Winston Churchill is a British bulldog with a cigar and his hatred for the USSR. Role

In 2002, the British Broadcasting Corporation conducted a poll to determine who the citizens of the UK consider to be the greatest Briton in history. A landslide victory in the poll Winston Churchill.

Worship of Churchill's personality was widespread in Russia at the beginning of the post-Soviet period. However, the image of Churchill then being created as an outstanding democrat, a fighter against tyranny and for the ideals of humanism, has little to do with real British politics.

“I do not admit, for example, that a great injustice has been committed against the red Indians of America or the black natives of Australia. I do not admit that injustice was done to these people because a stronger race, a more highly developed race, a wiser race, let's say, came and took their place, ”these words do not belong to Adolf Hitler or Joseph Goebbels, but to Winston Churchill, and they were said not by a radical youth, but by a mature politician who, three years after they were uttered, took over as Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Whipped aristocrat

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace, the family estate of the Dukes of Marlborough. By birth, he belonged to the highest aristocratic circles of Britain.

However, belonging to the nobility does not promise a happy childhood. his father, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer Churchill, was passionate about his political career, mother, Lady Randolph Churchill, the daughter of a wealthy American businessman, preferred to lead a social life rather than communicate with her son.

Like the "sun of Russian poetry" Alexandra Pushkin, Winston Churchill's closest person was a nanny, Elizabeth Ann Everest.

If young Winston loved the nanny, then other adults did not put a penny. For such stubborn people, corporal punishment was introduced in British schools, which, by the way, lasted until 1982. Enrolling in school, an 8-year-old boy received in full, but did not complain.

The nanny complained, finding traces of punishment on the body of her pet. The parents transferred their son to an educational institution, where they did not raise their hand against the offspring of the Marlboro family. But Winston studied ugly, firmly holding the title of the worst in the class.

They write to us from Havana

At the age of 12, he was ill with severe pneumonia. Assessing the weakness of health and academic success, the parents sent Winston not to Eton College, where all the men of the Marlborough family studied from time immemorial, but to the less prestigious Harrow. Here he entered a specialized military class, where those who were preparing for a future military career studied.

As a student, Winston Churchill remained unimportant, but coped with the exams, showing especially good results in the study of history. In addition, Churchill became the fencing champion of the school.

In 1893, with great difficulty, Churchill entered the Royal Military School at Sandhurst, from which he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant in 1895. In the same year, two severe personal losses awaited him - his father and nanny died.

Very quickly, Churchill realized that he did not really like a military career, but quite unexpectedly, he showed journalistic talent. The mother, trying to promote the development of her son's career, facilitated his trip to Cuba as a war correspondent for the Daily Telegraph.

Churchill's notes on the uprising of the local population against the Spaniards and its suppression were a great success, and the Spanish government awarded him the Red Cross medal.

During a business trip to Cuba, Churchill became addicted to local cigars, and this weakness remained with him for the rest of his life.

"We fled with you, fearing a chase..."

From that moment on, Churchill became a war correspondent covering conflicts in various parts of the empire. Readers were bribed by Churchill's frankness - remaining entirely on the side of the British army, he often characterized its actions in a very unflattering way. Covering the suppression of the Mahdist uprising in Sudan, he criticized commander of the British troops, General Kitchener for mistreating prisoners and wounded and for disrespecting local customs.

In 1899, Churchill retired and tried his hand at politics for the first time, running for Parliament from the Conservative Party. After losing the election, he went to cover the Boer War as a correspondent for the Morning Post, earning himself a salary that made Winston Churchill "number one" in British journalism, at least in terms of earnings.

Churchill got into the thick of the fighting and was soon taken prisoner. Having got acquainted with the prototype of future concentration camps in his own skin, he escaped from captivity, which added to his popularity in Britain. He joined the active army and more than once showed personal courage, although by that time his political career attracted him much more than the military one.

double bottom man

In 1900, Winston Churchill returned to England, was elected to the House of Commons from the Conservatives who come to power. The 26-year-old parliamentarian combines this with the publication of his first and only fictional novel, entitled Savrola.

The first ten years of Churchill's parliamentarian are full of unexpected statements and conflicts. He calls for mercy to the defeated Boers, criticizes the increase in defense spending, regularly clashes with fellow conservatives and eventually leaves for the Liberal Party.

In 1905, he received his first post in government - Deputy Secretary of State for the Colonies. In 1908, Churchill became Minister of Trade and Industry and in this capacity acts as a supporter of social reforms. In particular, it was on his initiative that a law was passed, for the first time in Britain, establishing the norms for working hours and wages.

A young champion of justice, a humanist, a progressive-minded politician of the future - all these characteristics of Churchill had to go into the trash after he became Minister of the Interior in 1910.

Here for the first time it became obvious that Churchill was a "man with a double bottom". Mass social protests of workers took place in the country, they demanded the granting of rights to women suffragettes. The new minister began to suppress the protests in such a way that even the most zealous conservatives were amazed at his brutality.

British policemen under Churchill treated suffragettes with the same harshness that was applied to hardened criminals. Churchill eradicated the social discontent of the workers even more subtly - for example, in 1911, during the strike of port workers and sailors in Liverpool, he threw the protesting marines to disperse the protesting marines, allowing them to use weapons. He was going to send 50,000 troops into the city to suppress protests, and when David Lloyd George managed to extinguish passions through negotiations, told the latter: “I learned about this with great regret. It would be better to continue and give them a good beating."

Friend of Churchill Charles Masterman wrote of him in those days: “Winston is in a very agitated state of mind. He is determined to solve cases with a "volley of buckshot", madly enjoys laying the routes for the movement of troops on the map ... issues frenzied bulletins and thirsts for blood.

Successes and failures

"Bloodlust", once masked, and once quite frank, will remain with Churchill throughout his political career.

Remove Churchill from government Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, however, was not going to, deciding that the young politician would be more useful to the country as First Lord of the Admiralty.

This turned out to be a good decision - the energetic Churchill did a lot to modernize and reform the fleet on the eve of the impending war.

Churchill's role during the First World War was ambiguous. In October 1914, he rushed to the front and personally led the defense of Antwerp, although both the Belgian authorities and the military leaders considered this a hopeless undertaking. Antwerp did indeed fall after five days, while the Allies suffered serious losses.

The Dardanelles operation, which was carried out in 1915, one of the initiators of which was Churchill, also ended in a resounding failure. In fairness, Churchill took responsibility for the failure, left the government, went to the front as commander of the 6th battalion of the Royal Scottish Fusiliers.

On the other hand, it was Churchill who, during the First World War, advocated the idea of ​​creating tank forces in Britain, which many were skeptical of.

After not too long a stay at the front, Churchill returned to the government, where he first held the post of Minister of Armaments, and then Minister of War.

Churchill viewed the coming to power of the Bolsheviks in Russia as a personal insult. Firstly, the withdrawal of Russia from the war in many ways deprived Britain of the opportunity to win victory in their favorite way - at the expense of someone else's blood. Secondly, those whom he dispersed in England, when he was Minister of the Interior, with the help of the military, came to power in Russia. Churchill seriously feared that the "Bolshevik contagion" would spread to the British Empire, and demanded to "strangle Bolshevism in its cradle" through military intervention.

However, this new bout of "bloodlust" did not find support in the government. In less than two decades, Churchill will have to build a military coalition with the Bolsheviks.

In the 1920s, Churchill returned to the ranks of the Conservative Party and took the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer. This was the post for which the politician was least prepared, which turned into a series of extremely unsuccessful reforms for Britain and an economic crisis.

Wartime Prime Minister

In addition, Churchill again quarreled with his party colleagues and in 1931 remained outside the government, in a kind of political isolation, leading a small group of dissident members of the Conservative Party, which received the code name "Churchill's group" in Parliament.

The next nine years of Churchill's life were devoted to literary works and journalism, and it seemed to many that his political career was declining.

But the main thing in his life was ahead.

Churchill belonged to that minority of British politicians who were categorically opposed to Hitler's "appeasement policy".

After the "Munich agreement" in 1938, Churchill, speaking in the House of Commons, said, referring to Prime Minister Chamberlain: “You had a choice between war and dishonor. You have chosen dishonor and now you will have war." These words turned out to be extremely accurate.

With the outbreak of World War II, Winston Churchill again becomes the First Lord of the Admiralty, and on May 10, 1940, takes the post of Prime Minister of Great Britain.

In his first speech in his new position in the House of Commons, he said: "I have nothing to offer the British but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

Winston Churchill was the ideal wartime prime minister. His energy, his oratorical talent, his toughness made it possible to mobilize Great Britain for a struggle bearing great sacrifice and hardship.

Purely English politics

Much has been said and written about Churchill's role in the anti-Hitler coalition. The Prime Minister of Great Britain has shown himself to be a brilliant pragmatist. Hatred of Bolshevism was put aside when it was necessary for Soviet soldiers to reduce the military danger to Britain at the cost of their lives. For three years, Churchill masterfully avoided opening a "second front" in Europe, preferring to use his forces to fight for the preservation of the colonies and waiting for the outcome of the battle on the Eastern Front. If the Allies landed in Normandy in 1942 or 1943, this could save millions of lives of Soviet soldiers and civilians. But the pragmatic Churchill preferred that in the name of the triumph of Britain, as far as possible, not the British, but the Russians die.

The fate of a defeated Germany would be truly terrible if Winston Churchill alone decided its fate. The British Prime Minister, who unwaveringly sent planes to turn German cities into ashes in 1945, hatched the idea of ​​liquidating Germany as a state by dividing it into dozens of small entities, that is, returning German lands to the state in which they were before the creation of the German Empire.

