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Created page with "{{Short description|British statesman (1874–1965)}} {{Redirect|Churchill||Churchill (disambiguation)|and|Winston Churchill (disambiguation)}} {{pp-semi|small=yes}} {{pp-move-indef}} {{good article}} {{Use British English|date=August 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable Sir | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR..."

{{Short description|British statesman (1874–1965)}}
{{Redirect|Churchill||Churchill (disambiguation)|and|Winston Churchill (disambiguation)}}
{{pp-semi|small=yes}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{good article}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[The Right Honourable]] Sir
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KG|OM|CH|TD|DL|FRS|RA}}
| image = Sir Winston Churchill - 19086236948.jpg
| alt = Churchill, aged 67, wearing a suit, standing and holding into the back of a chair
| caption = ''[[The Roaring Lion]]'', a portrait by [[Yousuf Karsh]] at the [[Centre Block|Canadian Parliament]], December 1941
| office = [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]]
| monarch = {{unbulleted list
|[[George VI]]
|[[Elizabeth II]]}}
| deputy = Anthony Eden
| term_start = 26 October 1951
| term_end = 5 April 1955
| predecessor = [[Clement Attlee]]
| successor = [[Anthony Eden]]
| monarch1 = George VI
| deputy1 = Clement Attlee (1942–1945)
| term_start1 = 10 May 1940
| term_end1 = 26 July 1945
| predecessor1 = [[Neville Chamberlain]]
| successor1 = Clement Attlee
{{collapsed infobox section begin |Senior positions
|titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;width:21.75em}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office = [[Father of the House (United Kingdom)|Father of the House of Commons]]
| term_start = 8 October 1959
| term_end = 25 September 1964
| predecessor = [[David Grenfell]]
| successor = [[Rab Butler]]
| office1 = [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]]
| monarch1 = [[George VI]]
| primeminister1 = [[Clement Attlee]]
| term_start1 = 26 July 1945
| term_end1 = 26 October 1951
| predecessor1 = Clement Attlee
| successor1 = Clement Attlee
| office2 = [[Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)|Leader of the Conservative Party]]
| term_start2 = 9 October 1940
| term_end2 = 6 April 1955
| predecessor2 = [[Neville Chamberlain]]
| successor2 = [[Anthony Eden]]{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}
{{Collapsed infobox section begin |cont=yes |Ministerial offices {{nobold|1939–1952}}
|titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;width:21.75em}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office = [[Minister of Defence (United Kingdom)|Minister of Defence]]
| term_start = 28 October 1951
| term_end = 1 March 1952
| predecessor = [[Manny Shinwell]]
| successor = [[Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis|The Earl Alexander of Tunis]]
| term_start1 = 10 May 1940
| term_end1 = 26 July 1945
| predecessor1 = [[Ernle Chatfield, 1st Baron Chatfield|The Lord Chatfield]] ([[Minister for Co-ordination of Defence|Coordination of Defence]])
| successor1 = [[Clement Attlee]]
| office2 = [[First Lord of the Admiralty]]
| primeminister2 = [[Neville Chamberlain]]
| term_start2 = 3 September 1939
| term_end2 = 11 May 1940
| predecessor2 = [[James Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope|The Earl Stanhope]]
| successor2 = [[A. V. Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Hillsborough|A. V. Alexander]]{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}
{{collapsed infobox section begin |cont=yes |Ministerial offices {{nobold|1908–1929}}
|titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;width:21.75em}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office = [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
| primeminister = [[Stanley Baldwin]]
| term_start = 6 November 1924
| term_end = 4 June 1929
| predecessor = [[Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden|Philip Snowden]]
| successor = Philip Snowden
| office1 = [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]]
| primeminister1 = [[David Lloyd George]]
| term_start1 = 13 February 1921
| term_end1 = 19 October 1922
| predecessor1 = [[Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner|The Viscount Milner]]
| successor1 = [[Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire|The Duke of Devonshire]]
| office2 = [[Secretary of State for Air]]
| primeminister2 = [[David Lloyd George]]
| term_start2 = 10 January 1919
| term_end2 = 13 February 1921
| predecessor2 = [[William Weir, 1st Viscount Weir|William Weir]]
| successor2 = [[Frederick Guest]]
| office3 = [[Secretary of State for War]]
| primeminister3 = [[David Lloyd George]]
| term_start3 = 10 January 1919
| term_end3 = 13 February 1921
| predecessor3 = [[Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner|The Viscount Milner]]
| successor3 = [[Laming Worthington-Evans]]
| office4 = [[Minister of Munitions]]
| primeminister4 = [[David Lloyd George]]
| term_start4 = 17 July 1917
| term_end4 = 10 January 1919
| predecessor4 = [[Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison|Christopher Addison]]
| successor4 = [[Andrew Weir, 1st Baron Inverforth|Andrew Weir]]
| office5 = [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]]
| primeminister5 = [[H. H. Asquith]]
| term_start5 = 25 May 1915
| term_end5 = 25 November 1915
| predecessor5 = [[Edwin Montagu]]
| successor5 = [[Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel|Herbert Samuel]]
| office6 = [[First Lord of the Admiralty]]
| primeminister6 = [[H. H. Asquith]]
| term_start6 = 24 October 1911
| term_end6 = 25 May 1915
| predecessor6 = [[Reginald McKenna]]
| successor6 = [[Arthur Balfour]]
| office7 = [[Home Secretary]]
| primeminister7 = [[H. H. Asquith]]
| term_start7 = 19 February 1910
| term_end7 = 24 October 1911
| predecessor7 = [[Herbert Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone|Herbert Gladstone]]
| successor7 = [[Reginald McKenna]]
| office8 = [[President of the Board of Trade]]
| primeminister8 = [[H. H. Asquith]]
| term_start8 = 12 April 1908
| term_end8 = 14 February 1910
| predecessor8 = [[David Lloyd George]]
| successor8 = [[Sydney Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton|Sydney Buxton]]{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}
{{collapsed infobox section begin |cont=yes |last=yes |Parliamentary offices
|titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;width:21.75em}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| parliament = United Kingdom
| constituency_MP = [[Woodford (UK Parliament constituency)|Woodford]]
| term_start = 5 July 1945
| term_end = 25 September 1964
| predecessor = ''Constituency established''
| successor = ''Constituency abolished''
| constituency_MP1 = [[Epping (UK Parliament constituency)|Epping]]
| term_start1 = 29 October 1924
| term_end1 = 15 June 1945
| predecessor1 = [[Leonard Lyle, 1st Baron Lyle of Westbourne|Leonard Lyle]]
| successor1 = [[Leah Manning]]
| constituency_MP2 = [[Dundee (UK Parliament constituency)|Dundee]]
| alongside2 = [[Alexander Wilkie]]
| term_start2 = 24 April 1908
| term_end2 = 26 October 1922
| predecessor2 = {{unbulleted list
|[[Edmund Robertson, 1st Baron Lochee|Edmund Robertson]]
|Alexander Wilkie}}
| successor2 = {{unbulleted list
|[[Edwin Scrymgeour]]
|[[E. D. Morel]]}}
| constituency_MP3 = [[Manchester North West (UK Parliament constituency)|Manchester North West]]
| term_start3 = 8 February 1906
| term_end3 = 24 April 1908
| predecessor3 = [[William Houldsworth]]
| successor3 = [[William Joynson-Hicks, 1st Viscount Brentford|William Joynson-Hicks]]
| constituency_MP4 = [[Oldham (UK Parliament constituency)|Oldham]]
| term_start4 = 24 October 1900
| term_end4 = 8 January 1906
| predecessor4 = [[Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford|Walter Runciman]]
| successor4 = [[John Albert Bright]]{{Collapsed infobox section end}}}}
| birth_name = Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill
| birth_date = {{birth date|1874|11|30|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Blenheim, Oxfordshire]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|1965|1|24|1874|11|30|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[London]], England
| resting_place = [[St Martin's Church, Bladon]], Oxfordshire, England
| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] (1900–1904; 1924–1964)
| otherparty = [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] (1904–1924)
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Clementine Churchill|Clementine Hozier]]|12 September 1908}}
| children = {{hlist | [[Diana Churchill|Diana]] | [[Randolph Churchill|Randolph]] | [[Sarah Churchill (actress)|Sarah]] | Marigold | [[Mary Soames|Mary]]}}
| parents = {{unbulleted list
|[[Lord Randolph Churchill]]
|[[Jennie Jerome]]}}
| education = {{unbulleted list
|[[Harrow School]]
|[[Royal Military College, Sandhurst|RMC Sandhurst]]}}
| awards = ''[[Honours of Winston Churchill|See list]]''
| signature = Sir Winston Churchill signature.svg
| branch = {{unbulleted list
|[[British Army]]
|[[Territorial Army (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] (from 1902)}}
| unit = {{unbulleted indent list
|[[4th Queen's Own Hussars]]
|[[Siege of Malakand#Malakand Field Force|Malakand Field Force]]
|[[21st Lancers]]
|[[South African Light Horse]]
|[[Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars]]
|[[Grenadier Guards]]
|[[Royal Scots Fusiliers]]}}
| serviceyears = 1893–1924
| rank = ''[[Honours of Winston Churchill#Military ranks and titles|See list]]''
| commands = [[Royal Scots Fusiliers|6th bn, Royal Scots Fusiliers]]
| battles = {{unbulleted list
|[[Military history of the North-West Frontier|North-West Frontier]]
|[[Mahdist War]]
|[[Second Boer War]]{{POW}}
|[[History of the United Kingdom during the First World War|First World War]]}}
| mawards = ''[[Honours of Winston Churchill#Orders, decorations and medals|See list]]''
}}
{{Winston Churchill sidebar}}

'''Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill''',{{efn|The surname is the [[Double-barrelled name#British tradition|double-barrelled]] ''[[Duke of Marlborough (title)|Spencer Churchill]] (unhyphenated)'', but he is known by the surname ''Churchill''. His father dropped the Spencer.<ref>{{cite book |last=Price |first=Bill |title=Winston Churchill: War Leader |year=2009 |publisher=No Exit Press |location=Harpenden |page=12 |isbn=978-18-42433-22-5}}</ref>}} {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=small|sep=,|KG|OM|CH|TD|DL|FRS|RA}} (30 November 1874{{snd}}24 January 1965) was a British statesman who served as [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] from 1940 to 1945, [[Winston Churchill in the Second World War|during the Second World War]], and again from 1951 to 1955. Best known for his wartime leadership as Prime Minister, Churchill was also a [[Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst|Sandhurst]]-educated soldier, a [[Boer War]] hero, a [[Nobel Prize for Literature|Nobel Prize]]-winning [[Winston Churchill as a writer|writer]] and [[Winston Churchill as historian|historian]], a prolific [[Winston Churchill as painter|painter]], and one of the longest-serving politicians in British history. Apart from two years between 1922 and 1924, he was a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) from 1900 to 1964 and represented a total of five [[UK Parliament constituency|constituencies]]. Ideologically an [[Economic liberalism|economic liberal]] and [[British Empire|imperialist]], he was for most of his career a member of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], which he led from 1940 to 1955. He was a member of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] from 1904 to 1924.


Of mixed English and American parentage, Churchill was born in [[Oxfordshire]] to [[Spencer family|a wealthy, aristocratic family]]. He joined the [[British Army]] in 1895 and saw action in [[British Raj|British India]], the [[Mahdist War|Anglo-Sudan War]], and the [[Second Boer War]], gaining fame as a [[war correspondent]] and writing books about his campaigns. Elected a Conservative MP in 1900, he defected to the Liberals in 1904. In [[H. H. Asquith]]'s [[Liberal government, 1905–1915|Liberal government]], Churchill served as [[President of the Board of Trade]] and [[Home Secretary]], championing [[Liberal welfare reforms|prison reform and workers' social security]]. As [[First Lord of the Admiralty]] during the [[First World War]], he oversaw the [[Gallipoli campaign|Gallipoli Campaign]] but, after it proved a disaster, he was demoted to [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]]. He resigned in November 1915 and joined the [[Royal Scots Fusiliers]] on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] for six months. In 1917, he returned to government under [[David Lloyd George]] and served successively as [[Minister of Munitions]], [[Secretary of State for War]], [[Secretary of State for Air]], and [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]], overseeing the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] and [[British foreign policy in the Middle East]]. After two years out of Parliament, he served as [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] in [[Stanley Baldwin]]'s [[Second Baldwin ministry|Conservative government]], returning the pound sterling in 1925 to the [[gold standard]] at its pre-war parity, a move widely seen as creating deflationary pressure and depressing the UK economy.


Out of government during his so-called "[[Winston Churchill's "Wilderness" years, 1929–1939|wilderness years]]" in the 1930s, Churchill took the lead in calling for British rearmament to counter the growing threat of [[militarism]] in [[Nazi Germany]]. At the outbreak of the Second World War he was re-appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. In May 1940, he became Prime Minister, replacing [[Neville Chamberlain]]. Churchill formed a [[First Churchill ministry|national government]] and oversaw British involvement in the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] war effort against the [[Axis powers]], resulting in [[End of World War II in Europe|victory in 1945]]. After the Conservatives' defeat in the [[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945 general election]], he became [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]]. Amid the developing [[Cold War]] with the [[Soviet Union]], he publicly warned of an "[[Iron Curtain|iron curtain]]" of Soviet influence in Europe and promoted European unity. He lost the [[1950 United Kingdom general election|1950 election]], but was [[1951 United Kingdom general election|returned to office in 1951]]. His [[Third Churchill ministry|second term]] was preoccupied with foreign affairs, especially [[Special Relationship|Anglo-American relations]] and the preservation of the [[British Empire]]. Domestically, his government emphasised house-building and completed the development of a nuclear weapon (begun by his predecessor). In declining health, Churchill resigned as Prime Minister in 1955, although he remained an MP [[1964 United Kingdom general election|until 1964]]. Upon his death in 1965, he was given a [[Death and state funeral of Winston Churchill|state funeral]].


Widely considered one of the 20th century's most significant figures, Churchill remains popular in the UK and Western world, where he is seen as a victorious wartime leader who played an important role in defending Europe's [[liberal democracy]] against the spread of [[fascism]]. He is also praised as a social reformer. However, he has been criticised for some wartime events – notably the [[Strategic bombing during World War II#British bombing|area bombing of German cities]] and his government's response to the [[Bengal famine of 1943|Bengal famine]] – and also for his imperialist views, including [[Racial views of Winston Churchill|comments on race]].
{{TOC limit|3}}

==Early life==
{{main|Early life of Winston Churchill}}

===Childhood and schooling: 1874–1895===
[[File:Jennie Churchill with her sons.jpg|thumb|[[Lady Randolph Churchill|Jennie Spencer Churchill]] with her two sons, [[John Strange Spencer-Churchill|Jack]] (''left'') and Winston (''right'') in 1889.]]
Churchill was born on 30 November 1874 at his family's ancestral home, [[Blenheim Palace]] in [[Oxfordshire]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=5}} On his father's side, he was a member of the British aristocracy as a direct descendant of the [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough|1st Duke of Marlborough]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=1|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=3, 5}} His father, [[Lord Randolph Churchill]], representing the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], had been elected [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Woodstock (UK Parliament constituency)|Woodstock]] in 1873.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=1|2a1=Best|2y=2001|2p=3|3a1=Jenkins|3y=2001|3p=4|4a1=Robbins|4y=2014|4p=2}} His mother, [[Lady Randolph Churchill|Jennie]], was a daughter of [[Leonard Jerome]], a wealthy American businessman.{{sfnm|1a1=Best|1y=2001|1p=4|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=5–6|3a1=Addison|3y=2005|3p=7}}

In 1876, Churchill's paternal grandfather, [[John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough|John Spencer-Churchill]], was appointed [[Viceroy of Ireland]], then part of the United Kingdom. Randolph became his private secretary and the family relocated to [[Dublin]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=1|2a1=Addison|2y=2005|2p=9}} Winston's brother, [[John Strange Spencer-Churchill|Jack]], was born there in 1880.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=2|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=7|3a1=Addison|3y=2005|3p=10}} Throughout much of the 1880s, Randolph and Jennie were effectively estranged,{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=8}} and the brothers were mostly cared for by their nanny, [[Elizabeth Everest]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=2–3|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=10|3a1=Reagles|3a2=Larsen|3y=2013|3p=8}} When she died in 1895, Churchill wrote that "she had been my dearest and most intimate friend during the whole of the twenty years I had lived".{{sfn|Best|2001|p=6}}

Churchill began [[boarding school|boarding]] at [[St George's School, Ascot|St George's School]] in [[Ascot, Berkshire]], at age seven but was not academic and his behaviour was poor.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=3–5|2a1=Haffner|2y=2003|2p=12|3a1=Addison|3y=2005|3p=10}} In 1884 he transferred to [[Stoke Brunswick School|Brunswick School]] in [[Hove]], where his academic performance improved.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=6–8|2a1=Haffner|2y=2003|2pp=12–13}} In April 1888, aged 13, he narrowly passed the entrance exam for [[Harrow School]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=17–19}} His father wanted him to prepare for a military career and so his last three years at Harrow were in the army form.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=22|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=19}} After two unsuccessful attempts to gain admittance to the [[Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst]], he succeeded on his third.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=32–33, 37|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=20|3a1=Haffner|3y=2003|3p=15}} He was accepted as a [[cadet]] in the [[cavalry]], starting in September 1893.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=37|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=20–21}} His father died in January 1895, a month after Churchill graduated from Sandhurst.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=48–49|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=21|3a1=Haffner|3y=2003|3p=32}}

===Cuba, India, and Sudan: 1895–1899===
[[File:Winston Churchill 1874 - 1965 ZZZ5426F.jpg|thumb|upright|Churchill in the military dress uniform of the [[4th Queen's Own Hussars]] at [[Aldershot]] in 1895.{{sfn|Haffner|2003|p=18}}]]
In February 1895, Churchill was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the [[4th Queen's Own Hussars]] regiment of the [[British Army]], based at [[Aldershot]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=51|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=21}} Eager to witness military action, he used his mother's influence to get himself posted to a war zone.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=62|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=28}} In the autumn of 1895, he and his friend [[Reginald Barnes|Reggie Barnes]], then a [[Subaltern (military)|subaltern]], went to Cuba to observe the [[Cuban War of Independence|war of independence]] and became involved in skirmishes after joining Spanish troops attempting to suppress independence fighters.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=56, 58–60|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=28–29|3a1=Robbins|3y=2014|3pp=14–15}} Churchill sent reports about the conflict to the ''[[The Graphic|Daily Graphic]]'' in London.<ref name="HGN">{{Britannica|id=117269|title=Winston Churchill|author=Herbert G. Nicholas}}</ref> He proceeded to [[New York City]] and, in admiration of the United States, wrote to his mother about "what an extraordinary people the Americans are!"{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=57}} With the Hussars, he went to [[Bombay]] in October 1896.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=63|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=22}} Based in [[Bangalore]], he was in India for 19 months, visiting [[Calcutta]] three times and joining expeditions to [[Hyderabad]] and the [[Military history of the North-West Frontier|North West Frontier]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=63|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=23–24}}

In India, Churchill began a self-education project,{{sfnm|1a1=Jenkins|1y=2001|1pp=23–24|2a1=Haffner|2y=2003|2p=19}} reading a range of authors including [[Plato]], [[Edward Gibbon]], [[Charles Darwin]] and [[Thomas Babington Macaulay]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=67–68|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=24–25|3a1=Haffner|3y=2003|3p=19}} The books were sent to him by his mother, with whom he shared frequent correspondence when abroad. In order to learn about politics, he also asked his mother to send him copies of ''[[The Annual Register]]'', the political almanac.{{sfn|Roberts|2018|p=52}} In one 1898 letter to her, he referred to his religious beliefs, saying: "I do not accept the Christian or any other form of religious belief".{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=92}} Churchill had been [[Baptism|christened]] in the [[Church of England]]{{sfn|Reagles|Larsen|2013|p=8}} but, as he related later, he underwent a virulently anti-Christian phase in his youth,{{sfnm|1a1=Addison|1y=1980|1p=29|2a1=Reagles|2a2=Larsen|2y=2013|2p=9}} and as an adult was an [[agnostic]].{{sfnm|1a1=Haffner|1y=2003|1p=32|2a1=Reagles|2a2=Larsen|2y=2013|2p=8}} In another letter to one of his cousins, he referred to religion as "a delicious narcotic" and expressed a preference for [[Protestantism]] over [[Roman Catholicism]] because he felt it "a step nearer Reason".{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=102}}

Interested in British parliamentary affairs,{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=26}} he declared himself "a Liberal in all but name", adding that he could never endorse the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]]'s support for [[Irish home rule]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=69|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=27}} Instead, he allied himself to the [[One-nation conservatism|Tory democracy]] wing of the Conservative Party and on a visit home, gave his first public speech for the party's [[Primrose League]] at [[Claverton Down]], near [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=69, 71|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=27}} Mixing reformist and conservative perspectives, he supported the promotion of [[Secular education|secular, non-denominational education]] while opposing [[Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom|women's suffrage]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=70}}

