Winston Churchill
1874 – 1965 British Prime Minister, wartime leader
Wartime prime minister and staunch imperialist whose record includes the disputed handling of the 1943 Bengal famine.
- Religion
- Church of England
- Affiliations
- Conservative, Liberal
Winston Churchill led Britain through the Second World War and became its most celebrated wartime figure. He was also a lifelong believer in the British Empire who fiercely opposed Indian independence. His wartime government's policies during the 1943 Bengal famine, in which perhaps three million people died, remain the subject of sharp debate over how far London's decisions worsened the disaster. His early career ran from cavalry action at Omdurman to the failed Gallipoli campaign he championed as First Lord of the Admiralty.
Connections
- ally of Charles de Gaulle — Hosted the Free French leader during the war.
- ally of Charles de Gaulle — Wartime ally, though relations were often tense.
- rival of Clement Attlee — His wartime deputy who defeated him in the 1945 election.
- successor of Clement Attlee — Served as his wartime deputy, then succeeded him as prime minister.
- family of Consuelo Vanderbilt — Cousin by marriage through the Spencer-Churchill family.
- associate of David Lloyd George — A close and volatile cabinet colleague.
- associate of David Lloyd George — Served in his wartime and postwar cabinets.
- associate of Elizabeth II — Her first prime minister.
- ally of Franklin D. Roosevelt — Key wartime ally against the Axis powers.
- ally of Franklin D. Roosevelt — Wartime allies against the Axis.
- rival of John Maynard Keynes — Keynes publicly attacked his gold-standard decision.
- rival of John Maynard Keynes — Publicly attacked Churchill's 1925 decision to return Britain to gold.
- associate of Lord Kitchener — Fought at Omdurman under his Sudan command.
- associate of Montagu Norman — Acted on Norman's advice in returning Britain to gold in 1925.
In the timeline
- 1898 Battle of Omdurman mentioned
- 1901 Winston Churchill is initiated a Freemason central figure
- 1914 The British state buys into Persian oil mentioned
- 1914 Churchill puts the Royal Navy on oil mentioned
- 1915 – 1916 Gallipoli campaign the First Lord of the Admiralty who championed it
- 1924 Churchill appointed chancellor of the exchequer mentioned
- 1925 Britain returns to the gold standard mentioned
- 1925 Churchill returns Britain to the gold standard mentioned
- 1929 Black Thursday stock market crash mentioned
- 1939 – 1945 The Second World War and the Empire the wartime prime minister
- 1940 Churchill replaces Chamberlain as prime minister mentioned
- 1942 Fall of Singapore the wartime prime minister
- 1943 – 1944 The Bengal Famine the wartime prime minister whose role is debated
- 1946 Churchill's Iron Curtain speech mentioned
- 1948 Congress of The Hague mentioned
- 1955 Churchill retires; Eden becomes prime minister, 1955 mentioned