Churchill's ambitious plans were not allowed to materialize Roosevelt and Stalin who managed to throw a bridle on a zealous ally.

Defeat

In May 1945, the 71-year-old Churchill, in the halo of the winner, sensationally lost the parliamentary elections. He did not feel that the country, ready to endure his harsh hand in wartime, was no longer willing to see as prime minister a politician who had no real program to restore the economy and return to normal life.

His speeches, previously inspiring, were now downright frightening. During the election campaign, he declared that "the Laborites, having come to power, will behave like the Gestapo" - even his party colleagues condemned such a characterization of political opponents.

But the British did not know then what they know now - in 1945, Churchill instructed the British military to prepare Operation Unthinkable: a plan for war with the Soviet Union, which was to begin in June 1945. The ideas of an offensive war hatched by the Prime Minister were rejected by the British military leaders as completely unrealistic.

On March 5, 1946, at Westminster College in Fulton, America, Churchill delivered the famous Fulton speech, which is considered to be the starting point of the Cold War.

Speculation about the Iron Curtain and the communist threat set off the flywheel of a new confrontation, but the person who gave it a symbolic start was already at the gathering.

But Churchill could not do otherwise - an outstanding politician who once abandoned a military career was, nevertheless, a "man of war", whose talents and abilities in peace and political detente turned out to be unclaimed.

British "Brezhnev"

In 1951, in the wake of the cold war hysteria he launched, Winston Churchill again found himself in the prime minister's chair. But this was no longer the same Churchill - a seriously ill old man who suffered from a whole bunch of progressive diseases.

Much is said about the fact that the Soviet leaders desperately clung to power even in a state of senile debility. Churchill in this sense was no different from them - having suffered several strokes, a half-deaf, partially sighted and half-paralyzed man flatly refused to leave the post of prime minister, despite the fact that he could no longer fulfill his duties in a normal mode.

In 1953, 79-year-old Churchill Queen Elizabeth II granted membership in the knightly order of the Garter, which gave him the right to the title of "sir". In the same year, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature, leaving behind Ernest Hemingway.

It is possible that these awards were deserved, but their presentation to the infirm Churchill looked no more aesthetically pleasing than the awarding of an aged Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev.

The last soldier of the empire

In 1955, Churchill nevertheless capitulated, resigning for health reasons.

Biographers are reluctant to write about the last decade of the retired prime minister's life. Churchill's decline was long and hard. By 1960, he did not recognize his friends, could not read, his speech became slurred. His torment lasted another five years - he died on January 24, 1965, two months after his 90th birthday.

All of England buried Winston Churchill. The man who extended the existence of the great British Empire for a good ten years was sent off in accordance with a script written by himself. The body was interred at Bladon Cemetery, near Blenheim Palace, where Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was born.

Together with him, the empire, which he served and the “last soldier” of which the old politician called himself in his declining years, has gone forever into the past.

Winston Churchill is one of the greatest and most controversial political figures of the 20th century. His activities both for Britain and for all world politics were of great importance, but they are ambiguously evaluated in modern society: some admire the politician’s personal courage and actions, while others disgust him because of the position according to which only White race.

Despite the fact that Churchill openly fought dictatorship on the battlefield, he did not hide his sympathy for the activities and, during the years of his reign, the founders of the totalitarian and personal regime of government in Italy and the USSR.

Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was born on November 30, 1874 at the family estate of the Dukes of Marlborough, at Blenheim Palace. His parents were wealthy and influential people - his father, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer, was a famous politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer of Britain, and Jenny's mother was the daughter of a wealthy American businessman.

The future politician became the first-born in the family, but was deprived of parental attention, since his father was constantly busy with a political career, and his mother devoted all her time to social life. Therefore, the upbringing of young Winston was carried out by the nanny Elizabeth Ann Everest, who became the closest person to Churchill.

Immediately after his birth, the future Prime Minister of Britain became a member of the "higher caste" of the privileged class, which could block his path to a brilliant political career, since the nobles did not have the right to enter the House of Commons and the country's government. But, as it turned out, Winston became a side line of the Churchills, which allowed him to become a great politician.

At the age of seven, he was sent to St. George's boarding school, where they paid more attention to education than to the education of schoolchildren. In an educational institution, Winston showed all his unwillingness to study and reckon with strict internal regulations, for which he was repeatedly flogged. After the nanny who regularly visited him noticed traces of severe beatings on the boy’s body, she insisted on transferring Churchill to another school.

But even at the Brighton school of the Thomson sisters, he also did not like studying and was the last student in the class in terms of discipline. At the age of 12, young Winston began to have serious health problems - he had pneumonia, which weakened his entire body. In this regard, he did not go to the traditional institution of higher education for men of the Marlborough family at Eton, but entered an equally prestigious college located in Harrow. This choice was made due to the geographical location of universities.

But even here Churchill continued to show complete indifference to academic subjects - he taught only what he was interested in, and completely ignored everything else with his characteristic persistence. Therefore, in 1889, he was transferred to the "army class", the curriculum of which emphasized military affairs.

It was here that from a recalcitrant student, Winston turned into a diligent student. He managed to become one of 12 graduates of this school who were able to pass the final exams in all subjects, which allowed Churchill to enter the most prestigious military school in Great Britain, which he graduated with the rank of second lieutenant.

Military career

In 1895, after graduating from a military school, he was enrolled in the 4th Hussars of the Royal Majesty, but after a short time he realized that a military career did not attract him. Thanks to the connections of his mother, who by that time had become the widow of Randolph Churchill, Winston received a distribution to Cuba, where he was appointed a war correspondent, while continuing to be on active duty. The debut in journalism brought the future politician fame and vocation of society, and also made it possible to earn the first very significant fee of 25 guineas.

In addition to fame and earnings from Cuba, Churchill brought two lifelong habits - smoking Cuban cigars and the obligatory observance of a siesta, which included afternoon rest. In 1896 he continued his journalistic journey and was sent to India and then to Egypt. Here Churchill showed all his military courage - in addition to covering the events, he personally took part in the battles, conscientiously treating his officer duties.

Politics

In 1899, Winston Churchill decided to retire and devote himself to politics. By that time, he was already a well-known journalist, so he counted on the support of society. The first attempt to enter parliament as part of the Conservative Party was a failure - the voters chose the Liberals.

Stepping aside for a while from politics, Churchill again set off on a journalistic journey. This time he was sent to South Africa, where the Anglo-Boer War unfolded.

There he was captured by opponents, from where he made a daring escape, which became Churchill's finest hour as a politician: the voters promised him to cast their votes regardless of "political predilections." At the same time, he decided to return to the battlefield, where he took part in many battles in order to save his compatriots from his former prison.

Churchill's courageous adventures allowed him to return to his homeland as a real hero - he easily won the parliamentary elections in 1900 and entered the House of Commons, where he securely secured his place for the next 50 years. In the same year, he published his only literary work, the novel Savrola, in which, according to historians, the politician portrayed himself as the protagonist.

From the first days in parliament, Winston Churchill spoke without hesitation with sharp criticism of the conservatives, expressing complete disagreement with the program of the country's main ideologist, Joseph Chamberlain. That is why the future Prime Minister of Great Britain left the Conservative Party after 4 years and moved to the Liberals - this step allowed him to rapidly soar up the political ladder.

First he became Undersecretary of the Colonies, then he was appointed to the post of Secretary of Trade, after he received the position of Minister of the Interior, and a year later Churchill became Secretary of the Navy, thus becoming the youngest politician holding the most influential posts in Britain.

Heading the Ministry of the Navy, Winston Churchill suffered a resounding fiasco: through his fault in the First World War, the military operation in the Dordanelles ended catastrophically for Britain, in which 250,000 British soldiers unjustifiably died.

Then, trying to make amends, the politician resigned and volunteered for the front. A few years later, when the "passions" around the Dordanelles subsided, Churchill again returned to the government, where he took the post of Minister of Military Supply, where he also could not prove himself properly, so he was forced to take a "political break" for several years, completely moving away from politicians.

British Prime Minister

The return to politics of Winston Churchill was marked with the outbreak of World War II, when Germany invaded Poland, after which Great Britain declared war. He was asked to become First Lord of the Admiralty with a vote on the Council of War, as he never promised perpetual peace in his country and was one of the few people, in the opinion of the authorities, capable of leading the nation to victory.

Having concentrated in his hands all the main levers of mobilizing the country, aimed at a decisive struggle against Nazi Germany, Churchill managed to ascend to the pinnacle of power and become Prime Minister of Britain, however, in the most difficult period for England. But determination, perseverance and a sober assessment of the situation allowed the British Prime Minister to successfully wage the war to victory, creating a victorious coalition with the USA and the USSR.

Being a prominent opponent of Bolshevism, Churchill chose the latter between Hitler and Stalin, since he had no other choice. In May 1942, he and American and Russian leaders and Joseph Stalin Churchill signed an important document on the creation of an anti-Hitler coalition called the Atlantic Charter, which determines the economic and political world order in the allied countries after the victory in World War II.