Churchill volunteered to join [[Sir Bindon Blood|Bindon Blood]]'s [[Malakand Field Force]] in [[Mohmand campaign of 1897–98|its campaign against Mohmand rebels]] in the [[Swat Valley]] of north-west India. Blood accepted him on condition that he was assigned as a journalist, the beginning of Churchill's writing career.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=72, 75|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=29–31}} He returned to Bangalore in October 1897 and there wrote his first book, ''[[The Story of the Malakand Field Force]]'', which received positive reviews.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=79, 81–82|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=31–32|3a1=Haffner|3y=2003|3pp=21–22}} He also wrote his only work of fiction, ''[[Savrola]]'', a [[Ruritanian romance]].{{sfnm|1a1=Addison|1y=1980|1p=31|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=81|3a1=Jenkins|3y=2001|3pp=32–34}} To keep himself fully occupied, Churchill embraced writing as what [[Roy Jenkins]] calls his "whole habit", especially through his political career when he was out of office. It was his main safeguard against recurring [[Depression (mood)|depression]], which he termed his "black dog".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=819}}

Using his contacts in London, Churchill got himself attached to [[Herbert Kitchener|General Kitchener's]] campaign in the Sudan as a [[21st Lancers]] subaltern while, additionally, working as a journalist for ''[[The Morning Post]]''.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=89–90|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=35, 38–39|3a1=Haffner|3y=2003|3p=21}} After fighting in the [[Battle of Omdurman]] on 2 September 1898, the 21st Lancers were stood down.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=91–98|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=39–41}} In October, Churchill returned to England and began writing ''[[The River War]]'', an account of the campaign which was published in November 1899; it was at this time that he decided to leave the army.{{sfnm|1a1=Jenkins|1y=2001|1pp=34, 41, 50|2a1=Haffner|2y=2003|2p=22}} He was critical of Kitchener's actions during the war, particularly the latter's unmerciful treatment of enemy wounded and his desecration of [[Muhammad Ahmad]]'s tomb in [[Omdurman]].{{sfnm|1a1=Addison|1y=1980|1p=32|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2pp=98–99|3a1=Jenkins|3y=2001|3p=41}}

On 2 December 1898, Churchill embarked for India to settle his military business and complete his resignation from the 4th Hussars. He spent a lot of his time there playing [[polo]], the only ball sport in which he was ever interested. Having left the Hussars, he sailed from Bombay on 20 March 1899, determined to launch a career in politics.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=41–44}}

===Politics and South Africa: 1899–1901===
[[File:Winston Churchill 1874 - 1965 Q113382.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Churchill in 1900 around the time of his first election to Parliament.{{sfn|Haffner|2003|p=x}}]]
Seeking a parliamentary career, Churchill spoke at Conservative meetings{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=42}} and was selected as one of the party's two parliamentary candidates for the [[1899 Oldham by-election|June 1899 by-election]] in [[Oldham (UK Parliament constituency)|Oldham, Lancashire]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=103–104|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=45–46|3a1=Haffner|3y=2003|3p=23}} While campaigning in Oldham, Churchill referred to himself as "a Conservative and a Tory Democrat".{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=104}} Although the Oldham seats had previously been held by the Conservatives, the result was a narrow Liberal victory.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=105|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=47}}

Anticipating the outbreak of the [[Second Boer War]] between Britain and the [[Boer Republics]], Churchill sailed to South Africa as a journalist for the ''Morning Post'' under the editorship of [[James Nicol Dunn]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Ridgway |editor1-first=Athelstan |title=Everyman's Encyclopaedia Volume Nine: Maps to Nyasa |date=1950 |publisher=J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd |location=London |page=390 |edition=Third |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.460121/page/n395/mode/2up?q=%22james+nicol+dunn%22 |access-date=11 November 2020}}</ref>{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=105–106|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=50}} In October, he travelled to the conflict zone near [[Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal|Ladysmith]], then besieged by [[Boer]] troops, before heading for [[Colenso, KwaZulu-Natal|Colenso]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=107–110}} After his train was derailed by Boer artillery shelling, he was captured as a [[prisoner of war]] (POW) and interned in a Boer [[POW camp]] in [[Pretoria]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=111–113|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=52–53|3a1=Haffner|3y=2003|3p=25}} In December, Churchill escaped from the prison and evaded his captors by stowing away aboard freight trains and hiding in a mine. He eventually made it to safety in [[Portuguese East Africa]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=115–120|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=55–62}} His escape attracted much publicity.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=121|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=61}}

In January 1900, he briefly rejoined the army as a lieutenant in the [[South African Light Horse]] regiment, joining [[Redvers Buller]]'s fight to relieve the [[Siege of Ladysmith]] and take Pretoria.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=121–122|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=61–62}} He was among the first British troops into both places. He and his cousin, [[Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough|the 9th Duke of Marlborough]], demanded and received the surrender of 52 Boer prison camp guards.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=123–124, 126–129|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=62}} Throughout the war, he had publicly chastised anti-Boer prejudices, calling for them to be treated with "generosity and tolerance",{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=125}} and after the war he urged the British to be magnanimous in victory.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=63}} In July, having resigned his lieutenancy, he returned to Britain. His ''Morning Post'' despatches had been published as ''[[London to Ladysmith via Pretoria]]'' and had sold well.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=128–131}}

Churchill rented a flat in London's [[Mayfair]], using it as his base for the next six years. He stood again as one of the Conservative candidates at Oldham in the [[1900 United Kingdom general election|October 1900 general election]], securing a narrow victory to become a Member of Parliament at age 25.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=135–136}} In the same month, he published ''Ian Hamilton's March'', a book about his South African experiences,{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=136}}{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=65}} which became the focus of a lecture tour in November through Britain, America and Canada. Members of Parliament were unpaid and the tour was a financial necessity. In America, Churchill met [[Mark Twain]], [[William McKinley|President McKinley]] and Vice President [[Theodore Roosevelt]]; he did not get on well with Roosevelt.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=136–138|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=68–70}} Later, in spring 1901, he gave more lectures in Paris, Madrid and Gibraltar.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=141}}

===Conservative MP: 1901–1904===
[[File:Churchill 1904 Q 42037.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Churchill in 1904 when he "[[crossing the floor|crossed the floor]]".]]
In February 1901, Churchill took his seat in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], where his [[maiden speech]] gained widespread press coverage.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=139|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=71–73}} He associated with a group of Conservatives known as the [[Hughligans]],{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=16|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=76–77}} but he was critical of the Conservative government on various issues, especially increases in army funding. He believed that additional military expenditure should go to the navy.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=141–144|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=74–75}} This upset the Conservative [[Frontbencher|front bench]] but was supported by Liberals, with whom he increasingly socialised, particularly [[Liberal Imperialists]] like [[H. H. Asquith]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=144}} In this context, Churchill later wrote that he "drifted steadily to the left" of parliamentary politics.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=145}} He privately considered "the gradual creation by an evolutionary process of a Democratic or Progressive wing to the Conservative Party",{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=150}} or alternately a "Central Party" to unite the Conservatives and Liberals.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=151–152}}

By 1903, there was real division between Churchill and the Conservatives, largely because he opposed their promotion of [[economic protectionism]]. As a [[free trade]]r, he took part in the foundation of the [[Free Food League]].<ref name="HGN"/> Churchill sensed that the animosity of many party members would prevent him from gaining a Cabinet position under a Conservative government. The Liberal Party was then attracting growing support, and so his defection in 1904 may have also have been influenced by personal ambition.{{sfn|Rhodes James|1970|p=22}} He increasingly voted with the Liberals against the government.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=162}} For example, he opposed an increase in military expenditure;{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=153}} he supported a Liberal bill to restore legal rights to trade unions;{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=162}} and he opposed the introduction of tariffs on goods imported into the British Empire, describing himself as a "sober admirer" of the principles of free trade.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=152, 154}} [[Arthur Balfour]]'s government announced protectionist legislation in October 1903.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=157}} Two months later, incensed by Churchill's criticism of the government, the Oldham Conservative Association informed him that it would not support his candidature at the next general election.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=160|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=84}}

In May 1904, Churchill opposed the government's proposed [[Aliens Act 1905|Aliens Bill]], designed to curb Jewish migration into Britain.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=165}} He stated that the bill would "appeal to insular prejudice against foreigners, to racial prejudice against Jews, and to labour prejudice against competition" and expressed himself in favour of "the old tolerant and generous practice of free entry and asylum to which this country has so long adhered and from which it has so greatly gained".{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=165}} On 31 May 1904, he [[crossing the floor|crossed the floor]], defecting from the Conservatives to sit as a member of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=165|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=88}}

==Liberal MP: 1904–1908==
{{main|Winston Churchill's Liberal Party years, 1904–1924}}
[[File:Churchill und Wilhelm II. (1906).jpg|thumb|150px|Churchill and German Kaiser Wilhelm II during a military manoeuvre near [[Breslau]], Silesia, in 1906.]]
As a Liberal, Churchill attacked government policy and gained a reputation as a [[radicalisation|radical]] under the influences of [[John Morley]] and [[David Lloyd George]].<ref name="HGN"/> In December 1905, Balfour resigned as Prime Minister and [[King Edward VII]] invited the Liberal leader [[Henry Campbell-Bannerman]] to take his place.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=173–174|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=103}} Hoping to secure a [[working majority]] in the House of Commons, Campbell-Bannerman called a [[1906 United Kingdom general election|general election]] in January 1906, which the Liberals won.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=174, 176}} Churchill won the [[Manchester North West (UK Parliament constituency)|Manchester North West]] seat.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=175|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=109}} In the same month, [[Lord Randolph Churchill (book)|his biography of his father]] was published;{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=16|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=175}} he received an [[advance payment]] of £8,000.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=171|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=100}} It was generally well received.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=102–103}} It was also at this time that the first biography of Churchill himself, written by the Liberal [[Alexander MacCallum Scott]], was published.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=172}}

In the new government, Churchill became [[Under-Secretary of State]] for the [[Colonial Office]], a [[junior minister]]ial position that he had requested.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=23|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=174|3a1=Jenkins|3y=2001|3p=104}} He worked beneath the [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]], [[Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin]],{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=104–105}} and took [[Edward Marsh (polymath)|Edward Marsh]] as his secretary; Marsh remained Churchill's secretary for 25 years.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=174|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=105}} Churchill's first task was helping to draft a constitution for the [[Transvaal Colony|Transvaal]];{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=176|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=113–115, 120}} and he helped oversee the formation of a government in the [[Orange Free State]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=182}} In dealing with southern Africa, he sought to ensure equality between the British and the Boers.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=177}} He also announced a gradual phasing out of the use of Chinese indentured labourers in South Africa; he and the government decided that a sudden ban would cause too much upset in the colony and might damage the economy.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=177|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=111–113}} He expressed concerns about the relations between European settlers and the black African population; after the [[Zulu people|Zulu]] launched their [[Bambatha Rebellion]] in [[Colony of Natal|Natal]], Churchill complained about the "disgusting butchery of the natives" by Europeans.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=183}}

==Asquith government: 1908–1915==
{{main|Winston Churchill's Liberal Party years, 1904–1924}}

===President of the Board of Trade: 1908–1910===
[[File:Winston Churchill (1874-1965) with fiancée Clementine Hozier (1885-1977) shortly before their marriage in 1908.jpg|thumb|upright|Churchill and his fiancée [[Clementine Churchill, Baroness Spencer-Churchill|Clementine Hozier]] shortly before their marriage in 1908.]]
Asquith succeeded Campbell-Bannerman on 8 April 1908 and, four days later, Churchill was appointed [[President of the Board of Trade]], succeeding Lloyd George who became [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]].{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=33|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=194|3a1=Jenkins|3y=2001|3p=129}} Aged 33, Churchill was the youngest [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] member since 1866.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=129}} Newly appointed Cabinet ministers were legally obliged to seek re-election at a by-election and on 24 April, Churchill lost the [[1908 Manchester North West by-election|Manchester North West by-election]] to the Conservative candidate by 429 votes.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=194–195|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=130}} On 9 May, the Liberals stood him in the [[safe seat]] of [[Dundee (UK Parliament constituency)|Dundee]], where he [[1908 Dundee by-election|won comfortably]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=195|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=130–131}}

In private life, Churchill proposed marriage to [[Clementine Churchill|Clementine Hozier]]; they were married in September at [[St Margaret's, Westminster]] and [[honeymoon]]ed in [[Baveno]], Venice, and [[Veverí Castle]] in [[Moravia]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=198–200}}{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=139–142}} They lived at 33 [[Eccleston Square]], London, and their first daughter, [[Diana Churchill|Diana]], was born in July 1909.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=204–205}}{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=203}}

One of Churchill's first tasks as a minister was to arbitrate in an industrial dispute among ship-workers and employers on the [[River Tyne]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=195}} He afterwards established a Standing Court of Arbitration to deal with future industrial disputes,{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=199}} establishing a reputation as a conciliator.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=200}} In Cabinet, he worked with Lloyd George to champion [[Liberal welfare reforms|social reform]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=143}} He promoted what he called a "network of State intervention and regulation" akin to that in Germany.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=193–194}}

Continuing Lloyd George's work,<ref name="HGN"/> Churchill introduced the [[Coal Mines Regulation Act 1908|Mines Eight Hours Bill]], which legally prohibited miners from working more than an [[eight-hour day]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=196}} He introduced the [[Trade Boards Act 1909|Trade Boards Bill]], creating Trade Boards which could prosecute exploitative employers. Passing with a large majority, it established the principle of a [[minimum wage]] and the right of workers to have meal breaks.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=203–204|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=150}} In May 1909, he proposed the [[Labour Exchanges Act 1909|Labour Exchanges Bill]] to establish over 200 Labour Exchanges through which the unemployed would be assisted in finding employment.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=204|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=150–151}} He also promoted the idea of an unemployment insurance scheme, which would be part-funded by the state.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=201|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=151}}

To ensure funding for their reforms, Lloyd George and Churchill denounced [[Reginald McKenna]]'s policy of naval expansion,{{sfnm|1a1=Jenkins|1y=2001|1pp=154–157|2a1=Toye|2y=2007|2pp=54–55}} refusing to believe that war with Germany was inevitable.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=198–199|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=154–155}} As Chancellor, Lloyd George presented his "[[People's Budget]]" on 29 April 1909, calling it a war budget to eliminate poverty. He proposed unprecedented taxes on the rich to fund the Liberal welfare programmes.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=157–159}} The budget was vetoed by the Conservative [[Peerage of Great Britain|peers]] who dominated the [[House of Lords]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=205, 210|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=164}} His social reforms under threat, Churchill warned that upper-class obstruction could anger working-class Britons and lead to [[class conflict|class war]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=206}} The government called the [[January 1910 United Kingdom general election|January 1910 general election]], which resulted in a narrow Liberal victory; Churchill retained his seat at Dundee.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=211|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=167}} After the election, he proposed the abolition of the House of Lords in a cabinet memorandum, suggesting that it be replaced either by a [[unicameralism|unicameral]] system or by a new, smaller second chamber that lacked an in-built advantage for the Conservatives.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=167–168}} In April, the Lords relented and the People's Budget passed into law.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=216–217}}

===Home Secretary: 1910–1911===
In February 1910, Churchill was promoted to [[Home Secretary]], giving him control over the police and prison services;{{sfnm|1a1=Moritz, Jr.|1y=1958|1p=429|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=211|3a1=Jenkins|3y=2001|3p=169}} he implemented a prison reform programme.{{sfnm|1a1=Moritz, Jr.|1y=1958|1pp=428–429|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=212|3a1=Jenkins|3y=2001|3p=179}} Measures included a distinction between criminal and [[political prisoner]]s, with prison rules for the latter being relaxed.{{sfnm|1a1=Moritz, Jr.|1y=1958|1p=434|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=212}} There were educational innovations like the establishment of libraries for prisoners,{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=212|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=181}} and a requirement for each prison to stage entertainments four times a year.{{sfnm|1a1=Moritz, Jr.|1y=1958|1p=434|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=215}} The rules on [[solitary confinement]] were relaxed somewhat,{{sfnm|1a1=Moritz, Jr.|1y=1958|1p=434|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=212|3a1=Jenkins|3y=2001|3p=181}} and Churchill proposed the abolition of automatic imprisonment of those who failed to pay fines.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=213}} Imprisonment of people aged between 16 and 21 was abolished except for the most serious offences.{{sfnm|1a1=Moritz, Jr.|1y=1958|1p=433|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2pp=213–214}} Churchill commuted 21 of the 43 [[Capital punishment in the United Kingdom|capital sentences]] passed while he was Home Secretary.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=183}}

One of the major domestic issues in Britain was women's suffrage. Churchill supported giving women the vote, but he would only back a bill to that effect if it had majority support from the (male) electorate.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=221–222}} His proposed solution was a referendum on the issue, but this found no favour with Asquith and women's suffrage remained unresolved until 1918.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=186}} Many suffragettes believed that Churchill was a committed opponent of women's suffrage,{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=221}} and targeted his meetings for protest.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=186}} In November 1910, the suffragist [[Hugh Franklin (suffragist)|Hugh Franklin]] attacked Churchill with a whip; Franklin was arrested and imprisoned for six weeks.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=221}}

[[File:Siege of Sidney Street – Churchill.jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|right|Churchill (second left) photographed at the [[Siege of Sidney Street]].]]
In the summer of 1910, Churchill had to deal with the [[Tonypandy riots|Tonypandy Riot]], in which [[coal miners]] in the [[Rhondda]] Valley violently protested against their working conditions.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=219|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=195}} The Chief Constable of Glamorgan requested troops to help police quell the rioting. Churchill, learning that the troops were already travelling, allowed them to go as far as [[Swindon]] and [[Cardiff]], but blocked their deployment; he was concerned that the use of troops could lead to bloodshed. Instead he sent 270 London police, who were not equipped with firearms, to assist their Welsh counterparts.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=219|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=198}} As the riots continued, he offered the protesters an interview with the government's chief industrial arbitrator, which they accepted.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=220}} Privately, Churchill regarded both the mine owners and striking miners as being "very unreasonable".{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=221}} ''[[The Times]]'' and other media outlets accused him of being too soft on the rioters;{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=199}} in contrast, many in the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]], which was linked to the trade unions, regarded him as having been too heavy-handed.{{sfn|Rhodes James|1970|p=38}}

Asquith called a [[December 1910 United Kingdom general election|general election in December 1910]] and the Liberals were re-elected with Churchill secure in Dundee.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=222|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=190–191, 193}} In January 1911, Churchill became involved in the [[Siege of Sidney Street]]; three Latvian burglars had killed several police officers and hidden in a house in London's [[East End]], which was surrounded by police.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=222|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=194}} Churchill stood with the police though he did not direct their operation.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=224|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=195}} After the house caught fire, he told the fire brigade not to proceed into the house because of the threat posed by the armed men. Afterwards, two of the burglars were found dead.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=224|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=195}} Although he faced criticism for his decision, he stated that he "thought it better to let the house burn down rather than spend good British lives in rescuing those ferocious rascals".{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=224}}

In March 1911, Churchill introduced the second reading of the [[Coal Mines Act 1911|Coal Mines Bill]] in parliament. When implemented, it imposed stricter safety standards at coal mines.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=226|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=177–178}} He also formulated the [[Shops Act 1911|Shops Bill]] to improve the working conditions of shop workers; it faced opposition from shop owners and only passed into law in a much emasculated form.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=226|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=178}} In April, Lloyd George introduced the first health and unemployment insurance legislation, the [[National Insurance Act 1911]]; Churchill had been instrumental in drafting it.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=226|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=178}} In May, Clementine gave birth to their second child, [[Randolph Churchill|Randolph]], named after Churchill's father.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=227|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=203}} In response to escalating civil strife in 1911, Churchill sent troops into Liverpool to [[1911 Liverpool general transport strike|quell protesting dockers]] and rallied against [[National Railway strike of 1911|a national railway strike]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=230–233|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2pp=200–201}}

During the [[Agadir Crisis]] of April 1911, when there was a threat of war between France and Germany, Churchill suggested an alliance with France and Russia to safeguard the independence of Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands to counter possible German expansionism.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=235}} The Agadir Crisis had a profound effect on Churchill and he altered his views about the need for naval expansion.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=202}}

===First Lord of the Admiralty===
[[File:Admiralty House - Music Room.jpeg|thumb|As First Lord of the Admiralty, Churchill's London residency was Admiralty House (music room pictured).]]
In October 1911, Asquith appointed Churchill [[First Lord of the Admiralty]],{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=239|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=205|3a1=Bell|3y=2011|3p=335}} and he took up official residence at [[Admiralty House, London|Admiralty House]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=249|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=207}} Over the next two and a half years he focused on naval preparation, visiting naval stations and dockyards, seeking to improve morale, and scrutinising German naval developments.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=23}} After the German government passed its [[German Naval Laws|Navy Law]] to increase warship production, Churchill vowed that Britain would do the same and that for every new battleship built by the Germans, Britain would build two.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=243|2a1=Bell|2y=2011|2p=336}} He invited Germany to engage in a mutual de-escalation of naval building projects, but this was refused.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=243–245}}

Churchill pushed for higher pay and greater recreational facilities for naval staff,{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=247}} an increase in the building of submarines,{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=242|2a1=Bell|2y=2011|2pp=249–251}} and a renewed focus on the [[Royal Naval Air Service]], encouraging them to experiment with how aircraft could be used for military purposes.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=240}} He coined the term "[[seaplane]]" and ordered 100 to be constructed.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=251}} Some Liberals objected to his levels of naval expenditure; in December 1913 he threatened to resign if his proposal for four new battleships in 1914–15 was rejected.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=253–254|2a1=Bell|2y=2011|2pp=342–343}} In June 1914, he convinced the House of Commons to authorise the government purchase of a 51 percent share in the profits of oil produced by the [[Anglo-Persian Oil Company]], to secure continued oil access for the Royal Navy.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=260–261}}

