WEBVTT

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Okay, let's unpack this. Welcome to the Deep

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Dives. Today, well, we're tackling a giant, a

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figure whose shadow, you could say, stretches

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right across the 20th century, Sir Winston Leonard

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Spencer Churchill. It's quite the undertaking.

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I mean, his political life alone spanned, what,

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62 years? Just astonishing. Two terms as prime

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minister, countless cabinet roles, military service.

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And he somehow found time to be this incredibly

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prolific writer, won a Nobel Prize for it even.

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Yeah, the source deck for this one is. So our

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mission today really isn't just to walk through

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his life year by year. No, that would take weeks.

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Exactly. It's more about distilling this huge,

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complex life down to its core themes. We want

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to spotlight those unexpected moments, those

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pivots like, you know, switching parties not

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once but effectively twice. And the contradictions,

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too, the ideas that drove him. Right. So for

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you, the learner, this is hope for the shortcut.

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Getting under the skin of the man, not just the

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myth. And what's really fascinating when you

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dig into the sources is how Churchill's career

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seems driven by these two often opposing forces.

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On one hand, he's a deep believer in classical

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economic liberalism, especially free trade, like

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fundamentally. But on the other hand, he's this

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absolutely staunch, unwavering imperialist, believer

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in the British Empire through and through. So

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those two things, liberalism and imperialism,

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sometimes they pull in the same direction, sometimes

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not so much. Precisely. And we'll see how that

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tension plays out, how it pushes him across party

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lines, fuels his greatest triumphs, and arguably

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leads to some of his biggest missteps as well.

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It's quite the ideological tightrope he walked.

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So let's start at the beginning. Blenheim Palace,

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1874. Born right into the heart of the aristocracy,

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the Spencer family, direct descendant of the

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first Duke of Marlborough. You know, the famous

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general. Absolutely. Lineage mattered. His father,

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Lord Randolph Churchill, was a big name in conservative

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politics himself. And his mother, Jenny Jerome,

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the American socialite, well, she was a force

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of nature in her own right. Connections everywhere.

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So born with a silver spoon, you might say. But

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the early school years, they weren't exactly

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covered in glory, were they? Not at all. The

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sources are pretty clear. He really struggled

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academically. Places like St. George's, Harrow.

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He just didn't thrive in that structured environment.

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And his father, Lord Randolph, basically saw

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the writing on the wall. Academics weren't his

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son's forte. So the military seemed the next

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logical step. Maybe the only step in his father's

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eyes. So he gets pushed toward Sandhurst, the

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Royal Military College. Right, but even that

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wasn't easy. It took him three attempts to get

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into the cavalry branch, finally making it in

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1893. You get this sense early on of someone

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who has to constantly strive, constantly overcome

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these perceived shortcomings. It definitely built

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a powerful drive and ambition. And that ambition,

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it seems, didn't point towards a quiet life in

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the barracks. As soon as he's commissioned in

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the 4th Queen's Own Hussars, he's looking for

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action. And truthfully, looking to write about

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it. Yeah, this is a really key moment, kind of

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an aha moment for him. He figures out pretty

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quickly that the path to influence, maybe even

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political power, isn't just about being a soldier.

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It's about being seen being a soldier and writing

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about it. Using journalism to build his profile.

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And maybe pay the bills. Exactly. He leveraged

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his mother's connections quite ruthlessly, actually,

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to get himself posted where the action was. Conflict

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zones. He wangled his way to Cuba to observe

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their war of independence, sending back reports

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for the Daily Graphic. So even then. The writer

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and the soldier were intertwined. Absolutely.

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Then it was off to British India, Bangalore,

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the northwest frontier, which was pretty volatile.

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Then later Sudan for a modest war. He wasn't

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just passively serving. He was actively seeking

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out experience he could turn into copy. And while

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he was in India, in Bangalore specifically, wasn't

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that when he really buckled down with self -education?

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Yes, that's right. Around the late 1890s, he

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felt intellectually behind his peers who'd gone

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through university. So he sets himself this incredibly

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rigorous reading program. Like what? But what

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was he reading? Oh, the classics. Plato, Darwin,

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Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,

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Macaulay's Histories. Heavy stuff. He was consciously

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trying to build that intellectual foundation

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he felt he lacked. And feeding that directly

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into his writing, presumably. Immediately. His

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first book, The Story of the Malacan Field Force,

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comes out of his experiences in India. It launches

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his writing career. But the writing wasn't just

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for ambition or money. It was deeper than that.

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You mean the black dog? Exactly. He suffered

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from recurring bouts of severe depression, what

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he famously called his black dog, and writing

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that intense creative effort was his primary

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way of keeping it at bay. It was a psychological

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necessity as much as a career move. Fascinating.

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So his active military service kind of culminates

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in the Sudan campaign. Yeah, he participated

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in one of the very last major cavalry charges

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of the British Army at the Battle of Omdurman

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in 1898. Very dramatic stuff. But then he doesn't

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just bask in the glory, does he? He actually

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criticizes his own commander. Right, which is

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quite telling. He resigns from the army not long

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after Omdurman. And he publicly criticizes General

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Kitchener, the commander, for the harsh treatment

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of wounded enemy fighters and very controversially

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for desecrating the tomb of the Mahdi, Mohammed

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Ahmad. That takes some guts for a young officer.

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It does. It shows this willingness even early

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on to speak out based on principle, even if it

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ruffled feathers, maybe even because it ruffled

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feathers. It certainly got him noticed. And that

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leads him straight into politics. His first attempt,

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though. Not a success. No, his first run for

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parliament was as a conservative in Oldham, a

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by -election in 1899. He lost, but only narrowly.

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He campaigned as a conservative and a Tory Democrat,

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trying to blend traditionalism with some reformist

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ideas. But then fate, or rather war, intervenes

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again. The Second Boer War breaks out. Perfect

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timing for him, in a strange way. He heads straight

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to South Africa, not as a soldier this time,

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but as a war correspondent for the Morning Post.

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Hugely lucrative contract, by the way. And this

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is where the story becomes legendary. The train

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ambush, the capture. Yes, the whole POW camp

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episode in Pretoria. It's almost unbelievable.

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His train gets ambushed by the Boers, he's captured,

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imprisoned. But he doesn't stay long. Not Winston.

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The escape. It reads like something out of a

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novel. Scaling the wall. Hiding out. Hopping

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freight trains, hiding in a coal mine for days,

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finally making his way hundreds of miles across

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enemy territory to Portuguese East Africa and

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freedom. And publicity back home must have been

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immense. Off the charts. Instant national hero.

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This daring young aristocrat giving the Boers

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the slip. It was exactly the kind of story the

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public craved. He was made. And he knew exactly

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how to leverage that fame. Oh, absolutely. He

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comes back, briefly rejoins the army for a bit

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of mopping up. There's this. Rather theatrical

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incident where he and his cousin demand the surrender

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of 52 Boer prison guards. Just the two of them.

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Well, they had backup eventually, but yeah, initially.

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Then he immediately converts his fame and his

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war dispatches into cash via a hugely successful

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lecture tour. Britain, America. He even met Mark

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Twain and President McKinley. Didn't hit it off

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with Theodore Roosevelt, apparently. Two strong

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personalities there. You can imagine. But the

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money from the lectures and the writing, that's

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what bankrolled his next political campaign.

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And this time, Oldham works out. It does. October

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1900, he's elected conservative MP for Oldham.

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He's just 25 years old. And it's crucial to remember

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he funded this himself, not family money primarily,

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but earnings from his pen and his adventures.

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Quite remarkable, really. OK, so he arrives in

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Parliament, 1901, a young conservative hero.

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But this is where things get really interesting

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ideologically. He doesn't stay conservative for

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long, does he? No, barely four years. He takes

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his seat and almost immediately you see him starting

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to. Well, drift. He starts criticizing his own

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party spending, particularly on the military,

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which is ironic given his background. And he

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starts hanging out with liberals. Yes, particularly

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the liberal imperialists figures who believed

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in the empire, but also in progressive policies

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at home. He felt more aligned with them intellectually

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on certain key issues. And the big breaking point,

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the thing that actually makes him cross the floor

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in 1904. Yeah. It's about trade. It's fundamentally

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about protectionism. This is absolutely key to

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understanding Churchill's first big political

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shift. The Conservative Party, under the influence

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of Joseph Chamberlain, starts pushing for tariffs

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taxes on imported goods to protect British industries.

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And Churchill's having none of it. Absolutely

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none. For Churchill, free trade wasn't just an

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economic policy. It was like the lifeblood of

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the British Empire. He believed it kept the empire

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connected, prosperous, and benefited ordinary

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people by keeping food prices low. So tariffs

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were anti -empire in his view. Exactly. He saw

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protectionism as economically damaging and crucially

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bad for the empire's unity. So he co -founds

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this group called the Free Food League to campaign

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against tariffs. And then very dramatically,

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in May 1904, he walks across the floor of the

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House of Commons and sits with the liberals.

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A huge political gamble. And it wasn't just economics,

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right? The sources mentioned he opposed the aliens

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bill around the same time. That's right. The

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1905 aliens bill, which was aimed primarily at

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restricting Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe.

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Churchill spoke out quite strongly against it,

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arguing for Britain's old, tolerant and generous

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practice of free entry and asylum. It shows his

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liberalism wasn't purely economic. There was

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a social dimension, too, at least early on. So

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he quickly makes a name for himself as a sort

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of radical liberal. Yeah. He aligns himself with

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figures like John Morley and significantly David

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Lloyd George, who would be. his great partner

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in social reform. His first government role with

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the liberals is undersecretary for the colonies

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in 1905. Back dealing with the empire. Right

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back into it. He's involved in drafting the constitution

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for the Transvaal, post -Boer War South Africa,

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trying to create some kind of workable relationship

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between the British and the Boers. And the sources

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mention his reaction to the Bombatha Rebellion.

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Yes, a Zulu uprising in Natal. Churchill privately

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expressed his horror at what he called the disgusting

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butchery of the natives by the colonial forces.

