Winston Churchill - Prime Minister - Biography.com Winston Churchill As prime minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Winston Churchill rallied the British people during WWII, and led his country from the brink of defeat to victory. IN THESE GROUPS “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities ... because it is the quality which guarantees all others.” “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.” Winston Churchill Winston Churchill - Mini Biography (TV-14; 4:12) Noted for his military service, Winston Churchill led England during World War II . He took the blame for the Gallipoli landings during World War I, but eventually became Prime Minister and led the fight against Adolf Hitler.

Synopsis Born to an aristocratic family in 1874, Winston Churchill served in the British military and worked as a writer before going into politics. After becoming prime minister in 1940, he helped lead a successful Allied strategy with the U.S. and Soviet Union during WWII to defeat the Axis powers and craft post-war peace. Elected prime minister again in 1951, he introduced key domestic reforms. Churchill died at age 90 in 1965. Early Life Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was born to an aristocratic family on November 30, 1874. As his life unfolded, he displayed the traits of his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, a British statesman from an established English family, and his mother, Jeanette "Jennie" Jerome, an independent-minded New York socialite. As a young child, Churchill grew up in Dublin, Ireland, where his father was employed by his grandfather, the 7th Duke of Marlborough, John Spencer-Churchill. When he entered formal school, Churchill proved to be an independent and rebellious student.

He did poorly at his first two schools and in April 1888, he was sent to Harrow School, a boarding school near London. Within weeks of his enrollment, he joined the Harrow Rifle Corps, which put him on a path to a military career. At first it didn't seem the military was a good choice for Churchill. It took him three tries to pass the exam for the British Royal Military College. However, once there, he did well and graduated 20th in his class of 130. Up to this time, his relationship with both his mother and father was distant, though he adored them both. While at school, Churchill wrote emotional letters to his mother, begging her to come see him, but she seldom came. His father died when he was 21, and it was said that Churchill knew him more by reputation than by any close relationship they shared. Churchill enjoyed a brief but eventful career in the British Army at a zenith of British military power. He joined the Fourth Hussars in 1895 and served in the Indian northwest frontier and the Sudan, where he saw action in the Battle of Omdurman in 1898.

While in the Army, he wrote military reports for newspapers The Pioneer and the Daily Telegraph, and two books on his experiences, The Story of the Malakand Field Force (1898) and The River War (1899). In 1899, Churchill left the Army and worked as a war correspondent for the Morning Post, a conservative daily newspaper. While reporting on the Boer War in South Africa, he was taken prisoner by the Boers while on a scouting expedition. He made headlines when he escaped, traveling almost 300 miles to Portuguese territory in Mozambique. Upon his return to Britain, he wrote about his experiences in the book London to Ladysmith (1900). Early Careers: Government and Military In 1900, Churchill became a member of Parliament in the Conservative Party for Oldham, a town in Manchester. Following his father into politics, he also followed his father's sense of independence, becoming a supporter of social reform. Unconvinced that the Conservative Party was committed to social justice, Churchill switched to the Liberal Party in 1904.

He was elected a member of Parliament in 1908, and was appointed to the prime minister's cabinet as president of the Board of Trade. That same year, he married Clementine Ogilvy Hozier, after a short courtship. As president of the Board of Trade, he joined newly appointed Chancellor Lloyd George in opposing the expansion of the British Navy. Also in 1908, he introduced several reforms for the prison system, introduced the first minimum wage, and helped set up labor exchanges for the unemployed and unemployment insurance. Churchill assisted in the passing of the People's Budget, which introduced new taxes on the wealthy to pay for new social welfare programs. The budget passed the House of Commons in 1909, but was initially defeated in the House of Lords, before being passed in 1910. He also drafted a controversial piece of legislation to amend the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913, mandating sterilization of the feeble-minded. The bill eventually passed both Houses with only the remedy of confinement in institutions. In January 1911, Churchill showed his tougher side when he made a controversial visit to a police siege in London.

Police had surrounded a house where two robbers had been caught. Churchill's degree of participation is still in some dispute. Some accounts have him going to the scene only to see for himself what was going on; others state that he allegedly gave directions to police on how to best storm the building. What is known is that the house caught fire during the siege and Churchill prevented the fire brigade from extinguishing the flames, stating that he thought it better to "let the house burn down," rather than risk lives rescuing the occupants. The bodies of the two robbers were found inside the charred ruins. While serving as first lord of the Admiralty, Churchill helped modernize the British Navy, ordering that new warships be built with oil-fired instead of coal-fired engines. He was one of the first to promote military aircraft and set up the Royal Navy Air Service. So enthusiastic was he about aviation that he took flying lessons to understand firsthand its military potential. Though not directly involved in the disastrous Battle of Gallipoli, Churchill resigned his post because he felt responsible for proposing the expedition.

For a brief period, he rejoined the British Army, commanding a battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers on the Western Front and seeing action in "no man's land." In 1917, he was appointed minister of munitions for the final year of the war, overseeing the production of tanks, airplanes and munitions. From 1919 to 1922, Churchill served as minister of war and air and colonial secretary under Prime Minister David Lloyd George. As colonial secretary, Churchill was embroiled in another controversy when he ordered air power to be used on rebellious Kurdish tribesmen in Iraq, a British holding. At one point, he suggested that poisonous gas be used to put down the rebellion. This proposal was considered but never enacted, though the conventional bombing campaign was and failed to end the resistance. Fractures in the Liberal Party led to the defeat of Churchill as a member of Parliament in 1922, and he rejoined the Conservative Party. He served as chancellor of the exchequer, returning Britain to the gold standard, and took a hard line against a general labor strike that threatened to cripple the British economy.

