churchill as a wartime minister Flashcards
what was churchills stance in 1940
- he was completely focused and determined that the single aim of war was victory
- churchill emphasised his determinism to never surrender. even after the 300,000 men were evacuated from dunkirk
- he made it highly public to help maintain public support. for example ‘we shall never surrender’
- saw it as vital to maintain public support
- offered political union to france stating his willingness to commit more troops in order to keep france fighting
- by the end of 1940 britain had survived the fall of france , the battle of britain and was winning some victories in france
what was churchills style of leadership
- role was to direct the war effort
- favoured daring ideas and actions and was frustrated by any delays as he thought it was a sign of weakness (ironic)
- he demanded complete dedication from all the public offices from all in public office and worked well into the night. often tiring out his secretaries and military leaders
- he could also be ruthless and he dismissed war leaders in whom he had lost confidence
how well did churchill work with him military chiefs
-churchills main dealings were with senior military figure sir alan brooke. he was an opponant of churchills wildcat schemes
brooke and churchill did agree on the basic strategy - that focused on the land war on the Mediterranean and delaying opening up a second front until chances of victory seemed strong
- the success of battle of britain owed much of its success to Sir Hugh Dowding, by keeping RAF in small units and avoiding the pursuit of german planes, he kept the RAF strong enough to meet german attacks
however he did not engage in churchills sympathies and was removed
-auchinleck demanded strong preparations and defensive fall back if attack in north africa failed. given the importance of maintaining control of egypt due ot the suez canal this was sensible
-churchill did not control the over confident and dubious military plans endorsed by Montgomery
-overall there was examples of support encouragement and mutual respect
what was the importance of the mediterranean strategy
the suez canal was an important link to india and other parts of the empire
britain obtained most of its oil supplies from the middle east
there was a threat in the middle east that had to be met
the chance arose for an attack on germany through italy and also opening up a balkan front
thus a lot of british war effort took place in the north
why did the mediterranean strategy take priority
churchill thought that a delay in invading france would benefit the allies, as germany would be weakened by US and british bombing raids as well as losses of troops in USSR
churchill also wanted to extend british influence in south east europe
who was right in the mediterranean strategy
churchill was correct about the defence of oil supplies was crucial and british had to prevent the germans linking their forces in north africa
the invasion of italy tied up valuable forces, it was not over as quickly as anticipated it became a long struggle
britain also got distracted with greek civil war
relations with stalin was weakened by the failure to open up a second front. he was blamed for the heavy russian casualties
by 1944 german forces were weak and fighting separate fronts
why did britain devote so many resources in bombing germany
- german destruction of british cities in the blitz caused resentment.
- bombing was the only real way of striking germany itself
- strong belief in bomber command that bombing was a way to win the war and prevent large casualties
- aimed at reducing german military capacity
- also impact morale and cause weakness in the nazi regime q
what was the impact of the bombing campaign
british losses were around 60,000 in the bombing raids and the german losses were between 400,000 and 600,000
- losses of RAF were high
- greatest effect was when bombing was heavy concentrated in destroying communications and transport
- dresden was city crowded with refugees so was controversial
what was churchill attitude to the bombing of civillians
churchill supported the bombing of key german military and industrial targets
however he knew that bombing was ineffective so changed to acivillian bombing approach as cities were easier hit
what were the key war time policies
-agreement of the beverage report of 1942 which proposed a plan for social weldare to elimate poor heath, ignorance and poverty
-reports on town and industrial
-hospital and railways run by state
-national insurance had been reformed
-education act of 1944 reorganised education and ended fees
churchill was not enthusiastic about creating a welfare state but accepted the key measures
what was the reasons for labours election victory in 1945
labour won the 1945 election due to combination of its own appeal and popular dislike of the conservatives
- labour fought a well focused campaign stressing need for domestic change which appealed to the general public
- many thought labour were more likely to pass on reforms
- the general public had become used to the increased role of the state
- conservative election campaign was heavily relient on churchills reputation
- built around war time success
- conservatives associated with unemployment and hardship of 1930s
- churchill said the labour need a gestapo to enforce its policies which was seem to be unpopular and rude
