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13 - Churchill As War Leader

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2023

Allen Packwood
Affiliation:
Churchill College, Cambridge
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Summary

Churchill has become the archetypal embodiment of the modern war leader, in part as a result of his own writings, but this chapter strips away the layers of hindsight and looks in detail at the challenge he faced in 1940 and the actions he took in response. By making himself minister of defence, he united the civilian and military administrative machines and established a streamlined decision-making process at the heart of government. He led from the front, both through the projection of his image and through his distinctive oratory. His strategy was to weather the immediate crisis and then to find means of taking the fight to the enemy, even if it meant prioritising the Mediterranean over the Empire in Asia, while also courting the United States and seizing the opportunity of the Soviet alliance. The strain undoubtedly took a toll on his health and, as the war progressed, his room for manoeuvre became more limited and fractures began to emerge over the future, both within his government and in his relations with his key allies.

Type
Chapter
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

Further Reading

Churchill, W. S., The Second World War, 6 vols (London: Cassell, 1948–54)Google Scholar
Colville, J., The Fringes of Power: Downing Street Diaries, 1939–1955 (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1985)Google Scholar
Danchev, A. and Todman, D., War Diaries 1939–1945: Field Marshal Lord Alanbrooke (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001)Google Scholar
Dilks, D., The Diaries of Air Alexander Cadogan (London: Cassell, 1971)Google Scholar
Gilbert, M., [OB] Winston S. Churchill, vol. 6, Finest Hour 1939–1941 (London: Heinemann, 1983)Google Scholar
Gilbert, M., [OB] Winston Churchill, vol. 7, Road to Victory 1941–1945 (London: Heinemann, 1986)Google Scholar
Hastings, M., Finest Years: Churchill as Warlord 1940–1945 (London: Harper Press, 2009)Google Scholar
Moran, Lord, Winston Churchill: The Struggle for Survival 1940–1965 (London: Constable & Company, 1966)Google Scholar
Reynolds, D., In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War (London: Allen Lane, 2004)Google Scholar
Roberts, A., Churchill: Walking with Destiny (London: Allen Lane, 2018)Google Scholar
Schoenfield, M. P., The War Ministry of Winston Churchill (Ames: The Iowa State University Press, 1972)Google Scholar
Toye, R., The Roar of the Lion (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013)Google Scholar
Vale, A. and Scadding, J., Winston Churchill’s Illnesses 1886–1965 (Barnsley: Frontline Books, 2020)Google Scholar
Wheeler-Bennett, J., Action This Day (London: Macmillan, 1968)Google Scholar

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