After it, in 1945, the leaders of Great Britain, the USA and the USSR held the Yalta Conference, which determined the political map of the world in the post-war period. Then the leaders of the "Big Three" decided that Germany should be divided into 4 occupied zones, after which the Baltic states, Western Ukraine, Belarus, Bessarabia, Bukovina and Karelia returned to the USSR. At the same time, the Soviet Union pledged to participate in the war with Japan, for which it was supposed to receive South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

Immediately after the end of World War II, the whole world split into two political systems, and Churchill began to call on the West to unite against the entire communist East in order to completely “strangle” Bolshevism. But at that time he had to leave big politics, since in the post-war years serious economic problems began in Great Britain, the country's external debt increased and relations with neighboring colonies worsened. This led to the defeat of Winston Churchill in the parliamentary elections, and he resigned.

At that time, he led the government opposition, but practically did not appear in the House of Commons, devoting himself to literary activities. In 1951, at the age of 76, Winston Churchill again became Prime Minister of Britain and ruled the country for the next 4 years. He devoted the last years of his political activity to foreign policy with an emphasis on developing the country's nuclear potential, hoping with its help to restore the military power of Britain. For health reasons, the British politician was forced to file a bid and step down as prime minister with full honors.

Personal life

The personal life of Winston Churchill has been compared by many historians to a "beautiful love story". The great British politician met the love of his life in 1908 and immediately married his chosen one. She became Clementine Hozier, the daughter of London aristocrats. With his wife, the British prime minister lived a happy 57 years - she became his best friend and main political adviser, since only after her approval did Churchill make important decisions.

Despite the fact that the politician's wife was 11 years younger than him, which was considered a big difference in those days, she was able to keep love in their family, and also become the only person able to cope with Churchill's sharp and violent character. Clementine bore Winston five children, each of whom was desired and dearly loved by their parents. After the death of the British prime minister, the wife continued to call him the ideal husband, despite the fact that he was a chain smoker and a gambler who spent nights in the casino.

After burying Winston Churchill, Clementine lost her meaning in life and was ready to follow him, but she was stopped by her husband's catchphrase, uttered during the Second World War, when he called on Britain "under no circumstances to surrender." It was this speech by Churchill that helped her survive the loss and continue his literary work for the next 12 years, publishing the unfinished memoirs of the British leader.

Death

Winston Churchill died on January 24, 1965. The greatest Briton in the history of the country has died at the age of 90. The cause of the death of the former British prime minister was a stroke, which was not the first time the politician attacked. Churchill's funeral was held in a state format under the leadership of the Queen - only 10 people in the history of Great Britain received such an honor.

The funeral ceremony of the politician became the largest in the history of the country, as it was attended by representatives of 112 countries and all members of the royal family. The funeral of Winston Churchill was broadcast live by many TV channels around the world, which allowed almost 350 million people to say goodbye to the outstanding Briton through TV screens.

At the request of Churchill himself, he was buried in the Blaydon cemetery of St. Martin's Church, located not far from his family estate. The burial was performed in the presence of only members of Churchill's family and close friends.

Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill, politician, military leader and historian, became the hero of his country in very difficult times for Britain. The art of a diplomat, the stoic perception of adverse circumstances, contempt for intrigue - all these qualities helped the descendant of the Dukes of Marlborough courageously face the decline of the British Empire, not to lose faith in the future.

Twice prime minister, Nobel laureate in literature, designer, painter, author of fifty-eight historical works, an unsurpassed orator, Churchill is an example of diligence and love of life. A man who admired the past and valued tradition, not only was he not closed to new ideas, but he constantly generated them himself. Churchill was the creator of the tank, one of the first to appreciate the importance of aviation, was deeply interested in missiles already in the 1930s, ordered aluminum foil to be scattered to “dazzle” German radars, put forward the idea of ​​​​a pipeline under the Atlantic Ocean, invented a navigation device for pilots and proposed to create artificial harbors during the Allied landings in Normandy.

Churchill served England wisely, with quivering passion and - at the same time - with cold calculation. Only in this way could he achieve the respect of his fellow citizens and of all mankind. His colorful life was an organic realization of the political traditions of England.

Having embraced the conservative tendencies of good old England, Churchill managed to lead his country's ship of state through severe trials, preserving the values ​​of the nation and its self-confidence. Churchill also achieved world recognition as a defender of common Western values. The combination of British traditions with a focus on the interests of Western Europe as a civilizational whole, readiness for Atlantic solidarity - these foundations of a flexible political course made the transition from imperial consciousness to the idea of ​​gradual integration into the community of democratic countries less painful for England.

The last politician of the classical imperial era, Winston Churchill, defined courage as "the preservation of dignity under the pressure of adverse circumstances." He often had to demonstrate this quality. For ninety years of his life there was a transition from one era to another. Coming out of the era of dreadnoughts and the "burden of the white man", Churchill met the world of atomic weapons, divided by a violent ideological struggle, the world of national self-affirmation, the world of regional integration processes. The British leader managed not to lose either a clear worldview, or composure, or realism.

For the British, Winston Churchill will forever remain a person who embodied in the harsh autumn of 1940 the national conviction that "a Briton will never be a slave." As the small green island stood before brown Europe, Prime Minister Churchill said: “We will fight on the seas and oceans, we will fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we will defend our island, what would we no matter what, we will fight on the beaches, we will fight on the landing sites, we will fight in the fields, in the streets, we will fight in the hills, we will never surrender.

Let us also recall that on June 22, 1941, Churchill immediately declared solidarity with the peoples of our country - although he did not have sympathy for the ideology and political practice of Soviet leaders.

Churchill was one of the most remarkable readers and insightful analysts of his day. His focus was on history and the current press. He read newspapers in their first editions, starting at midnight. He immediately noted the skill of a journalist. Being a recognized historian, Churchill had no less interest in the future than in the past. He knew the books of H. G. Wells literally in detail and once said that he could pass an exam on them. Such professionals of scientific futurology as Lindemann found in Churchill the most attentive listener.

Churchill, for all his undoubted self-confidence, was a sensitive man. In a bombed-out working-class district of London in 1940, he sent to find out what the queue was behind; when the prime minister was told that for bird food, the politician began to cry...

What was completely missing from Churchill's long and brilliant career was intrigue. Some, however, believed that it was not a matter of principled political cleanliness. E. Beven, for example, argued that the prime minister "was too much of an egoist to think about what other people had in mind." One way or another, no one could
accuse of ingratitude or betrayal. His generosity did not match with cold-blooded cunning. In the books of a politician you can find anything but hymns to Machiavellianism.

Churchill always - until the last years of his life - followed fashion and cared about the opinions of others, supported his own image that had developed in the mass consciousness. The prime minister liked to wear a club suit, the uniform of an air force commodore, naval blazers. The cigar, often unlit, almost invariably protruded from the corner of the mouth.

Churchill never emphasized his intellectual superiority over his interlocutor and avoided any arrogance. He rather sought to grasp the mood prevailing in the country and follow it; it was from this ability that the notorious self-confidence of the British leader was born. With obvious pleasure, Churchill received gifts and was ready to give up excessive solemnity. The descendant of the dukes more than once sincerely laughed at the joke of a passerby - and there was no profanity or populist desire to please the average voter.

Churchill had a sense of humor and wrote about many serious things not without irony. Here is an example: “The loyalty that accumulates around the first person is huge. When traveling, this face needs to be supported. If he makes mistakes, they need to be covered up. If he is sleeping, he does not need to be disturbed. If it is of no use, he should be cut off his head. But the last extreme cannot be done every day - and certainly not immediately after the election.

Churchill critic Morley wrote: “I loved Winston for his vitality, his insatiable curiosity and attention to business, his wonderful gift of eloquence, his skill in choosing arguments, although he often takes bubbles for the ninth wave. At the same time, I often told him in a somewhat paternalistic manner: in order to achieve success in our country, a politician must take into account the opinions of other people more, stressing his own less.

For his part, Churchill argued that “politics is almost as exciting as war and just as dangerous. In war you can only be killed once, but in politics many times.”

His vitality was amazing. He never followed a diet - he ate, drank and smoked as much as he wanted. “I have learned from alcohol,” said Churchill, “more than alcohol has taken from me.” This health cannot be called hereditary in any way (his father died early, in childhood Winston was a weak child). But he had an incredible will and overcame all obstacles.

At the end of 1948, the retired prime minister rode a horse for the last time. In his seventies, he stops swimming (partly due to a cold caught in Marrakesh in 1947). More and more leisure is devoted to drawing.

“It is such a pleasure,” Churchill wrote. - The colors are so good, and it's delightful to look at the tubes. Mixing them, even roughly, you see something delightful and absolutely exciting ... I don’t know anything that, without straining the body, could also completely capture the consciousness. Lady Violet Carter remarked that "painting is the only occupation he indulges in silently". Churchill himself promised: "When I get to heaven, I intend to spend a significant part of my first million years drawing."

Submitted anonymously, two of his papers were accepted by the Royal Academy in 1947 and three more in 1948.

From the early days of his cavalry career to the days of his premiership, Churchill loved risk in all its manifestations - on the battlefield and in the House of Commons. He saw bullets many times and even flaunted indifference to danger, which created considerable problems for his protection. In 1942 Churchill crossed the Atlantic; the aircraft entered the storm zone. Churchill said to the stern companions: “Everything is in order. Do not worry. We can turn towards Lisbon or the Azores, or we can return to America. Do not worry, everything will be fine". It was clear to everyone that these possibilities were ephemeral. But the courage of the leader was genuine.