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It shows an early, perhaps paternalistic, but

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nonetheless present concern about the excesses

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of colonial rule. Then he gets his big promotion

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into the cabinet as president of the Board of

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Trade in 1908, youngest cabinet member in decades.

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Yeah, since 1866, I think. And this is where

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he really makes his mark as a social reformer,

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working very closely with Lloyd George. Their

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goal, quite explicitly, was to create a network

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of state intervention and regulation, looking

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at models like Bismarck's Germany. So what kind

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of specific reforms are we talking about here?

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Foundational stuff, really. Things we take for

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granted now, the mines eight hours bill limiting

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how long miners could work underground, the trade

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boards bill, which is huge. It established minimum

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wages in certain industries, the so -called sweated

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trades and regulated things like meal breaks.

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Setting a precedent for state intervention in

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wages. Absolutely. Then there was the labor exchange

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bill, basically creating job centers to help

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the unemployed find work. And arguably the biggest

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one, the National Insurance Act of 1911, which

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he drafted with Lloyd George. This laid the groundwork

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for state -provided sickness and unemployment

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benefits. It's quite a record for someone often

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remembered just for war. It really is. He was,

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in this period, genuinely driving progressive

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social change. A paternalist? Sure, he wasn't

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a socialist by any stretch. But he believed the

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state had a duty to provide a basic safety net.

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His next big job is Home Secretary, 1910 -1911.

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Does the reforming continue? It does, particularly

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in the prison system. He pushes for reforms like

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setting up prison libraries, easing rules on

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solitary confinement. He made a point of distinguishing

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between political prisoners like suffragettes

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and common criminals. And he was quite active

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in reviewing death sentences, commuting a significant

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number, 21 out of 43, I believe. But this period

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also brings some major controversies that stick

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with him. Totopandy, for instance. Yes, the Tony

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Pandy riots in South Wales, 1910, striking coal

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miners clashed with police. Churchill, as Home

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Secretary, authorized sending in Metropolitan

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Police from London, crucially, without firearms

00:12:30.269 --> 00:12:32.990
rather than deploying the army immediately. Which

00:12:32.990 --> 00:12:35.289
he argued was actually a de -escalation. That

00:12:35.289 --> 00:12:38.210
was his defense, yes. That sending police was

00:12:38.210 --> 00:12:41.570
less provocative than sending soldiers. But for

00:12:41.570 --> 00:12:43.529
the miners and the burgeoning labor movement,

00:12:43.710 --> 00:12:46.600
it looked like the state. personified by this

00:12:46.600 --> 00:12:49.379
aristocratic home secretary coming down hard

00:12:49.379 --> 00:12:52.500
on striking workers it created this lasting image

00:12:52.500 --> 00:12:55.059
of him as being anti -labor which haunted him

00:12:55.059 --> 00:12:57.200
for years even though he was pushing through

00:12:57.610 --> 00:12:59.690
pro -worker legislation elsewhere. The irony

00:12:59.690 --> 00:13:02.190
is profound, isn't it? And then there's the almost

00:13:02.190 --> 00:13:04.830
theatrical siege of Sippy Street in 1911. Right,

00:13:04.889 --> 00:13:06.929
where he actually shows up at the scene. He does.

00:13:07.190 --> 00:13:10.289
These Latvian anarchists, armed burglars, are

00:13:10.289 --> 00:13:12.710
cornered in a house in London's East End. There's

00:13:12.710 --> 00:13:14.769
a gunfight. The house catches fire. Churchill

00:13:14.769 --> 00:13:17.250
arrives, gets photographed seemingly directing

00:13:17.250 --> 00:13:20.070
operations, and he makes this controversial call

00:13:20.070 --> 00:13:22.590
to let the house burn down rather than risk police

00:13:22.590 --> 00:13:25.250
lives trying to save the men inside. The press

00:13:25.250 --> 00:13:27.090
must have had a field day. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.

00:13:27.129 --> 00:13:29.190
The image of the Home Secretary at an active

00:13:29.190 --> 00:13:32.429
siege, it was sensational. Added to this perception

00:13:32.429 --> 00:13:35.230
of him being perhaps a bit too involved, a bit

00:13:35.230 --> 00:13:37.789
too dramatic. But then the global situation shifts

00:13:37.789 --> 00:13:40.490
things dramatically. The Agadir crisis in 1911.

00:13:40.789 --> 00:13:43.629
Yes, a naval standoff between Germany and France

00:13:43.629 --> 00:13:47.429
over Morocco. It really ramps up tensions and

00:13:47.429 --> 00:13:50.129
focuses minds in London on the German naval threat.

00:13:50.269 --> 00:13:52.710
For Churchill, it seems to have been a wake -up

00:13:52.710 --> 00:13:55.919
call. His focus pivots almost overnight. from

00:13:55.919 --> 00:13:59.460
domestic reform to naval preparedness. And that

00:13:59.460 --> 00:14:01.500
leads directly to his appointment as first Lord

00:14:01.500 --> 00:14:04.299
of the Admiralty later that year. Exactly. October

00:14:04.299 --> 00:14:07.860
1911, he throws himself into the role with characteristic

00:14:07.860 --> 00:14:11.399
energy. His main goal, ensure the Royal Navy

00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:14.759
is ready for a potential war with Germany. How

00:14:14.759 --> 00:14:17.549
does he go about that? He pushes for a massive

00:14:17.549 --> 00:14:19.950
shipbuilding program, famously vowing to build

00:14:19.950 --> 00:14:22.190
two British dreadnoughts for every one the Germans

00:14:22.190 --> 00:14:25.049
laid down. He establishes a proper naval war

00:14:25.049 --> 00:14:27.629
staff to improve strategic planning. He boosts

00:14:27.629 --> 00:14:30.679
sailors' pay. And, crucially, he champions naval

00:14:30.679 --> 00:14:32.899
aviation. The air arm. That seems quite forward

00:14:32.899 --> 00:14:34.860
-thinking for 1911. It really was. He basically

00:14:34.860 --> 00:14:37.139
creates the Royal Naval Air Service from scratch.

00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:40.059
He learned to fly himself briefly. He even supposedly

00:14:40.059 --> 00:14:43.019
coined the word seaplane. He ordered 100 aircraft,

00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:46.039
recognizing the potential of air power in naval

00:14:46.039 --> 00:14:48.360
warfare early on. And then there's the oil decision.

00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:51.100
That seems strategically vital. Hugely important,

00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:53.440
Churchill realized the Navy's future was oil

00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:56.580
-powered ships, not coal. But Britain had no

00:14:56.580 --> 00:15:00.519
secure oil supplies. So in June 1914, just before

00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:03.100
the war, he persuades the government to do something

00:15:03.100 --> 00:15:06.870
unprecedented. by majority stake, 51 % in the

00:15:06.870 --> 00:15:09.029
Anglo -Persian oil company. The government taking

00:15:09.029 --> 00:15:11.529
control of a private company for strategic reasons.

00:15:11.730 --> 00:15:14.090
Precisely. It was a massive move ensuring the

00:15:14.090 --> 00:15:16.929
Royal Navy had access to vital Persian Gulf oil

00:15:16.929 --> 00:15:19.610
for decades to come, arguably one of his most

00:15:19.610 --> 00:15:22.110
farsighted decisions. He also supported Irish

00:15:22.110 --> 00:15:24.490
home rule during this time, but opposed partition.

00:15:24.830 --> 00:15:26.929
Yes, he supported the Liberal government's push

00:15:26.929 --> 00:15:29.029
for home rule for Ireland, but he was against

00:15:29.029 --> 00:15:31.610
splitting off Ulster, famously saying, half a

00:15:31.610 --> 00:15:33.970
province cannot impose a permanent veto on...

00:15:33.960 --> 00:15:37.000
the nation, another complex balancing act. So

00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:40.600
war breaks out in August 1914. He's overseeing

00:15:40.600 --> 00:15:42.940
the Navy's initial actions, the blockade of Germany.

00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:45.740
And interestingly, he uses admiralty funds, kind

00:15:45.740 --> 00:15:47.899
of off the books initially, to support the development

00:15:47.899 --> 00:15:50.379
of a secret weapon, the Armored Tracked Vehicle

00:15:50.379 --> 00:15:52.820
Project, which eventually becomes the tank. He

00:15:52.820 --> 00:15:55.200
saw its potential early. But despite all this

00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:58.220
energy and foresight, his time at the admiralty

00:15:58.220 --> 00:16:02.129
ends in disaster. Gallipoli. Yes, the Dardanelles

00:16:02.129 --> 00:16:05.090
Campaign of 1915. It was Churchill's brainchild,

00:16:05.230 --> 00:16:07.529
really. The idea was to force the Dardanelles

00:16:07.529 --> 00:16:10.009
Street with naval power, knock Ottoman Turkey

00:16:10.009 --> 00:16:12.870
out of the war, open a supply route to Russia,

00:16:13.009 --> 00:16:15.490
and bypass the stalemate on the Western Front.

00:16:15.750 --> 00:16:18.669
A bold strategic gamble. It's extremely bold,

00:16:18.929 --> 00:16:21.710
but the naval attack failed disastrously. It

00:16:21.710 --> 00:16:24.269
was repulsed with heavy losses, and that led

00:16:24.269 --> 00:16:26.870
to the equally disastrous Gallipoli Land Campaign,

00:16:27.149 --> 00:16:29.490
trying to achieve by land what the Navy... he

00:16:29.490 --> 00:16:32.450
couldn't. Huge casualties, total failure. And

00:16:32.450 --> 00:16:34.750
Churchill got the blame. He became the scapegoat.

00:16:34.850 --> 00:16:37.110
The conservatives who joined the coalition government

00:16:37.110 --> 00:16:40.610
formed in May 1915 distrusted his judgment after

00:16:40.610 --> 00:16:43.009
Gallipoli and demanded his removal from the Admiralty.

00:16:43.070 --> 00:16:45.750
So he's demoted. Demoted to a powerless sinecure,

00:16:45.850 --> 00:16:48.830
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Utterly

00:16:48.830 --> 00:16:52.169
humiliating for him. By November 1915, he resigns

00:16:52.169 --> 00:16:54.129
from the government altogether. His meteoric

00:16:54.129 --> 00:16:57.250
rise is suddenly brutally halted. Gallipoli becomes

00:16:57.250 --> 00:16:59.950
this albatross around his neck for years. So,

00:17:00.070 --> 00:17:02.789
out of government. Disgraced over Gallipoli.

