Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Key Question 3: How far does Churchill deserve his reputation as a great wartime PM?
- Churchill as PM
- Reasons why he became PM in 1940
- Norway Campaign
- Role of Labour
- Halifax didn't want the position
- Military expertise
- Opposition to Appeasement
- Chamberlain's poor organisation of the war
- Not afraid of making unpopular/tough decisions
- His attitude in 1940
- 1st speech to the Commons
- Refusal to agree with Halifax and Chamberlain in May 1940
- Visits to France before her surrender
- Reaction to Dunkirk
- Battle of Britain
- Decision to sink battleships at Oran
- His style of leadership
- Rhetoric
- Working hours
- Degree of authority
- Composition of war cabinet
- Organisation of information
- Travel
- Public relations
- Bombing of Germany
- Churchill's attitude to the bombing
- Change over time
- 1940
- Very supportive of the campaign
- Opposite of Chamberlain
- 1941
- Losing confidence in how decisive bombing would be
- 1942
- Publicly supporting the shift in tactics from precision to area bombing
- 1944
- Worried about the ethical implications of the campaign
- 1945
- Didn't mention bomber command in his VE day speech
- Scale of involvement in the policy
- Particularly the controversy surrounding Dresden 1945
- Arthur 'Bomber' Harris
- 1942
- Appointed Commander in Chief of Bomber Command
- Shift from area to precision bombing
- Significance of the campaign
- Filled time during preparations for Operation Overlord
- Helped gain support from Stalin
- Drew German air pressure away from the front lines
- Bombings are controversial
- The reasons for Churchill's loss of the 1945 election
- The people were war weary
- They wanted a better post war world
- They wanted more from their government
- They didn't want another Conservative Government - like in the 1930's
- Unemployment in the'Hungry Thirties'
- Appeasement
- Churchill himself
- Exaggerated rhetoric
- Gestapo speech
- His views on the Empire
- From a different time
- Getting older
- Still has a very upper-class, old-fashioned way of living
- War-time leader
- Labour politicians' reliability & experience in government
- Attlee, Morrison & Bevin
- Poor Conservative Party organisation
- No party conferences during the war
- Relationship with Generals
- Sir John Dill
- appointed Chief of the Imperial
General Staff (CIGS)
- Churchill thought he was tired
- nicknamed him 'Dilly Dally'
- troubled relationship with Churchill
- December 1941: moved to help
direct Anglo-American strategy
- Sir Alan Brooke
- replaced Dill in December 1941
- a "brake" on Churchill's
impulsiveness
- stood up to
Churchill
- despised and
admired Churchill
- appreciated what Churchill meant to Britain
- didn't like the way Churchill
worked and his lack of
consideration for others
- Churchill prone to being very critical
- Alanbrooke more private
- didn't like micromanagement
- General Wavell
- Commander-in-Chief of
Middle East (1931-40)
- Italian forces drove the
British out of British
Somaliland in 1940, Wavell
did best to reduce retreat
- coordinated victory
against Italy in Libya
- captured 11,000 men
- drove them back hundreds of miles
- wanted to build up resources and regroup
- Churchill wanted to keep attacking