Winston Churchill

**Sir** **Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill** <small>KG OM CH TD FRS PC</small> (BORN 30th November, 1874 – DIED 24th January, 1965) was an English politician. He was elected Prime Minister by the House of Commons: Once during World War 2, and again in 1951. This was when The British Empire oversaw the Bengal Famine, World War 2, and the development of its first nuclear (NUKE•cli•er) weapons (WEP•pinz) in Australia (Ahst•RAL•ya). He is "Right" and "Honourable" (AHN•er•a•buhl) by English title.

Churchill was the only person to have been a member of the British Government during both World Wars, and the last commoner (non-royal) to be granted a state funeral.  He was also a soldier, journalist, and writer.  He won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1953.

He was ranked as the greatest British prime minister of the twentieth century by 20 prominent historians, politicians and commentators (out of 19 prime ministers). John Major in the 1990s. In a 2002 BBC 2 television poll, Churchill was ranked as the greatest British-born person in history. Over a million British votes were cast for this poll!

He is the only British Prime Minister to have received the Nobel Prize for literature.

## Personal life

Winston Churchill was born on 30 November 1874 at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England, the home of the Dukes of Marlborough. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a younger son of the 7th Duke, and a leading Tory politician who in 1886 briefly was Chancellor of the Exchequer, a role equivalent to finance minister. His mother (née Jenny Jerome) was American and daughter of a millionaire.

As a boy, Churchill went to the famous Harrow School. He did not get good results, but said he was good at fighting.

He joined the British Army in 1893. In 1896, he was transferred to Bombay, in what was the Indian Empire (British India). He fought in what is now Pakistan. After this, he fought in a war in Sudan, in 1898 as an officer in the cavalry. In 1899, he went to the Second Boer War in South Africa, to be a newspaper reporter. He was captured by the Boers, but managed to escape.

In 1900, he became a politician in the Conservative Party, and was elected to Parliament. In 1904, he changed parties and joined the Liberal Party, but later returned to the Conservative Party.
He married Clementine Hozier in 1908, and had five children named Diana, Randolph, Sarah, Marigold and Mary.

## World War I

In 1910 Churchill became Home Secretary, one of the most important members of the government. In 1911 he was made First Lord of the Admiralty, which put him in charge of the Royal Navy. When World War I broke out, he stayed in that job. He organized an invasion in Gallipoli which went wrong, and because of this, he was made to leave the government. He joined the army and was sent to fight in France, although he was still a Member of Parliament. In 1917 he was made minister in charge of military supplies (Minister of Munitions).

## Between the wars

After World War I, in 1919, Churchill was made Secretary of State for War, and Secretary of State for Air (aircraft). In 1920, Winston ordered the first air bombing in Africa when he bombed the Darwiish State, (also called Daraawiish State).

In 1921 he was in charge of the colonies as Secretary of State. Soon after, in 1922 he lost in an election. In 1924 he became a member of Parliament again, this time not as a member of any party. In 1925 he joined the Conservative Party again. He became Chancellor of the Exchequer (Minister of Finance) in 1924.

After 1929, Churchill disagreed with many things the Conservative party believed in. He was not given any job in the government. Instead he wrote books. One was called _Marlborough: his life and times_, about his famous ancestor John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough; another was _A History of the English Speaking Peoples_, which was not published until after World War 2.

When Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, Churchill warned that Britain should strengthen its military and oppose Hitler.  However, very few leaders agreed with him.

## World War II

Winston Churchill was elected Prime Minister in 1940, after the 3rd German Reich (RIKE) invaded France and Low Countries. The Nazis also occupied (Already controlled) parts of Poland, all of Norway and all of Austria.

The previous Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned on May 10 and so Churchill was elected by the House of Commons. Some thought that Britain couldn't win the war, and that the British government should remain peaceful with the Nazis. Churchill believed that Britain would prevail (win), and continued the fight. He made famous speeches that are still remembered today.

Churchill often met with the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt ("FDR", as seen on the US dime). Churchill persuaded Roosevelt to send weapons and supplies to aid the British Empire. Churchill was also allies Joseph Stalin, the Soviet dictator, after the Soviets occupied Poland (jointly with the Nazis), Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland.

Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin were called the _Big Three,_ because they were the leaders of the largest countries who fought the Axis Powers during World War 2.

## After the war

In 1945, his party lost an election, and he stopped being Prime Minister. However, he became Prime Minister again in 1951, which he was until 1955.

He was knighted in 1953, and became Sir Winston, and also won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

In 1955, he retired from being Prime Minister. In 1964, he retired from Parliament.

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy named him 'Honorary Citizen of the United States' but too ill to attend a White House ceremony, his son and grandson accepted the award.