The central issue in Britain at the time was [[Irish home rule movement|Irish Home Rule]] and, in 1912, Asquith's government introduced the [[Government of Ireland Act 1914|Home Rule Bill]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=256|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=233}} Churchill supported it and urged [[Unionism in Ireland|Ulster Unionists]] to accept it as he opposed the partition of Ireland.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1pp=44–45|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2pp=249–250|3a1=Jenkins|3y=2001|3pp=233–234}} Later, following a Cabinet decision, he boosted the naval presence in Ireland to deal with any Unionist uprising.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1pp=47–49|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2pp=256–257}} Seeking a compromise, Churchill suggested that Ireland remain part of a [[federalism|federal]] United Kingdom but this angered Liberals and Irish nationalists.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=257–258}}

As First Lord, Churchill was tasked with overseeing Britain's naval effort when the [[First World War]] began in August 1914.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=277}} In the same month, the navy transported 120,000 British troops to France and began a blockade of German North Sea ports. Churchill sent submarines to the [[Baltic Sea]] to assist the [[Imperial Russian Navy|Russian Navy]] and he sent the Marine Brigade to [[Ostend]], forcing a reallocation of German troops.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=277–279}} In September, Churchill assumed full responsibility for Britain's aerial defence.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=279}} On 7 October, Clementine gave birth to their third child, [[Sarah Churchill (actress)|Sarah]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=285}} In October, Churchill visited [[Antwerp]] to observe [[Siege of Antwerp (1914)|Belgian defences against the besieging Germans]] and promised British reinforcements for the city.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=62|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2pp=282–285|3a1=Jenkins|3y=2001|3p=249}} Soon afterwards, however, Antwerp fell to the Germans and Churchill was criticised in the press.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=62|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=286|3a1=Jenkins|3y=2001|3pp=250–251}} He maintained that his actions had prolonged resistance and enabled the Allies to secure [[Calais]] and [[Dunkirk]].{{sfn|Rhodes James|1970|p=62}} In November, Asquith called a War Council, consisting of himself, Lloyd George, [[Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon|Edward Grey]], Kitchener, and Churchill.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=289}} Churchill put forward some proposals including the development of the [[tank]], and offered to finance its creation with Admiralty funds.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=293, 298–99}}

Churchill was interested in the [[Middle Eastern theatre of World War I|Middle Eastern theatre]] and wanted to relieve Turkish pressure on the Russians in the [[Caucasus campaign|Caucasus]] by staging attacks against Turkey in the [[Dardanelles]]. He hoped that, if successful, the British could even seize [[Constantinople]].{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1pp=64–67|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2pp=291–292|3a1=Jenkins|3y=2001|3pp=255, 261}} Approval was given and, in March 1915, an Anglo-French task force attempted a naval bombardment of Turkish defences in the Dardanelles. In April, the [[Mediterranean Expeditionary Force]], including the [[Australian and New Zealand Army Corps]] (ANZAC), began its [[Battle of Gallipoli|assault at Gallipoli]].{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1pp=72–74|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2pp=304, 310}} Both of these campaigns failed and Churchill was held by many MPs, particularly Conservatives, to be personally responsible.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=78|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=309}}

In May, Asquith agreed under parliamentary pressure to form an all-party [[Asquith coalition ministry|coalition government]], but the Conservatives' one condition of entry was that Churchill must be removed from the Admiralty.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=79|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2pp=316–316|3a1=Jenkins|3y=2001|3pp=273–274}} Churchill pleaded his case with both Asquith and Conservative leader [[Bonar Law]], but had to accept demotion and became [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=319–320|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=276}}

==Military service, 1915–1916==
{{main|Winston Churchill's Liberal Party years, 1904–1924}}
[[File:WinstonChurchill1916Army.gif|thumb|Churchill commanding the 6th Battalion, the Royal Scots Fusiliers, 1916. His second-in-command, [[Archibald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso|Archibald Sinclair]], is on his right.]]
On 25 November 1915, Churchill resigned from the government, although he remained an MP. Asquith rejected his request to be appointed [[List of colonial governors and administrators of Kenya|Governor-General]] of [[East Africa Protectorate|British East Africa]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=328}}

Churchill decided to join the Army and was attached to the 2nd [[Grenadier Guards]], on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=329–332}} In January 1916, he was temporarily promoted to [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant-colonel]] and given command of the 6th [[Royal Scots Fusiliers]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=340–341}}<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29520 |date=24 March 1916 |page=3260 |supp=y }}</ref> After a period of training, the battalion was moved to a sector of the Belgian Front near [[Ploegsteert]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=342–245}} For over three months, they faced continual shelling although no German offensive.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=346}} Churchill narrowly escaped death when, during a visit by his staff officer cousin the 9th Duke of Marlborough, a large piece of [[Shrapnel shell|shrapnel]] fell between them.<ref>{{cite book |last=Green |first=David |title=Guide to Blenheim Palace |year=1980 |publisher=The Blenheim Estate Office |location=Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire |page=17}}. The inscribed shrapnel piece was subsequently displayed at Blenheim Palace.</ref> In May, the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers were merged into the 15th Division. Churchill did not request a new command, instead securing permission to leave active service.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=360}} His temporary promotion ended on 16 May, when he returned to the rank of [[Major (United Kingdom)|major]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29753 |date=16 September 1916 |page=9100 |supp=y }}</ref>

Back in the House of Commons, Churchill spoke out on war issues, calling for conscription to be extended to the Irish, greater recognition of soldiers' bravery, and for the introduction of steel helmets for troops.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=361, 364–365}} He was frustrated at being out of office as a backbencher, but he was repeatedly blamed for Gallipoli, mainly by the pro-Conservative press.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=86|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2pp=361, 363, 367}} Churchill argued his case before the [[Dardanelles Commission]], whose published report placed no blame on him personally for the campaign's failure.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=89|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2pp=366, 370}}

==Lloyd George government: 1916–1922==
{{main|Winston Churchill's Liberal Party years, 1904–1924}}

===Minister of Munitions: 1917–1919===
In October 1916, Asquith resigned as Prime Minister and was succeeded by Lloyd George who, in May 1917, sent Churchill to inspect the French war effort.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=373}} In July, Churchill was appointed [[Minister of Munitions]].{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=90|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=374}} He quickly negotiated an end to a strike in munitions factories along the [[River Clyde|Clyde]] and increased munitions production.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=376, 377}} He ended a second strike, in June 1918, by threatening to conscript strikers into the army.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=392–393}} In the House of Commons, Churchill voted in support of the [[Representation of the People Act 1918]], which gave some British women the right to vote.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=379–380}} In November 1918, four days after the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|Armistice]], Churchill's fourth child, Marigold, was born.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=403}}

===Secretary of State for War and Air: 1919–1921===
[[File:War Industry in Britain during the First World War Q84077.jpg|thumb|Churchill meets female workers at Georgetown's filling works near [[Glasgow]] in October 1918.]]
With the war over, Lloyd George called a [[1918 United Kingdom general election|general election]] with voting on Saturday, 14 December 1918.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=91|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=403}} During the election campaign, Churchill called for the nationalisation of the railways, a control on monopolies, tax reform, and the creation of a [[League of Nations]] to prevent future wars.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=404}} He was returned as MP for Dundee and, although the Conservatives won a majority, Lloyd George was retained as Prime Minister.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=404}} In January 1919, Lloyd George moved Churchill to the [[War Office]] as both [[Secretary of State for War]] and [[Secretary of State for Air]].{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=100|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2pp=404–405}}

Churchill was responsible for demobilising the British Army,{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=101|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=406}} although he convinced Lloyd George to keep a million men conscripted for the [[British Army of the Rhine]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=406–407}} Churchill was one of the few government figures who opposed harsh measures against the defeated Germany,{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=403}} and he cautioned against demobilising the German Army, warning that they may be needed as a bulwark against threats from the newly established [[Soviet Russia]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=401}} He was an outspoken opponent of [[Vladimir Lenin]]'s new [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] government in Russia.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1pp=105–106|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=411}} He initially supported the use of British troops to assist the anti-Communist [[White movement|White forces]] in the [[Russian Civil War]],{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1pp=102, 104|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=405}} but soon recognised the desire of the British people to bring them home.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=411–412}} After the Soviets won the civil war, Churchill proposed a ''[[Cordon sanitaire (politics)|cordon sanitaire]]'' around the country.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=123|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=420}}

In the [[Irish War of Independence]], he supported the use of the para-military [[Black and Tans]] to combat Irish revolutionaries.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1pp=126–127|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2pp=422, 425|3a1=Jordan|3y=1995|3pp=70–75}} After British troops in Iraq clashed with [[Kurdish people|Kurdish]] rebels, Churchill authorised two squadrons to the area, proposing that they be equipped with [[mustard gas]] to [[Gas in Mesopotamia|be used]] to "inflict punishment upon recalcitrant natives without inflicting grave injury upon them".{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1pp=424–425|2a1=Douglas|2y=2009|2p=861}} More broadly, he saw the [[Mandatory Iraq|occupation of Iraq]] as a drain on Britain and proposed, unsuccessfully, that the government should hand control of central and northern Iraq back to Turkey.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=428}}

===Secretary of State for the Colonies: 1921–1922===
[[File:Winston Curchill in Tel Aviv, 1921.jpg|alt=Curchill as Secretary of State for the Colonies during his visit to Mandatory Palestine, Tel Aviv, 1921.|thumb|Churchill as Secretary of State for the Colonies during his visit to Mandatory Palestine, Tel Aviv, 1921.]][[File:Chartwell02.JPG|thumb|right|Churchill's main home was [[Chartwell]] in Kent. He purchased it in 1922 after his

daughter [[Mary Churchill|Mary]] was born.]]
Churchill became [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]] in February 1921.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=431}} The following month, the first exhibit of his paintings was held; it took place in Paris, with Churchill exhibiting under a pseudonym.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=431}} In May, his mother died, followed in August by his daughter Marigold.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=438, 439}}

Churchill was involved in negotiations with [[Sinn Féin]] leaders and helped draft the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=441}} Elsewhere, he was responsible for reducing the cost of occupying the Middle East,{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=431}} and was involved in the installations of [[Faisal I of Iraq]] and his brother [[Abdullah I of Jordan]].{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=133|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2pp=432–434}} Churchill travelled to [[Mandatory Palestine]] where, as a supporter of [[Zionism]], he refused an Arab Palestinian petition to prohibit Jewish migration to Palestine.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=435}} He did allow some temporary restrictions following the [[1921 Jaffa riots]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=437}}

In September 1922, Churchill's fifth and last child, [[Mary Churchill|Mary]], was born, and in the same month he purchased [[Chartwell]], in Kent, which became his family home for the rest of his lifetime.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=450}} In October 1922, he underwent an [[appendectomy|operation for appendicitis]]. While he was in hospital, the Conservatives withdrew from Lloyd George's coalition government, precipitating the [[1922 United Kingdom general election|November 1922 general election]], in which Churchill lost his Dundee seat.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=456}} Later, Churchill wrote that he was "without an office, without a seat, without a party, and without an appendix".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=376}} Still, he could be satisfied with his elevation as one of 50 [[Companions of Honour]], as named in Lloyd George's [[1922 Dissolution Honours]] list.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32766 |supp=y |page=8017 |date=10 November 1922 |access-date=8 May 2021}}</ref>

==Out of Parliament: 1922–1924==
{{main|Winston Churchill's Liberal Party years, 1904–1924}}
[[File:Churchill with children Randolph and Diana.jpg|thumb|Churchill with children [[Randolph Churchill|Randolph]] and [[Diana Churchill|Diana]] in 1923.]]
Churchill spent much of the next six months at the Villa Rêve d'Or near [[Cannes]], where he devoted himself to painting and writing his memoirs.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=457}} He wrote an autobiographical history of the war, ''[[The World Crisis]]''. The first volume was published in April 1923 and the rest over the next ten years.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=456}}

After the [[1923 United Kingdom general election|1923 general election]] was called, seven Liberal associations asked Churchill to stand as their candidate, and he selected [[Leicester West (UK Parliament constituency)|Leicester West]], but he did not win the seat.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1pp=150–151|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=459|3a1=Jenkins|3y=2001|3pp=382–384}} A Labour government led by [[Ramsay MacDonald]] took power. Churchill had hoped they would be defeated by a Conservative-Liberal coalition.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=460}} He strongly opposed the MacDonald government's decision to loan money to Soviet Russia and feared the signing of an Anglo-Soviet Treaty.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=462–463}}

On 19 March 1924, alienated by Liberal support for Labour, Churchill stood as an independent anti-socialist candidate in the [[1924 Westminster Abbey by-election|Westminster Abbey by-election]] but was defeated.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1pp=151–153|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2pp=460–461}} In May, he addressed a Conservative meeting in Liverpool and declared that there was no longer a place for the Liberal Party in British politics. He said that Liberals must back the Conservatives to stop Labour and ensure "the successful defeat of socialism".{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=154|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=462}} In July, he agreed with Conservative leader [[Stanley Baldwin]] that he would be selected as a Conservative candidate in the [[1924 United Kingdom general election|next general election]], which was held on 29 October. Churchill stood at [[Epping (UK Parliament constituency)|Epping]], but he described himself as a "[[Constitutionalist (UK)|Constitutionalist]]".{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=154|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2pp=462–463|3a1=Ball|3y=2001|3p=311}} The Conservatives were victorious and Baldwin formed the new government. Although Churchill had no background in finance or economics, Baldwin appointed him as Chancellor of the Exchequer.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1pp=155, 158|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=465}}

==Chancellor of the Exchequer: 1924–1929==
{{main|Winston Churchill as Chancellor of the Exchequer}}
[[File:Churchill-on-budget-day.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Churchill on [[Budget Day]] with his wife Clementine and children Sarah and Randolph, 15 April 1929.]]
Becoming Chancellor on 6 November 1924, Churchill formally rejoined the Conservative Party.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=467}} As Chancellor, he intended to pursue his free trade principles in the form of ''laissez-faire'' economics, as under the Liberal social reforms.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=467}} In April 1925, he controversially albeit reluctantly restored the [[gold standard]] in his first budget at its 1914 parity against the advice of some leading economists including [[John Maynard Keynes]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=469}} The return to gold is held to have caused [[deflation]] and resultant unemployment with a devastating impact on the coal industry.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=404}} Churchill presented five budgets in all to April 1929. Among his measures were reduction of the state pension age from 70 to 65; immediate provision of [[widow's pension]]s; reduction of military expenditure; [[income tax]] reductions and imposition of taxes on luxury items.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=468–489}}

During the [[UK General Strike 1926|General Strike of 1926]], Churchill edited the ''[[British Gazette]]'', the government's anti-strike propaganda newspaper.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1pp=169–174|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2pp=475–476}} After the strike ended, he acted as an intermediary between striking miners and their employers. He later called for the introduction of a legally binding [[minimum wage]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=477–479}} In early 1927, Churchill visited Rome where he met [[Mussolini]], whom he praised for his stand against [[Leninism]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=480}}

==The "Wilderness Years": 1929–1939==
{{main|Winston Churchill's "Wilderness" years, 1929–1939}}

===''Marlborough'' and the India Question: 1929–1932===
[[File:ChurchillChaplin0001.jpg|thumb|right|Churchill meeting with film star [[Charlie Chaplin]] in Los Angeles in 1929.]]
In the [[1929 United Kingdom general election|1929 general election]], Churchill retained his Epping seat but the Conservatives were defeated and MacDonald formed his second Labour government.{{sfnm|1a1=Rhodes James|1y=1970|1p=183|2a1=Gilbert|2y=1991|2p=489}} Out of office, Churchill was prone to depression (his "black dog") as he sensed his political talents being wasted and time passing him by – in all such times, writing provided the antidote.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=466, 819}} He began work on ''[[Marlborough: His Life and Times]]'', a four-volume biography of his ancestor [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=491}}{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=421–423}} It was by this time that he had developed a reputation for being a heavy drinker of alcoholic beverages, although Jenkins believes that was often exaggerated.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=51}}

Hoping that the Labour government could be ousted, he gained Baldwin's approval to work towards establishing a Conservative-Liberal coalition, although many Liberals were reluctant.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=491}} In October 1930, after his return from a trip to North America, Churchill published his autobiography, ''[[My Early Life]]'', which sold well and was translated into multiple languages.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=496}}

In January 1931, Churchill resigned from the Conservative Shadow Cabinet because Baldwin supported the decision of the Labour government to grant [[Dominion status]] to India.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=434}} Churchill believed that enhanced home rule status would hasten calls for full independence.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=495}} He was particularly opposed to [[Mahatma Gandhi|Mohandas Gandhi]], whom he considered "a seditious [[Middle Temple]] lawyer, now posing as a [[fakir]]".{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=499–500}} His views enraged Labour and Liberal opinion although he was supported by many grassroot Conservatives.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=500}}

The [[1931 United Kingdom general election|October 1931 general election]] was a landslide victory for the Conservatives{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=443}} Churchill nearly doubled his majority in Epping, but he was not given a ministerial position.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=502–503}} The Commons debated Dominion Status for India on 3 December and Churchill insisted on dividing the House, but this backfired as only 43 MPs supported him.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=503}} He embarked on a lecture tour of North America, hoping to recoup financial losses sustained in the [[Wall Street Crash]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=443}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=503}} On 13 December, he was crossing [[Fifth Avenue]] in New York City when he was knocked down by a car, suffering a head wound from which he developed [[neuritis]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=443–444}} To further his convalescence, he and Clementine took ship to [[Nassau, Bahamas|Nassau]] for three weeks but Churchill became depressed there about his financial and political losses.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=444}} He returned to America in late January 1932 and completed most of his lectures before arriving home on 18 March.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=444}}

Having worked on ''Marlborough'' for much of 1932, Churchill in late August decided to visit his ancestor's battlefields.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=445}} Staying at the Regina Hotel in [[Munich]], he met [[Ernst Hanfstaengl]], a friend of [[Hitler]], who was then rising in prominence. Hanfstaengl tried to arrange a meeting between Churchill and Hitler, but Hitler was unenthusiastic, saying, "What on earth would I talk to him about?"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.hillsdale.edu/meeting-hitler-1932/ |title=Meeting Hitler, 1932 |work=The Churchill Project |publisher=Hillsdale College |location=Hillsdale, Missouri |date=5 March 2015 |access-date=22 May 2021}}</ref> After Churchill raised concerns about Hitler's anti-Semitism, Hitler did not come to the hotel that day or the next.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=508}}{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=468–469}} Hitler allegedly told Hanfstaengl that Churchill was not in office and was of no consequence.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=508}} Soon after visiting [[Blindheim|Blenheim]], Churchill was afflicted with [[paratyphoid fever]] and spent two weeks at a sanatorium in [[Salzburg]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=445–446}} He returned to Chartwell on 25 September, still working on ''Marlborough''. Two days later, he collapsed while walking in the grounds after a recurrence of paratyphoid which caused an ulcer to haemorrhage. He was taken to a London nursing home and remained there until late October.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=508–509}}

===Warnings about Germany and the abdication crisis: 1933–1936===
After Hitler came to power on 30 January 1933, Churchill was quick to recognise the menace of such a regime and expressed alarm that the British government had reduced air force spending and warned that Germany would soon overtake Britain in air force production.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=470}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=513–515, 530–531}} Armed with official data provided clandestinely by two senior civil servants, [[Desmond Morton (civil servant)|Desmond Morton]] and [[Ralph Wigram]], Churchill was able to speak with authority about what was happening in Germany, especially the development of the [[Luftwaffe]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=479–480}} He told the people of his concerns in a radio broadcast in November 1934,{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=533}} having earlier denounced the intolerance and militarism of Nazism in the House of Commons.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1935/oct/24/international-situation |title=The International Situation |work=Hansard |date=24 October 1935 |series=5th |volume=305 |pages=357–369 |publisher=House of Commons |location=Westminster |access-date=17 May 2021 |quote=We cannot afford to see Nazidom in its present phase of cruelty and intolerance, with all its hatreds and all its gleaming weapons, paramount in Europe}}</ref> While Churchill regarded [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]]'s regime as a bulwark against the perceived threat of communist revolution, he opposed the Italian invasion of Ethiopia,{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=544}} despite describing the country as a primitive, uncivilised nation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1935/oct/24/international-situation |title=The International Situation |work=Hansard |date=24 October 1935 |series=5th |volume=305 |pages=357–369 |publisher=House of Commons |location=Westminster |access-date=17 May 2021 |quote=No one can keep up the pretence that Abyssinia is a fit, worthy and equal member of a league of civilised nations.}}</ref> Writing about the [[Spanish Civil War]], he referred to [[Francisco Franco|Franco]]'s army as the "anti-red movement", but later became critical of Franco.{{sfn|Rhodes James|1970|p=408}} Two of his nephews, Esmond and Giles Romilly, fought as volunteers in the [[International Brigades]] in defence of the legitimate Republican government.<ref>Boadilla by Esmond Romilly, first published 1937, republished by {{cite web|url=https://theclaptonpress.com/boadilla-by-esmond-romilly/|title=The Clapton Press|date=29 May 2019}} 2018. ISBN 978-1-9996543-0-6</ref>