Few people guessed about Churchill's internal crises. Dr. Moran, who knew him best as a doctor, wrote on August 14, 1944: “The Prime Minister is in a thoughtful mood today. He recalls: “When I was young, the light went out of my life for two or three years. I did my thing. I was sitting in the House of Commons, and the black depression was sitting in me. Talking to Clementine helped me. I don't like to stand at the edge of the platform when a train passes by. I prefer to stand with my back, and best of all - behind the pole. I do not like to stand at the side of the ship and look down. The next step could make all the difference. Just a few drops of desperation. And yet I don't want to leave the world, even at times like this. What is known about such a thing, Charles?”

I said: "Your trouble - I mean black dog, depression, came to you by inheritance, from your ancestors. You've fought her all your life. That's why you don't like visiting hospitals. You are always trying to avoid things that depress you.” Winston looked at me as someone who knows too much."

Lord Moran was talking about Winston Churchill with the dying Brendan Bracken, one of his closest friends. “You and I think of Winston as a self-absorbed man; he never limited himself to anything, but even in early childhood he consciously decided to change his character, to be firm and hard to perceive the environment. It wasn't easy for him. You see, Winston was always "desperate".

The artist Orshen, who painted it after the events in the Dardanelles, usually spoke of the feeling of helplessness in his face. He called him a man immersed in helplessness. Winston was sure that he would no longer participate in public life. There seemed to be no room for him. This made him terribly sad. Then, during the ten years he spent alone before World War II, he continued to say, "I'm a broken man." He was absolutely sure that he would never return to public office, as everyone looked at him as an unbalanced person ... Winston always felt broken if he was not busy with something.

Throughout his life, Churchill fought bouts of melancholy, depression and despair. “Winston Churchill, like his ancestor, the first Duke of Marlborough,” writes E. Storr, “suffered from prolonged and constantly recurring bouts of depression; and no understanding of its character is possible without considering this central factor. He himself called his depression black dog; and the fact that he had a ... nickname suggests that he was a fairly frequent and familiar companion. But for large periods of his life, Churchill successfully conquered his depression.

Churchill, of course, is not the only great man to suffer from recurrent depression. Goethe had a similar temperament, so did Schumann, Tolstoy... Perhaps in some cases depression acts as a catalyst. “When depression takes possession of the personality, the sufferer plunges into despair and inactivity, which can be so deep that they make the person immobile. To overcome this miserable condition becomes a matter of paramount importance; therefore, the depressed person, before his pressure becomes all-powerful, periodically plunges himself into a state of activity, refuses to rest and relax, and does more than most people are able to do - precisely because he cannot afford to stop. We don't know how many people of exceptional creative power were prone to depression, often hiding it. But the fact that many were among them, and Churchill was one of them, can be definitely stated.

Lord Escher in 1917 quite aptly identified Churchill's main weakness: “He solves great problems with rhythmic language and quickly becomes a slave to his own phrases. He deceives himself into believing that he is broad-minded, while his brain is fixating on relatively particular aspects of the matter.

Military historian B. Liddell Hart agrees that Churchill always showed a tendency to concentrate on one problem, forgetting about others that determine the whole situation. “He lacked the ability to match one part with another, and all parts with a whole. A man can achieve success as a tactician without showing the ability to compare fundamental parts and develop a sense of proportion from which it follows - but in this case he almost certainly loses the qualities of a strategist, much less a great strategist.

R. Rhodes James believed that Churchill was not distinguished by a special gift of foresight, he only fixed the situation. “It will not be an attempt to belittle the significance of his enormous intellect if we say that this intellect was aimed primarily at solving the problems directly put forward by modernity, and not at preventing the dangers of the future.” This perhaps explains why today's politicians see in Churchill only a remarkable figure of the past, and not a thinker whose ideas help to solve more and more new problems.

The critics never complained about Churchill's literary style, which followed directly the great tradition of Gibbon, Samuel Johnson and Macaulay, restoring to the English language the rhetorical splendor of the eighteenth century. An Oxford critic wrote in 1928: "Such eloquence is false because it is artificial ... The images are static, the metaphors are limitless ... A false dramatic atmosphere is created, a whole parade of rhetorical imperatives." But a million readers who have turned to Churchill's books think otherwise, and the Nobel Prize in Literature is evidence of this.

Let's not judge Churchill too harshly. After all, as B. Liddell Hart wrote, “Winston Churchill was an amazing person who literally shone against the backdrop of general darkness in an era of mediocrity in democracies. He not only aroused admiration for his virtuosity, but generated worship for himself, despite a strong stream of egocentrism. At times, he showed the ability to look far beyond the horizon, in which he was helped by a sharp historical instinct.

On the day that Churchill's life ended, Lord Chandes said at the club: "His strength was in imagination, experience and generosity." The most meticulous and, probably, the best biographer of Churchill - Martin Gilbert - speaks of "a noble spirit, supported over a long life by faith in the ability of a person to live in peace, achieve prosperity and overcome all troubles and dangers. His love for his own country, his sense of justice, his faith in the human race, was reinforced by great work, tireless thought and foresight. His path may have been fraught with contradictions, disappointments and excesses, but this never weakened his sense of duty and faith in the English people.

The news of Churchill's death plunged Britain into mourning. Both friends and foes bowed their heads before the great man.

His political adversary, Attlee, admitted: "We have lost the greatest Englishman of our time – I think the greatest world citizen of our time." De Gaulle responded from Paris: "In the greatest drama, he was the greatest." The head of the Conservative Party, Douglas-Home, noted, "He had two of his best qualities in abundance: the first was humanity, the second was loyalty." Upon receiving the sad news, Prime Minister Harold Wilson put it this way: “Now both his pen and his sword rest in peace. The stormy, restless vitality of this man, who despised the peaceful withdrawal from business, has gone today into silence, peace, silence.

Three hundred thousand people said goodbye to Churchill in the House of Commons, a few steps from the hall that had heard his voice for many years. On a frosty and windy day in January 1965, Londoners came out to see off a hearse heading from Westminster to St. Paul's Cathedral, where the queen, breaking custom, met the ashes of her great subject. Behind her stood fifteen heads of state, four kings and Queen Juliana of the Netherlands.

The coffin was transported to Waterloo station and people, baring their heads, froze under the January wind. On one of the roofs stood a man in a worn Royal Air Force uniform; in a field where the funeral train passed, a farmer got off the truck, hat in hand.

Winston Churchill is buried next to his father, mother and brother in a small church cemetery in Bladon, from where you can see the towers of Blenheim Palace - the house where he was born.

Churchill occupies a special place in English history. Perhaps only Pitt Sr. and Gladstone could be his historical competitors. But Gladstone, having been in ministerial posts longer (51 years versus 47 years for Churchill), was the leader of the country in a calm, peaceful period. Pitt had a Churchill-like mentality (“I am sure I can save this country, and no one can do it but me,” he said), but was not so diverse in political and human manifestations.

In the 20th century, Churchill's real rival in accomplishments and glory could be Lloyd George, whose virtues Churchill readily recognized, from whom he studied, imitated, and admired. And yet, during the Second World War years, Churchill said of Lloyd George in an interview with the Manchester Guardian: "He may have more imagination and depth as Prime Minister, but my experience is more and I know more about the war."

For many decades Churchill did not receive recognition. In the opinion of R. Rhodes James, "he was always regarded with the suspicion with which mediocrity always regards genius." Three times in his life - in 1915, 1922 and in the mid-1930s. - Churchill was going through a political and personal crisis, when it seemed that there was no way to restore his reputation and influence.

Churchill's method was, however, simple: determination and perseverance. At the same time, the politician never fell into despair or bitterness, he did not try to strike the enemy as painfully as possible. Generosity saved him from the hatred of his enemies, who, with such stormy activity and self-confidence, were, of course, quite a few. Churchill had mood swings, but anger never possessed him.

As M. Shenfield writes, “life has always been an exciting adventure for Churchill, and the world in which he lived has always been a romantic place ... Sympathy for others survived all the blows of the war and the loss of politics, which made him one of the most humane statesmen.

In his long life, he experienced a series of all conceivable misfortunes and at the same time did not lose hope. Forty years before his death, Churchill wrote to his mother: “The old and waning life has gone beyond the ebb, having passed a measured period, and when all the joys of life have faded, is there any sense in human pity? This is only part of the great tragedy of our existence, against which our hope and faith rise up.

