Was Churchill a manufactured hero 1930-1945?

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Was Churchill a manufactured hero 1930-1945?

The word hero can refer to many different types of people. The definition of a hero for the purpose of this piece of work will be a person who does brave and noble deeds.

Churchill's role as Prime Minister was to represent the country, inform the country and ultimately do as the majority demanded. His speeches of inspiration encouraged the nation into doing its moral duty. During his short time as First Lord of the Admiralty he ordered the boarding of a German merchant ship known to be carrying British sailor after the ship had been allowed to go by British forces without inspection. However it was the common soldier who fought the German's on the beaches, on the landing grounds, in the field and streets. Yet only the men in positions of power are recognised as hero. The men who fought are the true heroes and not the man who on a number of occasions ordered them to their deaths.

Churchill to the public was a hero who led the nation to a just victory over the Nazis. However not everyone in his administration or the army believed this. Below are collections of quotes from a variety of sources telling of their dislike of Churchill.

'Silly old man - he plunged into a long harangue about World Organisation, knowing nothing whatsoever of what he was talking about and making a complete nonsense of the whole thing.'1

This source by Cadogan would confirm the belief that Churchill was merely a mouthpiece, in love with the sound of his own voice no matter what the topic. However the source was written after being confined to simply working with the same men for years. This could be a release of frustration at how things were at the time or Churchill arrogances at believing he knows what is best about everything.

'Very few will criticize Churchill openly... if one hints that perhaps Churchill isn't all he's supposed to be, a great leader many people respond immediately and will begin to tell all kinds of things they dislike about him.'2

During and after the war there was a great sense of patriotism created by the media to whip up support for the war and Churchill's speeches were a main focus of this and enabled him to grow in stature and in the confidences of the British public. However some people still had some personal resentment towards him. This source by Walter Graebner represents mainly the political class who took a keen interest in government and so would have more information and understanding on political issues.

In April 1932 Hitler ran for the German presidency and won 13 million votes. The rise to power of Hitler caused great concern for Churchill. So on the 13 May 1932 the Disarmament Conference was suppose to bring the nations of the world together through the decreasing of arms. This did not happen the conference had actually Anthony Scannell Centre Number: 12532 Candidate Number: 5148 Word Count: 2987

managed to make each nation increase their production of armaments. Hitler saw this the right time to demand equality of status with the French. Churchill's view on German rearmament was:

'They (Germans) are looking for weapons and when they have the weapons, believe me they will ask for the return of lost territory and lost colonies.'3

At the time Hitler was coming to power Churchill held no position of power. He did however believe the policies pursued by the government were right at the time. These policies were of Britain detaching herself from European Politics. This destabilised Europe leaving a power vacuum that led to Hitler's regime growing in power on the international stage. If Churchill is the hero he is made out to be how could he support the withdrawal of a power that kept Europe stable.
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Churchill could see that democracy in Germany was failing, as any government could not survive without Nazi support. Churchill's solution to this was to make the French stronger by rejecting French disarmament and German rearmament. However, if Britain continued to press for disarmament it would tie Britain up in a European affair that it would prefer to avoid. Appeasement on the other hand would release Britain from all her European duties.

With Britain forcing herself out of European affairs this left France vulnerable to old enemies. While France was prepare to act to prevent any Germany military ...

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