Between October 1933 and September 1938, the four volumes of ''[[Marlborough: His Life and Times]]'' were published and sold well.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=522, 533, 563, 594}} In December 1934, the [[Government of India Act 1935|India Bill]] entered Parliament and was passed in February 1935. Churchill and 83 other Conservative MPs voted against it.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=538–539}} In June 1935, MacDonald resigned and was replaced as Prime Minister by Baldwin.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=544}} Baldwin then led the Conservatives to victory in the [[1935 United Kingdom general election|1935 general election]]; Churchill retained his seat with an increased majority but was again left out of the government.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=547}}

In January 1936, [[Edward VIII]] succeeded his father, [[George V]], as monarch. His desire to marry an American divorcee, [[Wallis Simpson]], caused the [[Edward VIII abdication crisis|abdication crisis]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=568–569}} Churchill supported Edward and clashed with Baldwin on the issue.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=569}} Afterwards, although Churchill immediately pledged loyalty to [[George VI]], he wrote that the abdication was "premature and probably quite unnecessary".{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=570}}

===Anti-appeasement: 1937–1939===
[[File:Churchill and Chamberlain.jpg|right|thumb|Churchill and [[Neville Chamberlain]], the chief proponent of [[appeasement]].]]
In May 1937, Baldwin resigned and was succeeded as Prime Minister by [[Neville Chamberlain]]. At first, Churchill welcomed Chamberlain's appointment but, in February 1938, matters came to a head after Foreign Secretary [[Anthony Eden]] resigned over Chamberlain's [[appeasement]] of [[Mussolini]],{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=514–515}} a policy which Chamberlain was extending towards Hitler.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=576–577}}

In 1938, Churchill warned the government against appeasement and called for collective action to deter German aggression. In March, the ''Evening Standard'' ceased publication of his fortnightly articles, but the ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'' published them instead.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=516}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=588}} Following the German annexation of Austria, Churchill spoke in the House of Commons, declaring that "the gravity of the events[…] cannot be exaggerated".{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=589}} He began calling for a mutual defence pact among European states threatened by German expansionism, arguing that this was the only way to halt Hitler.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=590–591}} This was to no avail as, in September, Germany mobilised to invade the [[Sudetenland]] in Czechoslovakia.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=594}} Churchill visited Chamberlain at Downing Street and urged him to tell Germany that Britain would declare war if the Germans invaded Czechoslovak territory; Chamberlain was not willing to do this.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=595}} On 30 September, Chamberlain signed up to the [[Munich Agreement]], agreeing to allow German annexation of the Sudetenland. Speaking in the House of Commons on 5 October, Churchill called the agreement "[[a total and unmitigated defeat]]".{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=598}}{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=527}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/Munich.html |title=Churchill's Wartime Speeches – A Total and Unmitigated Defeat |date=5 October 1938 |publisher=The Churchill Society |location=London |access-date=27 April 2020}}</ref>

==First Lord of the Admiralty: September 1939 to May 1940==
{{main|Winston Churchill in the Second World War}}

===The Phoney War and the Norwegian Campaign===
On 3 September 1939, the day Britain declared war on Germany, Chamberlain reappointed Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty and he joined [[Chamberlain war ministry|Chamberlain's war cabinet]]. Churchill later claimed that the Board of the Admiralty sent a signal to the Fleet: "Winston is back".{{sfn|Churchill|1967b|p=7}} As First Lord, Churchill was one of the highest-profile ministers during the so-called "[[Phoney War]]", when the only significant action by British forces was at sea. Churchill was ebullient after the [[Battle of the River Plate]] on 13 December 1939 and afterwards welcomed home the crews, congratulating them on "a brilliant sea fight" and saying that their actions in a cold, dark winter had "warmed the cockles of the British heart".{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=634}} On 16 February 1940, Churchill personally ordered Captain [[Philip Vian]] of the destroyer {{HMS|Cossack|F03|6}} to board the German supply ship {{ship|German tanker|Altmark||2}} in Norwegian waters freeing 299 captured British merchant seamen who had been captured by the {{ship|German cruiser|Admiral Graf Spee||2}}. These actions, supplemented by his speeches, considerably enhanced Churchill's reputation.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=634}}

He was concerned about German naval activity in the [[Baltic Sea]] and initially wanted to send a naval force there but this was soon changed to a plan, codenamed ''[[Operation Wilfred]]'', to mine Norwegian waters and stop [[iron ore]] shipments from [[Narvik]] to Germany.{{sfn|Shakespeare|2017|p=30}} There were disagreements about mining, both in the war cabinet and with the French government. As a result, ''Wilfred'' was delayed until 8 April 1940, the day before the [[Operation Weserübung|German invasion of Norway]] was launched.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=573–574}}

===The Norway Debate and Chamberlain's resignation===
{{main|Norway Debate}}
[[File:0929 fc-churchill-halifax.jpg|thumb|right|Churchill with [[Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Lord Halifax]] in 1938]]
After the [[Norwegian campaign|Allies failed to prevent]] the German occupation of Norway, the Commons held an open debate from 7 to 9 May on the government's conduct of the war. This has come to be known as the [[Norway Debate]] and is renowned as one of the most significant events in parliamentary history.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=576–577}} On the second day (Wednesday, 8 May), the Labour opposition called for a [[division of the assembly|division]] which was in effect a [[motion of no confidence|vote of no confidence]] in Chamberlain's government.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=579}} There was considerable support for Churchill on both sides of the House but, as a member of the government, he was obliged to speak on its behalf. He was called upon to wind up the debate, which placed him in the difficult position of having to defend the government without damaging his own prestige.{{sfn|Shakespeare|2017|pp=299–300}} Although the government won the vote, its majority was drastically reduced amid calls for a national government to be formed.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=582}}

In the early hours of 10 May, German forces invaded Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands as a prelude to their [[Battle of France|assault on France]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=583}} Since the division vote, Chamberlain had been trying to form a coalition but Labour declared on the Friday afternoon that they would not serve under his leadership, although they would accept another Conservative. The only two candidates were Churchill and [[E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Lord Halifax]], the Foreign Secretary. The matter had already been discussed at a meeting on the 9th between Chamberlain, Halifax, Churchill, and [[David Margesson, 1st Viscount Margesson|David Margesson]], the government [[Chief Whip]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=583}} Halifax admitted that he could not govern effectively as a member of the House of Lords and so Chamberlain advised the King to send for Churchill, who became Prime Minister.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=586}} Churchill later wrote of feeling a profound sense of relief in that he now had authority over the whole scene. He believed himself to be walking with destiny and that his life so far had been "a preparation for this hour and for this trial".{{sfn|Arthur|2017|p=170}}{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=592}}{{sfn|Churchill|1967b|p=243}}

==Prime Minister: 1940–1945==
{{main|First premiership of Winston Churchill}}
{{for timeline|Timeline of the first premiership of Winston Churchill}}
{{further|Churchill war ministry}}
{{See also|Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II|British Empire in World War II}}

===Dunkirk to Pearl Harbor: May 1940 to December 1941===
[[File:Winston Churchill As Prime Minister 1940-45 H10688.jpg|thumb|right|Churchill takes aim with a [[Sten]] sub-machine gun in June 1941. The man in the pin-striped suit and [[fedora]] to the right is his bodyguard, [[Walter H. Thompson]].]]

====War ministry created====
{{main|Churchill war ministry}}
In May, Churchill was still generally unpopular with many Conservatives and probably most of the Labour Party.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=590}} Chamberlain remained Conservative Party leader until October when ill health forced his resignation. By that time, Churchill had won the doubters over and his succession as party leader was a formality.{{sfn|Blake|Louis|1993|pp=249, 252–255}}

He began his premiership by forming a [[Churchill war ministry|five-man war cabinet]] which included Chamberlain as [[Lord President of the Council]], Labour leader [[Clement Attlee]] as [[Lord Privy Seal]] (later as [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Deputy Prime Minister]]), Halifax as [[Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs|Foreign Secretary]] and Labour's [[Arthur Greenwood]] as a [[Minister without portfolio (United Kingdom)|minister without portfolio]]. In practice, these five were augmented by the service chiefs and ministers who attended the majority of meetings.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=587–588}}{{sfn|Hermiston|2016|pp=26–29}} The cabinet changed in size and membership as the war progressed, one of the key appointments being the leading [[Trade unions in the United Kingdom|trades unionist]] [[Ernest Bevin]] as [[Secretary of State for Employment|Minister of Labour and National Service]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pages=714–715}} In response to previous criticisms that there had been no clear single minister in charge of the prosecution of the war, Churchill created and took the additional position of [[Minister of Defence (UK)|Minister of Defence]], making him the most powerful wartime Prime Minister in British history.{{sfn|Blake|Louis|1993|pp=264, 270–271}} He drafted outside experts into government to fulfil vital functions, especially on the Home Front. These included personal friends like [[Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook|Lord Beaverbrook]] and [[Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell|Frederick Lindemann]], who became the government's scientific advisor.{{sfn|Hermiston|2016|p=41}}

====Resolve to fight on====
{{main|War cabinet crisis, May 1940}}
At the end of May, with the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]] in retreat to [[Dunkirk]] and the [[Fall of France]] seemingly imminent, Halifax proposed that the government should explore the possibility of a negotiated peace settlement using the still-neutral Mussolini as an intermediary. There were [[War cabinet crisis, May 1940|several high-level meetings]] from 26 to 28 May, including two with the French premier [[Paul Reynaud]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=599}} Churchill's resolve was to fight on, even if France capitulated, but his position remained precarious until Chamberlain resolved to support him. Churchill had the full support of the two Labour members but knew he could not survive as Prime Minister if both Chamberlain and Halifax were against him. In the end, by gaining the support of his outer cabinet, Churchill outmanoeuvred Halifax and won Chamberlain over.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=602–603}} Churchill believed that the only option was to fight on and his use of rhetoric hardened public opinion against a peaceful resolution and prepared the British people for a long war – Jenkins says Churchill's speeches were "an inspiration for the nation, and a [[catharsis]] for Churchill himself".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=611–612}}

Churchill succeeded as an orator despite being handicapped from childhood with a speech impediment. He had a [[lateral lisp]] and was unable to pronounce the letter ''s'', verbalising it with a slur.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=65}} He worked hard on his pronunciation by repeating phrases designed to cure his problem with the sibilant "s". He was ultimately successful and was eventually able to say: "My impediment is no hindrance". In time, he turned the impediment into an asset and could use it to great effect, as when he called Hitler a "Nar-zee" (rhymes with "[[khazi]]"; emphasis on the "z"), rather than a Nazi ("ts").<ref>{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/myths/churchills-speech-impediment-was-stuttering/ |last=Mather |first=John |title=Churchill's speech impediment |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=29 August 2008 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=14 May 2020}}</ref>

His first speech as Prime Minister, delivered to the Commons on 13 May was the "[[blood, toil, tears and sweat]]" speech. It was little more than a short statement but, Jenkins says, "it included phrases which have reverberated down the decades".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=591}} Churchill made it plain to the nation that a long, hard road lay ahead and that victory was the final goal:<ref name="BTTS">{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/blood-toil-tears-and-sweat-2/ |title=Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=13 May 1940 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=30 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="H360:1501">{{cite book |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/may/13/his-majestys-government-1 |title=His Majesty's Government |work=Hansard |date=4 June 1940 |series=5th |volume=360 |pages=1501–1525 |publisher=House of Commons |location=Westminster |access-date=30 April 2020}}</ref>

{{blockquote|I would say to the House... that I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. You ask, what is our policy? I will 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.}}

====Operation Dynamo and the Battle of France====
[[Operation Dynamo]], the evacuation of 338,226 Allied servicemen from Dunkirk, ended on Tuesday, 4 June when the French rearguard surrendered. The total was far in excess of expectations and it gave rise to a popular view that Dunkirk had been a miracle, and even a victory.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=597}} Churchill himself referred to "a miracle of deliverance" in his "[[we shall fight on the beaches]]" speech to the Commons that afternoon, though he shortly reminded everyone that: "We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations". The speech ended on a note of defiance coupled with a clear appeal to the United States:<ref name="WSFB">{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/we-shall-fight-on-the-beaches/ |title=We Shall Fight on the Beaches |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=4 June 1940 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=30 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="H361:791">{{cite book |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/jun/04/war-situation#column_791 |title=War Situation – Churchill |work=Hansard |date=4 June 1940 |series=5th |volume=361 |page=791 |publisher=House of Commons |location=Westminster |access-date=14 January 2020}}</ref>

{{blockquote|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, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.}}

Germany initiated ''[[Fall Rot]]'' the following day and Italy entered the war on the 10th.{{sfn|Hastings|2009|pp=44–45}} The Wehrmacht occupied Paris on the 14th and completed their conquest of France on 25 June.{{sfn|Hastings|2009|pp=51–53}} It was now inevitable that Hitler would attack and probably try to invade Great Britain. Faced with this, Churchill addressed the Commons on 18 June and delivered one of his [[This was their finest hour|most famous speeches]], ending with this peroration:{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=621}}<ref name="H362:61">{{cite book |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/jun/18/war-situation#column_61 |title=War Situation – Churchill |work=Hansard |date=18 June 1940 |series=5th |volume=362 |page=61 |publisher=House of Commons |location=Westminster |access-date=30 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="TFH">{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/their-finest-hour/ |title=Their Finest Hour |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=18 June 1940 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=30 April 2020}}</ref>

{{blockquote|What General Weygand called the "[[Battle of France]]" is over. I expect that the [[Battle of Britain]] is about to begin. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Commonwealth and Empire lasts for a thousand years, men will still say: "This was their finest hour".}}

Churchill was determined to fight back and ordered the commencement of the [[Western Desert campaign]] on 11 June, an immediate response to the Italian declaration of war. This went well at first while the Italian army was the sole opposition and [[Operation Compass]] was a noted success. In early 1941, however, Mussolini requested German support and Hitler sent the [[Afrika Korps]] to [[Tripoli]] under the command of ''[[Generalleutnant]]'' [[Erwin Rommel]], who arrived not long after Churchill had halted ''Compass'' so that he could reassign forces to Greece where the [[Balkans campaign (World War II)|Balkans campaign]] was entering a critical phase.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Major-General I. S. O. |last1=Playfair |author1-link=Ian Stanley Ord Playfair |first2=Commander G. M. S. |last2=with Stitt [[Royal Navy|R.N.]] |first3=Brigadier C. J. C. |last3=Molony |first4=Air Vice-Marshal S. E. |last4=Toomer |editor-last=Butler |editor-first=J. R. M. |editor-link=James Ramsay Montagu Butler |series=History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series |title=The Mediterranean and Middle East: The Early Successes Against Italy (to May 1941) |volume=I |publisher=Naval & Military Press |year=2004 |orig-year=1st. pub. [[HMSO]] 1954 |pages=359–362 |isbn=978-1-84574-065-8 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref>

In other initiatives through June and July 1940, Churchill ordered the formation of both the [[Special Operations Executive]] (SOE) and the [[British Commandos|Commandos]]. The SOE was ordered to promote and execute subversive activity in Nazi-occupied Europe while the Commandos were charged with raids on specific military targets there. [[Hugh Dalton]], the [[Minister of Economic Warfare]], took political responsibility for the SOE and recorded in his diary that Churchill told him: "And now go and set Europe ablaze".<ref>{{cite book |last=Dalton |first=Hugh |title=The Second World War Diary of Hugh Dalton 1940–45 |publisher=Jonathan Cape |location=London |year=1986 |page=62 |isbn=978-02-24020-65-7}}</ref>

====The Battle of Britain and the Blitz====
[[File:Churchill CCathedral H 14250.jpg|thumb|Churchill walks through the ruins of [[Coventry Cathedral]] with [[Alfred Robert Grindlay]], 1941.]]
On 20 August 1940, at the height of the Battle of Britain, Churchill addressed the Commons to outline the war situation. In the middle of this speech, he made a statement that created [[The Few|a famous nickname]] for the RAF fighter pilots involved in the battle:<ref name="The Few">{{cite web |url=http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/thefew.html |title=The Few |publisher=The Churchill Society, London |date=20 August 1940 |access-date=30 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="H364:1167">{{cite book |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/aug/20/war-situation#column_1167 |title=War Situation – Churchill |work=Hansard |date=20 August 1940 |series=5th |volume=364 |page=1167 |publisher=House of Commons |location=Westminster |access-date=30 April 2020}}</ref>

{{blockquote|The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.}}

The [[Luftwaffe]] altered its strategy from 7 September 1940 and began [[the Blitz]], which was especially intensive through October and November. Churchill's morale during the Blitz was generally high and he told his private secretary [[Jock Colville|John Colville]] in November that he thought the threat of invasion was past.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=640}} He was confident that Great Britain could hold its own, given the increase in output, but was realistic about its chances of actually winning the war without American intervention.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=641}}

====Lend-Lease====
In September 1940, the British and American governments concluded the [[Destroyers for Bases Agreement]], by which fifty American [[destroyer]]s were transferred to the Royal Navy in exchange for free US base rights in [[Bermuda]], the [[Caribbean]] and [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]]. An added advantage for Britain was that its military assets in those bases could be redeployed elsewhere.<ref>{{cite book |last=Neiberg |first=Michael S. |author-link=Michael S. Neiberg |title=Warfare and Society in Europe: 1898 to the Present |publisher=Psychology Press |location=London |year=2004 |pages=118–119 |isbn=978-04-15327-19-0}}</ref>

Churchill's good relations with United States President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] helped secure vital food, oil and munitions via the North Atlantic shipping routes.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/content/churchill-offers-toil-and-tears-fdr |first=John |last=Lukacs |title=Churchill Offers Toil and Tears to FDR |journal=American Heritage |date=Spring–Summer 2008 |volume=58 |issue=4 |access-date=5 May 2020}}</ref> It was for this reason that Churchill was relieved when Roosevelt was [[1940 United States presidential election|re-elected in 1940]]. Upon re-election, Roosevelt set about implementing a new method of providing necessities to Great Britain without the need for monetary payment. He persuaded Congress that repayment for this immensely costly service would take the form of defending the US. The policy was known as [[Lend-Lease]] and it was formally enacted on 11 March 1941.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=614–615}}

====Operation Barbarossa====
[[File:President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill seated on the quarterdeck of HMS PRINCE OF WALES for a Sunday service during the Atlantic Conference, 10 August 1941. A4815.jpg|thumb|Churchill and Roosevelt seated on the quarterdeck of {{HMS|Prince of Wales|53|6}} for a Sunday service during the Atlantic Conference, 10 August 1941]]
Hitler launched his [[Operation Barbarossa|invasion of the Soviet Union]] on Sunday, 22 June 1941. It was no surprise to Churchill, who had known since early April, from [[Enigma machine|Enigma decrypts]] at [[Bletchley Park]], that the attack was imminent. He had tried to warn [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|General Secretary]] [[Joseph Stalin]] via the British ambassador to [[Moscow]], [[Stafford Cripps]], but to no avail as Stalin did not trust Churchill. The night before the attack, already intending an address to the nation, Churchill alluded to his hitherto anti-communist views by saying to Colville: "If Hitler invaded Hell, I would at least make a favourable reference to the Devil".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=658–659}}

====Atlantic Charter====
In August 1941, Churchill made his first transatlantic crossing of the war on board {{HMS|Prince of Wales|53|6}} and met Roosevelt in [[Placentia Bay]], [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]]. On 14 August, they issued the joint statement that has become known as the [[Atlantic Charter]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=665–666}} This outlined the goals of both countries for the future of the world and it is seen as the inspiration for the 1942 [[Declaration by United Nations]], itself the basis of the [[United Nations]] which was founded in June 1945.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/decade03.asp |title=Joint Declaration by the United Nations |work=The Avalon Project |publisher=Lillian Goldman Law Library |date=1 January 1942 |access-date=11 May 2020}}</ref>

===Pearl Harbor to D-Day: December 1941 to June 1944===
====Pearl Harbor and United States entry into the war====
On 7–8 December 1941, the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] was followed by their [[Japanese invasion of Malaya|invasion of Malaya]] and, on the 8th, Churchill declared war on Japan. Three days later came the joint declaration of war by Germany and Italy against the United States.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=667}} Churchill went to Washington later in the month to meet Roosevelt for the [[Washington Conference (1941)|first Washington Conference]] (codename ''Arcadia''). This was important for "[[Europe First]]", the decision to prioritise victory in Europe over victory in the Pacific, taken by Roosevelt while Churchill was still in mid-Atlantic. The Americans agreed with Churchill that Hitler was the main enemy and that the defeat of Germany was key to Allied success.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=670}} It was also agreed that the first joint Anglo-American strike would be [[Operation Torch]], the invasion of [[French North Africa]] (i.e., Algeria and Morocco). Originally planned for the spring of 1942, it was finally launched in November 1942 when the crucial [[Second Battle of El Alamein]] was already underway.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=677–678}}

On 26 December, Churchill addressed a joint meeting of the [[United States Congress|US Congress]] but, that night, he suffered a mild heart attack which was diagnosed by his physician, [[Charles Wilson, 1st Baron Moran|Sir Charles Wilson]] (later Lord Moran), as a [[Coronary circulation|coronary deficiency]] needing several weeks' bed rest. Churchill insisted that he did not need bed rest and, two days later, journeyed on to Ottawa by train where he gave a speech to the [[Canadian Parliament]] that included the "some chicken, some neck" line in which he recalled French predictions in 1940 that "Britain alone would have her neck wrung like a chicken".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=674}} He arrived home in mid-January, having flown from [[Bermuda]] to [[Plymouth]] in an American [[flying boat]], to find that there was a crisis of confidence in both his coalition government and himself personally,{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=679}} and he decided to face a [[vote of confidence]] in the Commons, which he won easily.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=682}}

While he was away, the [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|Eighth Army]], having already relieved the [[Siege of Tobruk]], had pursued [[Operation Crusader]] against Rommel's forces in Libya, successfully driving them back to a defensive position at [[El Agheila]] in [[Cyrenaica]]. On 21 January 1942, however, Rommel launched a surprise counter-attack which drove the Allies back to [[Gazala]].

