Winston Churchill
6th: Jacob LeBeau, Christina Munnings and Vrinda Goyal
Who was Winston Churchill? (Definition)
Winston Churchill is one of the best-known, and some say one of the greatest, statesmen of the 20th century. Though he was born into a life of privilege, he dedicated himself to public service. Winston Churchill was simply a hero after the Allies win over WWII. He was a great leader and role model for leaders to come.
Detail
Causes
Winston Churchill's life was a trajectory of events leading to his stand against Adolf Hitler's threat to control Europe. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Churchill helped lead a successful Allied strategy with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and General Secretary Joseph Stalin during WWII to defeat the Axis powers and craft post-war peace. After the breakdown of the alliance, he alerted the West to the expansionist threat of Soviet Communism.
Characteristics
Who: Winston Churchill
What: Churchill was Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense for Great Britain during World War II
When: Churchill was Prime Minister between May 1940-July 1945 and October 1951-1955. He was also Minister of Defense between May 1940-July 1945 and October 1951-February 1952
Where: Based in Great Britain but traveled to many places during the war.
Why: On June 18, 1940, Churchill made one of his iconic speeches to the House of Commons, warning that "the Battle of Britain" was about to begin. Churchill kept resistance to Nazi dominance alive, and created the foundation for an alliance with the United States and the Soviet Union.
How: After the US entered World War II, in December 1941, Churchill was confident that the Allies would eventually win the war. In the months that followed, Churchill worked closely with U.S. President Roosevelt and Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin to forge an Allied war strategy and post-war world. In meetings in Teheran, Yalta, and Potsdam, Churchill collaborated with the two leaders to develop a united strategy against the Axis Powers, and helped craft the post-war world with the United Nations as its centerpiece.
Significance
Winston Churchill was a big factor to not only Britains but the Allies success in WWII. Like everyone he had flaws. He didn't always make the best call, but he never backed down in times of trouble. Winston Churchill was an inspiration to many leaders after him and they as leaders improved because of the example Winston Churchill established in his time. He will always be a figure of the past but his ideas and actions will resound through the generations now and to come. We will always remember the tenacious and forthright war leader that led his country against the seemingly undefeatable Nazis during WWII.