Sir Winston died of a stroke at the age of 90, in 1965. When he died, his wife Lady Clementine Churchill and other members of the family were at his bedside.

## Books

Title (US Title) (Year of publication)
- _The Story of the Malakand Field Force_ (1898)
- _The River War_ (1899): about the reconquest of the Sudan, after the revolution of the self-proclaimed Mahdi, Muhammed Ahmed.
- _Savrola_ (1900; serialised 1899 and published USA 1899): a novel
- _London to Ladysmith via Pretoria_ (1900): the Second Boer War, and the Relief of Ladysmith
- _Ian Hamilton's March_ (1900): Second Boer War continued
- _Mr. Brodrick’s Army_ (1903)
- _Lord Randolph Churchill_ (1906): two-volume biography of his father
- _For Free Trade_ (1906)
- _My African Journey_ (1908)
- _Liberalism and the Social Problem_ (1909)
- _The People’s Rights_ (1910)
- _The World Crisis_ (1923–1931)
- _My Early Life: A Roving Commission_ (1930): autobiography
- _India_ (1931)
- _Thoughts and Adventures_ (_Amid These Storms_) (1932)
- _Marlborough: His Life and Times_ (1933–1938): four-volume biography on his greatest predecessor
- _Great Contemporaries_ (1937): short biographies
- _Arms and the Covenant_ or _While England Slept: A Survey of World Affairs, 1932–1938_ (1938): a call to arms, warning about Hitler, urging rearmament
- _Step by Step 1936–1939_ (1939)
- _Addresses Delivered in the Year 1940_ (1940)
- _Broadcast Addresses_ (1941)
- _Into Battle_ (_Blood Sweat and Tears_) (1941)
- _The Unrelenting Struggle_ (1942)
- _The End of the Beginning_ (1943)
- _Onwards to Victory_ (1944)
- _The Dawn of Liberation_ (1945)
- _Victory_ (1946)
- _Secret Sessions Speeches_ (1946)
- _War Speeches_ 1940–1945 (1946)
- _The Second World War_ (1948–1954): six volumes (12 in paperback)
- _The Sinews of Peace_ (1948)
- _Painting as a Pastime_ (1948)
- _Europe Unite_ (1950)
- _In the Balance_ (1951)
- _The War Speeches_ 1939–1945 (1952)
- _Stemming the Tide_ (1953)
- _A History of the English-Speaking Peoples_ (1956–1958): four volumes
- _The Unwritten Alliance_ (1961)

### Essays and short stories

- "Man Overboard!" (1899). First printed in _The Harmsworth Magazine_, January 1899
- "If Lee had not won the Battle of Gettysburg" (1930). First published in _Scribner's Magazine_, December 1930.

## Other websites

- The International Churchill Society -

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **embed**: yes
- **office2**: Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition
- **monarch2**: George VI
- **primeminister2**: Clement Attlee
- **term start2**: 26 July 1945
- **term end2**: 26 October 1951
- **predecessor2**: Clement Attlee
- **successor2**: Clement Attlee
- **office3**: Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party
- **term start3**: 9 October 1940
- **term end3**: 6 April 1955
- **predecessor3**: Neville Chamberlain
- **successor3**: Anthony Eden


## Infobox (officeholder)

- **embed**: yes
- **office4**: Secretary of State for Defence, Minister of Defence
- **term start4**: 28 October 1951
- **term end4**: 1 March 1952
- **predecessor4**: Manny Shinwell
- **successor4**: Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, The Earl Alexander of Tunis
- **term start5**: 10 May 1940
- **term end5**: 26 July 1945
- **predecessor5**: Ernle Chatfield, 1st Baron Chatfield, The Lord Chatfield (Minister for Co-ordination of Defence, Coordination of Defence)
- **successor5**: Clement Attlee
- **office6**: First Lord of the Admiralty
- **primeminister6**: Neville Chamberlain
- **term start6**: 3 September 1939
- **term end6**: 11 May 1940
- **predecessor6**: James Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope, The Earl Stanhope
- **successor6**: A. V. Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Hillsborough, A. V. Alexander