Elsewhere, recent British success in the [[Battle of the Atlantic]] was compromised by the [[Kriegsmarine]]'s introduction of its [[Cryptanalysis of the Enigma#M4 (German Navy 4-rotor Enigma)|M4 4-rotor Enigma]], whose signals could not be deciphered by Bletchley Park for nearly a year.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=680}} In the Far East, the news was much worse with Japanese advances in all theatres, especially at sea and in Malaya. At a press conference in Washington, Churchill had to play down his increasing doubts about the security of Singapore.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=675, 678}}

====Fall of Singapore, loss of Burma and the Bengal famine====
Churchill already had grave concerns about the fighting quality of British troops after the defeats in Norway, France, [[Battle of Greece|Greece]] and [[Battle of Crete|Crete]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=681}} Following the [[Battle of Singapore|fall of Singapore]] to the Japanese on 15 February 1942, he felt that his misgivings were confirmed and said: "(this is) the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British military history".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/finest-hour/finest-hour-169/churchill-and-the-fall-of-singapore/ |last=Glueckstein |first=Fred |title=Churchill and the Fall of Singapore |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=10 November 2015 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref> More bad news had come on 11 February as the Kriegsmarine pulled off its audacious "[[Channel Dash]]", a massive blow to British naval prestige. The combined effect of these events was to sink Churchill's morale to its lowest point of the whole war.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=681}}

Meanwhile, the Japanese had occupied most of Burma by the end of April 1942. Counter-offensives were hampered by the [[Monsoon of South Asia|monsoon season]] and by disordered conditions in [[Bengal]] and [[Bihar]], as well as a [[1940s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons#October 1942 Bengal cyclone|severe cyclone]] which devastated the region in October 1942. A combination of factors, including the curtailment of essential rice imports from Burma, poor administration, wartime inflation and a series of large-scale natural disasters such as flooding and crop disease led to the [[Bengal famine of 1943]],{{sfn|Bayly|Harper|2004|pp=247–251}} in which an estimated 2.1–3 million people died.<ref name="TET">{{cite news |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/bengal-famine-of-1943-caused-by-british-policy-failure-not-drought-study/articleshow/68495710.cms?from=mdr |title=Bengal famine of 1943 caused by British policy failure, not drought: Study |work=The Economic Times |date=20 March 2019 |publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd |location=New Delhi |access-date=4 December 2020}}</ref> From December 1942 onwards, food shortages had prompted senior officials in India to ask London for grain imports, although the colonial authorities failed to recognise the seriousness of the emerging famine and responded ineptly.{{sfn|Sen|1977|pp=52–55}} Churchill's government was criticised for refusing to approve more imports, a policy it ascribed to an acute wartime shortage of shipping.{{sfn|Sen|1977|p=52}} When the British realised the full extent of the famine in September 1943, Churchill ordered the transportation of 130,000 tons of Iraqi and Australian grain to Bengal and the war cabinet agreed to send 200,000 tons by the end of the year.<ref name="CRC">{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.hillsdale.edu/cambridge-racial-consequences/ |last1=Roberts |first1=Andrew |author-link1=Andrew Roberts (historian) |last2=Gebreyohanes |first2=Zewditu |title=Cambridge: "The Racial Consequences of Mr Churchill", A Review |work=The Churchill Project |publisher=Hillsdale College |location=Hillsdale, Missouri |date=14 March 2021 |access-date=5 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="ALH">{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/in-the-media/churchill-in-the-news/without-churchill-indias-famine-would-have-been-worse/ |last=Herman |first=Arthur L. |author-link=Arthur L. Herman |title=Without Churchill, India's Famine Would Have Been Worse |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=13 September 2010 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=5 May 2021}}</ref> During the last quarter of 1943, 100,000 tons of rice and 176,000 tons of wheat were imported, compared to averages of 55,000 tons of rice and 54,000 tons of wheat earlier in the year.{{sfn|Sen|1977|p=40}} In October, Churchill wrote to the newly appointed Viceroy of India, [[Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell|Lord Wavell]], charging him with the responsibility of ending the famine.<ref name="CRC"/> In February 1944, as preparation for [[Operation Overlord]] placed greater demands on Allied shipping, Churchill cabled Wavell saying: "I will certainly help you all I can, but you must not ask the impossible".<ref name="ALH"/> Grain shipment requests continued to be turned down by the government throughout 1944, and Wavell complained to Churchill in October that "the vital problems of India are being treated by His Majesty's Government with neglect, even sometimes with hostility and contempt".{{sfn|Sen|1977|p=52}}{{sfn|Khan|2015|p=213}} The relative impact of British policies on the death toll of the famine remains a [[Bengal famine of 1943#Historiography|matter of controversy]] among scholars.<ref>{{cite techreport |last=Devereux |first=Stephen |title=Famine in the twentieth century |volume=IDS Working Paper 105 |pages=21–23 |publisher=Institute of Development Studies |location=Brighton |year=2000 |url=http://www.eldis.org/vfile/upload/1/document/0708/DOC7538.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516151220/http://www.eldis.org/vfile/upload/1/document/0708/DOC7538.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 May 2017}}</ref>

====International conferences in 1942====
[[File:StateLibQld 2 108020 Guests seated on stage in front of a backdrop of giant posters at the Aid to Soviet Congress, Brisbane City Hall, October 1941.jpg|thumb|Huge portraits of Churchill and Stalin, [[Brisbane]], Australia, 31 October 1941]]
On 20 May 1942, the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Soviet Union)|Soviet Foreign Affairs minister]], [[Vyacheslav Molotov]], arrived in London and stayed until the 28th before going on to Washington. The purpose of this visit was to sign a treaty of friendship but Molotov wanted it done on the basis of certain territorial concessions re Poland and the Baltic States. Churchill and Eden worked for a compromise and eventually a twenty-year treaty was formalised but with the question of frontiers placed on hold. Molotov was also seeking a Second Front in Europe but all Churchill could do was confirm that preparations were in progress and make no promises on a date.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=688–690}}

Churchill felt well pleased with these negotiations and said as much when he contacted Roosevelt on the 27th.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=690}} The previous day, however, Rommel had launched his counter-offensive, ''Operation Venice'', to begin the [[Battle of Gazala]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=690}} The Allies were ultimately driven out of Libya and suffered a major defeat in the [[Axis capture of Tobruk|loss of Tobruk]] on 21 June. Churchill was with Roosevelt when the news of Tobruk reached him. He was shocked by the surrender of 35,000 troops which was, apart from Singapore, "the heaviest blow" he received in the war.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=692}} The Axis advance was eventually halted at the [[First Battle of El Alamein]] in July and the [[Battle of Alam el Halfa]] in early September. Both sides were exhausted and in urgent need of reinforcements and supplies.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cooper |first=Matthew |title=The German Army 1933–1945: Its Political and Military Failure |publisher=Stein and Day |location=Briarcliff Manor, New York |year=1978 |pages=376–377 |isbn=978-08-12824-68-1}}</ref>

Churchill had [[Washington Conference (1942)|returned to Washington]] on 17 June. He and Roosevelt agreed on the implementation of ''Operation Torch'' as the necessary precursor to an invasion of Europe. Roosevelt had appointed General [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] as commanding officer of the [[European Theater of Operations, United States Army]] (ETOUSA). Having received the news from North Africa, Churchill obtained shipment from America to the Eighth Army of 300 Sherman tanks and 100 howitzers. He returned to Britain on 25 June and had to face another motion of no confidence, this time in his central direction of the war, but again he won easily.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=692–698}}

In August, despite health concerns, Churchill visited the British forces in North Africa, raising morale in the process, en route to Moscow for [[Moscow Conference (1942)|his first meeting with Stalin]]. He was accompanied by Roosevelt's special envoy [[Averell Harriman]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=698}} He was in Moscow 12–16 August and had four lengthy meetings with Stalin. Although they got along quite well together on a personal level, there was little chance of any real progress given the state of the war with the Germans still advancing in all theatres. Stalin was desperate for the Allies to open the Second Front in Europe, as Churchill had discussed with Molotov in May, and the answer was the same.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=699–701}}

====Turn of the tide: El Alamein and Stalingrad====
While he was in Cairo in early August, Churchill decided to replace [[Claude Auchinleck|Field Marshal Auchinleck]] with [[Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis|Field Marshal Alexander]] as Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East Theatre. Command of the [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|Eighth Army]] was given to General [[William Gott]] but he was shot down and killed while flying to Cairo, only three days later and [[Bernard Montgomery|General Montgomery]] replaced him. Churchill returned to Cairo from Moscow on 17 August and could see for himself that the Alexander/Montgomery combination was already having an effect. He returned to England on the 21st, nine days before Rommel launched his final offensive.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=702}}

As 1942 drew to a close, the tide of war began to turn with Allied victory in the key battles of [[Second Battle of El Alamein|El Alamein]] and [[Battle of Stalingrad|Stalingrad]]. Until November, the Allies had always been on the defensive, but from November, the Germans were. Churchill ordered the church bells to be rung throughout Great Britain for the first time since early 1940.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=702}} On 10 November, knowing that El Alamein was a victory, he delivered one of his most memorable war speeches to the Lord Mayor's Luncheon at the [[Mansion House, London|Mansion House]] in London, in response to the Allied victory at El Alamein: "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=702}}

====International conferences in 1943====
[[File:Tehran_Conference,_1943.jpg|thumb|Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill in [[Tehran]].]]
In January 1943, Churchill met Roosevelt at the [[Casablanca Conference]] (codename ''Symbol''), which lasted ten days. It was also attended by General [[Charles de Gaulle]] on behalf of the [[Free French Forces]]. Stalin had hoped to attend but declined because of the situation at Stalingrad. Although Churchill expressed doubts on the matter, the so-called Casablanca Declaration committed the Allies to securing "[[unconditional surrender]]" by the Axis powers.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=705–706}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Middleton |first=Drew |title=Roosevelt, Churchill Map 1943 War Strategy At Ten-Day Conference Held In Casablanca; Giraud And De Gaulle, Present, Agree On Aims |newspaper=The New York Times |date=24 January 1943 |location=Manhattan}}</ref> From Morocco, Churchill went to Cairo, [[Adana]], [[Cyprus]], Cairo again and [[Algiers]] for various purposes. He arrived home on 7 February having been out for the country for nearly a month. He addressed the Commons on the 11th and then became seriously ill with [[pneumonia]] the following day, necessitating more than one month of rest, recuperation and convalescence – for the latter, he moved to [[Chequers]]. He returned to work in London on 15 March.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=705–707}}

Churchill made two transatlantic crossings during the year, meeting Roosevelt at both the [[Washington Conference (1943)|third Washington Conference]] (codename ''Trident'') in May and the [[Quebec Conference, 1943|first Quebec Conference]] (codename ''Quadrant'') in August.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=707–711}} In November, Churchill and Roosevelt met Chinese Generalissimo [[Chiang Kai-shek]] at the [[Cairo Conference]] (codename ''Sextant'').{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=719–720}}

The most important conference of the year was soon afterwards (28 November to 1 December) at [[Tehran Conference|Tehran]] (codename ''Eureka''), where Churchill and Roosevelt met Stalin in the first of the "Big Three" meetings, preceding those at [[Yalta Conference|Yalta]] and [[Potsdam Conference|Potsdam]] in 1945. Roosevelt and Stalin co-operated in persuading Churchill to commit to the opening of [[Operation Overlord|a second front in western Europe]] and it was also agreed that Germany would be divided after the war, but no firm decisions were made about how.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Roberts |first=Geoffrey |title=Stalin at the Tehran, Yalta, and Potsdam Conferences |journal=Journal of Cold War Studies |publisher=MIT Press |date=Fall 2007 |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=6–40|doi=10.1162/jcws.2007.9.4.6 |s2cid=57564917}}</ref> On their way back from Tehran, Churchill and Roosevelt held a [[Second Cairo Conference|second Cairo conference]] with Turkish president [[Ismet Inönü]], but were unable to gain any commitment from Turkey to join the Allies.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=725}}

Churchill went from Cairo to [[Tunis]], arriving on 10 December, initially as Eisenhower's guest (soon afterwards, Eisenhower took over as Supreme Allied Commander of the new [[SHAEF]] just being created in London). While Churchill was in Tunis, he became seriously ill with [[atrial fibrillation]] and was forced to remain until after Christmas while a succession of specialists were drafted in to ensure his recovery. Clementine and Colville arrived to keep him company; Colville had just returned to Downing Street after more than two years in the RAF. On 27 December, the party went on to [[Marrakesh]] for convalescence. Feeling much better, Churchill flew to [[Gibraltar]] on 14 January 1944 and sailed home on the {{HMS|King George V|41|2}}. He was back in London on the morning of 18 January and surprised MPs by attending [[Prime Minister's Questions]] in the Commons that afternoon. Since 12 January 1943, when he set off for the Casablanca Conference, Churchill had been abroad or seriously ill for 203 of the 371 days.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=726–728}}

====Invasions of Sicily and Italy====
[[File:Winston Churchill au théâtre de Carthage, 1943.jpg|thumb|Churchill in the [[Africa (Roman province)|Roman]] amphitheatre of ancient [[Carthage]] to address 3,000 British and American troops, June 1943]]
In the autumn of 1942, after Churchill's meeting with Stalin in Moscow, he was approached by Eisenhower, commanding the [[North African Theater of Operations]], United States Army (NATOUSA), and his aides on the subject of where the Western Allies should launch their first strike in Europe. According to [[Mark W. Clark|General Mark Clark]], who later commanded the [[United States Army North|United States Fifth Army]] in the [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|Italian campaign]], the Americans openly admitted that a cross-Channel operation in the near future was "utterly impossible". As an alternative, Churchill recommended "slit(ting) the soft belly of the Mediterranean" and persuaded them to invade first Sicily and then Italy after they had defeated the Afrika Korps in North Africa. After the war, Clark still agreed that Churchill's analysis was correct but he added that, when the Allies [[Allied invasion of Italy#Salerno landings|landed at Salerno]], they found that Italy was "a tough old gut".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.hillsdale.edu/soft-underbelly-fortress-europe/ |title=Were "Soft Underbelly" and "Fortress Europe" Churchill Phrases? |work=The Churchill Project |publisher=Hillsdale College |date=1 April 2016 |access-date=21 May 2020}}</ref>

The invasion of Sicily began on 9 July and was successfully completed by 17 August. Churchill was then all for driving straight up the Italian mainland with Rome as the main target, but the Americans wanted to withdraw several divisions to England in the build-up of forces for [[Operation Overlord]], now scheduled for the spring of 1944. Churchill was still not keen on ''Overlord'' as he feared that an Anglo-American army in France might not be a match for the fighting efficiency of the Wehrmacht. He preferred peripheral operations, including a plan called [[Operation Jupiter (Norway)|Operation Jupiter]] for an invasion of northern Norway.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=713–714}} Events in Sicily had an unexpected impact in Italy. [[Victor Emmanuel III of Italy|King Victor Emmanuel]] sacked Mussolini on 25 July and appointed [[Pietro Badoglio|Marshal Badoglio]] as Prime Minister. Badoglio opened negotiations with the Allies which resulted in the [[Armistice of Cassibile]] on 3 September. In response, the Germans activated [[Operation Achse]] and took control of most of Italy.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=713}} Although he still preferred Italy to Normandy as the Allies' main route into the Third Reich, Churchill was deeply concerned about the strong German resistance at Salerno and, later, after the Allies successfully gained their bridgehead at [[Battle of Anzio|Anzio]] but still failed to break the stalemate, he caustically said that instead of "hurling a wildcat onto the shore", the Allied force had become a "stranded whale".<ref>{{Cite journal| issn = 0032-325X| volume = 50| issue = 3| pages = 509–528| last = Tompkins| first = Peter| title = What Really Happened at Anzio| journal = Il Politico| date = 1985| url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/43099608| jstor = 43099608}}</ref> {{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=720, 729}} The big obstacle was [[Battle of Monte Cassino|Monte Cassino]] and it was not until mid-May 1944 when it was finally overcome, enabling the Allies to at last advance on Rome, which was taken on 4 June.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=730}}

====Preparations for D-Day====
[[File:Winston Churchill at a conference in Quebec - NARA - 197118.jpg|thumb|Churchill is greeted by a crowd in [[Québec City]], Canada, 1943]]
The difficulties in Italy caused Churchill to have a change of heart and mind about Allied strategy to the extent that, when the Anzio stalemate developed soon after his return to England from North Africa, he threw himself into the planning of ''Overlord'' and set up an ongoing series of meetings with SHAEF and the British Chiefs of Staff over which he regularly presided. These were always attended by either Eisenhower or his chief of staff [[Walter Bedell Smith|General Walter Bedell Smith]]. Churchill was especially taken by the [[Mulberry harbour|Mulberry project]] but he was also keen to make the most of Allied air power which, by the beginning of 1944, had become overwhelming.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=730}} Churchill never fully lost his apprehension about the invasion, however, and underwent great fluctuation of mood as D-Day approached. Jenkins says that he faced potential victory with much less buoyancy than when he defiantly faced the prospect of defeat four years earlier.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=737}}

====Need for post-war reform====
Churchill could not ignore the need for post-war reforms covering a broad sweep of areas such as agriculture, education, employment, health, housing and welfare. The [[Beveridge Report]] with its five "Giant Evils" was published in November 1942 and assumed great importance amid widespread popular acclaim.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Abel-Smith |first=Brian |author-link=Brian Abel-Smith |title=The Beveridge report: Its origins and outcomes |journal=International Social Security Review |date=January 1992 |volume=45 |issue=1–2 |pages=5–16 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |location=Hoboken |doi=10.1111/j.1468-246X.1992.tb00900.x}}</ref> Even so, Churchill was not really interested because he was focused on winning the war and saw reform in terms of tidying up afterwards. His attitude was demonstrated in a Sunday evening radio broadcast on 26 March 1944. He was obliged to devote most of it to the subject of reform and showed a distinct lack of interest. In their respective diaries, Colville said Churchill had broadcast "indifferently" and [[Harold Nicolson]] said that, to many people, Churchill came across the air as "a worn and petulant old man".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=733}}

In the end, however, it was the population's demand for reform that decided the 1945 general election. Labour was perceived as the party that would deliver Beveridge. Arthur Greenwood had initiated its preceding social insurance and allied services inquiry in June 1941. Attlee, Bevin and Labour's other coalition ministers through the war were seen to be working towards reform and earned the trust of the electorate.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lynch |first=Michael |title=Britain 1945–2007 |series=Access to History |chapter=1. The Labour Party in Power, 1945–1951 |publisher=Hodder Headline |location=London |year=2008 |pages=1–4 |isbn=978-03-40965-95-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Marr |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Marr |title=A History of Modern Britain |year=2008 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |pages=5–6 |isbn=978-03-30439-83-1}}</ref>

===Defeat of Germany: June 1944 to May 1945===
[[File:Prime Minister Winston Churchill Crosses the River Rhine, Germany 1945 BU2248.jpg|thumb|Churchill's crossing of the [[Rhine]] river in Germany, during [[Operation Plunder]] on 25 March 1945.]]

