Churchill’s Leadership

Question 1

What is the first factor?

Answer 1

• Churchill’s Political Diplomacy

Question 2

What did Churchill change his political stance to and why was this important? (K)

Answer 2

• Churchill’s political stance constantly changed from Conservatives to the Lib Dem’s.
• Although many distrsuted him because of this, it was important as he had contacts with both parties which gained him an advantage on how he’d eventually form the national government as he would form a party he liked.

Question 3

How did Churchill’s varying political stance cause him issues? (K)

Answer 3

• This caused him issues as Labour/Liberal refused to work with him, and he needed a united front against Germany.
• He promised 1/3 of the National Government and leading roles towards this group as a result.

Question 4

What positions were given to the Liberal/Labour and how was this effective? (A)

Answer 4

• Sir Archibald Sinclair was Air minister and Clement Attlee was Deputy PM.
• This was effective as it provided a secure government towards Germany, as they united and focused what was important; winning the war effort, instead of letting feuds get in the way.

Question 5

What do the traditionalists think about this argument? (H)

Answer 5

• R.Lamb describes Churchill’s move to include Labour/Liberal as ‘brilliant’ and it reveals his ‘acute political awareness.’

Question 6

What is the counter-argument against Churchill’s political awareness? (K)

Answer 6

• Although Labour may have helped during the war, they used a stance of ‘Patrotic Undermining’, in response to the conservative abandonment of foreign and domestic policy for the war-effort, which overall made Churchill look worse.

Question 7

Why did Churchill’s decision to include labour in the National Government backfire on him? (A)

Answer 7

• This shows that Churchill had a lack of political foresight in his diplomacy as this decision backfired and made his image look bad towards the British public, as he may have been a good war-leader, but he didn’t care about the public’s issues throughout the war.

Question 8

What do the revisionists say about the first factor?

Answer 8

• Addison agrees with this position saying: “While Churchill’s thoughts were elsewhere, they [Labour] were busy changing the agenda.”

Question 9

What is the overall conclusion to the first factor? (E)

Answer 9

• However, although the Labour Party may have taken advantage of their position to criticise the Conservatives,
• it cannot be ignored that Churchill was an effective war-time leader as he brought the national government together and work together, which no other MP was capable of.

Question 10

What is the second factor?

Answer 10

• Churchill’s ego/personality and how it contributes to his leadership

Question 11

What did Churchill have that was a disadvantage? (K)

Answer 11

• Churchill had a very high ego and was willing to take part in any risky scheme during the “phoney war” period when he had little knowledge of war tactics.
• Field Marshall Alan Brooke agrees to this he had to control Churchill’s “passion for premature offensives”.

Question 12

What did Churchill attempt to force Hugh Dowding to do?

Answer 12

• Churchill tried to force Hugh Dowding to send more land-fighters despite the high RAF casualty rate and pressure from the Luftwaffe, but he refused to do so and he properly defended the isle during the Battle, hindering Germany plans.
• 10th-30th of May, RAF lost 100 planes.

Question 13

What did Churchill do as a result of Hugh Dowding disobeying him?

Answer 13

• Churchill removed Hugh Dowding as Head of Fighter Command, prolonging the war due to personal issues, which shows that Churchill’s personality was harmful to Britain as he held grudges and had to be held back by them.

Question 14

What is the counter-argument towards the second factor?

Answer 14

• Although he may have been impulsive, his oratory was unmatched as it influenced people in power, shown as John F Kennedy said “He mobilised the English language and sent it into battle.”

Question 15

How did Churchill also influence the public? (K/A)

Answer 15

• He also influenced the public by the 14th of July speech in 1940, declaring that Britain would fight alone, 2/3 of the adult population tuned in.
• This is important as many people resonated with the courage to push on and fight Germany, when it looked impossible to win, which no other person could have done solely.

Question 16

What is the overall about the second factor? (E)

Answer 16

• Overall, although Churchill was incredibly impulsive and had flaws in his leadership, it cannot be denied he was still an effective war leader as he influenced both the public and world powers to keep fighting on and to stay strong against Germany.

Question 17

What is the third factor?

Answer 17

• Churchill’s foreign relations in relation to the war

Question 18

What acts showed Americans isolationist stand?

Answer 18

• America took a isolationist stand in terms of war.
• This shown by the first neutrality act in 1931 which prevented sale of arms to foreign countries,
• and by the second in 1937 which prevented US citizens travelling on enemy ships and merchants selling to the enemy.

Question 19

What did Roosevelt do to help Britain? (K)

Answer 19

• However, President Roosevelt slightly changed this isolationist stand, although they didn’t take part in the war at first, they helped Britain out by passing the Lend-Lease Act.
• This allowed the FDR to give Britain virtually anything she needed, at Roosevelt’s discretion, with a 2% interest rate.

Question 20

How did Rooselvelt relate to Churchill and why was he effective?

Answer 20

• He applied heavy diplomatic pressure to convince the act to pass through, and using his previously mentioned oratory skills, he manipulated Roosevelt that if not, Britain could go bankrupt.
• This was effective in letting Britain win the war as they can borrow how much they want, whenever they want.

Question 21

What was the second ally which Churchill acquired and why was this strange?

Answer 21

• The USSR, this was strange as he heavily opposed communism pre-war.
• However, he was able to put this aside for the greater good and was then able to create the largest military force in the world named “Grand Alliance”

Question 22

How was Churchill gaining these countries to become lies good overall? (A)

Answer 22

• The allies which Churchill acquired were extremely important because it shows that due to his influence, which nobody else could have done, he was able to gain great support which helped the Allies win the war overall.

Question 23

What is the counter-argument against the third factor?

Answer 23

• However, Britain’s relations with France were strained.
• This is initially because there was a lack of air support during the Battle of France which was heightens at Mers El-Kebir, where the RADF bombed the French to stop them from going to Germany, this killed 1299 french sailors.

Question 24

How is the counter-argument for the third factor ineffective?

Answer 24

• However, he was able to kee a good relationship with De Gaulle and included him in a number of military actions such as Operation Torch, which no other leader could possibly reconvene a relationship like this.
• This shows that sacrifices had to be made, and that the French was still a reliable ally to Britain.

Question 25

What is the overall conclusion about the third factor? (E)

Answer 25

• Overall, Churchill was an effective leader as he was able to use his skills to effective use.
• As he gained these allies, he presented the Allies as a United front against Germany, and to eventually win the war in the end.