With the defeat of the Conservative government in 1929, Churchill was out of government. He was perceived as a right-wing extremist, out of touch with the people. He spent the next few years concentrating on his writing and published A History of English Speaking Peoples. World War II Though not at first seeing the threat that Adolf Hitler posed when he rose to power in 1933, Churchill gradually became a leading advocate for British rearmament. By 1938, as Germany began controlling its neighbors, Churchill had become a staunch critic of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's policy of appeasement toward the Nazis. On September 3, 1939, the day that Britain declared war on Germany, Churchill was appointed first lord of the Admiralty and a member of the war cabinet, and by April 1940, he became chairman of the Military Coordinating Committee. Later that month, Germany invaded and occupied Norway, a setback for Neville Chamberlain, who had resisted Churchill's proposal that Britain preempt German aggression by unilaterally occupying vital Norwegian iron mines and sea ports. In May, debate in Parliament on the Norwegian crisis led to a vote of no confidence toward Prime Minister Chamberlain.

On May 10, King George VI appointed Churchill as prime minister and minister of defense. Within hours, the German Army began its Western Offensive, invading the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Two days later, German forces entered France. Britain stood alone against the onslaught. (Photo: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images ) Quickly, Churchill formed a coalition cabinet of leaders from the Labor, Liberal and Conservative parties. He placed intelligent and talented men in key positions. On June 18, 1940, Churchill made one of his iconic speeches to the House of Commons, warning that "the Battle of Britain" was about to begin. Churchill kept resistance to Nazi dominance alive, and created the foundation for an alliance with the United States and the Soviet Union. Churchill had previously cultivated a relationship with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s, and by March 1941, he was able to secure vital U.S. aid through the Lend Lease Act, which allowed Britain to order war goods from the United States on credit. After the United States entered World War II, in December 1941, Churchill was confident that the Allies would eventually win the war.

In the months that followed, Churchill worked closely with U.S. President Roosevelt and Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin to forge an Allied war strategy and post-war world. In meetings in Teheran (1943), Yalta (February 1945) and Potsdam (July 1945), Churchill collaborated with the two leaders to develop a united strategy against the Axis Powers, and helped craft the post-war world with the United Nations as its centerpiece. As the war wound down, Churchill proposed plans for social reforms in Britain, but was unable to convince the public. He was defeated in the general election in July 1945. During the next six years, Churchill became the leader of the opposition party and continued to have an impact on world affairs. In March 1946, while on a visit to the United States, he made his famous "Iron Curtain" speech, warning of Soviet domination in Eastern Europe. He also advocated that Britain remain independent from European coalitions and maintain its independence. After the general election of 1951, Churchill returned to government.

He was appointed minister of defense between October 1951 and January 1952, and became prime minister in October 1951. In 1953, Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He introduced reforms such as the Mines and Quarries Act of 1954, which improved working conditions in mines, and the Housing Repairs and Rent Act of 1955, which established standards for housing. These domestic reforms were overshadowed by a series of foreign policy crises in the colonies of Kenya and Malaya, where Churchill ordered direct military action. While successful in putting down the rebellions, it became clear that Britain was no longer able to sustain its colonial rule. Later Years and Death Churchill had shown signs of fragile health as early as 1941, while visiting the White House. At that time, he suffered a mild heart attack and, in 1943, he had a similar attack while battling a bout of pneumonia. In June 1953, at age 78, he suffered from a series of strokes at his office. The news was kept from the public and Parliament, with the official announcement stating that he had suffered from exhaustion.

He recuperated at home, and returned to his work as prime minister in October. However, it was apparent even to him that he was physically and mentally slowing down. Churchill retired as prime minister in 1955. He remained a member of Parliament until the general election of 1964, when he did not seek re-election. There was speculation that Churchill suffered from Alzheimer's disease in his last years, but many medical experts feel that his reduced mental capacity was more a result of the strokes he had suffered. Despite his poor health, Churchill was able to remain active in public life, albeit mostly from the comfort of his homes in Kent and Hyde Park Gate, in London. On January 15, 1965, Churchill suffered a severe stroke that left him gravely ill. He died at his London home nine days later, at age 90, on January 24, 1965. Britain mourned for more than a week. Videos Biography of Sir Winston Churchill British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images) Updated November 12, 2015. Who Was Winston Churchill?

Winston Churchill was a legendary orator, a prolific writer, an earnest artist, and a long-term British statesman. Yet Churchill, who twice served the as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, is best remembered as the tenacious and forthright war leader that led his country against the seemingly undefeatable Nazis during World War II . Dates: November 30, 1874 -- January 24, 1965 Also Known As: Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill The Young Winston Churchill Winston Churchill was born in 1874 at his grandfather's home, Blenheim Palace in Marlborough, England. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a member of the British Parliament and his mother, Jennie Jerome, was an American heiress. continue reading below our video Profile of Sir Winston Churchill Six years after Winston's birth, his brother Jack was born. Since Churchill's parents traveled extensively and led busy social lives, Churchill spent most of his younger years with his nanny, Elizabeth Everest. It was Mrs. Everest that nurtured Churchill and cared for him during his many childhood illnesses. Churchill stayed in touch with her until her death in 1895. At age eight, Churchill was sent off to boarding school.

