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GBTE9 British A-Level Induction Objectives of the session: • To introduce you to A-Level study in History • To introduce your first topic Churchill 1929-1951 • To prepare you for you for an A-Level style question - summer work Winston Churchill The Course: Part 1 British period study and 25% enquiry Churchill 1929- of total 1951 50 marks 1 hour 30 minute paper A level Enquiry Topic: Churchill 1930–1951 Key Topics Content Learners should have studied the following: Churchill’s view of events Why Churchill was out of office 1929–1939; his attitude to the Abdication Crisis; his views about Empire 1929–1940 and India and clashes with his party; attitude towards Germany after 1933; his views about rearmament and appeasement; why Churchill became Prime Minister. Churchill as wartime Why Churchill became Prime Minister; stance in 1940 and style of leadership; relations with his generals Prime Minister and his impact on strategic decisions in the Mediterranean, bombing of Germany and the war in Europe 1944–1945; plans for reconstruction and loss of 1945 election. Churchill and international Churchill’s view on Britain’s world and imperial role; relations with other wartime leaders (Roosevelt, Stalin diplomacy 1939–1951 and de Gaulle); contribution to international conferences; plans for post-war Europe; Iron Curtain speech; attitude to Empire and Europe after 1945. Using these four sources in their historical context, assess Summer Work… how far they support the view that Churchill was a political maverick. [30] Source A: Historical fiction focusing on Churchill’s personality ‘Many people thought he was unreliable; he had, after all changed his political party twice. His working habits were idiosyncratic; he rose late, often wrote letters from his bed and after dinner would work late into the night. Delegation was not Churchill’s strong point; he would ask questions, requiring detailed answers and briefings over the most trivial of matters. He was often inclined to consult friends for advice of government matters.’ Jocelyn Hunt, Winston Churchill The Great War Leader?; 2003. Source B: Labour Leader Ramsay MacDonald, October 1920 ‘Churchill pursues his mad adventure as though he were Emperor of these Isles, delighting his militarists and capitalists with a campaign. We have been told one day that we are withdrawing our troops from Russia, and the next we read of new offensives, new bogus governments, new military chiefs as allies.’ Socialist Review, quoted by R. Rhodes James Source C: From the New Statesman a political magazine. ‘The Prime Minister proposed to go ahead with negotiations and avert the Strike, he was faced with the immediate resignation of his colleagues – Churchill, Neville Chamberlain, Bridgeman, Amery, Joynson-Hicks and Cunliffe-Lister. So he gave way…Mr Churchill was the villain of the piece. He is reported to have remarked that he thought “a little blood-letting” would be all to the good. We do not know whether there is anyone left who still honestly believed that the Strike was a “revolutionary” attempt to subvert the British Constitution. It was a strike in furtherance of a trade dispute and nothing more. Ought we to thank Mr Churchill or ought we to hang him on a lamp-post? It would be best that he should be hanged.’ New Statesman, 22 May 1926 Source D: Churchill discussing the gold standard in 1925 ‘These matters are very technical, and, of course, I have to be very guarded in every word that I use in regard to them. I have only one observation to make on the merits. In our policy of returning to the gold standard we do not move alone. Indeed, I think we could not have afforded to remain stationary while so many others moved. The two greatest manufacturing countries in the world on either side of us, the United States and Germany, are in different ways either on or related to an international gold exchange.’ Budget Speech to the House of Commons, April 18th, 1925 What do you know about Churchill? Born: November 30, 1874 Oxfordshire, England Churchill Biography Died: January 24, 1965 Oxfordshire, England 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 who achieved early success as a rebel in his party 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. 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. 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. In 1899 Churchill lost in his first attempt at election to the House of Commons. 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 of social problems. Churchill was very active in the 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, 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. Churchill soon re-entered 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 defence 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. What are the key moments in Churchill’s life up to 1929 Key Questions on Churchill pre-1929 Why was Churchill afraid of Communism and social unrest? What was Churchill’s work as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1924-1929 and what was its impact on the economy? What was his attitude towards the General Strike and what were his attempts to end the conflict? What were the reasons for his being out of office after 1929? Why was Churchill afraid of Communism and social unrest? Read Sources A, B and C Summarise what the sources are saying. Which is the most sympathetic to Churchill and which is the least sympathetic? Uncertain Times: The pre-1914 world Rise of organised labour, danger of Civil War in Ireland, growing revolutionary movements in Europe – Russia, Spain and Italy, very large socialist parties in France and Germany – All threatened which class in society? – Churchill’s class However, when war broke out in August 1914 the people of Europe responded to their nations call to arms in their millions….but the problems/threats remained: In Britain membership of the Trade Unions doubled during the war, days lost to strikes rose from 2.3 million in 1916 to nearly 6 million in 1918 (even in wartime!!), the unions became more radical in their demands e.g.

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