00:17:03.210 --> 00:17:05.609
What does Churchill do? He doesn't just fade

00:17:05.609 --> 00:17:08.029
away, does he? No, that wasn't his style. He

00:17:08.029 --> 00:17:10.450
does something quite remarkable, really. He rejoins

00:17:10.450 --> 00:17:12.410
the army and arranges to serve on the Western

00:17:12.410 --> 00:17:16.769
Front. Really? Back to active duty. Yes. He gets

00:17:16.769 --> 00:17:20.089
command of a battalion, the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers,

00:17:20.089 --> 00:17:24.009
as a lieutenant colonel in early 1916. And this

00:17:24.009 --> 00:17:26.009
wasn't some token posting miles from the fighting.

00:17:26.109 --> 00:17:28.690
He was in the trenches, sharing the risks with

00:17:28.690 --> 00:17:31.849
his men. He had several close calls, nearly killed

00:17:31.849 --> 00:17:33.809
by shrapnel. That must have gone some way to

00:17:33.809 --> 00:17:37.029
restoring his reputation. Showing personal courage.

00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:39.500
It certainly helped. It showed he wasn't just

00:17:39.500 --> 00:17:41.839
a politician playing at soldiers. He was willing

00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:44.339
to put his life on the line. And it allowed him

00:17:44.339 --> 00:17:47.339
to return to politics, albeit gradually. Lloyd

00:17:47.339 --> 00:17:49.420
George brought him back into government in 1917.

00:17:49.940 --> 00:17:52.400
As Minister of Munitions. Right. A critical role

00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:54.539
overseeing war production. He was apparently

00:17:54.539 --> 00:17:56.519
very effective, boosting output significantly.

00:17:57.079 --> 00:18:00.039
He also wasn't afraid to be tough. Famously ended

00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:02.099
a munitions worker's strike by threatening to

00:18:02.099 --> 00:18:04.500
conscript the stripers into the army. After the

00:18:04.500 --> 00:18:07.019
war ends, he becomes Secretary of State for War

00:18:07.019 --> 00:18:11.099
and Air in 1919. Big job overseeing demobilization.

00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:14.880
Yes, and it's here that his strong anti -communist

00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:17.039
views really come to the fore. He's dealing with

00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:19.119
the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. And

00:18:19.119 --> 00:18:22.019
he's wary of punishing Germany too harshly. He

00:18:22.019 --> 00:18:25.220
is, which might seem surprising. But his reasoning

00:18:25.220 --> 00:18:27.859
was strategic. He argued that a completely broken

00:18:27.859 --> 00:18:30.640
Germany might leave a vacuum. or worse, fall

00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:33.779
to Bolshevism itself. He saw Germany, even a

00:18:33.779 --> 00:18:36.599
defeated Germany, as a potential future bulwark

00:18:36.599 --> 00:18:39.220
against Soviet Russia. The famous cordon sanitaire

00:18:39.220 --> 00:18:42.119
idea. Exactly. That phrase comes from this period.

00:18:42.220 --> 00:18:45.119
His idea was to create this barrier, this quarantine

00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:47.660
line, of independent states around Soviet Russia

00:18:47.660 --> 00:18:49.940
to contain the spread of communism westward.

00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:53.400
His anti -Bolshevism was visceral, intense, and

00:18:53.400 --> 00:18:55.599
it shaped his foreign policy thinking for decades.

00:18:55.920 --> 00:18:58.119
He's also heavily involved in reshaping the post

00:18:58.119 --> 00:19:00.500
-war world, particularly in Ireland and the Middle

00:19:00.500 --> 00:19:03.279
East. Yes. As colonial secretary from 1921, he

00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:05.740
plays a key role in negotiating the Anglo -Irish

00:19:05.740 --> 00:19:08.299
Treaty, which creates the Irish Free State, a

00:19:08.299 --> 00:19:10.880
very complex and controversial process. And the

00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:13.299
Middle East. Yeah. Creating new countries out

00:19:13.299 --> 00:19:15.799
of the old Ottoman Empire. Right. He was central

00:19:15.799 --> 00:19:19.099
to the Cairo Conference in 1921, which essentially

00:19:19.099 --> 00:19:22.000
drew many of the modern borders. He was involved

00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:24.740
in installing King Faisal in Iraq and Abdullah

00:19:24.740 --> 00:19:27.660
in Transjordan, basically creating kingdoms to

00:19:27.660 --> 00:19:30.779
manage British interests. And his views on Zionism.

00:19:30.990 --> 00:19:33.289
He remained supportive, consistent with his earlier

00:19:33.289 --> 00:19:35.569
stance. He supported the idea of a Jewish national

00:19:35.569 --> 00:19:38.710
home in Palestine and, as colonial secretary,

00:19:39.150 --> 00:19:42.170
refused petitions from Palestinian Arabs asking

00:19:42.170 --> 00:19:45.150
to prohibit Jewish immigration. But then his

00:19:45.150 --> 00:19:48.569
political fortunes take another nosedive. 1922.

00:19:48.789 --> 00:19:51.470
A real crash this time. The Lloyd George coalition

00:19:51.470 --> 00:19:53.970
government collapses, partly over foreign policy

00:19:53.970 --> 00:19:56.109
crises like Chenak, there's a general election,

00:19:56.349 --> 00:19:58.809
and Churchill, who's actually in hospital having

00:19:58.809 --> 00:20:00.990
his appendix removed during the campaign. Bad

00:20:00.990 --> 00:20:03.890
timing. Terrible timing. He loses his seat in

00:20:03.890 --> 00:20:06.750
Dundee to, of all people, a prohibitionist candidate

00:20:06.750 --> 00:20:09.130
who campaigned on an anti -alcohol platform.

00:20:09.329 --> 00:20:12.289
Ouch. So he finds himself completely out. Completely.

00:20:12.349 --> 00:20:15.190
He famously described his situation with bleak

00:20:15.190 --> 00:20:18.299
humor. In the twinkling of an eye, I found myself

00:20:18.299 --> 00:20:20.420
without an office, without a seat, without a

00:20:20.420 --> 00:20:23.680
party, and without an appendix. A real low point.

00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:27.380
So, now, back to writing. Back to writing. It's

00:20:27.380 --> 00:20:30.160
his refuge, his income, and his way of battling

00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:32.660
the black dog again. He starts publishing his

00:20:32.660 --> 00:20:35.460
monumental history of the First World War, the

00:20:35.460 --> 00:20:38.880
world crisis. Hugely successful, critically and

00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:41.339
commercially. And he starts plotting his political

00:20:41.339 --> 00:20:44.660
comeback. But not necessarily with the liberals.

00:20:44.839 --> 00:20:46.920
No, he feels the liberal party is declining.

00:20:47.140 --> 00:20:49.339
He starts moving back towards the conservatives.

00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:52.940
He runs in 1924 for the Epping seat, initially

00:20:52.940 --> 00:20:54.859
as a constitutionalist, kind of bridging the

00:20:54.859 --> 00:20:57.680
gap in wins. A year later, he formally rejoins

00:20:57.680 --> 00:20:59.779
the conservative party. The prodigal son returns.

00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:02.740
And astonishingly, the conservative prime minister,

00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:05.819
Stanley Baldwin, immediately makes him chancellor

00:21:05.819 --> 00:21:07.779
of the Exchequer. It's one of the most surprising

00:21:07.779 --> 00:21:10.279
appointments in modern British history. Churchill

00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:13.069
had zero financial background. He'd spent years

00:21:13.069 --> 00:21:16.430
attacking conservative economic policy. Baldwin

00:21:16.430 --> 00:21:18.390
apparently said he did it to neutralize Churchill,

00:21:18.509 --> 00:21:20.630
better to have him inside the tent causing trouble

00:21:20.630 --> 00:21:23.089
than outside. So how did Chancellor Churchill

00:21:23.089 --> 00:21:26.349
do? The sources seem critical. Deeply critical.

00:21:26.450 --> 00:21:30.750
His tenure as chancellor, 1924 -1929, is dominated

00:21:30.750 --> 00:21:34.349
by one hugely controversial and many argue disastrous

00:21:34.349 --> 00:21:37.410
decision, returning Britain to the gold standard

00:21:37.410 --> 00:21:40.650
in 1925. OK, explain the gold standard issue.

00:21:41.069 --> 00:21:43.750
Why was it so bad? Well, Britain had left the

00:21:43.750 --> 00:21:45.789
gold standard during the war. Returning meant

00:21:45.789 --> 00:21:48.490
fixing the value of the pound sterling to a specific

00:21:48.490 --> 00:21:51.009
amount of gold. The problem was the rate Churchill

00:21:51.009 --> 00:21:54.150
chose the pre -war parity of $4 .86 to the pound.

00:21:54.230 --> 00:21:56.650
And that rate was too high. Way too high by 1925.

00:21:56.910 --> 00:21:59.190
The pound was effectively overvalued by about

00:21:59.190 --> 00:22:02.089
10%, the immediate consequence. British exports

00:22:02.089 --> 00:22:04.609
instantly became 10 % more expensive for foreign

00:22:04.609 --> 00:22:06.910
buyers. Crippling for industries that rely on

00:22:06.910 --> 00:22:09.519
exports. Absolutely devastating, especially for

00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:11.400
the coal industry, which was already struggling.