He was never an excellent student but he was well liked and known as a bit of a troublemaker. In 1887, 12-year-old Churchill was accepted to the prestigious Harrow school, where he began studying military tactics. After graduating from Harrow, Churchill was accepted into the Royal Military College, Sandhurst in 1893. In December 1894, Churchill graduated near the top of his class and was given a commission as a cavalry officer. Churchill, the Soldier and War Correspondent After seven months of basic training, Churchill was given his first leave. Instead of going home to relax, Churchill wanted to see action; so he traveled to Cuba to watch Spanish troops put down a rebellion. Churchill didn't go just as an interested soldier, he made plans to be a war correspondent for London's The Daily Graphic. It was the beginning of a long writing career. When his leave was up, Churchill traveled with his regiment to India. Churchill also saw action in India when fighting Afghan tribes. This time, again not just a soldier, Churchill wrote letters to London's The Daily Telegraph.

From these experiences, Churchill also wrote his first book, The Story of the Malakand Field Force (1898). Churchill then joined Lord Kitchener's expedition in the Sudan while also writing for The Morning Post. After seeing a lot of action in the Sudan, Churchill used his experiences to write The River War (1899). Again wanting to be at the scene of the action, Churchill managed in 1899 to become the war correspondent for The Morning Post during the Boer War in South Africa . Not only was Churchill shot at, he was captured. After spending nearly a month as a prisoner of war, Churchill managed to escape and miraculously made it to safety. He also turned these experiences into a book - London to Ladysmith via Pretoria (1900). Becoming a Politician While fighting in all these wars, Churchill had decided that he wanted to help make policy, not just follow it. So when 25-year-old Churchill returned to England as both a famous author and a war hero, he was able to successfully run for election as a member of Parliament (MP). This was the start of Churchill's very long political career.

Churchill quickly became known for being outspoken and full of energy. He gave speeches against tariffs and in support of social changes for the poor. It soon became clear that he did not hold the beliefs of the Conservative Party, so he switched to the Liberal Party in 1904. In 1905, the Liberal Party won the national election and Churchill was asked to become the Under-Secretary of State at the Colonial Office. Churchill's dedication and efficiency earned him an excellent reputation and he was quickly promoted. In 1908, he was made President of the Board of Trade (a Cabinet position) and in 1910, Churchill was made Home Secretary (a more important Cabinet position). In October 1911, Churchill was made First Lord of the Admiralty, which meant he was in charge of the British navy. Churchill, worried about Germany's growing military strength, spent the next three years working diligently to strengthen the British navy. Family Churchill was a very busy man. He was nearly continuously writing books, articles, and speeches as well as holding important government positions. However, he made time for romance when he met Clementine Hozier in March 1908.

The two were engaged on August 11 of that same year and married just a month later on September 12, 1908. Winston and Clementine had five children together and remained married until Winston's death at age 90. Churchill and World War I At first, when the war began in 1914, Churchill was praised for the work he had done behind the scenes to prepare Britain for war. However, things quickly started to go badly for Churchill. Churchill had always been energetic, determined, and confident. Couple these traits with the fact that Churchill liked to be part of the action and you have Churchill trying to have his hands in all military matters, not only those dealing with the navy. Many felt that Churchill overstepped his position. Then came the Dardanelles campaign. It was meant to be a combined naval and infantry attack on the Dardanelles in Turkey, but when things went badly for the British, Churchill was blamed for the whole thing. Since both the public and officials turned against Churchill after the Dardanelles disaster, Churchill was swiftly moved out of government. Prev Winston S. Churchill - British History - HISTORY.com Winston S.

Churchill A+E Networks Introduction Winston Churchill is one of the best-known, and some say one of the greatest, statesmen of the 20th century. Though he was born into a life of privilege, he dedicated himself to public service. His legacy is a complicated one–he was an idealist and a pragmatist; an orator and a soldier; an advocate of progressive social reforms and an unapologetic elitist; a defender of democracy as well as of Britain’s fading empire–but for many people in Great Britain and elsewhere, Winston Churchill is simply a hero. Google Winston Churchill’s Early Life Winston Churchill came from a long line of English aristocrat-politicians. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was descended from the First Duke of Marlborough and was himself a well-known figure in Tory politics in the 1870s and 1880s. His mother, born Jennie Jerome, was an American heiress whose father was a stock speculator and part owner of The New York Times. (Rich American girls like Jerome who married European noblemen were known as “dollar princesses.”) Did You Know?

Sir Winston Churchill won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953 for his six-volume history of World War II. Churchill was born at the family’s estate near Oxford on November 30, 1874. He was educated at the Harrow prep school, where he performed so poorly that he did not even bother to apply to Oxford or Cambridge. Instead, in 1893 young Winston Churchill headed off to military school at Sandhurst. Churchill: Battles and Books After he left Sandhurst, Churchill traveled all around the British Empire as a soldier and as a journalist. In 1896, he went to India; his first book, published in 1898, was an account of his experiences in India’s Northwest Frontier Province. In 1899, the London Morning Post sent him to cover the Boer War in South Africa, but he was captured by enemy soldiers almost as soon as he arrived. (News of Churchill’s daring escape through a bathroom window made him a minor celebrity back home in Britain.) By the time he returned to England in 1900, the 26-year-old Churchill had published five books.

