul of some poor planning, presence of SS division and muddled thinking.
After Arnhem disaster - no alternative but to fo forward at pace by Eisenhower in dogged faith against German units
Churchill sidelined in meetings of the Big Three and had to accept at Yalta unpalatable decisions. Had to accept frontiers moved westwards and Stalin took eastern Poland - forced to watch Stalin intone the crushing of a rebellion in Warsaw by the Poles against German rule
Churchill still saw the Mediterranean as key and sent troops against a communist rising in Greece - Stalin did not intervene
How important were the reconstruction policies of Churchill’s government and what role did he play?
Not clear quite wha the war was being fought for in 1944
- Initially war had been for Poland - Poland wishes ignored
- Britain seemed to be defender of civilised values but subjected German cities to heavy bombing
- Britain in alliance with USSR but campaign in Greece against communism
- War to preserve British independent was ending with the US controlling military strategy
- War to preserve territorial integrity of the British Empire had seen must of the Empire in the East lost to the Japanese
Not surprising attention was increasingly given to ensuring that post war Britain should be better place by radical social reforms
Churchill headed made substantial progress in planning the post war period and paved the way for important reforms after 1945 e.g. National Assistance, Factory Acts, National Fire Service, Rest centres and meal service centres
War forced the state to extend medical services care for the poor/homeless plan for future extensions of the Welfare State - make provision for more town and country planning/reform education
Why did Churchill lose office in 1945?
- Wartime reports offered much better prospects for the working classes - significant was the Beveridge Report 1942. Generally thought that Labour would implement it
- Conservatives blamed for hungry decade of the 1930s and also for appeasement while Labour offered manifesto for change and seen proponents of collective security
- Churchill was seen as person apart from the Conservatives - He didn’t help their campaign by aggressive campaigning and making ridiculous associations between Labour and Nazi Gestapo
- Great achievements by USSR pointed way to greater economic control and social reform by the state - Labour with socialist origins
- War produced more social mobility as men of ability were promoted in the forces. Many wanted to ensure there was greater opportunity for ordinary people. During war, women once again taken on key roles in male dominated roles - many saw a vote for Labour as a vote for social change