The Winston
Elias Chane
W/W 7/8 E
Winston Churchill accomplished many things over his 92 years. He has various war medals from his time in His Majesty's Armed Forces, and he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. He led Britain through its darkest hours in WW2. He led an incredibly successful life as he was great influence on Britain, as well as the rest of the world. Winston Churchill is one of the most important figures in the United Kingdom's history because of his deep influence in Britain during his time of rule. Winston Churchill brought a war ravaged nation together in a time of conflict, and improved it at the same time, making him a great example of a change maker.
Winston Churchill was born on the on the 30th of November, 1874. He was raised in a very wealthy family in the town of Oxfordshire. During his childhood he was not close with his parents at all, but he was raised by his nannies who were his best friends at the time. When he was three years old, his father was appointed Viceroy of Dublin, so his family moved to British controlled Ireland. At age seven, he was sent away to Saint George’s boarding school in Ascot. He hated the school, regularly misbehaved, and did poorly academically. He later moved on to two other schools where he started to enjoy school, and improve his grades and behavior. For college he attended Sandhurst Royal Military Academy. He then served as a military journalist for The Daily Graphic in Cuba during the Cuban War. He worked for The Daily Graphic and wrote about the war and conflict going on in Cuba. He then was transferred to British India where he documented and fought against the Pashtun tribe in modern day Pakistan. He then wrote a book on his experiences called The Story of the Malakand Field Force. For writing this story, he received 600 pounds. He then worked for The Morning Post covering the Second Boer war in South Africa. While writing for The Morning Post, Churchill was captured by the Boers before eventually escaping. He then returned to London where he wrote another book entitled London to Ladysmith documenting his time in South Africa. Churchill then went into politics and eventually became a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) from Oldham in the year 1900. Four years later, he crossed the aisle and became a member of the Liberal Party where some time later he was elected to Trade Board President and got to be in the Prime Minister Cabinet.
Winston Churchill did an incredible and honorable job rallying together the people of Britain in their fight against nazi aggression in Europe. In May 1940, then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned. While resigning to the King, Chamberlain advised him to appoint Winston Churchill as the new Prime Minister. Churchill was then taking on a country at war. Churchill then delivered a now famous speech to the House of Commons on June 4th, 1940. This is the most recognizable part: “We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air.We shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” This speech was delivered after the evacuation of Dunkirk when the Battle of Britain was about to begin. The UK took a beating in the blitz. London and major cities were bombed nightly, the RAF (Royal Air Force) had very little planes to work with, and German bombers bombed many airports, and airfields making it harder to fight. Churchill governed the country from underground London. Today the space is called the Churchill war rooms. During the war, everyone helped, even the now queen, Queen Elizabeth, was a ambulance mechanic.
Churchill also made a lot of speeches over the BBC so the people could hear their leader. These speeches were important most people were scared and slept in subways and sewers. The people wouldn’t hear news and needed to hear the voice of their leader and get news of the progress Britain was making. Churchill was also important to the preparations of D-day. Churchill, General Eisenhower, and his chief of staff met regularly throughout the spring of 1944 preparing every aspect of D-day. D-day was a risky move for Churchill, he risked losing thousands of men, and all of Britain's planes and ships. On the night before D-day, Churchill called Stalin and informed him that they were about to use all of Britain's 11 thousand planes in this invasion. He also told his wife, “Do you realise that by the time you wake up in the morning 20,000 men may have been killed?” When the invasion was successful, Churchill said that he thought they had lost 10,000 men. They miraculously only lost 3,000. Britain risked everything, and they succeeded and won WWII. Churchill’s war efforts were brilliant, not only for his tactics, but also for how he awoke the fighting spirit of the people of Great Britain. Winston Churchill set an example with World War Two. He showed Britain, and its people what they were really capable of together and he set the norm on how Britain and its military should act when in the wars or conflicts of the future.
Winston Churchill had a tremendous effect on British politics in not only his as Prime Minister. One of Churchill big improvements was the mines and quarries act of 1954. Churchill had this bill passed during his second term, and this bill put more restrictions on mines and quarries making sure that they were more safe and healthy for their worker. Another bill Churchill passed was the housing repairs and rents act. This bills goal was to demolish or make landlords rebuild structures that were “unfit for human use.” This bill made sure that renters would not take advantage of the poor by giving the a terrible living space, and also required living structures to go through a material change every quarter of a century. Also another big achievement was Churchill, FDR, and his Aide drafting the declaration of the United Nations. Churchill was always a big supporter of international collaboration, which was probably why he drafted this declaration. He also convinced FDR to change France's status to a major power after the liberation of Paris in 1944, which probably led to France being one of the security councils permanent five members. even though he was in the middle of WWII. Churchill, as early as 1940, supported the rearmament of the UK in potential preparation of war against Nazi Germany, which was becoming a large threat.
Winston Churchill's influence in the UK is one that is important, revered, and still can be seen today. Winston Churchill's main achievement in office was one of the military. He completely changed Britain's century old tactic of tough, strong defense to ruthless all out offence, which was the tactic that won World War Two. And this tactic did not go unnoticed. Britain was taking a beating in the blitz. Churchill came up with the idea that rather than trying to defend Britain, which wasn't working, they should attack German troops in France which would reduce the number of planes bombing Britain. Another thing he did was establish the first minimum wage system in the United Kingdom. In 1908, he became President of the Board of Trade. He helped to create major acts that would significantly improve British Labor. The first act, The Trade Boards Act of 1909, which established trade boards to monitor the pay of employees, and make sure they were receiving a “living wage,” in industries known for not paying them proper salaries. The second one was one that limited the time coal miners spent in coal mines to eight hours per day. This bill was good as it would make sure workers would not be overworked especially since mines were not healthy places. These are all acts, and accomplishments that are still in effect to this day and have positively affected the British people.
Winston Churchill led an incredible life. One of the largest prizes he received was the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. Churchill receive this award for the various biographies, and news pieces he wrote during his early years in the army, but also as a politician. He led a then struggling and collapsing country through a rough time that ended in victory and prosperity.He became a honorary citizen of the United State by president John F. Kennedy.Churchill was also voted the most influential Briton in history a vote in 2002 held by the BBC which surveyed over 1 million people. He changed Britain’s economy and politics for the better. He created global prosperity, and renown for himself. He lived a long and full life until 90 and is still considered one of the greatest men in British history.
Sources
Editors, TheFamousPeople.com. Winston Churchill Biography. The Famous People. - July 20, 2017.https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/winston-churchill-97.php
https://www.biography.com/people/winston-churchill-9248164=
Winston Churchill.org. The Churchill Foundation, 2018, https://www.winstonchurchill.org/, March 13th 2018.
Winston Churchill. Wikipedia the online Encyclopida. 2018. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill
Anirudh, 10 MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF WINSTON CHURCHILL, Leonardo Newtonic, December 2016, March 2018