Churchill: “Crossing the Chamber” That same year, Winston Churchill joined the House of Commons as a Conservative. Four years later, he “crossed the chamber” and became a Liberal. His work on behalf of progressive social reforms such as an eight-hour workday, a government-mandated minimum wage, a state-run labor exchange for unemployed workers and a system of public health insurance infuriated his Conservative colleagues, who complained that this new Churchill was a traitor to his class. Winston Churchill and World War I In 1911, Churchill turned his attention away from domestic politics when he became the First Lord of the Admiralty (akin to the Secretary of the Navy in the U.S.). Noting that Germany was growing more and more bellicose, Churchill began to prepare Great Britain for war: He established the Royal Naval Air Service, modernized the British fleet and invented one of the earliest tanks. Despite Churchill’s prescience and preparation, World War I was a stalemate from the start. In an attempt to shake things up, Churchill proposed a military campaign that soon dissolved into disaster: the 1915 invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey.

Churchill hoped that this offensive would drive Turkey out of the war and encourage the Balkan states to join the Allies, but Turkish resistance was much stiffer than he had anticipated. After nine months and 250,000 casualties, the Allies withdrew in disgrace. After the debacle at Gallipoli, Churchill left the Admiralty. Churchill: Between the Wars During the 1920s and 1930s, Churchill bounced from government job to government job, and in 1924 he rejoined the Conservatives. Especially after the Nazis came to power in 1933, Churchill spent a great deal of time warning his countrymen about the perils of German nationalism, but Britons were weary of war and reluctant to get involved in international affairs again. Likewise, the British government ignored Churchill’s warnings and did all it could to stay out of Hitler’s way. In 1938, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain even signed an agreement giving Germany a chunk of Czechoslovakia–“throwing a small state to the wolves,” Churchill scolded–in exchange for a promise of peace. A year later, however, Hitler broke his promise and invaded Poland.

Britain and France declared war. Chamberlain was pushed out of office, and Winston Churchill took his place as prime minister in May 1940. Churchill: The “British Bulldog” “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat,” Churchill told the House of Commons in his first speech as prime minister. “We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.” Just as Churchill predicted, the road to victory in World War II was long and difficult: France fell to the Nazis in June 1940. In July, German fighter planes began three months of devastating air raids on Britain herself.

Though the future looked grim, Churchill did all he could to keep British spirits high. He gave stirring speeches in Parliament and on the radio. He persuaded U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt to provide war supplies–ammunition, guns, tanks, planes–to the Allies, a program known as Lend-Lease, before the Americans even entered the war. Though Churchill was one of the chief architects of the Allied victory, war-weary British voters ousted the Conservatives and their prime minister from office just two months after Germany’s surrender in 1945. Churchill: Fighting Communism The now-former prime minister spent the next several years warning Britons and Americans about the dangers of Soviet expansionism. In a speech in Fulton, Missouri , in 1946, for example, Churchill declared that an anti-democratic “Iron Curtain,” “a growing challenge and peril to Christian civilization,” had descended across Europe. Churchill’s speech was the first time anyone had used that now-common phrase to describe the Communist threat. In 1951, 77-year-old Winston Churchill became prime minister for the second time. He spent most of this term working (unsuccessfully) to build a sustainable détente between the East and the West.

He retired from the post in 1955. In 1953, Queen Elizabeth made Winston Churchill a knight of the Order of the Garter. He died in 1965, one year after retiring from Parliament. Tags Winston Churchill - Engineering and Technology History Wiki Winston Churchill Biography Winston Churchill flashing the “V for Victory” symbol during World War II. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill is best known for his role as Prime Minister of Britain during World War II. Although he had a primary role in that conflict, he also had an illustrious and successful career as a statesman both before and after the war. His involvement in politics lasted for 64 years, a testament to his enduring popularity and excellent leadership. Churchill was born into a privileged but not wealthy family, and early on began to make his own way in the world. He did not complete secondary school, but instead graduated from the Royal Military College, and while on leave in 1895 served as a military observer and correspondent during the Spanish-American War in Cuba. After returning to the British army, he went to India for several years, and in 1899 became a war correspondent in South Africa during the Boer War.

Captured as a prisoner of war, Churchill made a daring escape that brought him into the public eye. The proceeds from his memoirs of the experience allowed him to enter Parliament in 1901, initially in the Conservative Party. However, sympathy for the Boer cause and opposition to the new tariff laws of Prime Minister Joseph Chamberlain led him to join the Liberal party in 1904. Churchill managed to wield a great deal of power during these years; he helped negotiate an end to the Boer War and participated in the creation of the welfare state, which introduced health care and insurance, the minimum wage, and imposed a limit on work hours. Moreover, he was crucial in changing naval ships from coal-burning to oil-fueled, helped form a naval air service, and was involved in the development of the tank. When World War I broke out in 1914, he immediately joined the naval forces, leading to the failed Dardanelles campaign, an event that seemed to signal the end of his political career: he took full responsibility and resigned.

In 1916 he rejoined the army, but soon after was recalled by the new Prime Minister, Lloyd George, and became the Minister of Munitions and later the Secretary of War. In 1922 Churchill lost his seat in Parliament, but rejoined the Conservative party in 1924, where he served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer. However, he left office in 1929 and spent the next ten years developing his love for painting and writing several books. He also began to predict the danger of an impending war, but was unable to sway the appeasement government of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. But Churchill sensed that British involvement in World War II was inevitable and returned to the government as First Lord of the Admiralty. In 1940 he became the Prime Minister and remained in this position for the next five years. The defeat of France, the Soviet Union’s nonaggression pact with Germany, and the official neutrality of the United States meant that Britain became almost solely responsible for waging war against Hitler.