00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:14.460
It led to demands for wage cuts, massive industrial

00:22:14.460 --> 00:22:17.640
strife, and directly contributed to the conditions

00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:21.180
that caused the 1926 general strike. And Keynes

00:22:21.180 --> 00:22:23.470
warned him against it. John Maynard Keynes wrote

00:22:23.470 --> 00:22:26.210
a famous pamphlet, The Economic Consequences

00:22:26.210 --> 00:22:29.329
of Mr. Churchill, savaging the decision. He argued

00:22:29.329 --> 00:22:31.869
it would cause deflation, unemployment and industrial

00:22:31.869 --> 00:22:35.190
unrest. And he was right. It's seen as a major

00:22:35.190 --> 00:22:37.690
policy blunder that significantly hampered the

00:22:37.690 --> 00:22:40.190
British economy in the late 1920s. And during

00:22:40.190 --> 00:22:43.019
the general strike itself. Churchill took a very

00:22:43.019 --> 00:22:46.160
hard line. Extremely hard line. He edited the

00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:48.079
government's strike -breaking newspaper, the

00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:50.759
British Gazette, which was very provocative and

00:22:50.759 --> 00:22:53.220
propagandistic. Although, interestingly, after

00:22:53.220 --> 00:22:56.079
the strike, he did argue for introducing a legally

00:22:56.079 --> 00:22:58.799
binding minimum wage, showing that complex mix

00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:00.740
of attitudes again. But the damage with the labor

00:23:00.740 --> 00:23:03.319
movement was done. Oh, yes. The perception from

00:23:03.319 --> 00:23:05.559
Tony Pandy, reinforced by the general strike

00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:08.039
and the gold standard's impact on workers, it

00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:10.559
cemented his image in many working class communities

00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:13.519
as an enemy for a very long time. The conservatives

00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:17.339
lose the 1929 election and Churchill enters what

00:23:17.339 --> 00:23:21.200
become known as his wilderness years. Ten long

00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:24.380
years out of government office from 1929 right

00:23:24.380 --> 00:23:27.140
up to the outbreak of war in 1939. He's on the

00:23:27.140 --> 00:23:29.579
back benches increasingly isolated even within

00:23:29.579 --> 00:23:31.890
his own party. What occupies him during this

00:23:31.890 --> 00:23:34.130
decade? More writing. A huge amount of writing.

00:23:34.210 --> 00:23:36.690
Again, it's his income and his therapy. He writes

00:23:36.690 --> 00:23:39.329
the massive biography of his ancestor, Marlborough,

00:23:39.470 --> 00:23:42.630
his life and times. He writes his autobiography,

00:23:42.730 --> 00:23:45.029
My Early Life. He writes countless articles.

00:23:45.150 --> 00:23:47.450
He has to earn a living. And politically, he

00:23:47.450 --> 00:23:50.009
takes a stand that isolates him further. On India.

00:23:50.410 --> 00:23:53.230
Yes, the India question. The big debate in the

00:23:53.230 --> 00:23:55.670
early 1930s was about granting India dominion

00:23:55.670 --> 00:23:57.769
status, a step towards self -government within

00:23:57.769 --> 00:24:00.150
the empire. Churchill fiercely opposed this.

00:24:00.269 --> 00:24:03.170
Why? Back to his imperialism. Absolutely. He

00:24:03.170 --> 00:24:05.250
saw it as the first step towards dismantling

00:24:05.250 --> 00:24:07.369
the British empire, which he believed in passionately,

00:24:07.430 --> 00:24:09.730
almost mystically. He resigned from the conservative

00:24:09.730 --> 00:24:13.029
shadow cabinet in 1931 over this issue. His rhetoric

00:24:13.029 --> 00:24:15.490
was incredibly strong, famously calling Gandhi

00:24:15.490 --> 00:24:18.109
a seditious middle temple lawyer, now posing

00:24:18.109 --> 00:24:22.170
as a fakir. Wow. That's quite something. It alienated

00:24:22.170 --> 00:24:24.470
a lot of people, even within his own party. He

00:24:24.470 --> 00:24:27.109
seemed like a man out of time, clinging to an

00:24:27.109 --> 00:24:30.529
imperial past. But this isolation, this position

00:24:30.529 --> 00:24:34.009
on the fringes, it paradoxically gives him a

00:24:34.009 --> 00:24:36.430
unique platform for his other great cause of

00:24:36.430 --> 00:24:39.769
the 1930s. Precisely. His warnings about Nazi

00:24:39.769 --> 00:24:42.339
Germany. Because he wasn't bound by government

00:24:42.339 --> 00:24:45.119
responsibility or cabinet loyalty, he could speak

00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:48.200
his mind freely and loudly. And he starts warning

00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:51.099
about German rearmament very early. From 1933

00:24:51.099 --> 00:24:54.000
onwards, as soon as Hitler comes to power, he

00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.240
becomes the leading voice advocating for British

00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:59.099
rearmament, especially air power. He had sources,

00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:01.519
possibly clandestine, feeding him information

00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:03.809
about the buildup of the Luftwaffe. the German

00:25:03.809 --> 00:25:05.730
Air Force. And he's using this information in

00:25:05.730 --> 00:25:08.509
Parliament. Constantly. Warning against complacency,

00:25:08.630 --> 00:25:11.089
arguing against cuts to Britain's Air Force budget.

00:25:11.269 --> 00:25:13.329
He denounced the nature of the Nazi regime itself,

00:25:13.430 --> 00:25:15.710
its cruelty and intolerance. He saw the danger

00:25:15.710 --> 00:25:18.089
clearly when many others preferred not to. He

00:25:18.089 --> 00:25:20.190
was famously critical of Chamberlain's appeasement

00:25:20.190 --> 00:25:23.670
policy. Vehemently so. He saw the Munich Agreement

00:25:23.670 --> 00:25:26.349
in 1938, where Chamberlain gave Hitler parts

00:25:26.349 --> 00:25:29.170
of Czechoslovakia as a total disaster. He called

00:25:29.170 --> 00:25:32.579
it a total and unmitigated defeat. His prescription

00:25:32.579 --> 00:25:36.500
wasn't negotiation. It was deterrence, the accumulation

00:25:36.500 --> 00:25:39.220
of deterrence against the aggressor. Build up

00:25:39.220 --> 00:25:41.380
strength to prevent war or be ready to fight

00:25:41.380 --> 00:25:43.420
it. He also got involved in the abdication crisis

00:25:43.420 --> 00:25:46.680
in 1936. Yes, he supported King Edward VIII's

00:25:46.680 --> 00:25:49.220
desire to marry Wallis Simpson, which put him

00:25:49.220 --> 00:25:51.319
at odds with Baldwin and the establishment view.

00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:53.759
It was another instance of him seeming out of

00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:56.839
step, perhaps overly loyal or romantic. He later

00:25:56.839 --> 00:25:58.539
felt the abdication was rushed and unnecessary.

00:25:58.759 --> 00:26:01.400
So the wilderness years. Politically frustrating,

00:26:01.640 --> 00:26:04.259
personally difficult with a black dog, but ultimately

00:26:04.259 --> 00:26:06.900
they positioned him perfectly. When war finally

00:26:06.900 --> 00:26:08.839
came, the man who had been warning about it for

00:26:08.839 --> 00:26:10.819
years was the obvious choice to lead the fight.

00:26:10.980 --> 00:26:13.619
The outsider became indispensable. So September

00:26:13.619 --> 00:26:17.180
1939, Britain declares war on Germany. And almost

00:26:17.180 --> 00:26:20.339
immediately, Churchill is back. Instantly, the

00:26:20.339 --> 00:26:22.559
call goes out. He's reappointed first lord of

00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:25.180
the admiralty. The same post he held at the start

00:26:25.180 --> 00:26:27.740
of World War I. There's that famous signal sent

00:26:27.740 --> 00:26:31.119
to the fleet. Winston is back, a huge morale

00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:33.819
boost right away. And even during the phony war,

00:26:33.980 --> 00:26:36.279
that quiet initial period, he starts rebuilding

00:26:36.279 --> 00:26:38.559
his reputation. Yeah, things start happening

00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:41.079
at sea. The Battle of the River Plate, where

00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:43.539
British cruisers corner and effectively force

00:26:43.539 --> 00:26:45.759
the scuttling of the German pocket battleship

00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:49.210
Graf Spee. It's a big early victory. Then the

00:26:49.210 --> 00:26:52.529
Altmark incident in February 1940, where a Royal

00:26:52.529 --> 00:26:55.829
Navy destroyer boards a German supply ship in

00:26:55.829 --> 00:26:58.450
neutral Norwegian waters to rescue hundreds of

00:26:58.450 --> 00:27:00.210
British prisoners. That was controversial, but

00:27:00.210 --> 00:27:03.069
seen as decisive. Very much so. It contrasted

00:27:03.069 --> 00:27:05.049
sharply with the perceived inaction elsewhere.

00:27:05.369 --> 00:27:07.289
Churchill seemed like the only one actually doing

00:27:07.289 --> 00:27:09.490
things. He was projecting dynamism. And then

00:27:09.490 --> 00:27:11.630
the disaster of the Norway campaign in spring

00:27:11.630 --> 00:27:14.829
1940 changes everything. Completely. The failed

00:27:14.829 --> 00:27:16.670
Allied attempt to counter the German invasion

00:27:16.670 --> 00:27:18.970
of Norway leads to the crucial Norway debate

00:27:18.970 --> 00:27:22.210
in Parliament in May 1940. Chamberlain's government

00:27:22.210 --> 00:27:25.289
is savage. His majority collapses. And he has

00:27:25.289 --> 00:27:28.549
to go. But Churchill isn't the obvious successor

00:27:28.549 --> 00:27:31.710
initially. Lord Halifax is considered. Halifax

00:27:31.710 --> 00:27:33.869
was the foreign secretary, widely respected,

00:27:34.190 --> 00:27:37.390
favored by the king and many conservatives. But

00:27:37.390 --> 00:27:40.839
there were two problems. One, Halifax was reluctant.

00:27:41.240 --> 00:27:44.539
Two, and crucially, he was in the House of Lords.

00:27:44.740 --> 00:27:47.559
Which makes leading a wartime government difficult.

00:27:47.980 --> 00:27:50.539
Very difficult. You need the prime minister in

00:27:50.539 --> 00:27:52.660
the House of Commons answering questions, leading

00:27:52.660 --> 00:27:55.619
debates. Also, the Labor Party, whose support

00:27:55.619 --> 00:27:57.579
was essential for a national unity government,

00:27:57.819 --> 00:27:59.960
made it clear they would serve under Churchill,

00:28:00.019 --> 00:28:02.440
but probably not under Halifax. But Churchill

00:28:02.440 --> 00:28:05.259
gets the call from the king on May 10th, 1940,

00:28:05.660 --> 00:28:08.700
the very day Hitler launches his invasion of

00:28:08.700 --> 00:28:10.839
France and the Low Countries. Incredible timing.

