Churchill

Question 1

Why did Labour and Liberals not like Churchill? [6]

Answer 1

• Labour remembered bitter attacks on trade unions in the general strike in 1926
• He was responsible for the failed Gallipoli attacks in 1915
• In 1925 he moved Britain back to the gold standard which many attributed as a reason for the high unemployment
• He had taken a strong stance against Indian self-governance which went against the vies of ,any others
• He had been critical of all negotiations with Gandhi and Indian representatives
• He was considered to have aligned himself with extreme right wing imperialists and to be out of touch with modern conservatives.

Question 2

What was wrong with Churchill’s style?

Answer 2

His speaking style seemed old fashioned and contrasted with that of Baldwin and Chamberlain who were more modern. He also did not have much support in the Conservative party and surrounded himself by outsiders.

Question 3

When did Gandhi attend talks in London and what act was passed as a result of this?

Answer 3

The British government made talks in 1930 and 1931. This was followed by the Government of India Act in 1935.

Question 4

Why did Churchill oppose British policy in India?

Answer 4

• He loved the Raj and had served there as a child
• He objected to any concessions to popular protest and threats to lawful authority.
• He thought that Gandhi and Indian nationalism would be content only with full independence
• He thought that independence would lead to disastrous conflict between Muslims and Hindus.
• He believed in the superiority of the white race.
• He saw British power in Europe and the world as reliant on their empire

Question 5

What were the consequences of Churchill’s attitude to India?

Answer 5

Even some of Churchills friends and supporters thought his views were too extreme. He had aligned himself with extreme and old-fashioned imperialists and cut himself off from the Conservatives.

Question 6

When was the abdication crisis?

Answer 6

1936

Question 7

Why did Churchill support Edward VIII?

Answer 7

• Churchill was a staunch monarchist and was a personal friend of the King.
• He was an emotional person and was moved by the Royal love story

Question 8

What was Churchill’s attitude to developments in Germany?

Answer 8

• He saw German rearmament as a threat and in 1934, warned against the rising German airpower.
• He saw increased militarism when Hitler introduced conscription in 1935
• The response of Britain was the Anglo-German Naval Agreement 1935 which Churchill saw as a sign of weakness.

Question 9

What did the Anglo-German Naval Agreement 1935 stipulate?

Answer 9

Germany could build a navy that was, at most, 35% the tonnage of the Royal Navy but this meant that Germany could build a navy larger than the Treaty of Versailles had said.

Question 10

Why did Churchill not gain more support for his views on Germany?

Answer 10

• Some thought Germany had been treated too harshly by the Treaty of Versailles
• There was a great anti-war sentiment and rearmament was unpopular
• Churchill seemed to be advocating for another arms race when it had been an Anglo-German arms race which had sparked the first world war.
• Some in Germany and those on the political right sympathised with Hitler due to his strong stance against Communism.
• Churchill’s worry about German air power seemed alarmist at best
• Churchill himself had advocated for disarmament after the first world war.

Question 11

What was Churchill’s opinion of the Munich Agreement 1938?

Answer 11

‘A defeat without a war’ - He felt it made Britain look weak and went against his morals of defending smaller nations against larger ones

Question 12

Why was Churchill’s policy on the Munich Agreement 1938 unrealistic?

Answer 12

• Britain was likely not ready for a war and Neville Chamberlain had taken the time to quietly rearm to prepare for war.
• Britain seemed diplomatically isolated as they had no clear allies to fight against Germany
• War with Germany would likely have meant war with Italy and Japan but Churchill seemed to gloss over this

Question 13

Why did Churchill become Prime Minister in 1940?

Answer 13

• Churchill had considerable popular suppport in the country due to the fact that he ended up being right about Germany.
• He had the support of some Conservative MPs and Labour.
• Lord Halifax was the preferred candidate but he refused to take the responsibility.
• Churchill still had some redeemable qualities such as: He a powerful Orator, his articles were widely read, he was very experienced, he was seen as a highly individual and determined.

Question 14

Why did Neville Chamberlain resign in May 1940?

Answer 14

• He was a ‘man of peace’ making it difficult to become a war leader
• Parliament felt the military and navy were not performing well enough due to failures in Norway and nothing done to halt German advances in the West.
• He had lost the support of much of his party; in a vote on Norway, 40 Conservative MPs opposed him while another 40 MPs abstained.

Question 15

What was Churchill’s stance in 1940?

Answer 15

• He emphasised that survival of the Empire and Britain relied on victory on this war
• Churchill made many speeches such as his ‘We Shall Never Surrender’ and ‘Never Before Have So Many Owed So Much To So Few’
• By the end of 1940, Britain was fighting alone but had survived the fall of France, Dunkirk and had won victories against the Italians in North Africa

Question 16

What was Churchill’s style of leadership like?

Answer 16

• He believed his role was to direct the war effort but he was not a military strategist
• He favoured daring actions and quick responses
• He was ruthless; dismissing military leaders that had displeased him, often not always for the best such as the dismissal of Hugh Dowding. He authorised actions like the destruction of the French fleet at Oran in 1940.

Question 17

What determined Churchill’s attitudes to his generals and military chiefs?

Answer 17

• He was aware that politcal leaders had lost control of military strategy in the first world war and they had allowed the appeasement to take place in the 1930s.
• He had military experience so he was confident in his abilities as a military strategist. He admired ‘men of action’ such as Montgomery and natural leaders like Harold Alexander.