It was during the darkest days when Germany launched a massive aerial bombing campaign, the Battle of Britain, that Churchill’s stubbornness and tenacity became a symbol of the “never say die attitude” of the British people. Finally, however, in late 1940 Churchill and Britain began to receive assistance from President Franklin Roosevelt and the United States, who provided indispensable aid in the form of naval destroyers, tanks, and weaponry through the policy of lend-lease. In June 1941 Germany broke its nonaggression pact and invaded the Soviet Union. Later that year, in December, Japan attacked American naval bases at Pearl Harbor, officially drawing the United States into the war. Churchill was quick to see the folly of Germany’s and Japan’s decisions to declare war on the Soviet Union and the United States respectively, and immediately took advantage of these mistakes. He helped form the Grand Alliance comprised of the United States, the Soviet Union, and Britain, and through this coalition was instrumental in the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany. Before the war ended, Churchill was ousted from power when the Liberal Party won the general elections of 1945.

For the next several years, Churchill remained in private life, working on his autobiography, a history of World War II, and his painting. Nevertheless, he remained an influential character in England, frequently speaking out against the spread of communism. In 1951 he was reelected as Prime Minister at the age of 77. He resigned in 1955, but remained a Member of Parliament until 1964. Churchill died at the age of 90 on 24 January 1965, but not before becoming a Knight of the Garter, an honorary citizen of the United States, and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (1953). Sir Winston Churchill Biography Updated November 12, 2015. Churchill Forced Out of Politics Churchill was devastated to have been forced out of politics. Although he was still a member of Parliament, it just wasn't enough to keep such an active man busy. Churchill went into depression and worried that his political life was completely over. It was during this time that Churchill learned to paint. It started as a way for him to escape the doldrums, but like everything Churchill did, he worked diligently to improve himself.

Churchill continued to paint for the rest of his life. For nearly two years, Churchill was kept out of politics. Then, in July 1917, Churchill was invited back and given the position of Minister of Munitions. In 1918, Churchill was given the position of Secretary of State for War and Air, which put him in charge of bringing all the British soldiers home. continue reading below our video Profile of Sir Winston Churchill A Decade in Politics and a Decade Out The 1920s had its ups and downs for Churchill. In 1921, he was made the Secretary of State for the Colonies but only a year later he lost his MP seat while in the hospital with acute appendicitis. Out of office for two years, Churchill found himself leaning again toward the Conservative Party. In 1924, Churchill once again won a seat as an MP, but this time with Conservative backing. Considering he had just returned to the Conservative Party, Churchill was quite surprised to be given the very important position of the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the new Conservative government that same year. Churchill held this position for nearly five years.

In addition to his political career, Churchill spent the 1920s writing his monumental, six-volume work on World War I called The World Crisis (1923-1931). When the Labour Party won the national election in 1929, Churchill was once again out of government. For ten years, Churchill held his MP seat, but did not hold a major government position. However, this didn't slow him down. Churchill continued to write, finishing a number of books including his autobiography, My Early Life. He continued to give speeches, many of them warning of Germany's growing power. He also continued to paint and learned bricklaying. By 1938, Churchill was speaking out openly against British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's plan of appeasement with Nazi Germany. When Nazi Germany attacked Poland, Churchill's fears had proved correct. The public once again realized that Churchill had seen this coming. After ten years out of the government, on September 3, 1939, just two days after Nazi Germany attacked Poland, Churchill was asked to once again become the First Lord of the Admiralty.

Churchill Leads Great Britain in WWII When Nazi Germany attacked France on May 10, 1940, it was time for Chamberlain to step down as Prime Minister. Appeasement hadn't worked; it was time for action. The same day that Chamberlain resigned, King George VI asked Churchill to become Prime Minister. Just three days later, Churchill gave his "Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat" speech in the House of Commons. This speech was just the first of many morale boosting speeches made by Churchill to inspire the British to keep fighting against a seemingly invincible enemy. Churchill spurred himself and everyone around him to prepare for war. He also actively courted the United States to join in the hostilities against Nazi Germany. Also, despite Churchill's extreme dislike for the communist Soviet Union, his pragmatic side realized he needed their help. By joining forces with both the United States and with the Soviet Union, Churchill not only saved Britain, but helped save all of Europe from the domination of Nazi Germany .

Falls Out of Power, Then Back in Again Although Churchill was given credit for inspiring his nation to win World War II , by the end of the war in Europe, many felt that he had lost touch with the daily lives of the people. After suffering through years of hardship, the public didn't want to go back to the hierarchical society of pre-war Britain. They wanted change and equality. On July 15, 1945, the election results from the national election came in and the Labour Party had won. The following day, Churchill, age 70, resigned as Prime Minister. Churchill remained active. In 1946, he went on a lecture tour in the United States that included his very famous speech, "The Sinews of Peace," in which he warned of an "iron curtain" descending upon Europe. Churchill also continued to make speeches in the House of Commons and to relax at his home and paint. Churchill also continued to write. He used this time to start his six-volume work, The Second World War (1948-1953). Six years after resigning as Prime Minister, Churchill was again asked to lead Britain.