00:28:10.980 --> 00:28:13.099
He forms his national government, bringing in

00:28:13.099 --> 00:28:15.799
labor and liberal leaders, and he immediately

00:28:15.799 --> 00:28:18.339
creates this new powerful position for himself.

00:28:18.759 --> 00:28:21.039
Minister of Defense, alongside being Prime Minister.

00:28:21.160 --> 00:28:23.599
Giving him direct control over the military strategy.

00:28:23.980 --> 00:28:27.220
Total control. He wanted his hands on the levers

00:28:27.220 --> 00:28:29.799
of the entire war machine. He famously wrote

00:28:29.799 --> 00:28:31.599
later that he felt his whole life had been a

00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:33.779
preparation for this moment, for this hour, and

00:28:33.779 --> 00:28:36.549
for this trial. And almost immediately. His words

00:28:36.549 --> 00:28:38.789
become as important as weapons. His speeches.

00:28:38.849 --> 00:28:41.470
Absolutely crucial. France is collapsing. Britain

00:28:41.470 --> 00:28:45.230
faces invasion. Morale is everything. And Churchill,

00:28:45.430 --> 00:28:47.890
despite that slight lisp, the difficulty with

00:28:47.890 --> 00:28:51.230
sounds which he somehow weaponized, making Nazi

00:28:51.230 --> 00:28:54.849
sound even more contemptuous as Narsi, he finds

00:28:54.849 --> 00:28:57.390
the words the nation needs to hear. The blood,

00:28:57.410 --> 00:29:01.289
toil, tears, and sweat speech. His first is PM.

00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:04.839
Setting the tone, no false promises, just grim

00:29:04.839 --> 00:29:06.680
determination. But behind the scenes, there's

00:29:06.680 --> 00:29:08.900
a moment of real crisis in the War Cabinet, isn't

00:29:08.900 --> 00:29:12.000
there? Late May 1940. Yes, the War Cabinet crisis.

00:29:12.180 --> 00:29:14.579
As a British army is being pushed back to Dunkirk,

00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:17.039
Lord Halifax raises the possibility of exploring

00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:19.519
peace terms, perhaps through Mussolini acting

00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:21.940
as an intermediary with Hitler. Seriously considering

00:29:21.940 --> 00:29:52.569
negotiation. How did he win that argument? That

00:29:52.569 --> 00:29:56.160
resolve is then broadcast. to the world dunkirk

00:29:56.160 --> 00:29:59.099
happens operation dynamo the evacuation of over

00:29:59.099 --> 00:30:02.640
330 000 allied soldiers from the beaches churchill

00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:05.440
calls it a miracle of deliverance but warns parliament

00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:08.440
wars are not won by evacuations and then comes

00:30:08.440 --> 00:30:11.079
the we shall fight on the beaches speech june

00:30:11.079 --> 00:30:15.660
4th 1940 an incredible piece of oratory defiance

00:30:15.660 --> 00:30:18.480
determination but also a clear signal to the

00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:20.740
united states that britain needed help followed

00:30:20.740 --> 00:30:22.960
shortly after by the this was their finest hour

00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:26.130
speech as the battle He's not just talking, though.

00:30:26.170 --> 00:30:33.230
He's acting, setting up new organizations. And

00:30:33.230 --> 00:30:49.079
during the Battle of Britain itself? That summer

00:30:49.079 --> 00:30:51.980
in Ottawa of 1940, he coins another immortal

00:30:51.980 --> 00:30:55.180
phrase for the RAF pilots. Never in the field

00:30:55.180 --> 00:30:57.759
of human conflict was so much owed by so many

00:30:57.759 --> 00:31:00.900
to so few. Perfect encapsulation of the sacrifice

00:31:00.900 --> 00:31:03.819
and the stakes. Strategically, his absolute top

00:31:03.819 --> 00:31:06.539
priority becomes securing American aid. Absolutely

00:31:06.539 --> 00:31:09.720
critical. Britain couldn't win alone. He cultivates

00:31:09.720 --> 00:31:12.160
this incredibly close personal relationship with

00:31:12.160 --> 00:31:14.599
President Roosevelt. First comes the destroyers

00:31:14.599 --> 00:31:17.440
for bases deal in September 1940. Britain gets

00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:20.509
50. old U .S. destroyers desperately needed for

00:31:20.509 --> 00:31:22.549
convoy protection in exchange for giving the

00:31:22.549 --> 00:31:24.930
U .S. long leases on British bases in the Atlantic

00:31:24.930 --> 00:31:27.289
and Caribbean. A smart trade, though maybe unequal.

00:31:27.450 --> 00:31:29.829
Pragmatic. Churchill knew he needed those ships

00:31:29.829 --> 00:31:33.029
now. Then comes the real game changer. Lend -lease,

00:31:33.289 --> 00:31:36.690
formally enacted in March 1941, the U .S. would

00:31:36.690 --> 00:31:39.509
supply Britain with arms, food, raw materials,

00:31:39.769 --> 00:31:42.880
essentially on credit. with repayment deferred

00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:45.279
until after the war. How was repayment defined?

00:31:45.640 --> 00:31:47.799
That was the genius. It wasn't just about money.

00:31:47.920 --> 00:31:50.259
The U .S. accepted that Britain's defense was

00:31:50.259 --> 00:31:53.559
America's defense. So repayment could be in kind

00:31:53.559 --> 00:31:55.700
through things like intelligence sharing and

00:31:55.700 --> 00:31:58.079
ultimately just by Britain surviving and fighting.

00:31:58.319 --> 00:32:00.680
It was Roosevelt's way of helping Britain short

00:32:00.680 --> 00:32:03.519
of actually entering the war. Then Hitler makes

00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:06.400
a strategic blunder, invading the Soviet Union

00:32:06.400 --> 00:32:10.259
in June 1941. Operation Barbarossa. And Churchill,

00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:13.299
the arch anti -communist, doesn't hesitate for

00:32:13.299 --> 00:32:15.759
a second. He immediately pledges British support

00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:17.920
to Stalin. That's when he makes that famous quip.

00:32:18.059 --> 00:32:19.920
If Hitler invaded hell, I would at least make

00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:21.759
a favorable reference to the devil in the House

00:32:21.759 --> 00:32:23.960
of Commons. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:26.619
For now, absolutely. Defeating Hitler trumped

00:32:26.619 --> 00:32:28.880
everything. This leads to the first meeting with

00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:30.920
Roosevelt off the coast of Newfoundland in August

00:32:30.920 --> 00:32:33.339
1941, where they agree the Atlantic Charter.

00:32:33.420 --> 00:32:35.839
Which outlines post -war aims. Yes, principles

00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:38.380
like self -determination, free trade, freedom

00:32:38.380 --> 00:32:41.440
of the seas, disarmament. It's essentially the

00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:44.130
foundation stone for the United Nations. a statement

00:32:44.130 --> 00:32:46.529
of shared values against Nazi tyranny. Then Pearl

00:32:46.529 --> 00:32:50.349
Harbor, December 7th, 1941. The U .S. is in the

00:32:50.349 --> 00:32:53.089
war. Churchill reportedly slept soundly for the

00:32:53.089 --> 00:32:55.849
first time in years. He immediately travels to

00:32:55.849 --> 00:32:58.230
Washington for the Arcadia Conference. Crucially,

00:32:58.309 --> 00:33:02.049
they agree on the Europe first strategy. Prioritize

00:33:02.049 --> 00:33:04.369
defeating Hitler before focusing fully on Japan.

00:33:04.609 --> 00:33:07.009
And the first joint military operation is decided.

00:33:07.329 --> 00:33:09.509
Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North

00:33:09.509 --> 00:33:13.410
Africa, planned for late 1942. Churchill also

00:33:13.410 --> 00:33:16.529
agrees to appoint an American, Dwight D. Eisenhower,

00:33:16.690 --> 00:33:19.250
as the supreme commander for the eventual invasion

00:33:19.250 --> 00:33:21.890
of Europe. Building that alliance was paramount.

00:33:22.109 --> 00:33:24.690
But the middle war years bring setbacks and personal

00:33:24.690 --> 00:33:27.529
challenges for Churchill, too. His health. Yes.

00:33:27.549 --> 00:33:29.470
He suffers a heart attack while in Washington

00:33:29.470 --> 00:33:32.890
in late 41 or early 42, then pneumonia later.

00:33:33.190 --> 00:33:35.829
He's working at an incredible pace, under immense

00:33:35.829 --> 00:33:38.849
stress, and he's not young. The doctor's order

00:33:38.849 --> 00:33:41.660
rests, but he largely ignores them. He insists

00:33:41.660 --> 00:33:44.380
on traveling, making speeches like the famous

00:33:44.380 --> 00:33:46.440
some chicken, some neck speech to the Canadian

00:33:46.440 --> 00:33:48.839
parliament after his recovery. And militarily,

00:33:48.920 --> 00:33:51.759
1942 is a rough year initially. Very rough. The

00:33:51.759 --> 00:33:53.599
fall of Singapore to the Japanese in February

00:33:53.599 --> 00:33:56.640
1942 is a devastating blow to British prestige

00:33:56.640 --> 00:33:59.240
and morale. Churchill calls it the worst disaster

00:33:59.240 --> 00:34:02.000
in British military history. Then the German

00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:04.559
battleships Starnhorst and Nysenau make their

00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:06.680
audacious channel dash right under the noses

00:34:06.680 --> 00:34:09.550
of the RAF and Royal Navy. His morale apparently

00:34:09.550 --> 00:34:12.050
hit rock bottom. But things start to turn later

00:34:12.050 --> 00:34:14.710
that year. Yes. The autumn of 1942 is pivotal.

00:34:15.369 --> 00:34:17.809
Montgomery's victory at El Alamein in North Africa

00:34:17.809 --> 00:34:21.050
and the Soviets holding firm at Stalingrad. That's

00:34:21.050 --> 00:34:23.150
when Churchill delivers that other famous line.

