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Churchill’s View of Events 1929-1940
Why Churchill was out of office 1929-1939
• He was in conflict with the bulk of his own party and its leaders
• He took up a series of unpopular causes and spoke about them in reckless ways
• He became a more isolated figure in British political life
• Churchill’s style of speaking came to seem old fashioned
• Seen to be part of a long gone imperial age
• Even within Conservative party, many saw Churchill as unhelpful in establishing a calm,
confident and united government for example, many remembered his pre war speeches
attacking Conservative views in the House of Lords
• Gallipoli campaign in WW1 was condemned as reckless (strategy devised as reckless)
• Economists of 1930s argue that Churchill had made the wrong decision in returning
Britain to the Gold Standard when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1925
• When Conservatives joined with the Labour leader and some of the liberals in 1931 to
form a National Government, there was no room for Churchill
Churchill’s attitude to the abdication crisis
• Edward the 8th’s relationship with divorced woman Wallis Simpson who he wanted to
marry and raised a considerable constitutional issue
• Edward was officially the head of the Church of England which was opposed to divorce
• November 1936 - Baldwin told the King that public would not accept Wallis as Queen
• Edward proposed that she would be merest consort, not queen, but this was rejected
• December 1936 - Edward broadcast his speech of abdication
• Churchill took up a minority position
• He was a member of the “King’s Friends” who undertook to support the monarch for rea-
son of personal loyalty and chivalry
• The bulk of Parliament did not take that view
• Churchill once misjudged the mood in the house of commons and made a speech in
favour of the King which was shouted down
• Churchill again routed in the past - Britain of the 1930s had a different mortal attitude
His view about the Empire and India
• Churchill had served in India as a young officer
• He took the late Victorian view that India was the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the Empire
and that it had to be protected to maintain the empire
• Believed British rule had prevented the domination of Hindu elites over Muslim Indians
• He thought British rule had ensured good government, prevented endemic corruption
and protected the weak as well as helping economic and social progress
• He had a strong belief in the racial superiority of the Anglo-Saxons and in their destiny to
rule over and develop lesser people - again a view of the minority
• Many people wanted to give India independence due to the increasing costs of maintain-
ing India and changes in public and international opinion
• For example, after 1918 Britain had become more democratic and many countries such
as Australia enjoyed self government
• To oppose any change in India didn't seem to be motivated by a nothing except preju-
dice
• Churchill saw it as his duty to launch a personal crusade to defend Britain’s interests and
he found himself allied with the most reactionary in Britain
• Churchill’s extreme public statements and his support of racist organisations that were
opposed to negotiations and change isolated him from Conservatives
Churchill’s View of Events 1929-1940
Why Churchill was out of office 1929-1939
• He was in conflict with the bulk of his own party and its leaders
• He took up a series of unpopular causes and spoke about them in reckless ways
• He became a more isolated figure in British political life
• Churchill’s style of speaking came to seem old fashioned
• Seen to be part of a long gone imperial age
• Even within Conservative party, many saw Churchill as unhelpful in establishing a calm,
confident and united government for example, many remembered his pre war speeches
attacking Conservative views in the House of Lords
• Gallipoli campaign in WW1 was condemned as reckless (strategy devised as reckless)
• Economists of 1930s argue that Churchill had made the wrong decision in returning
Britain to the Gold Standard when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1925
• When Conservatives joined with the Labour leader and some of the liberals in 1931 to
form a National Government, there was no room for Churchill
Churchill’s attitude to the abdication crisis
• Edward the 8th’s relationship with divorced woman Wallis Simpson who he wanted to
marry and raised a considerable constitutional issue
• Edward was officially the head of the Church of England which was opposed to divorce
• November 1936 - Baldwin told the King that public would not accept Wallis as Queen
• Edward proposed that she would be merest consort, not queen, but this was rejected
• December 1936 - Edward broadcast his speech of abdication
• Churchill took up a minority position
• He was a member of the “King’s Friends” who undertook to support the monarch for rea-
son of personal loyalty and chivalry
• The bulk of Parliament did not take that view
• Churchill once misjudged the mood in the house of commons and made a speech in
favour of the King which was shouted down
• Churchill again routed in the past - Britain of the 1930s had a different mortal attitude
His view about the Empire and India
• Churchill had served in India as a young officer
• He took the late Victorian view that India was the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the Empire
and that it had to be protected to maintain the empire
• Believed British rule had prevented the domination of Hindu elites over Muslim Indians
• He thought British rule had ensured good government, prevented endemic corruption
and protected the weak as well as helping economic and social progress
• He had a strong belief in the racial superiority of the Anglo-Saxons and in their destiny to
rule over and develop lesser people - again a view of the minority
• Many people wanted to give India independence due to the increasing costs of maintain-
ing India and changes in public and international opinion
• For example, after 1918 Britain had become more democratic and many countries such
as Australia enjoyed self government
• To oppose any change in India didn't seem to be motivated by a nothing except preju-
dice
• Churchill saw it as his duty to launch a personal crusade to defend Britain’s interests and
he found himself allied with the most reactionary in Britain
• Churchill’s extreme public statements and his support of racist organisations that were
opposed to negotiations and change isolated him from Conservatives