On October 26, 1951, Churchill began his second term as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. During his second term as Prime Minister, Churchill focused on foreign affairs because he was very worried about the atomic bomb . On June 23, 1953, Churchill suffered a severe stroke. Although the public wasn't told about it, those close to Churchill thought he would have to resign. Surprising everyone, Churchill recovered from the stroke and got back to work. On April 5, 1955, 80-year-old Winston Churchill resigned as Prime Minister due to failing health. Retirement and Death In his final retirement, Churchill continued to write, finishing his four-volume A History of the English Speaking Peoples (1956-1958). Churchill also continued to give speeches and to paint. During his later years, Churchill earned three impressive awards. On April 24, 1953, Churchill was made Knight of the Garter by Queen Elizabeth II , making him Sir Winston Churchill . Later that same year, Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature . Ten years later, on April 9, 1963, U.S. President John F.

Kennedy awarded Churchill with honorary U.S. citizenship. In June 1962, Churchill broke his hip after falling out of a his hotel bed. On January 10, 1965, Churchill suffered a massive stroke. After falling into a coma, he died on January 24, 1965 at age 90. Churchill had remained a member of Parliament until a year before his death. British Prime Ministers: Sir Winston Churchill Photo of Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, courtesy of Wikipedia by way of the United States Library of Congress. Perspective 1940 - [June]-Italy declares war on Britain and France, invades British Somaliland and attacks Greece; France surrenders to Germany and Hungary and Romania join the Axis Empire. British ships rescue more than 330,000 allied troops trapped on the beaches of Dunkerque. [July]-The Battle of Britain begins. [Sept.]-The London Blitz begins. Nearly nightly bombings last through early May. Earnest Hemingway's novel, "For Whom the Bell Tolls" is published in New York.

[Oct.]- The Battle of Britain comes to an end on the 30th. The war in the air had cost the Royal Air Force 915 aircraft, but they had downed 1,733 of the Luftwaffe. 1941 - [Jan.]-Britain invades Ethiopia. [March]-Bulgaria joins the Axis. [April]- Germany invades Greece and Yugoslavia. Japan and Russia sign a pact. [June]- Axis troops invade Russia. British and French troops invade Syria. [July]-U.S. troops land in Iceland. [Aug.]- Franklin D. Roosevelt and Churchill announce the Atlantic Charter, a show of allied solidarity. The British and Russians invade Iran. [Dec.]-Japanese attack Pearl Harbor sinking 18 ships, killing or wounding 3,700. The United States declares war on Japan on the 8th. Guam and Wake Island are captured by Japan. The British surrender in Hong Kong. On the 11th, the U.S. declares war on Germany and Italy and they reciprocate. 1942 - [Jan.]- In the Pacific, Manilla is captured by the Japanese.

[Feb.]- U.S. ships raid the Marshalls and Gilbert Islands. Singapore surrenders to Japan. [April]- Bataan surrenders to Japan. U.S. carrier based aircraft bomb Tokyo. [May]- The Allies win the Battle of the Coral Sea. The Japanese take Corregidor[June]- The Japanese eastward expansion ends with their defeat in The Battle of Midway. In North Africa, German troops seize Tobruk. [July]- The British stop the Germans at El Alamein. [Aug.]- U.S. marines land on Guadalcanal. [Nov.]- Allied forces land in North Africa. British troops capture Tobruk. Russians counterattack in Stalingrad. 1943 - [May]- Axis resistance in Africa ends. [March]- The Japanese lose the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. Japanese troops retreat across the Yangtze River in China. [July]- The Allies invade Sicily. [Sept.]- The Allies land in Italy. Italy signs an armistice with the Allies in secret. [Oct.]- Italy declares war on Germany. [Nov.]- Russia retakes Kiev from the Germans. U.S.

marines invade Tarawa and Makin in the Pacific. The Allies meet in Cairo, Egypt. 1944 - [Jan.]- Russians break the seige of Leningrad. [March]- Germans blitzkrieg Hungary. Japanese troops cross into India. [June]- The Allies land in Normandy. The Germans send V-1 guided missiles across the Channel, bombing London. U.S. marines land on Saipan Island. B-29 bombers raid Japan. U.S. wins the Battle of the Philippine Sea. [July]- U.S. troops break out of Normandy. In the Pacific, U.S. troops land on Guam. [Aug.]- Allies land in southern France. [Oct.]- U.S. Pacific Fleet wins the Battle for Leyte Gulf, decisively. [Dec.]- Germany begins the Battle of the Bulge on the 16th. The Allies halt their offensive by the 27th. 1945 - [Jan.]- Russian solders enter Warsaw. [Feb.]- In the Pacific, U.S. marines take Iwo Jima Island. [April]- U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in office. Russian soldiers reach Berlin.

[May]-Germans surrender in Italy. Berlin surrenders to the Russians. Germany surrenders to the Allies. [July]- The Allies issue the Potsdam Declaration. President Harry S. Truman authorizes the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan. [Aug.]- U.S. drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima (6th) and Nagasaki (9th). Japan opens peace negotiations (10th). Japan accepts the Allies terms for surrender (14th). Sept.]- Japanese sign the terms for surrender. Their forces in China and Southeast Asia surrender. Second Ministry 1951 - The worst floods on record hit Missouri and Kansas. Princess Elizabeth lays the foundation stone of London's National Theatre. The Abbey Theatre in Dublin burns down. 1952 - King Farouk of Egypt is forced to abdicate. 1953 - General Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected president of the United States. Jacqueline Bouvier announces her engagement to Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay conquer Everest. They are the first two climbers to reach the summit. 1954 - Rationing, begun during World War II, ends in Britain.