Charles de Gaulle

Like all great statesmen, Charles de Gaulle remained in the memory of people in a very contradictory way. Sometimes it seems that talking about him, they are talking about completely different people. Regardless of subjective opinions, he is the founding father of the modern French state, proudly calling itself the Fifth Republic. For 42 years after his death, the political husk flew off the image of this man, and it became clear that this military general saw the future better than most of his contemporaries.
Biography
He was born in the century before last, in 1890 in Lille, from childhood he dreamed of accomplishments for the glory of France, so, quite logically, he chose a military career. He graduated from the military school in Saint-Cyr. Baptism of fire took place on the fronts of the First World War, was seriously wounded, enlisted in the dead, was taken prisoner. Tried to run regularly. He was imprisoned in a fortress, where he met the Russian lieutenant Mikhail Tukhachevsky. He, in the end, fled, but de Gaulle did not succeed. He did not leave freedom until after the defeat of Germany, but he did not go home, but remained in Poland as an instructor. There he had to take part in repelling the blow of the Red Army, which was led by his friend Tukhachevsky.
The behavior of Marshal Pétain, who surrendered France to the Germans, was regarded by de Gaulle as a betrayal. From this moment begins a new life of General Charles de Gaulle - the leader of the struggle for the liberation of the Motherland from the invaders. The enormous moral authority acquired in this role was the reason that at the end of the war France was among the victors of Nazism. The struggle was not only military, but also political, so a public figure was forged, who rallied the French (often against their will) in order to bring France to the forefront of world powers.
Although he had been the head of the Provisional Government of France since 1944, after the adoption of the constitution of the Fourth Republic in 1946, he left it due to disagreements with left-wing politicians. To him, a staunch supporter of a strong centralized power, it seemed disastrous to give power in the country to a collective body - the National Assembly. Time has shown that he was right. When the Algiers crisis came in 1958, Charles de Gaulle returned to politics, his party won elections, held a referendum on a new constitution, and he became its first president with full powers.
And first of all, de Gaulle ends the war in Algeria. This act of his earned him the gratitude of many Frenchmen, but also the hatred of those who were forced to leave this colony, and after it many others. Fifteen assassination attempts were organized on de Gaulle, but he happily escaped death. His indisputable merit was the technical breakthrough made by France in the post-war years. The French independently mastered nuclear technology and equipped their army with atomic weapons, and power grids with nuclear power plants.
Charles' opinion of American monetary expansion surprised many at the time. Back in 1965, during an official visit to America, he brought Lyndon Johnson a whole ship loaded to the brim with dollars and demanded their exchange at the official rate of 35 dollars per ounce of gold. Johnson tried to scare the old soldier with trouble, but attacked the wrong one. De Gaulle threatened to withdraw from the NATO bloc, which he soon did, despite the fact that the exchange was made. After this episode, America completely abandoned the gold standard, and we are all reaping the fruits of this today. The wise President of France saw this danger long ago.

France appreciated their general shortly after his death. Today, in the eyes of the French, de Gaulle is almost equal to Napoleon I. The flagship of the French Navy, the first nuclear aircraft carrier built outside the United States and without their help, the largest ship launched in France in 1994, is named after him. Today it is the most combat-ready ship in Europe.
Many thousands of guests of France set foot on its land at the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport. The ultra-modern design, which it combines with fantastic technical equipment, makes this airport a real masterpiece of architecture and technology.
One of the central squares of Paris - d'Etoile, Place des Stars, now bears the name of de Gaulle. Only knowing the desire of the French in every possible way to preserve any details of history, one can understand how much this means in their eyes. There is a monument to the general on the square (by the way, the French most often refer to him as "General de Gaulle"). Another square named after him is located in Moscow, in front of the Cosmos Hotel.
Much more could be said about this extraordinary man. But it is especially touching that he bequeathed to bury himself next to his daughter, who died early, disabled from birth. It turns out that he was also capable of deep and tender love, this soldier and politician who was not afraid of anyone or anything ...

Before evaluating Churchill's activities, it is necessary to say about how his political and private life continued after the end of the Second World War.

On July 17, 1945, a conference of the victorious countries in World War II began in the city of Potsdam, and Churchill met with Truman and Stalin to discuss with them the post-war political structure of Germany, as well as a number of other important issues. But quite unexpectedly for Churchill, he has to leave the Potsdam Conference before it is over, as he is forced to give up his seat both in the government and at the conference to the new Prime Minister of Great Britain, Clement Attlee.

Such was the political reality - in the next elections in England, the Labor Party won a convincing victory over the Conservatives, which promised radical social reforms to the country, exhausted by military hardships, designed to improve the life of the general population in the shortest possible time. Voters believed the promises and voted not for the Labor Party, but against the Conservatives, not forgiving them for the inept leadership of the country in the late 1930s, which resulted in unpreparedness for war.

Labor leader Clement Attlee becomes prime minister. Churchill takes his defeat hard. The fall from the heights of triumph is extremely painful for him.

Remaining in the House of Commons as Leader of the Opposition, he urges Parliament to focus its legislative activity on strengthening the defense of the country and warns the Western world against the growing threat of communism. In his famous Muscles of the World speech (also known as the Fulton Speech), which he delivered on March 5, 1946, to students at Westminster College in the US city of Fulton. He uttered words that in the Soviet Union were perceived as a declaration by the West of the “cold war”: “Know, I tell you: we have very little time left. We cannot allow events to develop by themselves and for the hour to come when it will be too late to change anything ... Stretching across the entire continent from Stettin on the Baltic Sea to Trieste on the Adriatic Sea, an iron curtain has descended on Europe.

Even in the United States and Great Britain, some considered this speech a call for a new war, although Churchill set himself opposite goals: he warned mankind about the new threat of totalitarianism, spoke of the need to prevent a new war, and indicated how this could be achieved. Post-war history proved Churchill's rightness and foresight: World War III was avoided largely due to the fact that humanity followed the path he suggested. Political activity, teaching, painting and intensive literary work - it would seem that this is enough for a person who is over seventy. But not for Churchill with his seething energy. He devotes much of his time and energy to his country estate in Kent, which he maintains in perfect order, and to his racehorses, of which he is very proud.

The Conservatives return to power in 1951 and the 77-year-old Churchill again becomes prime minister. As in previous years of his premiership, he focuses on foreign policy. He attaches particular importance to the development of Anglo-American relations, seeing this as a guarantee of maintaining peace between peoples. Three times during his second premiership, in 1952, 1953 and 1954, he made state visits to Washington.

In April 1953, Churchill received the Order of the Garter (the highest award in Britain) from the hands of Queen Elizabeth of England and was awarded a knighthood, becoming Sir Winston Churchill. This time he does not refuse the award (before King George VI wanted to honor him with this title), because he understands that his political career is coming to an end. He is still Prime Minister, but for the last time.

In the meantime, persistent rumors are circulating in England that Churchill is about to resign because of his advanced age, but he showed no intention of leaving this post. Apparently, he likes to keep people in a state of uncertainty about this. And yet the years take their toll, and in April 1955, a few months after his eightieth birthday, he resigns, although he retains a seat in the House of Commons. Every year he speaks less and less often, and for the most part he is satisfied with the role of listener and observer.

In 1964, general elections take place in Great Britain, but Churchill no longer puts forward his candidacy. His brilliant political career is over. He was a member of parliament from 1901 to 1922, and then from 1924 to 1964, that is, a total of more than sixty years - an absolute record in the history of parliamentarism! In November 1964, the emu turned 90 years old.

In January 1965 Churchill caught a cold and took to his bed. On January 15, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and lost consciousness. The patient was unconscious for more than a week. On August 24, the announcement of the death of Winston Churchill followed.

Probably never has the press of England, the United States and other Western states paid so much attention to Churchill as they do these days. The Times magazine broke with tradition and featured a large portrait of him on the front page. The Sunday Times wrote of his death: “England mourns, and the whole world mourns with her. This in itself is a historical event, something that today's little children will remember forever and, when they grow old, will tell their grandchildren ... This Churchill mourning is in contrast to the general insignificance of modern life.

A few years before his death, Churchill developed the ceremony of his own funeral and set it down in writing in the so-called "Funeral Book". This question occupied him for many years, when he was still active. He wanted to be buried like a soldier, and his wish was granted.

Officially, England gave Churchill a state funeral, equal in pomp and solemnity to the funerals of kings. Numerous official delegations from all countries of the British Commonwealth and from many other states arrived to attend the funeral. The ceremony lasted several days and ended with the burial of Churchill's remains in the modest cemetery of the old parish church in Bladon, where his father and mother were buried at one time. The cemetery is located next to Blenheim Palace, the residence of the Dukes of Marlborough.

Churchill was one of the most popular statesmen of the bourgeois world of the 20th century. So many books and articles have not been written about any contemporary political figure. But no one did as much for his own publicity as Churchill himself. His numerous books, the main character of which was invariably the author, were the best advertising.

Since 1940, when Churchill headed the government and became the leader of the Conservatives, unrestrained praise of his personality begins. Since that time, the flow of literature about him has increased, and its quality has deteriorated sharply. It was then that the legend of Churchill was born, further supported and disseminated by the propaganda apparatus of the English bourgeois circles. All this was not accidental. The Conservatives and their powerful propaganda apparatus, sparing no effort and means, glorified Churchill in order to hide their failures on the eve of the Second World War behind his broad back. They deliberately cultivated the legend of Churchill, for by praising their leader, they thereby tried to rehabilitate their party and raise its authority in the eyes of the people. Naturally, under these conditions, the truth about Churchill often had to fade into the background, giving way to enthusiastic fiction.

The legend depicts him as a great commander - this is mainly the result of his own efforts. He really actively participated in the leadership of the military operations that were conducted by the armed forces of England in the Second World War. But, as the course of the main battles of the Second World War showed, his strategic concept, which envisaged achieving victory by striking the enemy in the periphery, as well as with the help of aerial bombardment of his industrial and populated centers, proved untenable. The decisive blows that led to victory were delivered on the main fronts, and, above all, on the Soviet-German front.

Prominent British military figures during the Second World War are quite unanimous in their skeptical attitude towards Churchill as a military strategist and tactician. Alanbrook's diaries, the memoirs of Kennedy and a number of other generals indicate that many of Churchill's decisions were objected to by military experts. “Churchill's critics,” writes John Kennedy, “at that time (we are talking about the end of 1941) sincerely believed that it would be impossible to win the war as long as Churchill controlled our strategy.

Legend has it that Churchill was the architect of the anti-fascist coalition of states and peoples in World War II over Germany, Japan, Italy and their allies. Indeed, the participation of the Churchill government in the anti-fascist coalition contributed to the victory. But it is absolutely indisputable that until June 1941 Churchill was unable to find ways to achieve victory over Germany. And if Germany had not fallen under the blows of the armed forces of the USSR, England would not only have been unable to secure victory in the war, but also would not have been able to avoid a terrible defeat.