00:34:23.269 --> 00:34:25.570
Now, this is not the end. It is not even the

00:34:25.570 --> 00:34:28.130
beginning of the end, but it is perhaps the end

00:34:28.130 --> 00:34:30.989
of the beginning. Cautious optimism. And he pushes

00:34:30.989 --> 00:34:33.389
hard for the Mediterranean strategy, invading

00:34:33.389 --> 00:34:36.809
Italy. He did. He argued strongly to Roosevelt

00:34:36.809 --> 00:34:39.550
that after clearing North Africa, the next logical

00:34:39.550 --> 00:34:43.489
step was Sicily, then Italy, the soft underbelly

00:34:43.489 --> 00:34:46.530
of Axis Europe, as he famously put it. The Americans

00:34:46.530 --> 00:34:48.909
were more focused on a direct cross -channel

00:34:48.909 --> 00:34:51.809
invasion, but Churchill persuaded them. Though

00:34:51.809 --> 00:34:53.969
Italy turned out to be anything but soft. No,

00:34:54.130 --> 00:34:57.070
the Italian campaign became a long, hard slog.

00:34:57.650 --> 00:35:00.349
Churchill himself later acknowledged the difficulties,

00:35:00.670 --> 00:35:03.130
referring to the stalled Anzio beachhead as being

00:35:03.130 --> 00:35:05.550
like a stranded whale. The relationship with

00:35:05.550 --> 00:35:08.090
Stalin and Roosevelt deepens with the big conferences.

00:35:08.489 --> 00:35:11.409
Tehran in 1943. Yes, the first meeting of the

00:35:11.409 --> 00:35:14.070
big three leaders. Key decisions are made. agreement

00:35:14.070 --> 00:35:16.130
that Germany must be forced into unconditional

00:35:16.130 --> 00:35:18.230
surrender and would be divided into occupation

00:35:18.230 --> 00:35:21.670
zones. And crucially, Roosevelt and Stalin really

00:35:21.670 --> 00:35:23.869
pressed Churchill to commit firmly to a date

00:35:23.869 --> 00:35:26.150
for Operation Overlords, the invasion of France,

00:35:26.250 --> 00:35:28.710
for 1944. Churchill was still hesitant about

00:35:28.710 --> 00:35:30.929
overlords. He still favored peripheral operations,

00:35:31.269 --> 00:35:33.769
hitting Germany from the edges, but he was essentially

00:35:33.769 --> 00:35:36.349
outvoted. The Americans and Soviets insisted

00:35:36.349 --> 00:35:39.130
on the second front in France. This period also

00:35:39.130 --> 00:35:43.500
sees the terrible Bengal famine in 1943. What

00:35:43.500 --> 00:35:45.880
was Churchill's government's role or lack of

00:35:45.880 --> 00:35:49.380
role there? It's deeply controversial. Millions

00:35:49.380 --> 00:35:52.619
died. The causes were complex. Japanese occupation

00:35:52.619 --> 00:35:55.360
of Burma cut off rice supplies. There were crop

00:35:55.360 --> 00:35:58.059
failures, national disasters and poor local administration.

00:35:58.539 --> 00:36:00.860
But Churchill's government in London is heavily

00:36:00.860 --> 00:36:03.739
criticized for its slow response. Why the delay

00:36:03.739 --> 00:36:06.559
in sending aid? The official reason given was

00:36:06.559 --> 00:36:08.780
a critical shortage of shipping due to the war

00:36:08.780 --> 00:36:11.360
in the Atlantic and elsewhere. Every ship was

00:36:11.360 --> 00:36:13.960
needed for the war effort. Requests for large

00:36:13.960 --> 00:36:15.920
amounts of grain relief were initially refused

00:36:15.920 --> 00:36:18.280
on those grounds. But aid was eventually sent.

00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:21.179
Yes, eventually Churchill did order grain shipments,

00:36:21.239 --> 00:36:23.619
but critics argue it was too little, too late.

00:36:23.780 --> 00:36:26.679
The controversy was massively inflamed by reports

00:36:26.679 --> 00:36:29.139
of derogatory comments Churchill allegedly made

00:36:29.139 --> 00:36:31.559
privately about Indians, suggesting they were

00:36:31.559 --> 00:36:33.800
somehow responsible for the famine by breeding

00:36:33.800 --> 00:36:36.400
like rabbits. Whether he said exactly that is

00:36:36.400 --> 00:36:38.699
debated, but it reflected a callous attitude

00:36:38.699 --> 00:36:41.360
that damaged his reputation severely, especially

00:36:41.360 --> 00:36:44.809
in India. Moving towards the endgame. D -Day,

00:36:44.909 --> 00:36:49.090
June 6th, 1944. Churchill's heavily involved

00:36:49.090 --> 00:36:51.849
in planning overlords. Absolutely thrown himself

00:36:51.849 --> 00:36:54.070
into it by this point, despite his earlier reservations.

00:36:54.489 --> 00:36:56.590
He wanted to personally witness the landing,

00:36:56.750 --> 00:36:58.909
sail with the fleet, but King George VI apparently

00:36:58.909 --> 00:37:01.510
forbade him from taking the risk. Then the Yalta

00:37:01.510 --> 00:37:05.530
Conference, February 1945. Roosevelt, Churchill,

00:37:05.750 --> 00:37:09.559
Stalin meeting again as victory seems near. Yalta

00:37:09.559 --> 00:37:11.440
makes progress on the structure of the United

00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:13.960
Nations, but it's deeply controversial for the

00:37:13.960 --> 00:37:16.739
agreements reached about post -war Poland, which

00:37:16.739 --> 00:37:18.739
essentially conceded dominant Soviet influence

00:37:18.739 --> 00:37:21.230
there. Churchill faced a lot of criticism back

00:37:21.230 --> 00:37:24.289
home for selling out Poland. Yalta also had consequences

00:37:24.289 --> 00:37:27.269
for displaced people. Operation Keelhaul. Yes,

00:37:27.449 --> 00:37:29.449
this was a secret agreement made at Yalta, though

00:37:29.449 --> 00:37:32.070
implemented afterwards. It involved the forced

00:37:32.070 --> 00:37:34.869
repatriation of millions of Soviet citizens who

00:37:34.869 --> 00:37:37.030
were in allied occupied zones back to the Soviet

00:37:37.030 --> 00:37:39.429
Union, regardless of their wishes. This included

00:37:39.429 --> 00:37:42.070
prisoners of war, forced laborers, but also anti

00:37:42.070 --> 00:37:44.250
-communist Russians and people from Eastern European

00:37:44.250 --> 00:37:47.429
nations annexed by the USSR. And they faced persecution

00:37:47.429 --> 00:37:50.820
back home. Many faced execution or imprisonment

00:37:50.820 --> 00:37:53.599
in the gulags. It was a brutal act of political

00:37:53.599 --> 00:37:56.820
expediency done to appease Stalin and maintain

00:37:56.820 --> 00:37:59.139
the alliance in the final phase of the war against

00:37:59.139 --> 00:38:02.179
Japan. It remains a very dark chapter. And the

00:38:02.179 --> 00:38:05.539
bombing campaign against Germany? The firebombing

00:38:05.539 --> 00:38:08.880
of Dresden in February 1945 caused immense civilian

00:38:08.880 --> 00:38:11.480
casualties estimates very wildly, but certainly

00:38:11.480 --> 00:38:14.340
tens of thousands. Coming so late in the war,

00:38:14.480 --> 00:38:16.840
its military value was questioned. Afterwards,

00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:18.900
Churchill himself seemed to have second thoughts.

00:38:19.119 --> 00:38:21.500
He wrote a memo questioning the strategy of area

00:38:21.500 --> 00:38:24.300
bombing purely for terror and wanton destruction

00:38:24.300 --> 00:38:27.119
and urged focusing back on specific military

00:38:27.119 --> 00:38:30.380
and industrial targets. VE Day finally arrives

00:38:30.380 --> 00:38:34.739
May 8th, 1945. Churchill broadcast to the nation.

00:38:34.920 --> 00:38:37.539
Moment of supreme triumph. But even then, there's

00:38:37.539 --> 00:38:39.599
that anecdote about him on the balcony at Buckingham

00:38:39.599 --> 00:38:42.179
Palace. He insists that Ernest Bevin, the labor

00:38:42.179 --> 00:38:44.099
minister who'd served loyally in the war cabinet,

00:38:44.239 --> 00:38:46.500
share the applause. Bevin supposedly replies,

00:38:46.800 --> 00:38:49.179
no, Winston, this is your day. A sign of the

00:38:49.179 --> 00:38:51.300
respect he commanded, even across party lines

00:38:51.300 --> 00:38:53.780
at that moment. But that unity dissolves almost

00:38:53.780 --> 00:38:57.179
instantly. The coalition ends. Churchill leads

00:38:57.179 --> 00:38:59.300
a caretaker government into a general election.

00:38:59.460 --> 00:39:02.699
And he seems... Out of touch with the public

00:39:02.699 --> 00:39:05.260
mood. His performance at the Potsdam conference

00:39:05.260 --> 00:39:07.539
with Truman and Stalin just before the election

00:39:07.539 --> 00:39:10.239
result was apparently poor. Eden described him

00:39:10.239 --> 00:39:13.380
as unfocused, easily manipulated by Stalin. And

00:39:13.380 --> 00:39:15.559
the election campaign itself. A disaster for

00:39:15.559 --> 00:39:17.840
him. He misjudged the public desire for post

00:39:17.840 --> 00:39:20.739
-war change, for social reform. People wanted

00:39:20.739 --> 00:39:23.059
the implementation of the beverage report, the

00:39:23.059 --> 00:39:25.360
blueprint for the welfare state, including the

00:39:25.360 --> 00:39:28.000
National Health Service. Labor promised that.