Question 18

What was Churchill’s attitude towards Sir Alan Brooke?

Answer 18

• They spent most of their days together so had a close working relationship, often arguing but respecting one another.
• Brooke played a vital part in the planning of the war and in the training and deploying of British forces.

Question 19

What was Churchill’s attitude to Sir Claude Auchinleck?

Answer 19

• Churchill was anxious for a rapid attack against German forces in 1942 but Auchinleck demanded sufficient preparations and a defensive fallback but Churchill replaced him with Montgomery. Montgomery’s victory at el-Alamein could be mostly attributed to Auchinleck’s preparations

Question 20

Why was the Mediterranean important to Britain?

Answer 20

• Britain had to protect the vital Suez Canal and it’s Middle Eastern oil fields.
• It allowed for Britain to invade Europe through Italy and Southern Europe to open another front for Germany

Question 21

Why did the Mediterranean take priority?

Answer 21

• Britain did not have the resources for a full frontal assault on Northern France
• Churchill preferred the southern strategy and had gotten US support in operation Torch.

Question 22

Why were there objections to the Mediterranean strategy?

Answer 22

• Germany could only be defeated by an invasion of the homeland which would not be plausible through Italy
• Up to 1942, German defences had not be completed on the North Atlantic but the Atlantic wall was built later on making a possible invasion much harder
• Fighting in the Mediterranean took away valuable resources from other possible fronts

Question 23

Why did Britain devote so many of its resources to bomb Germany?

Answer 23

• Britain wanted revenge against the Germans for their attacks on Civilian cities in the Blitz such as the bombing of Coventry.
• Bombing was Britain’s primary way of actually hitting Germany
• Bomber Command believed that bombing was the key to victory by breaking German morale but if the British had not been broken it was unlikely the Germans would have.

Question 24

What was the impact of RAF raids on Britain?

Answer 24

• In the Blitz, 60,500 British people were killed but 400,000 - 600,000 were killed in the RAF raids.
• The losses to RAF Bomber Command were heavy
• The results had not decisive impact
• The greatest effect was when bombing had been heavily concentrated on communications and transport

Question 25

What were the reasons for post-war planning?

Answer 25

• By 1944, it was clear the war was won so thought was devoted partly to post-war empire and Britain. There had been promises for a better Britain after the first world war but this had not taken place so the government wanted to implement more ideas.
• The wartime ministry was a coalition of Labour, Liberals and progressive Conservative MPs

Question 26

What were some key wartime policies of Britain?

Answer 26

• An agreement that the Beveridge Reports on 1942 should be enacted
• Commitment to ending the old system of help for the poor and create a new system of National Assistance
• Hospitals and railways were run by the state
• National insurance had been refirmed and a new ministry created to run it
• The Education Act of 1944 reorganised education, ended fees and promised to rause school leaving age to 15.

Question 27

Why did Labour win in the 1945 election?

How many seats did they win?

Answer 27

• The supposed success of the Soviet Union in the war had made people more sympathetic to socialism
• Whilst Conservatives had fought the war, Labour had managed the home front so had become more popular
• Churchill resorting to slandering his opponent in Attlee, refering the Gestapo made him unpopular.
• Labour won 47% of the vote and 61% of the seats making it the biggest Labour victory ever.

Question 28

How did Churchill view Britain’s internation role in the Second World War?

Answer 28

• Churchill saw Britain as a major power that had entered the war to maintain peace and balance of power.
• He believed in the strength of the British empire and its ability to maintain peace
• He believed that Britain should lead the formation of the United Nations, a League of Nations with more power.

Question 29

How important a contribution did Churchill make to the international conferences?

Answer 29

• He managed to procure a grand alliance between Britain, USA and USSR
• It meant Britain could retain its influence by acting as the middle man
• The strength of the wartime conferences can be shown by the sharing of the US weapon, the atomic bomb.

Question 30

What happened at the Tehran Conference 1943?

Answer 30

• The USA showed that they regarded Britain as a junior partner; the Atlantic charter was not favourable for Churchill and the empire but he signed it for US support.
• Churchill was forced to accept that the USSR would keep the Polish land it had captured in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

Question 31

What happened at Yalta 1945?

Answer 31

• Churchill was forced to accept that the USSR would not join the war against Japan until victory in Europe was achieved.

Question 32

What was Churchill’s relationship with Roosevelt like?

Answer 32

• Churchill was successful in getting the USA to adopt a Europe first policy despite the pacific front being the more dangerous of the two for the USA.
• They worked well together for the interests of both their nations and democracy but they had problems, from late 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill had become less close, Churchill had visited the USA but Roosevelt had not gone to the UK showing the difference in views.

Question 33

What was Churchill’s relationship with Stalin like?

Answer 33

• Despite his dislike of Commnism, Churchill and Stalin had common ground over alcohol and cigars but after late 1943, Churchill became resentful of the close relationship between Stalin and Roosevelt.
• They were able to work together such as in the percentages agreement made in 1944

Question 34

What was Churchill’s relationship with de Gaulle like?

Answer 34

• Churchill admired de Gaulle’s patriotism and confidence but they had many disagreements.
• Churchill backed de Gaulle despite de Gaulle making it difficult by refusing to co-operate with the Vichy French, especially Giraud.