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Notable British figures: Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill, in his full name Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, was
born in Oxfordshire, England on November 30 1847 and died in London, on January 24,
1965. He was a British statesman, orator and author, but is the most well known for the
important role he fulfilled as England’s prime minister (1940-1945; 1951-1955).
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill at the Yalta Conference (1945)
According to historians, Winston Churchill qualifies for not only a notable British
figure, but also a notable figure of all times. Many arguments who support this affirmation
can be made, such as: he was the only British prime minister to have received the Nobel Prize
in literature; he was the first person to be made a Honorary Citizen of the United States and
he also was a historian, artist, an officer in the British army, but most importantly: one of the
greatest leaders.
One of Churchill’s greatest successes as a leader happened during World War I, that
came at no surprise for him. He was the most insistent on the need of England to resist
Germany, so on his own responsibility, he ordered the naval mobilization that guaranteed
complete readiness when war was declared. The war called out all of Churchill’s energies. In
October 1914, when Antwerp was falling, he characteristically rushed in person to organize
its defence. When it fell the public saw only a disillusioning defeat, but in fact the
prolongation of its resistance for almost a week enabled the Belgian Army to escape and the
crucial Channel ports to be saved.
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Winston Churchill is also well known for leading England through World War II.
During this period, he began his premiership by forming a 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), Halifax as Foreign Secretary and Labour's
Arthur Greenwood as a minister without portfolio. Roy Jenkins described this combination as
a war cabinet for winning, contrasting it with Chamberlain's war cabinet for losing. 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, making him the most powerful wartime prime minister in British history.
He also gained his fame through his speeches. Churchill’s wartime speeches were a
great inspiration to the embattled British. His first as prime minister, delivered to the
Commons on 13 May, was the Blood, toil, tears and sweat speech. This was not well-
received at the time, mainly because the majority of Conservative Members of the Parliament
held doubts about his suitability to be premier. Churchill made it plain to the nation that a
long, hard road lay ahead and that victory was the final goal. Through his speeches, he left an
important legacy that showed what it meant to truly believe in his country’s greatness and to
inherit strong patriotic values and revealed what thriving in challenge and crisis. His inspiring
speeches are also mentioned in his Nobel prize summary: for his mastery of historical and
biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.
After publishing another major work, A History of the English- Speaking Peoples,
four volumes (1956–1958) Churchill’s health declined, and his public appearances became
rare. On April 9, 1963, he was accorded the unique distinction of having an honorary U.S.
citizenship conferred on him by an act of Congress. His death at his London home in January
1965 was followed by a state funeral at which almost the whole world paid tribute. He was
buried in the family grave in Bladon churchyard, Oxfordshire.
The legacy Winston Churchill left is marked by his versatile persona. All in one,
Churchill was a talented writer and amateur painter, a gifted journalist, a passionate orator, a
soldier of courage, a historian of classic proportions, but most importantly a great wartime
leader. His own patriotic spirit undeniably lead him to actions that left their print not only in
British history, but world history.
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LL Română-Engleză, anul III
Bibliography
Jenkins, Roy, Churchill, Sofia, Panmacmillan Publishing, 2017.
https://www.academia.edu/7163371/Winston_Churchill
www.britannica.com
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1953/summary/