00:39:28.119 --> 00:39:30.860
Churchill seemed focused on past glories and

00:39:30.860 --> 00:39:33.579
future imperial concerns. And he made that famous

00:39:33.579 --> 00:39:37.039
gaffe about labor needing a Gestapo. Yes, suggesting

00:39:37.039 --> 00:39:39.280
labor would need secret police to implement their

00:39:39.280 --> 00:39:42.199
socialist policies. It backfired badly, seemed

00:39:42.199 --> 00:39:44.400
absurd and offensive after a war fought against

00:39:44.400 --> 00:39:48.179
the Gestapo. The result, in July 1945, was a

00:39:48.179 --> 00:39:50.599
landslide victory for Clement Attlee's Labor

00:39:50.599 --> 00:39:53.480
Party. Despite Churchill's immense personal popularity

00:39:53.480 --> 00:39:57.000
as the war leader. Astonishing, but true. The

00:39:57.000 --> 00:39:59.199
public admired him hugely for winning the war,

00:39:59.380 --> 00:40:01.500
but they didn't trust him to win the peace, or

00:40:01.500 --> 00:40:04.579
rather, to build the kind of peace they wanted.

00:40:05.039 --> 00:40:07.739
His wife Clementine tried to console him, saying

00:40:07.739 --> 00:40:11.380
defeat might be a blessing in disguise. His reply

00:40:11.380 --> 00:40:14.179
was classic Churchill. At the moment, it seems

00:40:14.179 --> 00:40:17.400
very effectively disguised. He was utterly devastated.

00:40:18.059 --> 00:40:20.579
So kicked out of office right at his moment of

00:40:20.579 --> 00:40:23.239
victory. But Churchill doesn't just retire. He

00:40:23.239 --> 00:40:25.420
stays on as leader of the conservative party,

00:40:25.500 --> 00:40:27.639
leader of the opposition. And he finds a new

00:40:27.639 --> 00:40:30.880
enemy, or rather refocuses on an old one. Soviet

00:40:30.880 --> 00:40:33.460
communism. Immediately. His attention shifts

00:40:33.460 --> 00:40:35.980
fully to the emerging Cold War. And less than

00:40:35.980 --> 00:40:38.809
a year after the election defeat. In March 1946,

00:40:39.170 --> 00:40:41.809
he travels to Fulton, Missouri, in the U .S.,

00:40:41.809 --> 00:40:44.469
and delivers probably his most famous post -war

00:40:44.469 --> 00:40:46.849
speech. The Iron Curtain speech. Exactly. He

00:40:46.849 --> 00:40:49.210
warns starkly about Soviet expansionism in Eastern

00:40:49.210 --> 00:40:51.789
Europe, declaring that an iron curtain has descended

00:40:51.789 --> 00:40:54.150
across the continent. It's a powerful, defining

00:40:54.150 --> 00:40:56.929
image of the Cold War divide. And in that speech,

00:40:56.969 --> 00:40:58.550
he also calls for something else significant.

00:40:59.079 --> 00:41:02.460
Yes, he explicitly calls for a special relationship

00:41:02.460 --> 00:41:04.420
between the British Commonwealth and the United

00:41:04.420 --> 00:41:07.119
States. He sees this Anglo -American alliance

00:41:07.119 --> 00:41:09.860
as the essential bedrock for defending democracy

00:41:09.860 --> 00:41:12.579
against the Soviet threat. He's really trying

00:41:12.579 --> 00:41:14.980
to formalize and cement that wartime partnership.

00:41:15.260 --> 00:41:17.380
He also talks about European unity around this

00:41:17.380 --> 00:41:19.860
time. He does. He becomes quite a vocal proponent

00:41:19.860 --> 00:41:23.199
of pan -Europeanism in the late 1940s. He gives

00:41:23.199 --> 00:41:26.059
speeches calling for a United States of Europe,

00:41:26.239 --> 00:41:28.780
arguing that Franco -German reconciliation is

00:41:28.780 --> 00:41:31.639
vital for peace. But with a catch right for Britain.

00:41:32.059 --> 00:41:34.199
Always a crucial caveat. He envisioned Britain

00:41:34.199 --> 00:41:37.380
as a supporter, a sponsor, even a partner of

00:41:37.380 --> 00:41:39.460
a united Europe, but never part of it in a federal

00:41:39.460 --> 00:41:42.739
sense. Britain, in his view, had its destiny

00:41:42.739 --> 00:41:44.980
tied to the Commonwealth and the special relationship

00:41:44.980 --> 00:41:47.260
with America. Its global status was separate.

00:41:47.539 --> 00:41:50.099
Joining a European federation was unthinkable.

00:41:50.159 --> 00:41:52.760
Back to that imperial mindset in a way. He eventually

00:41:52.760 --> 00:41:56.659
gets back into power, wins the 1951 general election.

00:41:56.780 --> 00:41:59.440
Just scrapes back in, actually. Labour won more

00:41:59.440 --> 00:42:01.480
votes overall, but the Conservatives won. more

00:42:01.480 --> 00:42:03.500
seats, so he becomes prime minister again at

00:42:03.500 --> 00:42:06.059
the age of nearly 77. And his health is starting

00:42:06.059 --> 00:42:09.019
to fail by this point. Increasingly so. He suffers

00:42:09.019 --> 00:42:11.480
several minor strokes, and then a quite serious

00:42:11.480 --> 00:42:15.219
one in 1953, which incapacitates him for a while.

00:42:16.139 --> 00:42:18.380
Remarkably, the severity of this stroke was kept

00:42:18.380 --> 00:42:20.659
secret from the public and even most of the cabinet

00:42:20.659 --> 00:42:23.300
at the time. So this second premiership, 1951

00:42:23.300 --> 00:42:25.880
-1955, what are the priorities? Is it still the

00:42:25.880 --> 00:42:29.170
Cold War and the Empire? Very much so. foreign

00:42:29.170 --> 00:42:32.190
affairs dominate his thinking maintaining the

00:42:32.190 --> 00:42:35.309
anglo -american relationship is key trying often

00:42:35.309 --> 00:42:37.710
vainly to manage the decline of the british empire

00:42:37.710 --> 00:42:41.309
the u .s under eisenhower was actually much less

00:42:41.309 --> 00:42:43.690
supportive of british imperial ambitions than

00:42:43.690 --> 00:42:46.349
churchill hoped they were often quietly encouraging

00:42:46.349 --> 00:42:48.849
decolonization which frustrated him what about

00:42:48.849 --> 00:42:52.199
domestic policy any major initiatives Not really

00:42:52.199 --> 00:42:54.480
his focus anymore. The one area where his government

00:42:54.480 --> 00:42:57.400
did make significant progress was housing. They

00:42:57.400 --> 00:42:59.619
achieved their manifesto pledge, overseen by

00:42:59.619 --> 00:43:02.579
Harold McMillan, of building 300 ,000 new houses

00:43:02.579 --> 00:43:04.840
a year, which was badly needed after the war.

00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:07.900
But social reform, economic policy, that was

00:43:07.900 --> 00:43:10.199
largely left to his ministers like Butler. And

00:43:10.199 --> 00:43:11.860
internationally, he's dealing with challenges

00:43:11.860 --> 00:43:15.679
like Egypt and Kenya. Yes. He reluctantly agrees

00:43:15.679 --> 00:43:17.860
to a phased withdrawal of British troops from

00:43:17.860 --> 00:43:20.860
the Suez Canal zone in Egypt in 1954, under pressure.

00:43:21.420 --> 00:43:24.559
But elsewhere, he maintains a firm imperial stance,

00:43:24.820 --> 00:43:27.739
continuing military operations against the communist

00:43:27.739 --> 00:43:30.760
insurgency in the Malayan emergency and overseeing

00:43:30.760 --> 00:43:33.559
the often brutal response to the Mau Mau uprising

00:43:33.559 --> 00:43:36.840
in Kenya, still clinging to the idea of empire.

00:43:37.139 --> 00:43:39.019
He tried to engage with the Soviets after Stalin

00:43:39.019 --> 00:43:42.260
died. He did. After Stalin's death in 1953, Churchill

00:43:42.260 --> 00:43:44.920
saw a potential opening, a chance for detente.

00:43:45.320 --> 00:43:47.599
He pushed for a summit meeting with the new Soviet

00:43:47.599 --> 00:43:50.360
leaders. But President Eisenhower was deeply

00:43:50.360 --> 00:43:52.539
skeptical, feeling it would just be a Soviet

00:43:52.539 --> 00:43:54.940
propaganda exercise, and essentially blocked

00:43:54.940 --> 00:43:56.980
the idea. That must have been frustrating for

00:43:56.980 --> 00:43:59.460
Churchill. Immensely. He felt the world was missing

00:43:59.460 --> 00:44:02.449
a crucial opportunity. He also developed a significant

00:44:02.449 --> 00:44:04.829
distrust for Eisenhower's Secretary of State,

00:44:04.989 --> 00:44:08.030
John Foster Dulles, whom he saw as rigid and

00:44:08.030 --> 00:44:10.550
confrontational. You see the U .S. and U .K.

00:44:10.610 --> 00:44:12.650
strategic views diverging more clearly in this

00:44:12.650 --> 00:44:14.530
period. He finally retires as Prime Minister

00:44:14.530 --> 00:44:18.630
in 1955. Yes, hands over to Anthony Eden. He

00:44:18.630 --> 00:44:20.889
accepts a knighthood from the Queen in 1953,

00:44:21.250 --> 00:44:24.050
becoming Sir Winston, and accepts the Order of

00:44:24.050 --> 00:44:26.400
the Garter. britain's highest order of chivalry

00:44:26.400 --> 00:44:28.960
didn't he turn down being made a duke he did

00:44:28.960 --> 00:44:31.380
apparently the queen offered to create him duke

00:44:31.380 --> 00:44:34.559
of london a very rare honor but churchill declined

00:44:35.099 --> 00:44:37.300
supposedly because his son Randolph, who hoped

00:44:37.300 --> 00:44:39.639
to follow him into politics, wouldn't inherit

00:44:39.639 --> 00:44:41.679
the title under the rules at the time and won't

00:44:41.679 --> 00:44:44.119
be disadvantaged. He remains an MP for several

00:44:44.119 --> 00:44:47.000
more years. Until the 1964 general election,

00:44:47.139 --> 00:44:49.699
yes, though his appearances in Parliament become

00:44:49.699 --> 00:44:52.860
increasingly rare. A moment of recognition comes

00:44:52.860 --> 00:44:55.860
in 1963 when President Kennedy makes him an honorary

00:44:55.860 --> 00:44:58.460
citizen of the United States. And he passes away

00:44:58.460 --> 00:45:02.710
in 1965. January 24th, 1965, at the age of 90,

00:45:02.849 --> 00:45:05.789
he was given a magnificent state funeral, a rare

00:45:05.789 --> 00:45:08.469
honor for a non -royal broadcast around the world.