Conservative propaganda, strongly emphasizing the role of Churchill in the creation of the anti-Hitler coalition, completely silent about the fact that he worked hard to destroy this coalition as soon as the immediate danger for England had passed. Such actions were based on hostility towards the Soviet Union and the desire to deprive it of the fruits of a future victory.

In order to determine the role that Churchill played in the defeat of fascism, it is necessary to answer the following question: "What was the cause of Churchill's struggle against German Nazism and Italian fascism?"

It has been indisputably established that Churchill was sympathetic to Italian fascism. He has officially stated this more than once. There is no doubt that Churchill regarded German fascism as an instrument of struggle against the revolutionary movement in Germany itself and beyond its borders. He admired Hitler's achievements within Germany and wished that England, if she suffered such a defeat as the defeat of Germany in 1918, could find a leader like Hitler for herself. All this indicated that he was ready to deal with fascism as such.

And if Churchill waged an energetic struggle against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, it was not because Fascist orders existed in such countries, but because Germany and Italy opposed the imperialist interests of England. It so happened that the war that England, within the framework of the anti-Hitler coalition, waged against Germany and Italy, merged with the war of the peoples, and, above all, the peoples of the Soviet Union, against fascism. For Churchill, it was not so much a struggle against fascism as against the political and economic opponents of England. The specific situation during the war years developed in such a way that the war against Germany and Italy was at the same time a war against German Nazism and Italian fascism. If German Nazism and Italian fascism had not posed a threat to imperialist England, Churchill would never have opposed them.

The main merit before mankind, which the legend ascribes to Churchill, is his struggle for freedom. His whole life testifies to the contrary.

In 1957 Churchill wrote that fear and hatred are among the worst negative aspects of human nature. Judging by everything, he was, undoubtedly, personally a brave man, both in front-line conditions and in numerous political battles. However, hatred was characteristic of him - an irrepressible hatred for socialism, for the revolutionary movement, for the national liberation struggle. This hatred was so great that it often deprived him - a man endowed with a remarkable mind, of the ability to act in accordance with logic and common sense. History has definitely recorded that Churchill was the most stubborn, consistent and persistent enemy of the social liberation of peoples.

Thus, Churchill appears before history not as a great fighter for freedom, but as a stubborn and militant enemy of peoples seeking their social and national liberation. Consequently, in reality, the personality of Churchill is far from what the legend says about her. And we cannot abstract ourselves from this when assessing the historical significance of the activities of the illustrious bourgeois leader.

At the same time, one cannot but admit that Churchill was undoubtedly a major statesman, a man of outstanding talents. Nature endowed him with an extraordinary mind, strong will and extraordinary energy. Courage, purposefulness, determination, versatile talent and rare capacity for work, brilliant oratorical skills and the talent of a publicist - all these qualities ensured his well-deserved success in the political field.

Churchill undoubtedly has achievements on a large scale to his credit. In the 1930s, unlike other leaders of the Conservative Party, he understood the significance of the German threat to England and made the only reasonable, and for a conservative, very bold conclusion that this threat could be eliminated in alliance with the USSR.

In the spring of 1940, he took the most important step in his political life by deciding to continue the war against Germany and to enter into an alliance with the USSR and the United States of America for this purpose. A united front arose in England, in which the people united to repulse the mortal enemy, and Churchill became the leader of the Conservative Party, the national military leader. Churchill's merits in the Second World War became possible because his policy was based on the support of the British people. His call for resistance to the fascist aggressors would not have yielded any result if the British people had not responded to these calls with selfless labor in factories and plants. If the sailors on the seas and oceans did not conduct their military work with unfailing courage, if the pilots and soldiers did not bravely fulfill their duty in the military sky and on the battlefield. The unbending determination, courage and stubborn will of the British people to defeat fascism, shown during the Second World War, is the true source of Winston Churchill's glory as a military leader.

The Soviet Union remembered the efforts of the British people aimed at winning victory, and highly valued these efforts. More than six decades have passed since the great victory over Nazi Germany and its allies. The celebration of Victory Day in Russia always demonstrates that in the hearts of the Russian people there is a feeling of deep gratitude for the English soldiers who took part in the battles of the Second World War; workers who forged weapons both for England and for shipment to the USSR; sailors who made difficult voyages to the northern Soviet ports; to the advanced English public, which demanded the timely opening of a second front and raised funds for the "Russian Aid Fund", which was then headed by Clementine Churchill (W. Churchill's wife).

The correct step taken by Churchill in the spring of 1940 saved England from certain defeat and made it possible to end the war in the ranks of the victorious anti-fascist coalition. It was Churchill's highest triumph as a statesman. His success was due to the fact that, due to the prevailing circumstances, his actions at that time best met the national interests of England, the interests of her people and were supported by the people. Churchill's best hour as a statesman is the hour when he walked with the English people.

If Churchill had not remained in the memory of mankind as the most outstanding politician of the 20th century, he would still deserve immortality as a talented writer, publicist and historian. But even if his state and literary activities had not secured him such a prominent place in the annals of history, grateful descendants would remember him at least for the fact that he left behind such a remarkable monument as Churchill College at Cambridge University, founded them in 1960.

In 2002, the British Broadcasting Corporation conducted a poll to determine who the citizens of the UK consider to be the greatest Briton in history. Winston Churchill (1874-1965) won the poll in a landslide.

Worship of Churchill's personality was widespread in Russia at the beginning of the post-Soviet period. However, the image of Churchill then being created as an outstanding democrat, a fighter against tyranny and for the ideals of humanism, has little to do with real British politics.

“I do not admit, for example, that a great injustice has been committed against the red Indians of America or the black natives of Australia. I do not accept that an injustice has been done to these people because a stronger race, a more advanced race, a wiser race, shall we say, has come and taken their place."

These words belong not to Adolf Hitler or Joseph Goebbels, but to Winston Churchill, and they were not spoken by a radical youth, but by a mature politician (1937), who, three years after they were uttered, took over as Prime Minister of Great Britain (1940 - 1945).

Winston Churchill entered the history of Great Britain as one of the most prominent politicians of the 20th century, who was in power under six monarchs - starting with Queen Victoria and ending with her great-great-granddaughter Elizabeth II, one of the members of the "Big Three" and "one of those who contributed to the for the modern world to become what it is.”

About this policy, as well as what it is known in the world, our article.

short biography

Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill is born November 30, 1874 in the family estate of the Dukes of Marlborough, in Blenheim Palace. His parents were wealthy and influential people - his father, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer, was a famous politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer of Britain, and Jenny's mother was the daughter of a wealthy American businessman.

The future politician became the first-born in the family, but was deprived of parental attention, since his father was constantly busy with a political career, and his mother devoted all her time to social life. Therefore, the upbringing of young Winston until the age of eight was carried out by the nanny Elizabeth Ann Everest, who became the closest person to Churchill.

And then he was sent to study at St. George's school, later transferred to a school in Baryton. Churchill studied at the Harrow School, where, in addition to knowledge, he received excellent skills in fencing. And in 1893 he began to study at the Royal Military School, after which he received the rank of second lieutenant.

For a short time he did military service in the hussars - he was sent to Cuba. There Winston was a war correspondent, published articles. Then he went on a military operation to suppress the uprising of the Pashtun tribes. At the end of hostilities, Churchill's book "The History of the Malakand Field Corps" was published. The next campaign in which Churchill took part was the suppression of the uprising in the Sudan.

At the time of his retirement, Winston Churchill was known as an excellent journalist. In 1899 he ran unsuccessfully for Parliament. Then, participating in the Anglo-Boer War, he was captured, but was able to escape from the camp. In 1900 he was elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative.

At the same time, Churchill's novel, Savrola, was published. In December 1905, he was appointed Under Secretary of State for the Colonies. In 1910 he became Home Secretary and in 1911 First Lord of the Admiralty. After the First World War, he became the Minister of Armaments, then of Aviation and the Minister of War. In 1924 he again entered the House of Commons. In the same year he became Chancellor of the Exchequer. After the 1931 elections, he founded his faction within the Conservative Party.

May 10, 1940 Churchill took over as prime minister (he remained in office until July 1945). He himself took the position of Minister of Defense to direct all military operations. In 1951, in the biography of Churchill, the post of Prime Minister was again taken.

He remained in office until April 1955.

In April 1953, what a coincidence - immediately after the assassination of Stalin and Beria and the Khrushchev coup d'etat in the USSR, he receives the Order of the Garter from the hands of Queen Elizabeth of England - Britain's highest award - and is awarded a knighthood, becoming Sir Winston Churchill. In the same year, Winston Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded "for excellence in the historical and biographical genres and for outstanding achievements in oratory."

In April 1955, 80-year-old Churchill retired and devoted a lot of time to painting and literary creativity: his four-volume History of the English-speaking peoples was published.

Let us dwell on some aspects of Churchill's political activity that influenced world politics in more detail.

Churchill's attitude towards the USSR

Churchill viewed the coming to power of the Bolsheviks in Russia as a personal insult.

Firstly, Russia's exit from the war (World War I - approx. IAC) largely deprived Britain of the opportunity to win victory in the favorite way of the Anglo-Saxons - at the expense of someone else's blood.

Secondly, those whom he dispersed in England, when he was Minister of the Interior, with the help of the military, came to power in Russia. Churchill seriously feared that the "Bolshevik contagion" would spread to the British Empire, and demanded to "strangle Bolshevism in its cradle" through military intervention.

