Summary Flashcards - GB 3 Churchill on the international stage

a)
 March 1946, 8m after WWII.
 Fulton, Missouri
 Churchill suggested that if the USA didn’t act, the USSR would take over.
Britain b)
 Suggested that the GB would be the USA’s biggest ally in the task of
International Churchill restricting the USSR.
 Helped transmit Truman’s beliefs w/o directly implicating him.
Iron Curtain  Was actually quite controversial in the USA (& GB) since the USSR had
been a vital ally in WWII.
a) Details [3]  Truman reacted to criticism by pleading ignorance of what Churchill was
b) Effect on US relations [4] c)
going to say (despite it being likely Truman read the speech in advance).


c) Effect on USSR relations [4]  Painted the USSR as a tyrant who wanted to take over Europe & had no
regard for the lives of ppl.
 Solidified the East-West divide.
 Incr anti-west propaganda in the USSR (vv in the USA).
 Angered Stalin, who said the speech was war-mongering & racist.


 Keeping DeGaulle in the dark was not solely Churchill’s idea –
most of the ppl in the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied
Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) believed the ppl around DeGaulle
would leak.
Britain  After the D-Day row, as the leader of the new Prov Gov in Nov
44, DeGaulle invited Churchill & Clementine to visit Paris.
International Churchill  Churchill admired DeGaulle for fighting to liberate France (as
DeGaulle the leader of the French Committee of National Liberation).
 Churchill wrote that DeGaulle was ‘carrying w him … the
Evidence of good relations honour of France.’
[7] 

Churchill allowed DeGaulle to broadcast to the French.
1958 – Prez DeGaulle awarded Churchill the Croix de la
Liberation.
 DeGaulle attended Churchill’s funeral & wrote to Clementine
on the death anniversary every year until he died.

 Churchill & DeGaulle had a massive row on the eve
of Operation Overlord (D-Day) b/c DeGaulle had
been kept in the dark.
 Churchill found DeGaulle uncompromising, un-
Britain cooperative, & overly sensitive to criticism.
International Churchill  DeGaulle didn’t feel beholden to Gb for a safe-
haven & saw himself as the natural leader of post-
DeGaulle war France, which Churchill & Roosevelt didn’t
Evidence of bad relations accept.
[5]  DeGaulle was disliked by Roosevelt (& Churchill) for
attempting to sabotage US-Vichy relations.
 DeGaulle refused to co-op w Giraud after he
assumed command of the French Troops in N Africa
in Nov 42

, a)
 Churchill saw the preservation of the GB empire as his 1st priority
 Roosevelt saw the idea of empire as old fashioned & believed that empires were
detrimental to the colonies’ growth.
Britain b)
 GB did send a lot of food to Bengal – 100,000 tons of rice & 176,000 tons of wheat
International Churchill in the last ¼ of 1943.
 Nov 1942, @ the Battle of El Alamein, the allies forced the Germans back,
Empire 
preventing the Suez Canal from falling into German hands.
One of the main aims of the Med Campaign was to protect the Empire, & it was
a) Views of empire in GB vs USA [2] 
mostly successful in this aim.
Oct 1944 Percentages agreement w Stalin – protected GB influence in E Europe.
b) Evidence Churchill was successful in c)
 Only sending a few ships w/o air backup led to the loss of Singapore to Japan on 15
preserving the empire [4] 
Feb 1942.
By Apr 1942, Japan had occupied most of Burma & GB counter-offensives were

Evidence Churchill was not [4] 
hampered by the monsoon season.
The curtailment of rice imports from Burma, poor administration, wartime
inflation, flooding & crop disease led to the Bengal famine of 1943.
 GB’s slowness send grain in 1943 & refusal in 1944 worsened the famine, leading to
3.8 mill deaths.


a)
 Japan defeated Malaya in 1942 & was threatening India.
 GB feared India would side w Japan if not given enough
independence.
 Attlee (deputy PM) proposed a post-war consti (also done to please
Britain the USA) & Sir Stafford Cripps negotiated an agreement w India.
International  Churchill got the cabinet to reject it, leading congress to take up a
‘quit India’ campaign.
India b)
 GB feared that Bengal would fall to Japan so useful resources were
a) Cripps mission [4] taken or destroyed.
 The curtailment of rice imports from Burma, poor administration,
b) Bengal famine [4] wartime inflation, flooding & crop disease led to the Bengal famine of
1943.
 GB’s slowness send grain in 1943 & refusal in 1944 worsened the
famine, leading to 3.8 mill deaths.
 Churchill believed the Indians would ‘breed like rabbits’ either way.

a)
 France signed an armistice w Germany on 22 Jun 1940.
 Hitler controlled north France, whilst Vichy France controlled the
south.
Britain  France was now virtually irrelevant in Europe.
International Churchill b)
 Churchill flew to meet French PM Reynaud 5x.
Vichy France  Considered sending precious RAF fighters to France, even after
Dunkirk.
a) Details abt Vichy France [3]  Churchill tried to convince Reynaud to cont fighting from the
b) GB-France relations before Vichy Med, where most of France’s navy & 400,000 troops were
situated.
France [4]  Churchill offered an ‘indissoluble union’ to keep France fighting.
c)
c) GB relations w Vichy France [2]  Vichy France saw the Dunkirk evacuation & sinking of ships @
Oran as a betrayal.
 Churchill (& Roosevelt) actually preferred Giraud, who worked w
the Allies in secret from w/in Vichy France, over DeGaulle.