Lester Piggott, 18, wins his first Derby aboard Never Say Die, a 33-1 long shot. The first nuclear power plant opens near Moscow. 1955 - Nassar becomes Egypt first president. Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California. Copyright ©2007 Britannia.com, LLC Winston Churchill Timeline Home > Timelines > Winston Churchill Timeline Winston Churchill Timeline Timeline Description: Winston Churchill was a British military leader and politician. He served two terms as prime minister and is remembered for his leadership in World War II. Churchill was also the author of many books and is a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Date November 30, 1874 Winston Churchill is born in Oxfordshire. Winston Churchill is born to Lord Randolph Churchill and Jennie Jerome in England. His father is a well-known politician and his mother is an American socialite. December 1894 Churchill graduates from the Royal Military College in Sandhurst. Churchill graduates from officer training school at Royal Military College in Sandhurst. As part of the cavalry, he is appointed as a cornet in the British military, which is the equivalent of second lieutenant in the U.S. military.

January 24, 1895 Churchill's father dies. Lord Randolph dies at the age of 45. Even though Winston did not have a close relationship with him, he worries that he, too, will die and young and decides that he will do as much with his life as he can. 1899 Churchill campaigns for Parliament. At the invitation of prominent politician Robert Ascroft, Churchill runs for Parliament as part of the Conservative Party. He loses the election but impresses many with his campaigning skills. Fall 1900 Churchill wins a seat in the British House of Commons. The year after losing his bid for Parliament, Churchill wins a seat in the British House of Commons. After a fall-out within his party, Churchill switches to the Liberal Party four years later. September 12, 1908 Churchill marries Clementine Hozier. Churchill marries Clementine Hozier, who he met at a ball four years earlier, in a packed St. Margaret's Church at Westminster Abbey. They will have five children together. May 1940 Churchill begins first term as prime minister.

As the Germans prepare to invade France in World War II, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigns and Churchill becomes prime minister. He refuses to negotiate an armistice with Germany and two months later, the Germans begin to bomb London in the Battle of Britain. The German bombing campaign fails. December 22, 1941 Churchill's stay at the White House begins. Churchill arrives in Washington, D.C. to discuss war strategy with President Franklin Roosevelt. By the time he leaves three weeks later, he and Roosevelt have developed a close friendship that will last until Roosevelt's death four years later. February 4, 1945 Churchill attends the Yalta Conference. Following the defeat of Germany in World War II, Churchill joins Roosevelt and Soviet Premiere Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Conference to discuss the organization of Europe after the war. One of the controversial decisions at the conference was to allow Germany to be divided into communist and non-communist, which will contribute to the tension of the Cold War. July 5, 1945 Churchill loses the United Kingdom general election. Despite his leadership in World War II, Churchill is defeated by Clement Atlee in the general election for prime minister.

The majority of voters name social reform, such as the housing crisis, as their primary concern and believe that Atlee was better equipped to lead the nation on these issues. March 5, 1946 Churchill gives his famous "iron curtain" speech. Speaking to a group of students in Missouri, Churchill says that an "iron curtain" has fallen over Europe. He refers to Stalin's plan to spread communism across Europe and the term "iron curtain" becomes part of political vocabulary. October 1951 Churchill is elected prime minster again. Churchill is elected prime minister a second time, defeating Clement Atlee. This time as a member of the Conservative Party, he focuses on domestic affairs while also maintaining a close working relationship with the United States government. December 10, 1953 Churchill wins the Nobel Prize for literature. Churchill is awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. The author of 40 books, he wins the Nobel Prize for his entire body of work, particularly for the six-volume set of The Second World War. 1955 Churchill retires as prime minster. After a second stroke leaves him with difficulties speaking and walking, Churchill retires as prime minter of England.

He suffers another mild stroke the following year. January 24, 1965 Winston Churchill dies. Two weeks after another stroke, Churchill dies at his home in London at the age of 90. His funeral is the largest state funeral in world history, attended by representatives from 112 countries. <a href="">Winston Churchill Timeline</a> Winston Churchill Biography - life, family, death, history, school, mother, young, son, book Winston Churchill Biography Oxfordshire, England English prime minister, statesman, and author The English statesman and author Sir Winston Churchill led Britain during World War II (1939–45) and is often described as the "savior of his country." Sir Winston Churchill's exact place in the political history of the twentieth century is, and will continue to be, a subject of debate. But his strong personality and forceful determination made him a popular figure during the war years. Early life Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born on November 30, 1874, at Blenheim Palace—a home given by Queen Anne to Churchill's ancestor, the Duke of Marlborough.

He was the eldest son of Lord Randolph Churchill, a Tory Democrat (a British political party) who achieved early success as a rebel in his party. Later, after Randolph Churchill failed, he was cruelly described as "a man with a brilliant future behind him." His mother was Jenny Jerome, the beautiful and talented daughter of Leonard Jerome, a New York businessman. Winston idolized his mother, but his relations with his father, who died in 1895, were cold and distant. It is generally agreed that as a child Winston was not shown warmth and affection by his family. As a child Churchill was sensitive and suffered from a minor speech impediment. He was educated following the norms of his class. He first went to preparatory school, then to Harrow in 1888 when he was twelve years old. Winston was not especially interested in studying Latin or mathematics and spent much time studying in the lowest level courses until he passed the tests and was able to advance. He received a good education in English, however, and won a prize for reading aloud a portion of Thomas Macaulay's (1800–1859) Lays of Ancient Rome (1842).