However, this new bout of "bloodlust" did not find support in the government. In less than two decades, Churchill will have to build a military coalition with the Bolsheviks.

After the defeat in the 1946 parliamentary elections, Churchill officially led the opposition, but was actually inactive and did not regularly attend the meetings of the House.

At the same time, he intensively engaged in literary activity; his global celebrity status has landed him a number of major contracts with periodicals such as Life magazine, The Daily Telegraph and The New York Times, and a number of leading publishers.

During this period, Churchill began to work on one of the main memoirs - The Second World War, the first volume of which went on sale on October 4, 1948.

March 5, 1946 at Westminster College in Fulton (Missouri, USA), Churchill delivered the famous Fulton speech, which is considered to be the starting point of the Cold War. On September 19, 1946, speaking at the University of Zurich, Churchill made a speech in which he called on former enemies - Germany, France and Britain - to reconcile and create a "United States of Europe".

Fulton's speech was made after the "Unthinkable" plan was thwarted in July 1945, which, however, did not reassure the "probable allies."

The unthinkable meanness of the "allies"

World War III was supposed to start on July 1, 1945 with a sudden blow by the combined forces of the Ango-Saxons against the Soviet troops ... Now few people know this, just like how Stalin managed to frustrate the plans of "probable allies", why we were forced to hastily take Berlin, against whom the British instructors in April 45 trained the undisbanded divisions of the Germans who surrendered to them, why Dresden was destroyed with inhuman cruelty in February 1945, and whom exactly the Anglo-Saxons wanted to intimidate with this.

According to the official models of the history of the late USSR, the true reasons for this were not explained in schools - then there was a “struggle for peace”, a “new thinking” was already ripening at the top, and the legend of “honest allies - the USA and Great Britain” was welcomed in every possible way. And few documents were published then - this period was hidden for many reasons. In recent years, the British began to partially open the archives of that period, there is no one to fear - the USSR no longer exists.

In early April 1945, just before the end of the Great Patriotic War, W. Churchill, the Prime Minister of our ally, Great Britain, ordered his chiefs of staff to develop an operation of surprise strike against the USSR - Operation Unthinkable. It was given to him on May 22, 1945 on 29 pages. Its text can be found at the link - http://www.coldwar.ru/bases/operation-unthinkable.php

According to this plan, the attack on the USSR was to begin following the principles of Hitler - a sudden blow. On July 1, 1945, 47 British and American divisions, without any declaration of war, were to deal a crushing blow to the Russians, who did not expect such boundless meanness from the allies. The blow was supposed to be supported by 10-12 German divisions, which the "allies" kept undisbanded in Schleswig-Holstein and southern Denmark, they were trained daily by British instructors: they were preparing for war against the USSR. In theory, the war of the united forces of Western civilization against Russia was to begin - subsequently other countries, for example, Poland, then Hungary, were to participate in the "crusade" ... The war was to lead to the complete defeat and surrender of the USSR. The ultimate goal was to end the war approximately in the same place where Hitler planned to end it according to the Barbarossa plan - at the turn of Arkhangelsk-Stalingrad.

The Anglo-Saxons were preparing to break us with terror - the savage destruction of large Soviet cities: Moscow, Leningrad, Vladivostok, Murmansk and others with crushing blows from waves of "flying fortresses", since they did not expect to achieve advantages on land. Several million Russian people were supposed to die in the "fire tornadoes" worked out to the smallest detail. So Hamburg, Dresden, Tokyo were destroyed ... Now they were preparing to do this with us, with the allies. A common thing: the most heinous betrayal, extreme meanness and savage cruelty is the hallmark of Western Civilization and, especially, the Anglo-Saxons, who exterminated as many people as no other people in human history (the Chinese remember the huge losses of people during the Opium Wars).

Dresden after the firestorm bombing. The Anglo-Saxons wanted to do the same with us

However, on June 29, 1945, the day before the planned start of the war, the Red Army suddenly changed its location for the insidious enemy. This was the decisive weight that shifted the scales of history - the order was not given to the Anglo-Saxon troops. Prior to this, the capture of Berlin, which was considered impregnable, showed the power of the Soviet Army and the military experts of the enemy were inclined to cancel the attack on the USSR.

The naval forces of Great Britain and the United States then had an absolute superiority over the Soviet Navy: 19 times in destroyers, 9 times in battleships and large cruisers, and 2 times in submarines (http://www.respublika.info/4440 /history/article22384/). Over a hundred aircraft-carrying ships and several thousand carrier-based aircraft against zero from the USSR. The "probable ally" had 4 air armies of heavy bombers that could strike crushing blows. Soviet long-range bomber aviation was incomparably weaker.

In April 1945, the Allies presented our troops as worn out and exhausted, and military equipment as worn out to the limit. Their military specialists were greatly surprised by the power of the Soviet Army, which it demonstrated in the capture of Berlin, which they considered impregnable. There is no doubt about the correctness of the conclusion of the great historian V. Falin - Stalin's decision to storm Berlin in early May 1945 prevented a third world war. This is confirmed by recently declassified documents. Otherwise, Berlin would have been handed over to the “allies” without a fight, and the combined forces of all of Europe and North America would have fallen upon the USSR.

Even after the capture of Berlin, plans for a treacherous strike continued to be developed at full speed. The only thing that stopped them was that they realized that their plans had been revealed and the calculations of the strategists showed that it would not be possible to break the USSR without a sudden blow. There was another important reason why the Americans objected to the British - they needed the USSR to crush the Kwantung Army in the Far East, without which the US victory over Japan on its own was in doubt.

Dreams of destroying the USSR were not postponed

In 1947, W. Churchill asked Senator Stiles Bridge to persuade US President Harry Truman to launch a preventive nuclear strike on the USSR, which would “wipe the Kremlin off the face of the earth” and turn the Soviet Union into a “minor problem.” Otherwise, in his opinion, the USSR would have attacked the United States in 2-3 years after receiving the atomic bomb.

As you can see, Churchill adhered to the policy of destroying the USSR both during the First World War, and the Great Patriotic War of Germany against the USSR, and after its end.

Was Churchill standing behind Hitler?

Perhaps few people know that on the terrible day for us on June 22, 1941, when it seemed that the USSR was taken by surprise and would not recover from the blow, they rejoiced not only at Hitler's headquarters, but also at Churchill's political headquarters. The game played by the Anglo-Saxons with the Reich was a success.

The Germans were never able to understand that they were destined for the role of a battering ram of Western civilization, which was supposed to strike at Russia. Of course, it would be completely wrong to primitivize Hitler, exposing him as some kind of fool. The Nazi Fuhrer understood the danger of a war on two fronts. What prompted him to go to war?

There are many reasons in favor of the fact that in preparing the attack on the USSR, Hitler received guarantees from England. London promised Hitler to suspend hostilities and even withdraw from the war if Germany attacked Bolshevik Russia.

Most likely, the guarantees were transferred to Hitler through the treatment of Hess, who in May 1941 made his famous flight to England. Obviously, there was no personal initiative here - why did Hess need this?

These things are not done alone. In fact, do not believe in the version of his madness? No, there was a place to be the creation of a channel of communication between Germany and England. Hitler needed more than just a reliable person to communicate between the two countries. He needed a super-reliable person, which became Hess, the deputy Fuhrer for the NSDAP. Through him, perhaps, the British informed Hitler that they were ready to negotiate with him if only he attacked Russia.

“...Churchill could start correspondence negotiations with Hitler through Hess..., agree on a“ crusade against Bolshevism ”and a joint attack on the USSR on June 22,” suggests A. Osokin. “And on the appointed day, he did not fulfill his obligations ...” (“June 22, 1941: new version”)

This, and only this version, is able to explain why Hitler waged a war on two fronts, which, after the defeat in the First World War, was a “terrible dream”, a nightmare for German military strategists.

By the way, Soviet intelligence just reported that Hitler's attack on Russia depended on an agreement with England.

“The information about the date of the start of the war between Germany and the Soviet Union that came to us was the most contradictory,” writes Soviet intelligence officer P. Sudoplatov. “From the UK and the USA, we received reports from reliable sources that the question of a German attack on the USSR depended on a secret agreement with the British government, since it would be too dangerous to wage a war on two fronts ...”. (“Special operations. Lubyanka and the Kremlin 1930-1950.”)

After the flight of Hess, Hitler was convinced that England, one way or another, would come out on his side, joining the worldwide anti-Bolshevik front. And he, Hitler, will have the great honor of leading a military operation to crush the USSR.

Obviously, the British prompted Hess to initiate the flight - in order to test the ground for rapprochement. Hitler was seduced by this idea, especially since he himself desired this rapprochement. They framed the whole thing as a personal initiative of the "mad Hess". Hess himself, apparently, was one of the leaders of the pro-English "party" in the Reich, hence the high confidence of the British in him. At the same time, they sacrificed a very important, one might even say, the most important figure. To have such an agent of influence in the enemy camp is a tremendous success! But the game was worth the candle. Hess was donated in order to set Hitler against the USSR.

The Kremlin guessed that Hess's flight was the work of the British. Later, already in October 1944, Stalin almost openly told Churchill about this, demonstrating his awareness. During a conversation about Hess, Stalin unexpectedly proposed a toast to British intelligence, which, in his opinion, lured Hess to England. The head of the USSR was convinced that a high-ranking airman could not land without signals from the ground. Churchill rejected this interpretation indignantly, but Stalin insisted on it. And thus the Soviet leader showed that he knew who was standing behind Hess.

