ARTEFACT A Life in Time: Winston Churchill (1874–1965)
Early life Winston Churchill was born in 1874 in Blenheim Palace, England. His father, Randolph Churchill, was a Conservative MP. His mother was the daughter of an American millionaire. Churchill served in the British army until 1899 and then became a war correspondent. He wrote about his experiences in Africa.
Political career
In 1900 Churchill was elected as a Conservative MP. However, in 1904 he joined the Liberal Party. Leading up to World War I, he was the First Lord of the Admiralty. He was one of the main organisers of the Gallipolli campaign in 1915, which was a failure. Churchill resigned, but in 1917 he returned to politics. He was on the British negotiating team during the Anglo–Irish Treaty 1921 negotiations and took various ministerial roles. In 1924, he rejoined the Conservative Party. He became Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1931, Churchill was not appointed to the cabinet. Many believed his political career was over.
Wartime leadership
Churchill had been opposed to Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement. When World War II broke out, he was reappointed First Lord of the Admiralty, and when Chamberlain resigned in May 1940 Churchill replaced him as Prime Minister. He and his wartime speeches were very inspiring to the British people. Churchill developed a close relationship with Franklin Roosevelt and formed an alliance with Stalin in 1941. However, following the war he became a strong critic of Stalin.
Later career
Churchill lost the 1945 British election but was Prime Minister again from 1951 to 1955. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953 and died in 1965 at the age of 90.
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The front page of a British newspaper on 7 May 1945