After finishing at Harrow, Winston failed the entrance test for the Royal Military College at Sandhurst three times before finally passing and being allowed to attend the school. His academic record improved a great deal once he began at the college. When he graduated in 1894 he was eighth in his class. Military journalist Very early on Churchill demonstrated the physical courage and love of adventure and action that he kept throughout his political career. His first role was that of a soldier-journalist. In 1895 he went to Cuba to write about the Spanish army for the Daily Graphic. In 1896 he was in India, and while on the North-West Frontier with the Malakand Field Force he began work on a novel, Savrola: A Tale of the Revolution in Laurania. The book was published in 1900. More important, however, were Churchill's accounts of the military campaigns in which he participated. Savrola was followed by a book about the reconquest of the Sudan (1899), in which he had also taken part.

As a journalist for the Morning Post, he went to Africa during the Boer War (1899–1902), where British forces fought against Dutch forces in South Africa. The most romantic of his adventures as a youth was his escape from a South African prison during this conflict. Young politician In 1899 Churchill lost in his first attempt at election to the House of Commons, one of two bodies controlling Parliament in England. This was to be the first of many defeats in elections, as Churchill lost more elections than any other political figure in recent British history. But in 1900 he entered the House of Commons, in which he served off and on until 1964. Churchill's early years in politics were characterized by an interest in the radical reform (improvement) of social problems. The major intellectual achievement of this period of Churchill's life was his Liberalism and the Social Problem (1909). In this work he stated his belief in liberalism, or political views that stress civil rights and the use of government to promote social progress.

Churchill was very active in the great reforming government of Lord Asquith between 1908 and 1912, and his work fighting unemployment was especially significant. In 1912 Churchill became first lord of the Admiralty, the department of British government that controls the naval fleet. He switched his enthusiasm away from social reform to prepare Britain's fleet for a war that threatened Europe. While at the Admiralty, Winston Churchill. Churchill suffered a major setback. He became committed to the view that the navy could best make an impact on the war in Europe (1914–18) by way of a swift strike through the Dardanelles, a key waterway in central Europe. This strategy proved unsuccessful, however, and Churchill lost his Admiralty post. In 1916 he was back in the army, serving for a time on the front lines in France. Interwar years Churchill soon reentered political life. He was kept out of the Lloyd George War Cabinet by conservative hostility toward his style and philosophy. But by 1921 Churchill held a post as a colonial secretary.

A clash with Turkish president Kemal Atatürk, however, did not help his reputation, and in 1922 he lost his seat in the House of Commons. The Conservative Party gained power for the first time since 1905, and Churchill began a long-term isolation, with few political allies. In 1924 Churchill severed his ties with liberalism and became chancellor of the Exchequer (British treasury) in Stanley Baldwin's (1867–1947) government. Churchill raised controversy when he decided to put Britain back on the gold standard, a system where currency equals the value of a specified amount of gold. Although he held office under Baldwin, Churchill did not agree with his position either on defense or on imperialism, Britain's policy of ruling over its colonies. In 1931 he resigned from the conservative "shadow cabinet" in protest against its Indian policy. Churchill's years between world wars were characterized by political isolation. During this period he made many errors and misjudgments. Chief among these was his warlike approach to the general strike of 1926. Thus, he cannot be viewed simply as a popular leader who was kept waiting in the wings through no fault of his own.

World War II The major period of Churchill's political career began when he became prime minister and head of the Ministry of Defense early in World War II, when British and American Allies fought against the Axis of Germany, Italy, and Japan. "I felt as if I was walking with destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour," Churchill wrote in the first volume of his account of the war. (This account was later published in six volumes from 1948 to 1953.) His finest hour and that of the British people came at the same time. His leadership, which was expressed in noble speeches and constant personal activity, stated precisely what Britain needed to survive through the years before the United States entered the war. The evacuation of Dunkirk and the air defense of the Battle of Britain became legend, but there were and are controversies over Churchill's policies. It has been argued that Churchill was too sensitive to the Mediterranean as a theater of war, which led to mistakes in Crete and North Africa. The value of his resistance to the idea of a second front as the Germans advanced into Russia has also been questioned.

And there has been considerable debate over the courses he pursued at international conferences, such as those at Yalta in February 1945. Many believed some of Churchill's policies were responsible for the "cold war" of the 1950s and 1960s, where relations between Eastern Communist powers and Western powers came to a standstill over, among other things, nuclear arms. Although criticisms may be made of Churchill's policies, his importance as a symbol of resistance and as an inspiration to victory cannot be challenged. Last years The final period of Churchill's career began with the British people rejecting him in the general election of 1945. In that election 393 Labour candidates were elected members of Parliament against 213 Conservatives and their allies. It was one of the most striking reversals of fortune in democratic history. It may perhaps be explained by Churchill's aggressive campaign combined with the British voters' desire for social reconstruction. In 1951, however, Churchill again became prime minister. He resigned in April 1955 after an uneventful term in office.

For many of the later years of his life, even his personal strength was not enough to resist the persistent cerebral arteriosclerosis, a brain disorder, from which he suffered. He died on January 24, 1965, and was given a state funeral, the details of which had been largely dictated by himself before his death. There is little doubt that Winston Churchill was a political figure of enormous influence and importance. His record, both before 1939 and after 1945, was for the most part undistinguished. But as Anthony Storr writes: "In 1940 Churchill became the hero that he had always dreamed of being.… In that dark time, what England needed was not a shrewd, equable, balanced leader. She needed a prophet, a heroic visionary, a man who could dream dreams of victory when all seemed lost. Winston Churchill was such a man." For More Information

Question: Winston Churchill started his first term as British Prime Minister during which event?
Answer: World War II