====D-Day: Allied invasion of Normandy====
Churchill was determined to be actively involved in the [[Invasion of Normandy|Normandy invasion]] and hoped to cross the Channel on [[D-Day]] itself (6 June 1944) or at least on D-Day+1. His desire caused unnecessary consternation at [[SHAEF]] until he was effectively vetoed by the King who told Churchill that, as head of all three services, he (the King) ought to go too. Churchill expected an Allied death toll of 20,000 on D-Day but he was proven to be pessimistic because less than 8,000 died in the whole of June.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=744–745}} He made his first visit to Normandy on 12 June to visit Montgomery, whose HQ was then about five miles inland. That evening, as he was returning to London, the first [[V-1 flying bomb]]s were launched. In a longer visit to Normandy on 22–23 July, Churchill went to [[Cherbourg]] and [[Arromanches]] where he saw the Mulberry Harbour.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=746}}

====Quebec Conference, September 1944====
Churchill met Roosevelt at the [[Second Quebec Conference]] (codename ''Octagon'') from 12 to 16 September 1944. Between themselves, they reached agreement on the [[Morgenthau Plan]] for the Allied occupation of Germany after the war, the intention of which was not only to demilitarise but also de-industrialise Germany. Eden strongly opposed it and was later able to persuade Churchill to disown it. [[United States Secretary of State|US Secretary of State]] [[Cordell Hull]] also opposed it and convinced Roosevelt that it was infeasible.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=754}}

====Moscow Conference, October 1944====
At the [[Moscow Conference (1944)|fourth Moscow conference]] (codename ''Tolstoy'') from 9 to 19 October 1944, Churchill and Eden met Stalin and Molotov. This conference has gained notoriety for the so-called "[[Percentages agreement]]" in which Churchill and Stalin effectively agreed the post-war fate of the [[Balkans]].<ref name=percent>{{cite journal |last1=Resis |first1=Albert |author-link=Albert Resis |title=The Churchill-Stalin Secret "Percentages" Agreement on the Balkans, Moscow, October 1944 |journal=[[The American Historical Review]] |date=April 1978 |volume=83 |issue=2 |pages=368–387 |doi=10.2307/1862322 |jstor=1862322}}</ref> By that time, the Soviet armies were in Rumania and Bulgaria. Churchill suggested a scale of predominance throughout the whole region so as not to, as he put it, "get at cross-purposes in small ways".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=759}} He wrote down some suggested percentages of influence per country and gave it to Stalin who ticked it. The agreement was that Russia would have 90% control of Romania and 75% control of Bulgaria. The UK and the USA would have 90% control of Greece. Hungary and Yugoslavia would be 50% each.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=760}} In 1958, five years after the account of this meeting was published (in Churchill's ''[[The Second World War (Churchill)|The Second World War]]''), Soviet authorities denied that Stalin had accepted such an "imperialist proposal".<ref name=percent/>

====Yalta Conference, February 1945====
{{main|Yalta Conference}}
[[File:Yalta Conference (Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin) (B&W).jpg|thumb|right|Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at the [[Yalta Conference]], February 1945.]]
From 30 January to 2 February 1945, Churchill and Roosevelt met for their [[Malta Conference (1945)|Malta Conference]] ahead of the second "Big Three" event at [[Yalta]] from 4 to 11 February.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=773}} Yalta had massive implications for the post-war world. There were two predominant issues: the question of setting up the [[United Nations Organisation]] after the war, on which much progress was made; and the more vexed question of Poland's post-war status, which Churchill saw as a test case for the future of Eastern Europe.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=778–779}} Churchill faced some strong criticism for the Yalta agreement on Poland. For example, 27 Tory MPs voted against him when the matter was debated in the Commons at the end of the month. Jenkins, however, maintains that Churchill did as well as he could have done in very difficult circumstances, not least the fact that Roosevelt was seriously ill and could not provide Churchill with meaningful support.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=779}}

Another outcome of Yalta was the so-called [[Operation Keelhaul]]. The Western Allies agreed to the forcible repatriation of all Soviet citizens in the Allied zones, including [[Nazi crimes against Soviet POWs|prisoners of war]], to the Soviet Union and the policy was later extended to all Eastern European [[refugee]]s, many of whom were anti-Communist. Keelhaul was implemented between 14 August 1946 and 9 May 1947.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tolstoy |first=Nikolai |author-link=Nikolai Tolstoy |title=The Secret Betrayal |publisher=Scribner |location=New York City |year=1978 |page=360 |isbn=978-06-84156-35-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=econ_pub |last1=Hummel |first1=Jeffrey Rogers |title=Operation Keelhaul—Exposed |journal=San Jose State University ScholarWorks |date=1 November 1974 |pages=4–9 |access-date=28 January 2020}}</ref>

====Area bombing controversy====
{{main|Bombing of Dresden in World War II}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1994-041-07, Dresden, zerstörtes Stadtzentrum.jpg|thumb|The destruction of Dresden, February 1945.]]
On the nights of 13–15 February 1945, some 1,200 British and US bombers attacked the German city of [[Dresden]], which was crowded with wounded and refugees from the Eastern Front.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=777–778}}{{sfn|Taylor|2005|pp=262–264}} The attacks were part of an [[area bombardment|area bombing campaign]] that was initiated by Churchill in January with the intention of shortening the war.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=777}} Churchill came to regret the bombing because initial reports suggested an excessive number of [[civilian casualties]] close to the end of the war, though an independent commission in 2010 confirmed a death toll between 22,700 and 25,000.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8574157.stm |title=Up to 25,000 died in Dresden's WWII bombing |work=BBC News |date=18 March 2010 |publisher=BBC |location=London |access-date=2 May 2020}}</ref> On 28 March, he decided to restrict area bombing{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=778}} and sent a memorandum to [[Hastings Lionel Ismay|General Ismay]] for the [[Chiefs of Staff Committee]]:{{sfn|Taylor|2005|pp=430–431}}<ref name="MMB">{{cite book |last=Marr |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Marr |year=2009 |title=The Making of Modern Britain |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |pages=423–424 |isbn=978-03-30510-99-8}}</ref>

{{blockquote|The destruction of Dresden remains a serious query against the conduct of Allied bombing..... I feel the need for more precise concentration upon military objectives..... rather than on mere acts of terror and wanton destruction, however impressive.}}

British historian [[Frederick Taylor (historian)|Frederick Taylor]] has pointed out that the number of Soviet citizens who died from German bombing was roughly equivalent to the number of German citizens who died from Allied raids.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel-interview-dresden-bombing-is-to-be-regretted-enormously-a-341239.html |last=Hawley |first=Charles |title=Dresden Bombing Is To Be Regretted Enormously |newspaper=Der Spiegel |date=11 February 2005 |publisher= Spiegel-Verlag |location=Hamburg |access-date=2 May 2020}}</ref> Jenkins asks if Churchill was moved more by foreboding than by regret but admits it is easy to criticise with the hindsight of victory. He adds that the area bombing campaign was no more reprehensible than [[Harry Truman|President Truman]]'s use of the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|second atomic bomb on Nagasaki]] six months later.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=778}} [[Andrew Marr]], quoting [[Max Hastings]], says that Churchill's memorandum was a "calculated political attempt..... to distance himself..... from the rising controversy surrounding the area offensive".<ref name="MMB"/>

====VE Day====
[[File:Winston Churchill waves to crowds in Whitehall in London as they celebrate VE Day, 8 May 1945. H41849.jpg|thumb|Churchill waving the [[Victory sign]] to the crowd in [[Whitehall]] on the day he broadcast to the nation that the war with Germany had been won, 8 May 1945. [[Ernest Bevin]] stands to his right.]]
On 7 May 1945 at the [[SHAEF]] headquarters in [[Reims]] [[end of World War II in Europe|the Allies accepted Germany's surrender]]. The next day was [[Victory in Europe Day]] (VE Day) when Churchill broadcast to the nation that Germany had surrendered and that a final ceasefire on all fronts in Europe would come into effect at one minute past midnight that night (i.e., on the 9th).{{sfn|Hermiston|2016|pp=353–354}} Afterwards, Churchill went to [[Buckingham Palace]] where he appeared on the balcony with the Royal Family before a huge crowd of celebrating citizens. He went from the palace to [[Whitehall]] where he addressed another large crowd: "God bless you all. This is your victory. In our long history, we have never seen a greater day than this. Everyone, man or woman, has done their best."{{sfn|Hermiston|2016|p=355}}

At this point he asked Ernest Bevin to come forward and share the applause. Bevin said: "No, Winston, this is your day", and proceeded to conduct the people in the singing of ''[[For He's a Jolly Good Fellow]]''.{{sfn|Hermiston|2016|p=355}} In the evening, Churchill made another broadcast to the nation asserting that the defeat of Japan would follow in the coming months (the Japanese surrendered on 15 August 1945).{{sfn|Hermiston|2016|p=356}}

===Caretaker government: May 1945 to July 1945===
{{Main|Churchill caretaker ministry}}
With a general election looming (there had been none for [[1935 United Kingdom general election|almost a decade]]), and with the Labour ministers refusing to continue the wartime coalition, Churchill resigned as Prime Minister on 23 May 1945. Later that day, he accepted the King's invitation to form a new government, known officially as the [[National Government (United Kingdom)#the caretaker government of 1945|National Government]], like the Conservative-dominated coalition of the 1930s, but sometimes called the [[Churchill caretaker ministry|caretaker ministry]]. It contained Conservatives, [[National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)|National Liberals]] and a few non-party figures such as [[John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley|Sir John Anderson]] and [[Frederick Marquis, 1st Earl of Woolton|Lord Woolton]], but not Labour or [[Archibald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso|Archibald Sinclair]]'s [[Liberal Party (UK)|Official Liberals]]. Although Churchill continued to carry out the functions of Prime Minister, including exchanging messages with the US administration about the upcoming [[Potsdam Conference]], he was not formally reappointed until 28 May.{{sfn|Hermiston|2016|p=360}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1988|pp=22–23, 27}}

====Potsdam Conference====
{{main|Potsdam Conference}}
[[File:President Truman (center) speaks with Soviet Prime Minister Josef Stalin (at left) and British Prime Minister Winston... - NARA - 198775.jpg|thumb|right|Churchill at the [[Potsdam Conference]], July 1945.]]
Churchill was Great Britain's representative at the post-war Potsdam Conference when it opened on 17 July and was accompanied at its sessions not only by Eden as Foreign Secretary but also, pending the result of the July general election, by Attlee. They attended nine sessions in nine days before returning to England for their election counts. After the landslide Labour victory, Attlee returned with Bevin as the new Foreign Secretary and there were a further five days of discussion.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=795–796}} Potsdam went badly for Churchill. Eden later described his performance as "appalling", saying that he was unprepared and verbose. Churchill upset the Chinese, exasperated the Americans and was easily led by Stalin, whom he was supposed to be resisting.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=796}}

====General election, July 1945====
{{main|1945 United Kingdom general election}}
Churchill mishandled the [[1945 United Kingdom general election|election campaign]] by resorting to party politics and trying to denigrate Labour.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pages=791–795}} On 4 June, he committed a serious political gaffe by saying in a radio broadcast that a Labour government would require "some form of Gestapo" to enforce its agenda.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=792}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/election_01.shtml |last=Addison |first=Paul |title=Why Churchill Lost in 1945 |work=BBC History |date=17 February 2011 |publisher=BBC |location=London |access-date=4 June 2020|ref=none}}</ref> It backfired badly and Attlee made political capital by saying in his reply broadcast next day: "The voice we heard last night was that of Mr Churchill, but the mind was that of Lord Beaverbrook". Jenkins says that this broadcast was "the making of Attlee".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=793}}

Although polling day was 5 July, the results of the election did not become known until 26 July, owing to the need to collect the votes of those serving overseas. Clementine and daughter Mary had been at the count in [[Woodford (UK Parliament constituency)|Woodford]], Churchill's new constituency in Essex, and had returned to Downing Street to meet him for lunch. Churchill was unopposed by the major parties in Woodford, but his majority over a sole independent candidate was much less than expected. He now anticipated defeat by Labour and Mary later described the lunch as "an occasion of Stygian gloom".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=798}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1988|p=108}} To Clementine's suggestion that election defeat might be "a blessing in disguise", Churchill retorted: "At the moment it seems very effectively disguised".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=798}}

That afternoon Churchill's doctor Lord Moran (so he later recorded in his book ''The Struggle for Survival'') commiserated with him on the "ingratitude" of the British public, to which Churchill replied: "I wouldn't call it that. They have had a very hard time".{{sfn|Gilbert|1988|p=108}} Having lost the election, despite enjoying much personal support amongst the British population, he resigned as Prime Minister that evening and was succeeded by Attlee who formed the first majority Labour government.{{sfn|Gilbert|1988|pp=57, 107–109}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=855}}{{sfn|Hermiston|2016|pp=366–367}}{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=798–799}} Many reasons have been given for Churchill's defeat, key among them being that a desire for post-war reform was widespread amongst the population and that the man who had led Britain in war was not seen as the man to lead the nation in peace.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=789–794}}<ref name="HP">{{cite journal |jstor=2638675 |last=Pelling |first=Henry |author-link=Henry Pelling |title=The 1945 General Election Reconsidered |journal=The Historical Journal |volume=23 |issue=2 |date=June 1980 |pages=399–414 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/S0018246X0002433X}}</ref> Although the Conservative Party was unpopular, many electors appear to have wanted Churchill to continue as Prime Minister whatever the outcome, or to have wrongly believed that this would be possible.{{sfn|Gilbert|1988|p=113}}

==Leader of the Opposition: 1945–1951==
{{Main|Later life of Winston Churchill}}

==="Iron Curtain" speech===
[[File:Winston Churchill 1949.jpg|thumb|Churchill in 1949.]]
Churchill continued to lead the Conservative Party and, for six years, served as [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]]. In 1946, he was in America for nearly three months from early January to late March.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=807}} It was on this trip that he gave his "[[Iron Curtain]]" speech about the USSR and its creation of the [[Eastern Bloc]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/finest-hour/finest-hour-058/the-true-meaning-of-the-iron-curtain-speech/ |last=Harriman |first=Pamela |author-link=Pamela Harriman |title=The True Meaning of the Iron Curtain Speech |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=December 1987 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=14 May 2020}}</ref> Speaking on 5 March 1946 in the company of President Truman at [[Westminster College, Missouri|Westminster College]] in [[Fulton, Missouri]], Churchill declared:<ref name="Fulton">{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1946-1963-elder-statesman/the-sinews-of-peace/ |title=The Sinews of Peace (the "Iron Curtain" speech) |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=5 March 1946 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=14 May 2020}}</ref>

{{blockquote|From [[Szczecyn|Stettin]] in the Baltic to [[Trieste]] in the Adriatic, an Iron Curtain has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere.}}

The essence of his view was that, though the Soviet Union did not want war with the western Allies, its entrenched position in Eastern Europe had made it impossible for the three great powers to provide the world with a "triangular leadership". Churchill's desire was much closer collaboration between Britain and America. Within the same speech, he called for "a [[special relationship]] between the British Commonwealth and Empire and the United States",<ref name="Fulton"/> but he emphasised the need for co-operation within the framework of the United Nations Charter.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=810}}

===Politics===
Churchill was an early proponent of [[pan-Europeanism]], having called for a "[[United States of Europe]]" in a 1930 article. He supported the creations of the [[Council of Europe]] in 1949 and the [[European Coal and Steel Community]] in 1951, but his support was always with the firm proviso that Britain must not actually join any federal grouping.{{sfn|Rhodes James|1970|p=220}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1988|pp=265–266, 321}}{{sfn|Charmley|1995|pp=246–249, 298}}

Having lived in Ireland as a child, Churchill always opposed its partition. As a minister in 1913 and again in 1921, he suggested that Ulster should be part of a [[united Ireland]], but with a degree of autonomy from an independent Irish government. He was always opposed on this by Ulster Unionists.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=250, 441}} While he was Leader of the Opposition, he told [[John Dulanty (diplomat)|John W. Dulanty]] and [[Frederick Boland]], successive Irish ambassadors to London, that he still hoped for reunification.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/winston-churchill-spoke-of-his-hopes-for-a-united-ireland-1.2002997 |last=Collins |first=Stephen |title=Winston Churchill spoke of his hopes for a united Ireland |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=17 November 2014 |location=Dublin |access-date=14 May 2020}}</ref>

Labour won the [[1950 United Kingdom general election|1950 general election]], but with a much-reduced majority. Churchill continued to serve as Leader of the Opposition.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/in_depth/election_battles/1950_over.stm |title=1950: Labour limps home |work=BBC News |date=2001 |publisher=BBC |location=London |access-date=16 May 2020}}</ref>

==Prime Minister: 1951–1955==
{{Main|Second premiership of Winston Churchill}}
{{Further|Third Churchill ministry}}

===Election result and cabinet appointments===
[[File:Churchill queen Elizabeth 1953.jpg|thumb|Churchill with [[Queen Elizabeth II]], [[Charles, Prince of Wales|Prince Charles]] and [[Anne, Princess Royal|Princess Anne]], 10 February 1953.]]
Despite losing the popular vote to Labour, the Conservatives won an overall majority of 17 seats in the [[1951 United Kingdom general election|October 1951 general election]] and Churchill again became Prime Minister, remaining in office until his resignation on 5 April 1955.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=842}} Eden, his eventual successor, was restored to Foreign Affairs, the portfolio with which Churchill was preoccupied throughout his tenure.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=844}} Future Prime Minister [[Harold Macmillan]] was appointed [[Minister of Housing and Local Government]] with a manifesto commitment to build 300,000 new houses per annum, Churchill's only real domestic concern. He achieved the target and, in October 1954, was promoted to Minister of Defence.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=844–845}}

===Health issues to eventual resignation===
Churchill was nearly 77 when he took office and was not in good health following several minor strokes.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=858}} By December, George VI had become concerned about Churchill's decline and intended asking him to stand down in favour of Eden, but the King had his own serious health issues and died on 6 February without making the request.<ref>{{cite book |last=Judd |first=Dennis |title=George VI |publisher=I. B. Tauris |location=London |year=2012 |page=260 |isbn=978-17-80760-71-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/georgevi0000judd/page/260}}</ref> Churchill developed a close friendship with [[Elizabeth II]]. It was widely expected that he would retire after [[Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II|her Coronation]] in May 1953 but, after Eden became seriously ill, Churchill increased his own responsibilities by taking over at the Foreign Office.{{sfn|Charmley|1995|pp=263–265}}{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=860}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1988|pp=814–815, 817}} Eden was incapacitated until the end of the year and was never completely well again.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=847}}

On the evening of 23 June 1953, Churchill suffered a serious stroke and became partially paralysed down one side. Had Eden been well, Churchill's premiership would most likely have been over. The matter was kept secret and Churchill went home to Chartwell to recuperate. He had fully recovered by November.{{sfn|Gilbert|1988|pp=846–857}}{{sfn|Charmley|1995|p=266}}{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=868–871}} He retired as Prime Minister in April 1955 and was succeeded by Eden.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=896}}

===Foreign affairs===
[[File:Photograph of President Truman giving British Prime Minister Winston Churchill a photograph taken at the 1945 Potsdam... - NARA - 199024.jpg|thumb|Churchill with [[Anthony Eden]], [[Dean Acheson]] and [[Harry Truman]], 5 January 1952.]]
Churchill feared a [[H-bomb|global conflagration]] and firmly believed that the only way to preserve peace and freedom was to build on a solid foundation of friendship and co-operation between Britain and America. He made four official transatlantic visits from January 1952 to July 1954.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=846–848}}

He enjoyed a good relationship with Truman but difficulties arose over the planned [[European Defence Community]] (EDC), by which Truman hoped to reduce America's military presence in West Germany; Churchill was sceptical about the EDC.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=847, 855}} Churchill wanted US military support of British interests in Egypt and the Middle East, but that was refused. While Truman expected British military involvement in [[Korean War|Korea]], he viewed any US commitment to the Middle East as maintaining British imperialism.{{sfn|Charmley|1995|p=255}} The Americans recognised that the British Empire was in terminal decline and had welcomed the Attlee government's policy of decolonisation. Churchill, always the imperialist, believed that Britain's position as a world power depended on the empire's continued existence.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Judith |author-link=Judith M. Brown |title=The Twentieth Century. The Oxford History of the British Empire, Volume IV |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |pages=339–340 |isbn=978-01-99246-79-3}}</ref>

Churchill had been obliged to recognise [[Gamal Abdel Nasser|Colonel Nasser]]'s revolutionary [[Politics of Egypt|government of Egypt]], which took power in 1952. Much to Churchill's private dismay, agreement was reached in October 1954 on the phased evacuation of British troops from their [[Suez Canal|Suez]] base. In addition, Britain agreed to terminate its rule in [[Anglo-Egyptian Sudan]] by 1956, though this was in return for Nasser's abandonment of Egyptian claims over the region.{{sfn|Charmley|1995|pp=261, 277, 285}} Elsewhere, the [[Malayan Emergency]], a guerrilla war fought by Communist fighters against Commonwealth forces, had begun in 1948 and continued past Malayan independence (1957) until 1960. Churchill's government maintained the military response to the crisis and adopted a similar strategy for the [[Mau Mau Uprising]] in [[British Kenya]] (1952–1960).<ref>{{cite book |last=Mumford |first=Andrew |title=The Counter-Insurgency Myth: The British Experience of Irregular Warfare |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon |year=2012 |page=49 |isbn=978-04-15667-45-6}}</ref>

Churchill was uneasy about the election of Eisenhower as Truman's successor. After Stalin died on 5 March 1953, Churchill sought a summit meeting with the Soviets but Eisenhower refused out of fear that the Soviets would use it for propaganda.{{sfn|Gilbert|1988|pp=805–806}}{{sfn|Charmley|1995|pp=263–265}}{{sfn|Blake|Louis|1993|p=405}} By July of that year, Churchill was deeply regretting that the Democrats had not been returned. He told Colville that Eisenhower as president was "both weak and stupid". Churchill believed that Eisenhower did not fully comprehend the danger posed by the H-bomb and he greatly distrusted Eisenhower's [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]], [[John Foster Dulles]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=848–849}} Churchill met Eisenhower to no avail at the ''Three-Powers'' (French [[Prime Minister of France|Prime Minister]] [[Joseph Laniel]] being the third participant) Bermuda Conference in December 1953{{sfn|Gilbert|1988|pp=936–937}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|pp=920–922}} (with Churchill as the host, as the conference was on British territory) and in June/July 1954 at the White House.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=880–881}} In the end, it was the Soviets who proposed a [[Geneva Summit (1955)|four-power summit]], but it did not meet until 18 July 1955, three months after Churchill had retired.{{sfn|Gilbert|1988|pp=1009–1017}}{{sfn|Charmley|1995|pp=289–291}}

==Later life: 1955–1965==
{{Main|Later life of Winston Churchill}}

===Retirement: 1955–1964===
Elizabeth II offered to create Churchill [[Duke of London]], but this was declined as a result of the objections of his son Randolph, who would have inherited the title on his father's death.{{sfn|Rasor|2000|p=205}} He did, however, accept the [[Order of the Garter]] to become Sir Winston. Although publicly supportive, Churchill was privately scathing about Eden's handling of the [[Suez Crisis]] and Clementine believed that many of his visits to the United States in the following years were attempts to help repair Anglo-American relations.{{sfn|Gilbert|1988|pp=1224–1225}} After leaving the premiership, Churchill remained an MP until he stood down at the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 general election]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=911}} Apart from 1922 to 1924, he had been an MP since October 1900 and had represented five constituencies.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=65, 89, 392, 911}}