And even earlier, in the autumn of 1942, Stalin openly suggested that Churchill was holding Hess in reserve. For the leader of the USSR, it was completely clear that the former Hitlerite deputy was a creature of London.

When in 1943, after Stalingrad, the collapse of the aggressors became obvious, the Anglo-Saxon establishment seriously thought about how to “reformat” the Nazi regime and completely redirect it to war with Russia. In August 1943, at the suggestion of Churchill, England and the United States developed the Rankin plan (http://protown.ru/information/hide/5269.html). He envisaged collusion with Germany. Not Hitler's, of course, Hitler was planned to be overthrown - first of all, by the hands of the military. After that, the new leadership was supposed to “dissolve” the Western Front and provide support to the Allies during the landing in Normandy. Further it was assumed

“... the rapid advance of the allies through France, Germany, access to the line where they hold the Soviet troops. Warsaw, Prague, Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia, Vienna, Belgrade fall under the control of the USA and England ... At the same time, German troops in the west do not just surrender, but move east in an organized manner to strengthen the German defense line there. There are documents, you can’t get away from them” (V. Falin. “How the Second World War turned into the Third”).

This plan was never implemented - and therefore only because the “desert fox”, General Erin Rommel, who was assigned one of the important roles, was wounded.

In the summer of 1943, secret talks were held in the Spanish city of Santander between the heads of the intelligence services of Germany (V. Canaris), the United States (W. Donovan) and England (S. Menzies). During these negotiations, Canaris confirmed that he agreed to fulfill the program of Western democracies - to remove Hitler from power, conclude a truce with the West and continue the war with Russia.

The role of Great Britain in 1939 - 1945

A superficial understanding of the role and policy of Great Britain in World War II also dominates to this day. From this understanding follows a misconception about the role of Great Britain in 1939-1945.

Even during the war in Spain, when the military and military-political efforts of the USSR directly collided with the corresponding efforts of Germany and Italy, Great Britain and France adhered to the well-known policy of "non-interference", which in fact contributed to the victory of the Francoists. Great Britain and the USA actually continued this political line during the Great Patriotic War until June 1944.

Even before the outbreak of World War II, British Prime Minister (from May 28, 1937 to May 10, 1940) N. Chamberlain pursued the notorious policy of "appeasement" of the aggressor. As part of this policy, he put forward "Plan Z". He wrote about it:

“... there is a unique opportunity to reach an Anglo-German understanding ... Germany and England are the two pillars of the European world ... and therefore it is necessary to peacefully overcome our current difficulties ... Probably, it will be possible to find a solution acceptable to everyone except Russia. This is Plan Z."

For its part, Germany sought a lasting alliance with England, an alliance in which Germany would play a leading role. Based on this, Germany did not seek the military defeat of England. So, in July 1940, Hitler frankly spoke to those close to him:

“… If England is defeated… the British Empire will fall apart. There is no benefit to Germany from this. By shedding German blood, we will achieve something that will benefit only Japan, America and others.

Another well-known saying of Hitler:

“All he wants from England is the recognition of German positions on the continent ... The goal is to conclude peace with England on the basis of negotiations,” since “our peoples are one in race and tradition.”

Germany's policy in 1939-1944 completely followed in line with these views of Hitler and other leaders of the country. This explains the unhindered evacuation of British troops near Dunkirk in May 1940 and the flight of R. Hess to Scotland in May 1941. The air attack on England was intended only to intimidate England and persuade her to peace negotiations.

The new (from May 10, 1940) Prime Minister of England, W. Churchill, unlike his predecessor, did not allow the possibility of reconciliation with Germany on its terms and "turning (England) into a vassal state of the Nazi empire." He could recognize only England under the patronage of the United States as a contender for dominance in Europe.

Only the latter explains the more "worthy position and policy" of Churchill in comparison with the policy and actions of N. Chamberlain.

Britain's military efforts in the war with Germany until June 1944 consisted only of repelling Luftwaffe raids on England in 1940, defending the Mediterranean route to the British colonies in the Middle East and Asia, and, accordingly, countering the Italo-German invasion of North Africa in 1941 -1943, and also to participate later in 1943 in military operations in Sicily and Southern Italy (together with the USA). In all these actions, the British troops fought with extremely small enemy forces on fronts that were not of vital importance to Germany and her allies in Europe.

The preparation of aggression and the invasion of the united forces of Europe led by the Wehrmacht in the USSR on June 22, 1941 did not allow Germany to "deal" with Great Britain to the end.

In his multi-volume work The Second World War, Churchill could not resist admitting that he greeted the news of the beginning of the invasion of the USSR with jubilation. After all, Great Britain did not wage a real war with Germany either before June 22, 1941, or after that.

It is clear that Churchill rejoiced endlessly at the war between Germany and the USSR, since it allowed him to hope for the weakening of the main rival for supremacy in Europe, Germany, and for the neutralization of the main enemy in Europe and Asia, the USSR.

After the United States declared war on Germany (December 11, 1941), on the way to America on December 16, 1941, Churchill drew up a document on the goals of the actions of the two countries:

“At the present moment, the fact of paramount importance in the course of the war is the failure of Hitler's plans and his losses in Russia. Instead of the supposed easy and quick victory, he will have to ... endure bloody battles ... Neither Great Britain nor the United States should take any part in these events, except that we are obliged to ensure with punctual accuracy all the deliveries that we promised.

Note that this accuracy, and even more so punctual, was not in sight.

During the Battle of Stalingrad in October 1942, Churchill drew up the following secret memorandum:

“All my thoughts are directed primarily to Europe… A terrible catastrophe would have occurred if Russian barbarism had destroyed the culture and independence of the ancient European states. Although it is difficult to talk about it now, I believe that the European family of nations will be able to act as a united front, as a single whole ... I turn my eyes to the creation of a united Europe.

Thus, it was unconditionally stated that it was Russia, and not Germany, that was the true enemy of Europe.

After the Battle of Kursk, from the end of 1943, the close and inevitable victory of the USSR over the German-led invasion of Europe against the USSR became obvious. Then Churchill put forward programmatic provisions, which he adhered to until the end of the war:

“The decisive practical questions of strategy and policy … were that:

- firstly, Soviet Russia became a mortal threat;

- secondly, it is necessary to immediately create a new front against its rapid advance;

- thirdly, this front in Europe should go as far as possible to the East .... "

England, together with the United States, began a real war with Germany 3 years after the attack of Germany and its allies on the USSR, on June 6, 1944. But from what was quoted above, it is clear that this was not a confrontation with Germany, which by that time had lost its combat power, but with the "rapid advance" of the USSR, which, according to Churchill, had become a "mortal threat" to Europe.

“Russian armies will undoubtedly capture all of Austria and enter Vienna. If they also capture Berlin, will they not have a too exaggerated idea that they have made an overwhelming contribution to our common victory ... Therefore, I think that from a political point of view we should move as far east as possible in Germany and that in in the event that Berlin is within our reach, we must undoubtedly take it.

Based on the above facts and Churchill's statements, it can be asserted with full confidence that the real entry of England and the United States into the war in June 1944 was directed not so much against Germany as against the USSR. The battles on the Western Front were with German troops, but, as Churchill unequivocally admitted, in order for the armies of England and the United States to advance their "front in Europe ... as far as possible to the East."

At the very end of the war, at the request of Churchill and the Imperial General Staff of Great Britain, about 1 million German soldiers and officers in the British zone of occupation of Germany were not disbanded and transferred to the position of prisoners of war. They even had combat training classes. In addition, the army group "Nord" retained its headquarters and two corps, numbering more than 100 thousand people each. When moving forward, the British troops did not occupy the territory beyond the Kiel Canal, on which the mentioned troops, the headquarters of the German high command, 258 warships (including 9 heavy and light cruisers and 195 submarines), 951 ships of the merchant fleet and 2666 combat aircraft were located. aviation. The so-called "government" of Doenitz was also located there.

Churchill, in Montgomery's directive, demanded:

"Carefully collect German weapons and store them so that they can be easily distributed to German soldiers with whom we would have to cooperate if the Soviet offensive continued."

Churchill pinned great hopes on the Doenitz government, which is confirmed by the very fact of its creation in the British zone of occupation.

JV Stalin demanded the arrest of the Doenitz government and the transfer of all servicemen of the German army who were in the British zone to the status of prisoners of war. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief appointed the head of the intelligence department of the 1st Belorussian Front, General N.M. Trusov as a representative from the Soviet side to arrest the Doenitz government.

May 23, 1945 contrary to Churchill's intentions, representatives of the Soviet, American and British sides arrested the government of Doenitz, as well as more than 200 major Nazis and personnel of the headquarters of the high command of the German armed forces. The question of the division of the German military and merchant fleet between the allies was decided much later because of the opposition of our English "ally".

During the Berlin Conference on July 25, 1945, the USSR delegation handed over to the British delegation a memorandum on the incomplete application of the conditions of Germany's unconditional surrender to the German troops in Norway. It said that, according to information received by the Soviet government, there were about 400,000 unarmed and free-moving German military personnel in the areas of the cities of Meaux, Trondheim and Tromso.

Such were the designs of the expansive Sir Winston Churchill, our ally and our mortal enemy.

Summing up, it can be argued that until 1944 England did not actually fight the main aggressor at all, and it was the withdrawal of Soviet troops to the state border on March 26, 1944 that forced England to decide to invade France. And this invasion was undertaken essentially not to defeat Germany, but to save the largest possible territory of Europe from the victorious Red Army, which was quite capable of liberating all of Europe from the Nazis.