## Infobox (officeholder)

- **embed**: yes
- **office7**: Chancellor of the Exchequer
- **primeminister7**: Stanley Baldwin
- **term start7**: 6 November 1924
- **term end7**: 4 June 1929
- **predecessor7**: Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, Philip Snowden
- **successor7**: Philip Snowden
- **office8**: Secretary of State for the Colonies
- **primeminister8**: David Lloyd George
- **term start8**: 13 February 1921
- **term end8**: 19 October 1922
- **predecessor8**: Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, The Viscount Milner
- **successor8**: Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire, The Duke of Devonshire
- **office9**: Secretary of State for Air
- **primeminister9**: David Lloyd George
- **term start9**: 10 January 1919
- **term end9**: 13 February 1921
- **predecessor9**: William Weir, 1st Viscount Weir, William Weir
- **successor9**: Frederick Guest
- **office10**: Secretary of State for War
- **primeminister10**: David Lloyd George
- **term start10**: 10 January 1919
- **term end10**: 13 February 1921
- **predecessor10**: Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, The Viscount Milner
- **successor10**: Laming Worthington-Evans
- **office11**: Minister of Munitions
- **primeminister11**: David Lloyd George
- **term start11**: 17 July 1917
- **term end11**: 10 January 1919
- **predecessor11**: Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison, Christopher Addison
- **successor11**: Andrew Weir, 1st Baron Inverforth, Andrew Weir
- **office12**: Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
- **primeminister12**: H. H. Asquith
- **term start12**: 25 May 1915
- **term end12**: 25 November 1915
- **predecessor12**: Edwin Montagu
- **successor12**: Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel, Herbert Samuel
- **office13**: First Lord of the Admiralty
- **primeminister13**: H. H. Asquith
- **term start13**: 24 October 1911
- **term end13**: 25 May 1915
- **predecessor13**: Reginald McKenna
- **successor13**: Arthur Balfour
- **office14**: Home Secretary
- **primeminister14**: H. H. Asquith
- **term start14**: 19 February 1910
- **term end14**: 24 October 1911
- **predecessor14**: Herbert Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone, Herbert Gladstone
- **successor14**: Reginald McKenna
- **office15**: President of the Board of Trade
- **primeminister15**: H. H. Asquith
- **term start15**: 12 April 1908
- **term end15**: 14 February 1910
- **predecessor15**: David Lloyd George
- **successor15**: Sydney Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton, Sydney Buxton


## Infobox (officeholder)

- **embed**: yes
- **office1**: Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament
for Woodford (UK Parliament constituency), Woodford
- **term start1**: 5 July 1945
- **term end1**: 25 September 1964
- **predecessor1**: Constituency established
- **successor1**: Constituency abolished
- **constituency mp2**: Epping (UK Parliament constituency), Epping
- **term start2**: 29 October 1924
- **term end2**: 15 June 1945
- **predecessor2**: Leonard Lyle, 1st Baron Lyle of Westbourne, Leonard Lyle
- **successor2**: Leah Manning
- **constituency mp3**: Dundee (UK Parliament constituency), Dundee
- **alongside3**: Alexander Wilkie
- **term start3**: 24 April 1908
- **term end3**: 26 October 1922
- **constituency mp4**: Manchester North West (UK Parliament constituency), Manchester North West
- **term start4**: 8 February 1906
- **term end4**: 24 April 1908
- **predecessor4**: William Houldsworth
- **successor4**: William Joynson-Hicks, 1st Viscount Brentford, William Joynson-Hicks
- **constituency mp5**: Oldham (UK Parliament constituency), Oldham
- **term start5**: 24 October 1900
- **term end5**: 8 January 1906
- **predecessor5**: Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford, Walter Runciman
- **successor5**: John Albert Bright
- **birth name**: Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill
- **birth place**: Blenheim, Oxfordshire, England
- **death place**: Kensington, County of London, London, England
- **restingplace**: St Martin's Church, Bladon
- **serviceyears**: 1893–1924
- **rank**: Honours of Winston Churchill#Military ranks and titles, See list
- **commands**: Royal Scots Fusiliers, 6th Battalion,
 Royal Scots Fusiliers
- **awards**: Nobel Prize in Literature (1953)


## Infobox (officeholder)

- **image**: Sir Winston Churchill - 19086236948.jpg
- **alt**: Churchill wearing a suit, standing and holding a chair
- **caption**: _The Roaring Lion_, a portrait by Yousuf Karsh at the Centre Block, Canadian Parliament, 30 December 1941.
- **honorific prefix**: The Right Honourable
- **name**: Sir Winston S Churchill
- **office**: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- **deputy**: Anthony Eden
- **term start**: 26 October 1951
- **term end**: 5 April 1955
- **predecessor**: Clement Attlee
- **successor**: Anthony Eden
- **monarch1**: George VI
- **deputy1**: Clement Attlee (1942–1945)
- **term start1**: 10 May 1940
- **term end1**: 26 July 1945
- **predecessor1**: Neville Chamberlain
- **successor1**: Clement Attlee
- **office2**: Father of the House (United Kingdom), Father of the House of Commons
- **term start2**: 8 October 1959
- **term end2**: 25 September 1964
- **predecessor2**: David Grenfell
- **successor2**: Rab Butler