00:45:08.730 --> 00:45:11.769
Huge crowds lined the streets of London, a testament

00:45:11.769 --> 00:45:14.449
to the enormous impact he'd had. Beyond the politics

00:45:14.449 --> 00:45:16.929
and the wars, we need to touch on the other facets

00:45:16.929 --> 00:45:20.090
of his persona, the writer, the artist. Absolutely.

00:45:20.190 --> 00:45:22.570
The writing is central. He won the Nobel Prize

00:45:22.570 --> 00:45:26.329
in Literature in 1953, not for fiction, but for

00:45:26.329 --> 00:45:29.409
his historical and biographical works, his speeches,

00:45:29.510 --> 00:45:33.530
his mastery, as the citation said. And he had

00:45:33.530 --> 00:45:36.130
to use the name Winston S. Churchill on his books

00:45:36.130 --> 00:45:38.929
to avoid being confused with an American novelist

00:45:38.929 --> 00:45:41.789
of the same name. And the painting, that was

00:45:41.789 --> 00:45:43.989
more than just a hobby. It seems to have been

00:45:43.989 --> 00:45:46.289
deeply important to him, another way to cope

00:45:46.289 --> 00:45:48.989
with the Black Dog. He started painting relatively

00:45:48.989 --> 00:45:51.809
late in life, around 40, but became incredibly

00:45:51.809 --> 00:45:54.929
prolific, producing hundreds of canvases, mostly

00:45:54.929 --> 00:45:57.510
landscapes. He often painted under the pseudonym

00:45:57.510 --> 00:45:59.949
Charles Morin. He was actually quite accomplished.

00:46:00.250 --> 00:46:02.289
He also had other, maybe more surprising interests.

00:46:02.949 --> 00:46:05.389
Bricklaying. Ha, yes. He took up bricklaying

00:46:05.389 --> 00:46:07.610
at his country home, Chartwell, became quite

00:46:07.610 --> 00:46:10.329
skilled at it. He even briefly joined the amalgamated

00:46:10.329 --> 00:46:12.150
union of building trade workers, though they

00:46:12.150 --> 00:46:13.650
apparently kicked him out when he rejoined the

00:46:13.650 --> 00:46:15.750
conservatives. And animals. He was famously fond

00:46:15.750 --> 00:46:19.679
of animals. Loved them. Kept numerous pets. Cats,

00:46:19.760 --> 00:46:22.320
dogs, pigs, swans, even butterflies he bred.

00:46:22.599 --> 00:46:24.420
There's that wonderful quote attributed to him.

00:46:24.559 --> 00:46:26.679
Dogs look up to you, cats look down on you, give

00:46:26.679 --> 00:46:28.579
me a pig. He looks you in the eye and treats

00:46:28.579 --> 00:46:30.679
you as an equal. Tells you something about his

00:46:30.679 --> 00:46:32.659
personality, perhaps. Which brings us to the

00:46:32.659 --> 00:46:36.440
really complex part. His legacy. How do the sources

00:46:36.440 --> 00:46:38.739
characterize his fundamental ideology? It seems

00:46:38.739 --> 00:46:41.050
all over the place. It's incredibly hard to pin

00:46:41.050 --> 00:46:44.389
down. Our sources describe him variously as fundamentally

00:46:44.389 --> 00:46:47.210
conservative, yet also liberal in outlook and

00:46:47.210 --> 00:46:49.849
someone never circumscribed by party affiliation.

00:46:49.989 --> 00:46:52.769
He championed trade unions early on, delivered

00:46:52.769 --> 00:46:55.969
major social reforms, but was fiercely anti -socialist,

00:46:55.969 --> 00:46:58.570
a paternalist reformer, perhaps. But then you

00:46:58.570 --> 00:47:01.780
have the immovable object. his imperialism. Right.

00:47:01.860 --> 00:47:04.260
This raises that huge question. How do you reconcile

00:47:04.260 --> 00:47:07.380
the wartime hero, the savior of democracy in

00:47:07.380 --> 00:47:10.320
1940, with this lifelong, deeply ingrained belief

00:47:10.320 --> 00:47:12.840
in the British Empire? It's the central contradiction.

00:47:13.300 --> 00:47:17.599
He held this romanticized view of empire, genuinely

00:47:17.599 --> 00:47:20.039
believing it was a force for good, maintaining

00:47:20.039 --> 00:47:22.400
the welfare of its subjects, even as history

00:47:22.400 --> 00:47:24.300
was clearly moving in the opposite direction.

00:47:25.440 --> 00:47:27.760
This belief underpins so many of his controversial

00:47:27.760 --> 00:47:30.420
actions and statements. Including some very disturbing

00:47:30.420 --> 00:47:32.780
views on race and eugenics, even for his time.

00:47:32.940 --> 00:47:36.139
Yes. While he was pushing liberal reforms as

00:47:36.139 --> 00:47:39.000
Home Secretary, the sources show he also supported

00:47:39.000 --> 00:47:42.059
ideas like the forced sterilization of the feeble

00:47:42.059 --> 00:47:44.699
-minded, as they were termed then. He wrote about

00:47:44.699 --> 00:47:47.239
the growth of the feeble -minded and insane classes,

00:47:47.579 --> 00:47:50.980
constituting a national and race danger. It's

00:47:50.980 --> 00:47:53.500
shocking to read now, and it shows a dark underside

00:47:53.500 --> 00:47:56.500
to his worldview, rooted in Edwardian ideas about

00:47:56.500 --> 00:47:59.300
social hierarchy and racial purity. And his comments

00:47:59.300 --> 00:48:02.159
about non -white people. The Bengal famine context

00:48:02.159 --> 00:48:04.920
again. He was certainly prone to derogatory remarks

00:48:04.920 --> 00:48:07.000
about various ethnicities, which were common

00:48:07.000 --> 00:48:09.059
among his class and time, but still jarring.

00:48:09.199 --> 00:48:11.860
Yet paradoxically, he consistently opposed anti

00:48:11.860 --> 00:48:14.159
-Semitism, speaking out against it back in 1904.

00:48:14.480 --> 00:48:16.860
But even that was complicated. Zionism versus

00:48:16.860 --> 00:48:20.380
conspiracy theories. Exactly. He supported Zionism,

00:48:20.420 --> 00:48:22.960
the creation of a Jewish national home. But at

00:48:22.960 --> 00:48:24.960
other times, particularly when railing against

00:48:24.960 --> 00:48:28.179
communism, he echoed anti -Semitic tropes, suggesting

00:48:28.179 --> 00:48:30.559
Bolshevism was driven by an international Jewish

00:48:30.559 --> 00:48:34.059
conspiracy. It's deeply contradictory and reflects

00:48:34.059 --> 00:48:37.159
the complex, sometimes ugly intellectual currents

00:48:37.159 --> 00:48:40.199
of his era. So we've traced this incredible journey.

00:48:40.539 --> 00:48:43.059
From escaping that POW camp, switching parties,

00:48:43.239 --> 00:48:45.699
driving reforms, warning of war, leading a nation

00:48:45.699 --> 00:48:48.900
through its darkest hour, losing the peace, becoming

00:48:48.900 --> 00:48:51.760
an elder statesman. It's just monumental. The

00:48:51.760 --> 00:48:54.559
sheer scope is staggering. His ability to operate

00:48:54.559 --> 00:48:57.619
at the highest level in politics, military strategy

00:48:57.619 --> 00:49:01.119
and be a Nobel winning writer. It's almost unparalleled.

00:49:01.219 --> 00:49:03.780
And the rhetoric, the power of his words to shape

00:49:03.780 --> 00:49:06.619
events is undeniable. But as you said, defined

00:49:06.619 --> 00:49:09.460
by contradiction. Absolutely. The liberal reformer

00:49:09.460 --> 00:49:11.400
whose flagship economic policy as chancellor

00:49:11.400 --> 00:49:14.260
arguably damaged the economy. The fierce imperialist

00:49:14.260 --> 00:49:16.780
who unleashes the SOE to stir up anti -imperial

00:49:16.780 --> 00:49:19.280
resistance against the Nazis. The wartime genius

00:49:19.280 --> 00:49:21.960
who couldn't grasp the public's desire for peacetime

00:49:21.960 --> 00:49:24.099
domestic reform. So the final question for you,

00:49:24.119 --> 00:49:26.300
the listener, when you assess a figure this colossal,

00:49:26.320 --> 00:49:29.579
who are you actually judging? Is it the heroic

00:49:29.579 --> 00:49:32.800
symbol, the bulldog spirit? Who defied Hitler?

00:49:33.159 --> 00:49:36.000
Or is it the man deeply committed to an ideology

00:49:36.000 --> 00:49:38.159
imperialism that history was already leaving

00:49:38.159 --> 00:49:40.239
behind? And maybe add this to your thinking.

00:49:40.719 --> 00:49:42.699
We've mentioned the black dog several times.

00:49:42.980 --> 00:49:45.039
Churchill himself said his achievements would

00:49:45.039 --> 00:49:46.860
have been impossible without it, that the drive

00:49:46.860 --> 00:49:49.039
to escape depression fueled his immense activity.

00:49:49.599 --> 00:49:51.760
How does knowing about that lifelong struggle

00:49:51.760 --> 00:49:54.699
perhaps contextualize the sheer, relentless volume

00:49:54.699 --> 00:49:56.820
of his work, his writing, his political battles,

00:49:56.920 --> 00:49:59.059
his triumphs, and his failures? Something to

00:49:59.059 --> 00:50:01.260
mull over. Go forth and explore the layers.