Pysa4ka presents media project English Visuals Precarpathian University Ukraine Прикарпатський університет (с) Писачка, 2019 mazepi10@gmail.com

1. Winston Churchill

2. The renowned war-time leader and Prime
Minister Winston Churchill,after almost 50
years,is still in British people”s minds and head
and shoulders above any other British iconic
personality.
«To be head
and shoulders
above smb» – to
be superior to
someone.
«Iconic
personality»
-cult figure.

4. Between 1940 and 1945 Winston Churchill was probably the
most popular British prime minister of all time. In May 1945
his approval rating in the opinion polls, which had never
fallen below 78 per cent, stood at 83 per cent. With few
exceptions, politicians and commentators confidently
predicted that he would lead the Conservatives to victory at
the forthcoming general election

5. So why was it that after WWII ended and a
general election was called,Winston Churchill , a
Conservative,lost?
Politicians are often rejected by
voters because they have failed in
office.
-But one of the reasons why
Churchill lost the general election
in 1945 was because he had
succeeded in completing the
almost superhuman task he had
taken on in 1940, and in a way this
made him redundant.

6. Churchill was as badly flawed as he was a great leader in WWII. There
was a reason why nobody liked him in 1940. He became prime minister
in 1940 for a variety of reasons, but popularity was not one of them. He
had been on the outs in the Conservative party, but got appointed First
Lord of the Admiralty when WWII started. He had formerly been a
member of the Liberal party, but ended up being one of the most
conservative of the conservatives later. He became prime minister in 1940
because he was acceptable at that unique point in time to both
Conservatives and to Labour (because like them and unlike most
conservatives, he had been strongly anti-Hitler). Ironically, he was not
the preferred candidate by either party, but a secondary choice
acceptable to both at a time when the parties both believed they needed
some form of unity government to get the country through the war. He
was also perceived as someone suitable to provide war leadership because
of his military background and his clear record of the need to fight
Hitler.

7. When the war was essentially won, his brand of rather extreme conservatism
was not palatable to the electorate. It is worth remembering what that was.
Churchill was a defender of the most odious aspects of British imperialism, and
resisted any action to end that imperialism (notably so regarding India and
Gandhi). He championed intervention in the Russian civil war. He promoted
paramilitary violence in Ireland (Black and Tans) to fight the Irish in the war of
independence. He was early in his life a champion of liberal values, but reversed
course later in life accompanied by a vitriol toward such values that one would
expect from a soured viewpoint. This put him well outside the mainstream. He
brought back the gold standard in the 20s, causing severe deflation in the
economy. He was against universal suffrage and votes for women ( though he
apparently changed his mind).
He argued for a return to voting based on property ownership. He was an early champion of Mussolini and
cited his fascist violence as a proper way to deal with striking coal miners. He defended the British
concentration camps for the Boer. He was in favor of using poisoned gas on the Kurds when they rebelled in
Iraq (the British ended up just using tear gas and guns). There is a stink that attaches to the man that goes
unobserved in praising his great accomplishments.

8. Put another way, he was acceptable for a short period of
time in 1940 because of one issue — the war crisis. The
crisis had arisen because of the British failure in April,
1940, in defending Norway, but that failure really
exposed the degree to which Great Britain was not
prepared for war even though the war was by then 7
months old. It was becoming clear that the failed policy
of the Conservatives concerning war readiness appeared
to leave Great Britain exposed to Nazi aggression. To a
minor extent, Churchill had been responsible for those
policies in the 20s, but he correctly perceived in the 30s
that the Nazi threat changed that. And part of the
reason for lack of preparation for war in WWII was the
lingering unpaid cost for WWI, resulting in two
decades of austerity in defense spending (which is what
Churchill championed in the 20s).
Ironically, Chamberlain resigned
because of this and Churchill became
prime minister on May 10, 1940, on the
exact date that the Nazis launched their
devastating invasion on the western
front, resulting in Dunkirk for the
British and the fall of France a month
later. Churchill took over at the darkest
hour and made it the finest hour. His
overall war leadership was solid,
although he continued to believe in his
nonsense about Europe's alleged soft
underbelly.
Clearly the greatest legacy of Churchill was his lifetime of unmatched rhetoric. He won the Nobel
Prize for literature in 1953 based on his lifetime of work. This and his legacy of war leadership dwarf
his many faults. But there were plenty of warts, and the British electorate were well aware of that in
1945. It is worth remembering that just as he had done countless times throughout his life, he found
a way to bounce back from failure and had another stint as prime minister in the 50s.

9. The former prime minister, who led Britain to victory
during World War 2, died on January 24, 1965.

10. According to royal etiquette, the reigning monarch usually arrives last and leaves first for events.
But at Sir Winston’s funeral in 1965, the Queen put royal etiquette aside arrived before Mr Churchill's family
and before the wartime leader’s coffin was in the church.
The former prime minister, who led Britain to victory during World War 2, died on January 24, 1965.
A state funeral is usually reserved only for royalty and those who had truly changed history and according to
the Channel 5 documentary Elizabeth: Our Queen, the monarch also went a step further by putting "her royal
privilege aside".
The narrator said: “On this occasion it was different, she arrived before the coffin and before the Churchill
family and left after both of them.
“The Queen had put her royal privilege aside and bestowed the honour of arriving last to Churchill’s family
and his coffin.”
Sir Winston’s grandson, Sir Nicolas Soames, said the Queen's sweet gesture meant a lot to his entire family.