HOT TOPIC: Sir Winston Churchill
Volume 2, Issue 28 - April 2, 2006"Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, son of an English Lord, first gained public notoriety when he escaped as a prisoner in the Boer War. An enigma from the start, he was elected to Parliament as a conservative in 1900 but was known to side with liberal initiatives hen the cause was right. He served in the trenches in the First World War, rising to secretary for war and later colonial secretary where he helped in creating the Irish Free State. Always ready to make the big decision, he returned England to the gold standard while serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
When World War II began and Lord Chamberlain resigned, Churchill formed a coalition government and served as its prime minister. He became the heart of Britain during the war, his oratory inspiring the nation to endure hardships and make sacrifices. Churchill had a good relationship with Franklin Roosevelt, and they worked together to form NATO. Churchill met with Allied leaders in Casablanca, Washington, Cairo, Moscow and Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam to plan victory over the Axis powers.
Perhaps Churchill’s greatest contribution to the twentieth century was his writing and speaking during the Cold War. His “Iron Curtain” speech defined the players and the stakes in the nuclear age, and his six volume history of World War II won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1953. As a statesman and a warrior, few could claim to be his equal on the twentieth century stage of events. Taking his place alongside Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin, he helped to save the world from fascism and put the forces in motion for the world we know today. I know you will be inspired by this week’s D12."
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