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| - Winston Churchill (November 20, 1874 - January 24, 1965) In 1893 Churchill left Harrow, joining RMA Sandhurst. He tried to join the infantry, but was refused after failing the first exam. He then joined the cavalry, passing the course and becoming a lieutenant (thanks to his father’s influence) in September 1893. He served in several garrisons in 1893 – 1894. In may 1894 he was posted to Prussia to observe their summer maneuvers. Churchill was greatly impressed by the order and efficiency of the Prussian soldiers, remarking that they were “the finest in Europe”. Upon his return to Britain he personally reported to Field Marshal Sir Donald Stewart, the C in C of the British Army, about the preparedness of the Prussian forces. The Field Marshal was impressed with Churchill’s “absorbance of events”, and immediately promoted him to Captain. After three weeks of leave he was called on to conduct a brief military observation of the armies of France, Spain, Bavaria and Sweden. This took him an entire year, finally returning to London in September 1895. He then returned to garrison service. In December 1895 he wrote an article for the Times, stating his view that were a war to occur in Europe that it would not be a short conflict. Churchill argued that all major European armies (with the exemption of Russia and Poland) had a well-trained regular cadre, and the logistical efficiency to call up a vast force of reserves within a matter of weeks. He stated that this was result in large armies of almost equal strength, and long, bloody battles. The article went down a storm with the public, and with the army as it was much bolder writing than his official report. Overnight Churchill went from being a young army officer, to the most well known junior officer of his generation. However the army did not like celebrities. In 1896 Churchill was posted as a junior attaché to the comparatively small and obscure Mexican army. However they could not stop Churchill’s flow of correspondents to a host of newspapers, commenting on the political and cultural situation of Mexico (then still in the grip of the Diaz dictatorship). Then in November 1896 a revolution erupted in Cuba against their Spanish colonial master’s. Without official permission Churchill boarded a cargo ship and sailed across the Caribbean to the Island, establishing himself a crude observation centre in central Havana. He continued to send out daily telegrams across the Atlantic, with the Times finding out about Churchill’s presence on the island before the government. In February 1897 the situation became even more interesting when the American battleship USS Maine entered Havana Harbour to prevent a Spanish troop build up and to implement the Jackson Doctrine. Then on February 15, 1898 the USS Maine exploded in mysterious circumstances (suspected of being Spanish sabotage). President McKinley asked congress to declare war, they did and less than a month later the first US troops landed on the island. Churchill was able to tour the frontline, incognito, conducting interviews with several American military commanders. In April he met an American colonel who had funded his own volunteer cavalry regiment, Theodore Roosevelt. He attached himself to Roosevelt’s volunteer regiment, writing a diary about life with them (which he was to publish in 1907) and continuing to write weekly reports to the army about the situation there. Unknown to Churchill was that the army had already dispatched a small group of officers to bring Churchill back, but the ship they were travelling on was rerouted to Brazil following the escalation of the conflict. Churchill remained with Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, accompanying the Colonel himself during the latter stages of the battle of San Juan Hill. But in August 1897 the government contacted the British Consul, asking that he terminate Churchill’s commission, dishonourably discharging him. But Churchill was tipped off about this before the consul could convey the news formally. This gave Churchill the opportunity to resign rather than be sacked (and be discharged honourably), an opportunity he took. On September 3rd 1897 he formally resigned from the British army and boarded an American transport chip to Charleston. From there he took a train to San Francisco, and from there a boat to Australia. He spent a month traveling across Australia, before getting a boat from Sydney to Alexandria in Egypt. The journey took five weeks, and when he did arrive in Alexandria in February 1898 he was greeted by terrible news. By chance he saw a copy of the Times, reporting on the funeral of former prime minister Randolph Churchill, and the disappearance of his son. Churchill cut his stay in Alexandria short, getting a boat to Brindisi, a train to Copenhagen, then another boat to Harwich. He arrived in London on March 20, over a month after his father’s funeral. He stayed in London with a friend from the Army, vowing to live up to his father’s expectations. He contacted Joseph Chamberlain, the Tory leader, asking if he could succeed his father in his seat at Paddington South (a by- election was not held, his death being so close to an election). Chamberlain agreed, with Churchill winning the seat in the election in April as a conservative. Churchill’s political career got off to a good start, becoming almost as active in the house as his father had been 10 years before. He made good political friendships with Austen Chamberlain, Arthur Balfour and most importantly the Liberal MP David Lloyd George. The conservatives won the 1898 election, with Joseph Chamberlain forming a government. Churchill was not initially selected as a member of cabinet. In 1900 he supported Arthur Balfour’s move to topple Joseph Chamberlain as Tory leader and prime minister. Balfour succeeded, and Churchill was rewarded by becoming President of the Board of Trade (at 25 years old). He initially opposed plans to expand the British navy in term of ships (whilst still supporting modernisation and replacement of existing vessels), but suffered a change of heart following an American naval build-up. This U-turn damaged the government, and Churchill’s reputation amongst other conservative MP’s, but he was still perceived by the public as an adventurer and war hero (despite not having officially fought in a battle). After the 1902 election – which resulted in a second conservative victory (but with their majority halved) Churchill was promoted to Home Secretary. He was only given the post to stop him meddling in Foreign affairs, and because Balfour felt obliged to keep the popular Churchill in the cabinet. In his new post he advocated using force to quell civil unrest and taking a tough line on the growing trade union and women’s suffrage movements. He also ordered military intelligence to infiltrate the rapidly growing Labour party. Churchill feared revolutionary movements after witnessing them in Mexico and Cuba, and thought the Labour party a subversive, revolutionary movement. Churchill remained as Home Secretary until 1906, when the liberal’s won a decisive landslide. Churchill nearly lost his own seat in the election. However, Churchill did see his chance to climb further up the party ladder. It was clear that Balfour was yesterday’s man and although Churchill (still only 32) knew he was too young for the top job, he desperately wanted the foreign secretariat. Churchill spent the rest of 1906 compiling his correspondents from his military career into books, releasing them in five volumes in 1907. He began writing a biography of his father, and his ancestor the Duke of Marlborough, but postponed the projects when in 1908 he was invited by the then Governor Roosevelt to accompany him on part of his presidential campaign. The same day he became leader of the liberal party Lloyd George called a meeting with Bonar Law and Austen Chamberlain. There they set out coalition plans. A seven member war cabinet would be set up, to include Lloyd George, Bonar Law, Churchill and others. Bonar Law would be made Deputy Prime Minister, and would support all of the most important decisions. A 12 member standard cabinet would be set up, and would include the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, great office of state holders, senior war cabinet members, and other ministers. They also agreed that two of the great offices of state could be held by conservatives, and one by a liberal. The high ranking party leaders agreed to a coalition. On May 28th the platform was presented to the commons, with a ballot being held. The result were 160 against, 391 for and 39 abstentions. The following day Lloyd George went to the king, and formed a government. He had the support of 268 conservatives, 200 liberals and ten Labour MP’s. The conservatives and liberals were invited into government, the Labour members were not (due to the insistence of the conservatives) giving the new government a majority of 168. Churchill became home secretary, but did not want the job. Lloyd George joined the war on the German side on June 1st, with the support of all 368 government MP’s. In his office as home secretary Churchill’s main concern was ending the insurgency of the suffragettes and organising a home front. After exactly a month in office Churchill resigned, taking the post of minister without portfolio in the war cabinet. He had always wanted to be in the war cabinet, but Bonar Law and Balfour – still a leading voice in the Tory party – objected. Now Lloyd George had persuaded them.
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