Churchill as wartime Prime Minister Flashcards
Why Churchill became Prime Minister; stance in 1940 and style of leadership; relations with his generals and his impact on strategic decisions in the Mediterranean, bombing of Germany and the war in Europe 1944–1945; plans for reconstruction and loss of 1945 election.
What was Churchill’s stance towards war in 1940?
- confident in Britain & the Empire’s ability to wage war successfully
What was the situation as of May 1940?
- Br . army intact
- Churchill had a cabinet of his supporters
- 14th may - Germans broke french defences = high chances of french defeat
What had Churchill achieved by the end of 1940?
- Victories in NA & defeated the German air offensive
- Br was strong enough to stand alone against Germany’s strength
What challenges did Churchill face as of 1940? x6
- Failure of Dunkirk (300,000 troops stranded)
- Danger of Italian entry into the war, threatening Egypt & Suez which would restrict access to India and colonies
- Threat of Japan in South America
- depleting gold reserves so questionable as to whether Br. could afford to continue fighting
- German offensives in Poland = fear of bombing in Br.
- Lord Halifax’s attempts to reason with Germany
What abt C’s past made his premiership not encouraging?
He had a long past of failures e.g Narvik & Gallipoli
- Had little support from Roosevelt
- Both HOC & Govt were filled w/ supporters of Chamberlain
What was Churchill’s relationship with Brooke like?
- Brooke was often annoyed by C’s political interference
- supported C’s decision to send military equip to the Middle East to preserve the empire
What was Churchill’s relationship with Wavell like?
C refused to give Wavell credit for British victories in North Africa & personally disliked Wavell
- C also took forces away from W and didn’t give him time to prep so when he lacked the forces to meet Rommel’s German army he was demoted
What was Churchill’s relationship with Auchinleck like?
A was unprepared for the prem. attack on Germans = sacked for his delays = refused to give Auchinleck any credit for the victory at El Alamein esp. as it was Auchinleck whpo had accrued teh troops neccessary in the 1st place.
- C also didnt like A because he found him to be unaggressive & unwilling to take risks
What was Churchill’s relationship with Montgomery like?
Quite an affectionate relationship as C nicknamed Montgomery ‘Monty’ as Monty’s self confidence won over Churchill:
- He insisted on thorough prep before El Alamein
- C even gave Monty credit despite being slow in following up after El Alamein & the fact that Auchinleck had made more contributions
Which two nations did Br. feel were a threat in the Mediterranean?
- Italy if it allied w/ Germany as it bordered Egypt & had colonies in N. Africa
- Spain as a Spain-Franco relationship threatened Br. control of med entrance at Gibraltar
What dominated Br. military thinking concerning the Meditarranean?
- Defending the Br. empire & the route to Empire
- By 1942 protecting N. Africa & NA oilfields from a potential German attack
What did Churchill believe should happen in regards to the Mediterranean?
C. favoured the creation of a Balkan front (across Greece, Turkey & Yugoslavia) to draw German resources and increase the prospect of incr. Br. influence in SE Europe
Why was this Balkan front approach not necessarily suitable?
the success of WW2 depended on Russia’s survival & engaging in defeating the MAIN German forces
- the med = distraction of limited strat. importance esp. as Rommel’s advance on Egypt = halted
What did the US General Marshall believe should be done & why?
(3 reasons)
Marshall believed that a Western Front should be established to take the pressure off Russia
- The med. was simply a distraction esp. after the El Alamein victory
- German Atlantic fortifications hadn’t yet been built
- Success of war dependent on Russia’s survival
List 4 reasons why there was a delay to the D-Day invasion?
- High casualties expected
- Long struggle in Italy wasn’t anticipated
- Br. policy to maintain over med to preserve empire
- Invasions of Italy & Sicily seemed the logical next steps after El Alamein
What was the motivation behind bombing Germany?
- destroy German morale
- destroy Germany’s ability to provide for extensive armed forces
- Public pressure to enact similar to the ‘Blitz’ on Germany
What were the issues with the RAF bomber defensive plan?
- 1942 specialist report = bombing wasn’t precise or effective enough to substantially damage German industrial production
- The Blitz didn’t destroy BR morale so unlikely to do the same for G
- Ethical objections to mass killing of innocents
How many people died in the bombing of Germany?
In total: 400,000
What was Operation Market Garden & when was it?
An allied military operation to advance into German territory by flying approx. 30,000 troops behind enem,y lines to capture 8 bridges in the netherlands. - it ultimately failed!
17th - 25th sept 1944
Why had the situation changed as of 1944?
- US = richer & more powerful than Br.
- USSR sacrificed its army to wear down German forces.
- After Normandy, Britain began to take heavier losses, became a junior partner in the Grand Alliance, lost freedom of action.
- Operation Market Garden- poor planning, unexpected SS. After the Arnhem disaster, they could only go under a US commander, Eisenhower.
What happened to Churchill by 1944-45?
- sidelined in meetings of the Big 3 leaders & forced to accept decisions made at Yalta that opposed Br. aims e.g Stalin to regain Eastern Poland
- forced to watch Stalin ignore the crushing of a rebellion in Warsaw against Germans, Germans killed those who provided opposition to future domination.
- Roosevelt paid limited attention to the warnings of Russian dominance in post-war Eastern Europe.
What did Churchill still believe about the Mediterranean by 1944-45?
- Mediterranean still key so he sent troops to quell the commie uprising in Greece & Stalin didn’t intervene as he had promised Churchill
- Br Forces stretched into Germany, India, Middle East and Burma.
- He entered a campaign to maintain the monarchy in Greece/
What were the contradictions of WW2 & What did the public want post ww2?
- Fought for Poland but Poland’s wishes were being ignored, prospect for Russian domination.
- Britain projected ‘civilised values’ but had bombed cities and caused large scale civilian casualties.
- War to persevere British independence was ending with US control.
- War to persevere imperial interests failed.
The public wanted a national post-war effort.
What role did Churchill play in the recon policies of his Govt.?/What was his view on social reform?
- wartime coalition made substantial progress in planning post war period
- C. saw social reforms/discussions as a distraction from victory but had been a well-known social reformer post-1914
Give x8 examples of the social changes made post ww2?
- rest centres & meal services
- Committee for homeless made 1 mil homes habitable & prefab homes created
- means test abolished
- Nat fire service
- Emergency hospital service
- free milk for skl kids
- diptheria immunisation
- ‘42 Br railways united & nationalised
Why was Churchill not seen as the right wartime leader?
- aggressive campaigning
- had verbally attacked members of his own party
- distastefully associated Labour with the Nazi Gestapo
Why was Dunkirk a failure/what was Churchill’s stance on Dunkirk?
- C. was hugely resistant to the idea of bringing the troops in Dunkirk home, he wanted them to keep fighting which would’ve resulted in even greater casualties. = caused conflict w/ other generals & he fired one after the event despite following his successful suggestion of retreat.
- Dunkirk led to a vote of no confidence in C’s leadership
