Churchill Wartime Leadership

Question 1

What was Churchill a consistent opponent of?

Answer 1

• Churchill had been a consistent opponent of appeasement and had recognised the threat that Hitler posed to the peace of Europe, making him the only credible PM after Chamberlain resigned.

Question 2

What did Churchill have that added to the credibility of his war-time leadership?

Answer 2

• Churchill had a previous military background with a firm grasp of military matters, which made him a better leader and more suitable towards the post of Minister of Defence, as well as PM.

Question 3

How was Churchill’s determination shown?

Answer 3

• Churchill’s demonstration to win the war was shown when he took the difficult decision to attack the French Navy at Oran, Algeria in July 1940 (led by HMS Hood.)
• President Roosevelt was impressed by this as it showed his determination to defeat Germany.

Question 4

What did Churchill do that gained him empathy?

Answer 4

• Churchill visited bombed areas and was visibly moved by the scale of destruction he witnessed, tis emphathy he showed was well received by the British public.

Question 5

What did Churchill get heavily blamed for?

Answer 5

In Singapore, 130,000 Allied troops became prisoners of war. This defeat at the hands of the Japanese was the largest surrender in British military history and Churchill was heavily blamed for this.

Question 6

How are Churchill’s strategies often misguided?

Answer 6

• Churchill’s military strategy was often misguided/wrong, for example, in Norway, Greece and Italy.
• As he defended Greece instead of winning North Africa, this delayed the process of winning the entire war for two years.

Question 7

What did Churchill do to influence Roosevelt?

Answer 7

• Churchill was able to convince Roosevelt that the priority was to defeat Germany after Harbour.
  Using his diplomatic abilities, he was able to get large loans out of the USA with a 2% interest rate, which no other leader could possibly attempt.

Question 8

What was Chamberlain responsible for in terms of the bombing command?

Answer 8

• Churchill was responsible for the Bomber Command which laid waste of many of Germany’s cities even though the Allies were close to winning e.g. Bombing of Dresden in February 1945, which killed many civilians.

Question 9

Who did Churchill have a poor relationship with?

Answer 9

• Churchill often had a brusque attitude, demonstrated by his poor relationship with Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French.

Answer 10

• Churchill’s energies were fully focused on winning the war, which meant that on the home-front he left to Labour ministers which was a huge political error as it helped Labour win the 1945 General Election, to seize the initiative on the reconstruction debate and the agenda for reform.

Question 11

What does SIr Martin Gilbert argue?

Answer 11

• He was Churchill’s official biographer and has researched his actions through a huge load of primary source material and written numerous books on Churchill.

Question 12

What does Stephen Roskill argue?

Answer 12

• He criticises Churchill’s use of the air force to primarily bomb Germany rather than support the Navy during the Battle of the Atlantic.

Question 13

What does Richard Lamb argue?

Answer 13

• Supports Churchill
• He does not attack his integrity, but he is critical about his strategic awareness.