By the time of the [[1959 United Kingdom general election|1959 general election]], however, he seldom attended the House of Commons. Despite the Conservative landslide in 1959, his own majority in Woodford fell by more than a thousand. He spent most of his retirement at Chartwell or at his London home in [[Hyde Park Gate]], and became a habitué of high society at [[La Pausa]] on the [[French Riviera]].<ref name="Lovell2011">{{cite book |first=Mary S. |last=Lovell |author-link=Mary S. Lovell |title=The Churchills |year=2011 |publisher=Little Brown Book Group |location=London |page=486 |isbn=978-07-48117-11-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n5YlSoQqx9YC&pg=PT486}}</ref>

In June 1962, when he was 87, Churchill had a fall in [[Monte Carlo]] and broke his hip. He was flown home to a London hospital where he remained for three weeks. Jenkins says that Churchill was never the same after this accident and his last two years were something of a twilight period.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=911}} In 1963, US President [[John F. Kennedy]], acting under authorisation granted by an [[Act of Congress]], proclaimed him an [[Honorary Citizen of the United States]], but he was unable to attend the White House ceremony.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=911}} There has been speculation that he became very depressed in his final years but this has been emphatically denied by his personal secretary [[Anthony Montague Browne]], who was with him for his last ten years. Montague Browne wrote that he never heard Churchill refer to depression and certainly did not suffer from it.<ref>{{cite book |last=Montague Browne |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Montague Browne |title=Long Sunset: Memoirs of Winston Churchill's Last Private Secretary |publisher=Podkin Press |location=Ashford |year=1995 |pages=302–303 |isbn=978-09-55948-30-5}}</ref>

===Death, funeral and memorials===
{{Main|Death and state funeral of Winston Churchill}}
[[File:Churchills Grave.jpg|thumb|right|Churchill's grave at [[St Martin's Church, Bladon]].]]
Churchill suffered his final stroke on 12 January 1965. He died nearly two weeks later on the 24th, which was the seventieth anniversary of his father's death.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=911}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=958}} Like the [[Duke of Wellington]] in 1852 and [[William Gladstone]] in 1898, Churchill was given a state funeral.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=911}} Planning for this had begun in 1953 under the code-name of "[[Operation Hope Not]]" and a detailed plan had been produced by 1958.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bennett |first=William J. |author-link=William Bennett |title=America the Last Best Hope. Volume II |date=2007 |publisher=Thomas Nelson Inc. |location=Nashville |pages=376–380 |isbn=978-14-18531-10-2}}</ref> His coffin lay in state at [[Westminster Hall]] for three days and the funeral ceremony was at [[St Paul's Cathedral]] on 30 January.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=911}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=958}} Afterwards, the coffin was taken by boat along the [[River Thames]] to [[Waterloo Station]] and from there by a special train to the family plot at [[St Martin's Church, Bladon]], near his birthplace at Blenheim Palace.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=912}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=958}}

Worldwide, numerous memorials have been dedicated to Churchill. His [[Statue of Winston Churchill, Parliament Square|statue in Parliament Square]] was unveiled by his widow Clementine in 1973 and is one of only twelve in the square, all of prominent political figures, including Churchill's friend Lloyd George and his India policy nemesis Gandhi.{{sfn|Rasor|2000|p=300}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/gandhi-joins-churchill-statues-of-old-enemies-sidebyside-in-parliament-square-10108362.html |last=Dunn |first=James |title=Gandhi statue unveiled in Parliament Square – next to his old enemy Churchill |newspaper=The Independent |date=14 March 2015 |location=London |access-date=16 May 2020}}</ref> Elsewhere in London, the wartime Cabinet War Rooms have been renamed the [[Churchill War Rooms|Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Waterfield |first=Giles |author-link=Giles Waterfield |title=The Churchill Museum: Ministry of sound |journal=Museum Practice |date=Summer 2005 |issue=30 |pages=18–21 |publisher=Museums Association |location=London}}</ref> [[Churchill College]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]], was established as a national memorial to Churchill. An indication of Churchill's high esteem in the UK is the result of the 2002 [[BBC]] poll, attracting 447,423 votes, in which he was voted the [[100 Greatest Britons|greatest Briton of all time]], his nearest rival being [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]] some 56,000 votes behind.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2509465.stm |title=Churchill Voted Greatest Briton |work=BBC News |date=24 November 2002 |publisher=BBC |location=London |access-date=16 May 2020}}</ref>

He is one of only eight people to be granted honorary citizenship of the United States; others include [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Lafayette]], [[Raoul Wallenberg]] and [[Mother Teresa]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/88/hr4374 |author=88th Congress (1963–1964) |title=H.R. 4374 (88th): An Act to proclaim Sir Winston Churchill an honorary citizen of the United States of America |publisher=Civic Impulse, LLC |date=9 April 1963 |access-date=16 May 2020}}</ref> The [[United States Navy]] honoured him in 1999 by naming a new {{sclass|Arleigh Burke|destroyer|1}} as the {{USS|Winston S. Churchill}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/the-life-of-churchill/in-memoriam/uss-winston-s-churchill/ |title=Christening of the USS ''Winston S. Churchill'' |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=15 January 2004 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=16 May 2020}}</ref> Other memorials in North America include the [[National Churchill Museum]] in Fulton, Missouri, where he made the 1946 "Iron Curtain" speech; [[Churchill Square (Edmonton)|Churchill Square]] in central [[Edmonton]], [[Alberta]]; and the [[Winston Churchill Range]], a mountain range northwest of [[Lake Louise (Alberta)|Lake Louise]], also in Alberta, which was renamed after Churchill in 1956.<ref>{{cite book |last=Colombo |first=John Robert |author-link=John Robert Colombo |title=Canadian Literary Landmarks |year=1984 |publisher=Dundurn |location=Toronto |isbn=978-08-88820-73-0}}</ref>

==Artist, historian, and writer==
{{Main|Winston Churchill as historian|Winston Churchill as painter|Winston Churchill as writer}}
[[File:Special Relationship? (geograph 4125450).jpg|thumb|''Allies'' (1995) by [[Lawrence Holofcener]], a sculptural group depicting [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and Churchill in [[Bond Street|New Bond Street]], London.]]
Churchill was a prolific writer. He used either "Winston S. Churchill" or "Winston Spencer Churchill" as his pen name to avoid confusion with the [[Winston Churchill (novelist)|American novelist of the same name]], with whom he struck up a friendly correspondence.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/the-life-of-churchill/young-soldier/1896-1900/spring-1899-age-24/ |title=Spring 1899 (Age 24): The First Political Campaign |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=5 February 2015 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=15 May 2020}}</ref> His output included a novel, two biographies, three volumes of memoirs, several histories, and numerous press articles. Two of his most famous works, published after his first premiership brought his international fame to new heights, were his twelve-volume memoir, ''[[The Second World War (book series)|The Second World War]]'', and the four-volume ''[[A History of the English-Speaking Peoples]]''.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=819–823}} For many years, he relied heavily upon his press articles to assuage his financial worries: in 1937, for example, he wrote 64 published articles and some of his contracts were quite lucrative.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=506–507}} In recognition of his "mastery of historical and biographical description" and oratorial output, Churchill received the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] in 1953.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1953/churchill/facts/ |title=The Nobel Prize in Literature 1953 – Winston Churchill |publisher=Nobel Media AB |location=Stockholm |access-date=7 August 2020}}</ref>

As well as writing, Churchill became an accomplished amateur artist after his resignation from the Admiralty in 1915.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=279}} Using the pseudonym "Charles Morin",{{sfn|Knickerbocker|1941|pp=140, 150, 178–179}} he continued this hobby throughout his life and completed hundreds of paintings, many of which are on show in the studio at Chartwell as well as in private collections.<ref>{{cite book |last=Soames |first=Mary |author-link=Mary Soames |title=Winston Churchill: His Life as a Painter |year=1990 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston, Massachusetts |pages=1–224 |isbn=978-03-95563-19-9}}</ref>

Churchill was an amateur [[bricklayer]], constructing buildings and garden walls at Chartwell.{{sfn|Knickerbocker|1941|pp=140, 150, 178–179}} To further this hobby, he joined the [[Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers]] but was expelled after he revived his membership of the Conservative Party.{{sfn|Knickerbocker|1941|pp=140, 150, 178–179}} He also bred butterflies at Chartwell, keeping them in a converted summerhouse each year until the weather was right for their release.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/aug/19/winston-churchill-butterfly |last=Wainwright |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Wainwright |title=Winston Churchill's butterfly house brought back to life |newspaper=The Guardian |date=19 August 2010 |location=London |access-date=15 May 2020}}</ref> He was well known for his love of animals and always had several pets, mainly cats but also dogs, pigs, lambs, bantams, goats and fox cubs among others.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/finest-hour/finest-hour-139/cats-look-down-on-you-churchills-feline-menagerie/ |last=Glueckstein |first=Fred |title=Churchill's Feline Menagerie |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=20 June 2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=15 May 2020}}</ref> Churchill has often been quoted as saying that "cats look down on us and dogs look up to us, but pigs treat us as equals", or words to that effect, but the [[International Churchill Society]] believe he has mostly been misquoted.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/finest-hour/finest-hour-141/red-herrings-famous-quotes-churchill-never-said/ |last=Richards |first=Michael |title=Red Herrings: Famous Quotes Churchill Never Said |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=9 June 2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=15 May 2020}}</ref>

==Legacy==
{{main|Winston Churchill's political ideology|Honours of Winston Churchill}}
==="A man of destiny"===
[[File:Winston Churchill, Parliament Square, London (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Statue of Winston Churchill, Parliament Square|statue of Churchill]] (1973) by [[Ivor Roberts-Jones]] in [[Parliament Square]], London]]
[[Roy Jenkins]] concludes his biography of Churchill by comparing him with [[William Ewart Gladstone|W. E. Gladstone]], whom Jenkins recognised as "undoubtedly" the greatest prime minister of the 19th century. When he began his biography, Jenkins regarded Gladstone as the greater man but changed his mind in the course of writing. He concluded his work by ranking Churchill:{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=912}}

{{blockquote|.....with all his idiosyncracies, his indulgences, his occasional childishness, but also his genius, his tenacity and his persistent ability (to be) larger than life, as the greatest ever (occupant of) 10 Downing Street.}}

Churchill always self-confidently believed himself to be "a man of destiny".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=3}} Because of this, he lacked restraint and could be reckless.{{sfn|Addison|1980|pp=25, 29, 36}}{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=3, 22, 24, 60}} His self-belief manifested itself in terms of his "affinity with war" of which, according to [[Sebastian Haffner]], he exhibited "a profound and innate understanding".{{sfn|Haffner|2003|p=19}} Churchill considered himself a military genius but that made him vulnerable to failure and [[Paul Addison]] says Gallipoli was "the greatest blow his self-image was ever to sustain".{{sfn|Addison|1980|p=36}} Jenkins points out, however, that although Churchill was excited and exhilarated by war, he was never indifferent to the suffering it causes.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=213}}

===Political ideology===
As a politician, Churchill was perceived by some observers to have been largely motivated by personal ambition rather than political principle.{{sfn|Rhodes James|1970|p=6}}{{sfn|Addison|1980|pp=23, 25}} During his early parliamentary career, he was often deliberately provocative and argumentative to an unusual degree;{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=121, 245}} and his barbed rhetorical style earned him many enemies in parliament.{{sfn|Rhodes James|1970|p=20}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=168}} On the other hand, he was deemed to be an honest politician who displayed particular loyalty to his family and close friends.{{sfn|Rhodes James|1970|pp=4, 19}} He was, according to Jenkins, "singularly lacking in inhibition or concealment".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=xv}} [[Robert Rhodes James]] said he "lacked any capacity for intrigue and was refreshingly innocent and straightforward".{{sfn|Rhodes James|1970|p=53}}

Until the outbreak of the Second World War, Churchill's approach to politics generated widespread "mistrust and dislike",{{sfn|Rhodes James|1970|p=ix}} largely on account of his two party defections.{{sfn|Rhodes James|1970|p=31}} His biographers have variously categorised him, in terms of political ideology, as "fundamentally conservative",{{sfn|Rhodes James|1970|pp=31–33}} "(always) liberal in outlook",{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=xx}} and "never circumscribed by party affiliation".{{sfn|Hermiston|2016|p=19}} Jenkins says that Churchill's self-belief was "far stronger than any class or tribal loyalty".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=3}} Whether Churchill was a conservative or a liberal, he was nearly always opposed to socialism because of its propensity for state planning and his belief in free markets. The exception was during his wartime coalition when he was completely reliant upon the support of his Labour colleagues.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=601}}{{sfn|Ball|2001|pp=311, 330}} Although the Labour leaders were willing to join his coalition, Churchill had long been regarded as an enemy of the working class. His response to the Rhondda Valley unrest and his anti-socialist rhetoric brought condemnation from socialists. They saw him as a [[reactionary]] who represented imperialism, militarism, and the interests of the upper classes in the [[class conflict|class war]].{{sfn|Addison|1980|p=26}} His role in opposing the General Strike earned the enmity of many strikers and most members of the Labour movement.{{sfn|Rhodes James|1970|p=174}} Paradoxically, Churchill was supportive of [[trade unionism]], which he saw as the "antithesis of socialism".{{sfn|Addison|1980|pp=42–43, 44}}

On the other hand, his detractors did not take Churchill's domestic reforms into account,{{sfn|Moritz, Jr.|1958|p=428}} for he was in many respects a radical and a reformer,{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=xix}} but always with the intention of preserving the existing social structure, never of challenging it.{{sfn|Rhodes James|1970|p=34}} He could not empathise with the poor, so he sympathised with them instead,{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=152}} displaying what Addison calls the attitude of a "benevolent paternalist".{{sfn|Addison|1980|p=44}} Jenkins, himself a senior Labour minister, remarked that Churchill had "a substantial record as a social reformer" for his work in the early years of his ministerial career.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=152}} Similarly, Rhodes James thought that, as a social reformer, Churchill's achievements were "considerable".{{sfn|Rhodes James|1970|p=33}} This, said Rhodes James, had been achieved because Churchill as a minister had "three outstanding qualities. He worked hard; he put his proposals efficiently through the Cabinet and Parliament; he carried his Department with him. These ministerial merits are not as common as might be thought".{{sfn|Rhodes James|1970|pp=33–34}}

===Imperialism and racial views===
{{see also|Racial views of Winston Churchill}}
[[File:British Empire 1921.png|thumb|upright=1.15|The [[British Empire]] at its territorial peak in 1921.]]
Assessments of Churchill's legacy are largely based on his leadership of the British people in the Second World War. Even so, his [[Racial views of Winston Churchill|personal views on empire and race]] continue to stir intense debate. Whatever his political or reformist attitude at any time, Churchill was always staunchly an [[imperialism|imperialist]] and a [[monarchism|monarchist]]. He consistently exhibited a "romanticised view" of both the British Empire and the reigning monarch, especially of Elizabeth II during his last term as premier.{{sfn|Addison|1980|p=38}}{{sfn|Ball|2001|p=308}}{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=22}}

He has been described as a "liberal imperialist"{{sfn|Adams|2011|p=253}} who saw British imperialism as a form of [[altruism]] that benefited its subject peoples because "by conquering and dominating other peoples, the British were also elevating and protecting them".{{sfn|Addison|1980|pp=32, 40–41}} [[Martin Gilbert]] asserted that Churchill held a [[racial hierarchy|hierarchical perspective of race]], seeing racial characteristics as signs of the maturity of a society.<ref name="Churchill and Eugenics">{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/finest-hour-extras/churchill-and-eugenics-1/ |last=Gilbert |first=Martin |title=Churchill and Eugenics |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=31 May 2009 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=22 June 2020 |quote=Like most of his contemporaries, family and friends, he regarded races as different, racial characteristics as signs of the maturity of a society, and racial purity as endangered not only by other races but by mental weaknesses within a race.}}</ref> Churchill's views on race were driven by his imperialist mindset and outlook. He advocated against black or indigenous self-rule in Africa, Australia, the Caribbean, the Americas and India, believing that the British Empire promoted and maintained the welfare of those who lived in the colonies; he insisted that "our responsibility to the native races remains a real one".<ref name="CRC"/> In 1906, Churchill stated that "We will endeavour{{nbsp}}... to advance the principle of equal rights of civilized men irrespective of colour."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Conservative Human Rights Revolution: European Identity, Transnational Politics, and the Origins of the European Convention|page=125|last=Duranti|first=Marco|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|quote=We will endeavour as far as we can to advance the principle of equal rights of civilized men irrespective of colour.{{nbsp}}... We will not—at least I will pledge myself—hesitate to speak out when necessary if any plain case of cruelty of exploitation of the native for the sordid profit of the white man can be provided.}}</ref> According to Addison, Churchill was opposed to immigration from the Commonwealth{{sfn|Addison|2005|p=233}} but, against that, Addison argues that it is misleading to describe Churchill as a [[racism|racist]] in any modern context because the term as used now bears "many connotations which were alien to Churchill".{{sfn|Addison|1980|p=39}}

Addison makes the point that Churchill opposed [[anti-Semitism]] (as in 1904, when he was fiercely critical of the proposed [[Aliens Act 1905|Aliens Bill]]) and argues that he would never have tried "to stoke up racial animosity against immigrants, or to persecute minorities".{{sfn|Addison|1980|p=39}} However, in "Zionism verus Bolshevism", an article written by Churchill in the ''[[Illustrated Sunday Herald]]'' in 1920, he made a distinction bewtween "national" Jews – who Churchill said supported Zionism – and "international" Jews – such as [[Adam Weishaupt]],{{efn|Weishaupt was the founder of the [[Illuminati]]. He is not Jewish, although many anti-Semites have linked him to various [[International Jewish conspiracy|conspiracy theories regarding international Jewish control]].}} [[Karl Marx]], [[Trotsky]], [[Béla Kun]], [[Rosa Luxemburg]] and [[Emma Goldman]], who Churchill said supported a [[Bolshevism|Bolshevist]] "world-wide conspiracy for the overthrow of civilisation and for the reconstitution of society on the basis of arrested development, of envious malevolence, and impossible equality".<ref>Churchill, Winston Leonard Spencer (8 February 1920). "[[wikisource:Zionism versus Bolshevism|Zionism Versus Bolshevism: A Struggle for the Soul of the Jewish People]]" ''[[The Illustrated Sunday Herald]]''. pg. 5.</ref> Although an anti-Semitic belief in an [[international Jewish conspiracy]] was not unique among British politicians of the time, few had the stature of Churchill.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brustein |first1=William I. |title=Roots of Hate: Anti-Semitism in Europe Before the Holocaust |date=13 October 2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-77478-9 |page=309 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Roots_of_Hate/Hc3HabBQsdsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22zionism+versus+bolshevism%22&pg=PA309}}</ref> The article was criticised by the ''[[Jewish Chronicle]]'' at the time, calling it "the most reckless and scandalous campaign in which even the most discredited politicians have ever engaged".<ref name="cohen">{{cite book |last1=Cohen |first1=Michael J. |title=Churchill and the Jews, 1900-1948 |date=13 September 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-31906-9 |pages=55-56 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Churchill_and_the_Jews_1900_1948/VQPaAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22zionism+versus+bolshevism%22&pg=PA56}}</ref> The ''Chronicle'' said Churchill had adopted "the hoary tactics of hooligan anti-Semites" in his article.<ref name="cohen"/>

==Cultural depictions==
{{Main|Cultural depictions of Winston Churchill}}
While the biographies by Addison, Gilbert, Jenkins and Rhodes James are among the most acclaimed works about Churchill, he has been the subject of numerous others. Writing in 2012–13 for the International Churchill Society, Professor David Freeman counted 62 in total, excluding non-English books, to the end of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/finest-hour/finest-hour-157/books-arts-curiosities-the-long-and-short-of-churchill-biographies/ |last=Freeman |first=David |title=Books, Arts & Curiosities – The Long and short of Churchill Biographies |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=Winter 2012–13 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=7 November 2020}}</ref>

At a public ceremony in [[Westminster Hall]] on 30 November 1954, Churchill's 80th birthday, the joint Houses of Parliament presented him with a [[Sutherland's Portrait of Winston Churchill|full-length portrait of himself]] painted by [[Graham Sutherland]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Sorrels |first=Roy W. |title=The People's Almanac Book of Lists |editor1-first=David |editor1-last=Wallechinsky |editor2-first=Irving |editor2-last=Wallace |editor3-first=Amy |editor3-last=Wallace |publisher=William Morrow & Co |location=New York City |year=1984 |page=190 |chapter=10 People Who Hated Portraits of Themselves |isbn=978-05-52123-71-6}}</ref> Churchill and Clementine reportedly hated it and, later, she had it destroyed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/the-life-of-churchill/senior-statesman/1950-1959/the-sutherland-portrait/ |title=The Sutherland Portrait |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=29 November 2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=16 May 2020}}</ref>{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=890}}

Churchill has been widely depicted on stage and screen. Notable screen [[biopic]]s include ''[[Young Winston]]'' (1972), directed by [[Richard Attenborough]] and starring [[Simon Ward]]; ''[[Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years]]'' (1981), starring [[Robert Hardy]] and with Martin Gilbert as co-writer; ''[[The Gathering Storm (2002 film)|The Gathering Storm]]'' (2002), starring [[Albert Finney]] and [[Vanessa Redgrave]]; ''[[Darkest Hour (film)|Darkest Hour]]'' (2017), starring [[Gary Oldman]]. [[John Lithgow]] played Churchill in ''[[The Crown (TV series)|The Crown]]'' (2016–2019). Finney, Oldman and Lithgow have all won major awards for their performances as Churchill.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.emmys.com/bios/albert-finney |title=Albert Finney |work=Television Academy – The Emmys |publisher=ATAS |location=North Hollywood |access-date=16 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gary-oldman-wins-best-actor-oscar-1090543 |title=Oscars: Gary Oldman Wins Best Actor for ''Darkest Hour'' |work=Hollywood Reporter |date=4 March 2018 |location=New York City |access-date=16 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/17/16323768/john-lithgow-emmys-2017-supporting-actor-drama-series-winner |last=Liao |first=Shannon |title=John Lithgow wins the Emmy for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series |work=The Verge |publisher=Vox Media |location=New York City |date=17 September 2017 |access-date=8 May 2021}}</ref>

==Family and ancestry==
===Marriage and children===
{{See|Descendants of Winston Churchill}}
Churchill married Clementine Hozier in September 1908.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=200|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=140}} They remained married for 57 years.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=199}} Churchill was aware of the strain that his political career placed on his marriage,{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=207}} and, according to Colville, he had a brief affair in the 1930s with [[Doris Castlerosse]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/feb/25/winston-churchill-secret-affair-socialite |last=Doward |first=Jamie |title=Revealed: secret affair with a socialite that nearly wrecked Churchill's career |newspaper=The Guardian |date=25 February 2018 |location=London |access-date=25 February 2018}}</ref> although this is discounted by [[Andrew Roberts (historian)|Andrew Roberts]].{{sfn|Roberts|2018|pp=385–387}}

The Churchills' first child, [[Diana Churchill|Diana]], was born in July 1909;{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=205|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=203}} the second, [[Randolph Churchill|Randolph]], in May 1911.{{sfnm|1a1=Gilbert|1y=1991|1p=227|2a1=Jenkins|2y=2001|2p=203}} Their third, [[Sarah Churchill (actress)|Sarah]], was born in October 1914,{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=285}} and their fourth, Marigold, in November 1918.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=403}} Marigold died in August 1921, from [[sepsis]] of the throat<ref>{{cite book |title=A Daughter's Tale: The Memoir of Winston and Clementine Churchill's Youngest Child |first=Mary |last=Soames |author-link=Mary Soames |year=2012 |publisher=Transworld Publishers Limited |location=London |page=13 |isbn=978-05-52770-92-7}}</ref> and was buried in [[Kensal Green Cemetery]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=439}} On 15 September 1922, the Churchills' last child, [[Mary Soames, Baroness Soames|Mary]], was born. Later that month, the Churchills bought [[Chartwell]], which would be their home until Winston's death in 1965.{{sfn|Soames|1998|p=262}} According to Jenkins, Churchill was an "enthusiastic and loving father" but one who expected too much of his children.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=209}}

===Ancestry===
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=no |align=center |ref=<ref>{{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Randolph S. |author-link=Randolph Churchill |title=Winston S. Churchill: Volume One: Youth, 1874–1900 |publisher=Hillsdale College Press |location=Hillsdale, Michigan |year=1966 |pages=13–16 |isbn=978-09-16308-08-7}}</ref>
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1=1. '''Winston Churchill'''
|2=2. [[Lord Randolph Churchill]]
|3=3. [[Lady Randolph Churchill|Jennie Jerome]]
|4=4. [[John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough]]
|5=5. [[Frances Anne Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough|Lady Frances Anne Vane]]
|6=6. [[Leonard Jerome]]
|7=7. Clarissa Hall
|8=8. [[George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough]]
|9=9. Lady Jane Stewart
|10=10. [[Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry]]
|11=11. [[Frances Anne Vane, Marchioness of Londonderry|Frances Anne Vane-Tempest]]
|12=12. Isaac Jerome
|13=13. Aurora Murray
|14=14. Ambrose Hall
|15=15. Clarissa Willcox
}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist|25em}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |last=Arthur |first=Max |author-link=Max Arthur |title=Churchill – The Life: An authorised pictorial biography |year=2017 |publisher=Cassell |location=London |isbn=978-17-88400-02-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Adams |first=Edward |title=Liberal Epic: The Victorian Practice of History from Gibbon to Churchill |year=2011 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |location=Charlottesville, Virginia |isbn=978-08-13931-45-6}}
* {{cite journal |last=Addison |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Addison |title=The Political Beliefs of Winston Churchill |year=1980 |journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |volume=30 |pages=23–47 |jstor=3679001 |doi=10.2307/3679001}}
* {{cite book |last=Addison |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Addison |title=Churchill: The Unexpected Hero |year=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-01-99297-43-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Allen |first=Louis |title=Burma: The Longest War 1941–1945 |publisher=J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd |date=1984 |isbn=978-04-60024-74-7}}
* {{cite journal |last=Ball |first=Stuart |author-link=Stuart Ball |title=Churchill and the Conservative Party |year=2001 |journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |volume=11 |pages=307–330 |doi=10.1017/S0080440101000160 |jstor=3679426|s2cid=153860359 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Bayly |first1=Christopher |author-link1=Christopher Bayly |last2=Harper |first2=Tim |title=Forgotten Armies: Britain's Asian Empire & the War with Japan |publisher=Penguin History |date=2004 |isbn=978-01-40293-31-9}}
* {{cite journal |last=Bell |first=Christopher M. |year=2011 |title=Sir John Fisher's Naval Revolution Reconsidered: Winston Churchill at the Admiralty, 1911–1914 |journal=War in History |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=333–356 |doi=10.1177/0968344511401489 |s2cid=159573922}}
* {{cite book |last=Best |first=Geoffrey |author-link=Geoffrey Best |title=Churchill: A Study in Greatness |year=2001 |publisher=Hambledon and Continuum |location=London and New York |isbn=978-18-52852-53-5}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Blake |editor1-first=Robert |editor1-link=Robert Blake, Baron Blake |editor2-last=Louis |editor2-first=Wm. Roger |editor2-link=Wm. Roger Louis |title=Churchill: A Major New Reassessment of His Life in Peace and War |year=1993 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-01-98203-17-9 |oclc=30029512}}
* {{cite book |last=Charmley |first=John |author-link=John Charmley |title=Churchill's Grand Alliance, 1940–1957 |year=1995 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton Ltd |location=London |isbn=978-01-51275-81-6 |oclc=247165348}}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=The Twilight War: 3 September 1939 – 10 May 1940 |series=The Second World War |work=The Gathering Storm |volume=II |edition=9th |year=1967b |orig-year=first published 1948 |publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell & Co. Ltd]] |location=London}}
* {{cite journal |last=Douglas |first=R. M. |title=Did Britain Use Chemical Weapons in Mandatory Iraq? |year=2009 |journal=The Journal of Modern History |volume=81 |issue=4 |pages=859–887 |doi=10.1086/605488|s2cid=154708409 }}
* {{cite book |last=Gilbert |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Gilbert |title=Churchill: A Life |year=1991 |publisher=Heinemann |location=London |isbn=978-04-34291-83-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Gilbert |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Gilbert |title=Never Despair: Winston S. Churchill, 1945–1965 |year=1988 |publisher=Minerva |location=Trowbridge |isbn=978-07-49391-04-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Haffner |first=Sebastian |author-link=Sebastian Haffner |title=Churchill |year=2003 |others=John Brownjohn (translator) |publisher=Haus |location=London |isbn=978-19-04341-07-9 |oclc=852530003}}
* {{cite book |last=Hastings |first=Max |author-link=Max Hastings |title=Finest Years. Churchill as Warlord, 1940–45 |year=2009 |publisher=Harper Collins |location=Hammersmith |isbn=978-00-07263-67-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Hermiston |first=Roger |title=All Behind You, Winston – Churchill's Great Coalition, 1940–45 |year=2016 |publisher=Aurum Press |location=London |isbn=978-17-81316-64-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Roy |author-link=Roy Jenkins |title=Churchill |year=2001 |publisher=Macmillan Press |location=London |isbn=978-03-30488-05-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Boris |author-link=Boris Johnson |title=The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History |year=2014 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |location=London |isbn=978-14-44783-05-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Johnson (writer) |title=Churchill |year=2010 |publisher=Penguin |location=New York |isbn=978-01-43117-99-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Jordan |first=Anthony J. |author-link=Anthony J. Jordan |title=Churchill, A Founder of Modern Ireland |year=1995 |publisher=Westport Books |location=Westport, Mayo |isbn=978-09-52444-70-1}}
* {{cite book |last1=Khan |first1=Yasmin |author-link=Yasmin Khan |title=India at War: The Subcontinent and the Second World War |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-975349-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HZJcCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA213}}
* {{cite book |last=Knickerbocker |first=H. R. |author-link=Hubert Renfro Knickerbocker |title=Is Tomorrow Hitler's? 200 Questions on the Battle of Mankind |year=1941 |publisher=Reynal & Hitchcock |location=New York |isbn=978-14-17992-77-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Langworth |first=Richard |author-link=Richard M. Langworth |title=Churchill in His Own Words |year=2008 |publisher=Ebury Press |location=London |isbn=978-00-91933-36-4}}
* {{cite journal |last=Moritz, Jr. |first=Edward |title=Winston Churchill – Prison Reformer |year=1958 |journal=The Historian |publisher=Wiley |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |volume=20 |number=4 |pages=428–440 |jstor=24437567 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6563.1958.tb01990.x}}
* {{cite book |last=Rasor |first=Eugene L. |title=Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965: A Comprehensive Historiography and Annotated Bibliography |year=2000 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Connecticut |isbn=978-03-13305-46-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/winstonschurchil00raso}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Reagles |first1=David |last2=Larsen |first2=Timothy |author2-link=Timothy Larsen |title=Winston Churchill and Almighty God |year=2013 |journal=Historically Speaking |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Boston, Massachusetts |volume=14 |issue=5 |pages=8–10 |doi=10.1353/hsp.2013.0056 |s2cid=161952924}}
* {{cite book |last=Rhodes James |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Rhodes James |title=Churchill: A Study in Failure 1900–1939 |year=1970 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |location=London |isbn=978-02-97820-15-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Roberts |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Roberts (historian) |title=Churchill: Walking with Destiny |year=2018 |publisher=Allen Lane |location=London |isbn=978-11-01980-99-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Robbins |first=Keith |author-link=Keith Robbins |title=Churchill: Profiles in Power |year=2014 |orig-year=1992 |publisher=Routledge |location=London and New York |isbn=978-13-17874-52-2}}
* {{cite journal |last= Sen |first=Amartya |year=1977 |title= Starvation and exchange entitlements: a general approach and its application to the Great Bengal Famine |journal=Cambridge Journal of Economics |volume=1 |issue = 1 |pages=33–59 |author-link=Amartya Sen |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.cje.a035349}}
* {{cite book |last=Shakespeare |first=Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Shakespeare |title=Six Minutes in May |year=2017 |publisher=Vintage |location=London |isbn=978-17-84701-00-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Soames |first=Mary |author-link=Mary Soames |title=Speaking for Themselves: The Personal Letters of Winston and Clementine Churchill |year=1998 |publisher=Doubleday |location=London |isbn=978-03-85406-91-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Frederick |author-link=Frederick Taylor (historian) |title=Dresden: Tuesday, 13 February 1945 |year=2005 |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=London |isbn=978-07-47570-84-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Toye |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Toye |title=Lloyd George and Churchill: Rivals for Greatness |year=2007 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |isbn=978-14-05048-96-5}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |last=Beschloss |first=Michael R. |author-link=Michael Beschloss |title=The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941–1945 |year=2002 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=978-06-84810-27-0 |oclc=50315054}}
* {{cite book |last=Blake |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Blake, Baron Blake |title=Winston Churchill |series=Pocket Biographies |year=1997 |publisher=Sutton Publishing |location=Stroud |isbn=978-07-50915-07-6 |oclc=59586004}}
* {{cite EB1922 |wstitle=Churchill, Winston Leonard Spencer |last=Buckle |first=George Earle |author-link=George Earle Buckle}}
* {{cite book |last=Charmley |first=John |author-link=John Charmley |title=Churchill, The End of Glory: A Political Biography |year=1993 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton Ltd |location=London |isbn=978-15-66632-47-8 |oclc=440131865}}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=1911–1914 |series=[[The World Crisis]] |volume=I |year=1923a |publisher=Thornton Butterworth |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=1915 |series=The World Crisis |volume=II |year=1923b |publisher=Thornton Butterworth |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=1916–1918 (Parts I and II) |series=The World Crisis |volume=III |year=1927 |publisher=Thornton Butterworth |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=The Aftermath: 1918–1922 |series=The World Crisis |volume=IV |year=1929 |publisher=Thornton Butterworth |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=The Eastern Front |series=The World Crisis |volume=V |year=1931 |publisher=Thornton Butterworth |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=The Fall of France: May 1940 – August 1940 |series=The Second World War |work=Their Finest Hour |volume=III |edition=9th |year=1970a |orig-year=first published 1949 |publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell & Co. Ltd]] |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=Alone: September 1940 – December 1940 |series=The Second World War |work=Their Finest Hour |volume=IV |edition=9th |year=1970b |orig-year=first published 1949 |publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell & Co. Ltd]] |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=Germany Drives East: 2 January 1941 – 22 June 1941 |series=The Second World War |work=The Grand Alliance |volume=V |edition=5th |year=1968a |orig-year=first published 1950 |publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell & Co. Ltd]] |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=War Comes to America: 23 June 1941 – 17 January 1942 |series=The Second World War |work=The Grand Alliance |volume=VI |edition=5th |year=1968b |orig-year=first published 1950 |publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell & Co. Ltd]] |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=From War to War: 1919–1939 |series=The Second World War |work=The Gathering Storm |volume=I |edition=9th |year=1967a |orig-year=first published 1948 |publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell & Co. Ltd]] |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=The Onslaught of Japan: 18 January 1942 – 3 July 1942 |series=The Second World War |work=The Hinge of Fate |volume=VII |edition=4th |year=1968c |orig-year=first published 1951 |publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell & Co. Ltd]] |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=Africa Redeemed: 4 July 1942 – 5 June 1943 |series=The Second World War |work=The Hinge of Fate |volume=VIII |edition=4th |year=1968d |orig-year=first published 1951 |publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell & Co. Ltd]] |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=Italy Won: 6 June 1943 – 12 November 1943 |series=The Second World War |work=Closing the Ring |volume=IX |edition=4th |year=1966a |orig-year=first published 1952 |publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell & Co. Ltd]] |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=Teheran to Rome: 13 November 1943 – 5 June 1944 |series=The Second World War |work=Closing the Ring |volume=X |edition=4th |year=1966b |orig-year=first published 1952 |publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell & Co. Ltd]] |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=The Tide of Victory: June 1944 – December 1944 |series=The Second World War |work=Triumph and Tragedy |volume=XI |edition=2nd |year=1954a |orig-year=first published April 1954 |publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell & Co. Ltd]] |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=The Iron Curtain: January 1945 – July 1945 |series=The Second World War |work=Triumph and Tragedy |volume=XII |edition=2nd |year=1954b |orig-year=first published April 1954 |publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell & Co. Ltd]] |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Colville |first=John |author-link=Jock Colville |title=The Fringes of Power, Volume One: September 1939 to September 1941 |year=1985 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton Ltd |location=Sevenoaks |isbn=978-03-40402-69-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Colville |first=John |author-link=Jock Colville |title=The Fringes of Power, Volume Two: September 1941 – April 1955 |year=1987 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton Ltd |location=Sevenoaks |isbn=978-18-42126-26-4}}
* {{cite book |last1=Coombs |first1=David |author1-link=David Coombs |last2=Churchill |first2=Minnie |others=[[Mary Soames]] (foreword) |title=Sir Winston Churchill: His Life through His Paintings |year=2003 |publisher=Pegasus |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-07-62427-31-4}} The book includes illustrations of more than 500 paintings by Churchill.
* {{cite book |last=D'Este |first=Carlo |author-link=Carlo D'Este |title=Warlord: A Life of Winston Churchill at War, 1874–1945 |year=2008 |publisher=Harper |location=New York |isbn=978-00-60575-73-1 |lccn=2008009272 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/warlordlifeofwin00dest}}
* {{cite book |last=Gilbert |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Gilbert |title=In Search of Churchill: A Historian's Journey |year=1994 |publisher=Wiley |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |isbn=978-00-02153-56-0}}
* {{cite book |last1=Gilbert |first1=Martin |author1-link=Martin Gilbert |last2=Churchill |first2=Randolph |author2-link=Randolph Churchill |title=Winston S. Churchill, The Official Biography (eight volumes) |year=1966 |publisher=William Heinemann |location=London |isbn=978-09-16308-08-7}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/04/the-medals-of-his-defeats/306061/ |last=Hitchens |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Hitchens |title=The Medals of His Defeats |date=2002 |work=The Atlantic |publisher=The Atlantic Monthly Group |location=Washington DC |access-date=22 December 2019}}
* {{cite book |last=Knowles |first=Elizabeth |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Twentieth Century Quotations |year=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-01-98662-50-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary01know}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Loewenheim |editor1-first=Francis L. |editor1-link=Francis L. Loewenheim |editor2-last=Langley |editor2-first=Harold D. |editor2-link=Harold D. Langley |editor3-last=Jonas |editor3-first=Manfred |title=Roosevelt and Churchill: Their Secret Wartime Correspondence |year=1990 |orig-year=first published 1975 |publisher=Da Capo Press Inc. |location=Boston, Massachusetts |isbn=978-03-06803-90-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Lukacs |first=John |author-link=John Lukacs |title=Churchill: Visionary, Statesman, Historian |year=2002 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=978-03-00103-02-1}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Reynolds |editor1-first=David |editor-link1=David Reynolds (historian) |editor2-last=Pechatnov |editor2-first=Vladimir |title=The Kremlin Letters: Stalin's Wartime Correspondence with Churchill and Roosevelt |year=2019 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, Connecticut |isbn=978-03-00226-82-9}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Rhodes James |editor-first=Robert |editor-link=Robert Rhodes James |title=Winston S. Churchill: His Complete Speeches, 1897–1963 (eight volumes) |year=1974 |publisher=Chelsea Publishing |location=London |isbn=978-08-35206-93-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Seldon |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Seldon |title=Churchill's Indian Summer: The Conservative Government, 1951–1955 |publisher=Faber and Faber |location=London |year=2010 |isbn=978-05-71272-69-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Gary Scott |title=Duty and Destiny: The Life and Faith of Winston Churchill |publisher=Eerdmans |location=Grand Rapids |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-8028-7700-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Toye |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Toye |title=Churchill's Empire: The World that made him and the World he made |year=2010 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |isbn=978-02-30703-84-1}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|voy=no|wikt=no|n=no|species=no|mw=no|m=no|v=no|s=Author:Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill|b=no|d=Q8016}}
* {{Curlie|Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/Society_and_Culture/History/Parliament/Prime_Ministers/Churchill%2C_Sir_Winston/}}
* [http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/churchills-first-world-war Churchill's First World War] from the Imperial War Museum.
* [http://vault.fbi.gov/Winston%20Churchill FBI files on Winston Churchill].
* [http://www.shapell.org/Collection/Historical-Figures/Churchill-Winston Winston Churchill's Personal Manuscripts].
* {{Nobelprize}}

;Bibliographies and online collections
* {{Gutenberg author |id=Churchill,+Winston+(1874–1965)}}
* {{FadedPage|id=Churchill, Winston S. (Spencer)|name=Winston S. (Spencer) Churchill|author=yes}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Winston Churchill}}
* {{Librivox author |id=678}}

;Recordings
* [http://www.earthstation1.com/churchil.html EarthStation1: Winston Churchill Speech Audio Archive].
* [http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/fascinating-amateur-colour-footage-of-churchills-funeral Amateur colour film footage of Churchill's funeral] from the Imperial War Museum.

;Museums, archives and libraries
* {{npg name|id=00879|name=Winston Churchill}}
* {{Hansard-contribs|mr-winston-churchill|Winston Churchill}}
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* [https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/yourcountry/collections/churchillexhibition/ Records and images from the UK Parliament Collections].
* [http://www.winstonchurchill.org/ The International Churchill Society (ICS)].
* [http://www.iwm.org.uk/ Imperial War Museum]: [[Churchill War Rooms]]. Comprising the original underground War Rooms preserved since 1945, including the Cabinet Room, the Map Room and Churchill's bedroom, and the new Museum dedicated to Churchill's life.
* [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/cab_195_1_transcript.pdf War Cabinet Minutes (1942)], [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/cab_195_2_transcript.pdf (1942–43)], [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/cab_195_3_transcript.pdf (1945–46)], [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/cab_195_4_transcript.pdf (1946)].
* [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=P5659 Locations of correspondence and papers of Churchill] at the UK National Archives.
* {{PM20|FID=pe/003274}}

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{{Churchill|state=expanded}}
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