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Old 01-24-06, 06:11 PM   #21
horsa
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An interesting view, if anything. Perhaps somewhat stretched,
Not at all

Churchill was probably one of history’s greatest political orators and certainly one of its most erratic and interesting characters.

But ask yourself this …. “what did he think he was doing in June 1940 by choosing to fight on ????????? “

Consider the the real world in 1940 and not the romantic fantasy we have grown up with, simply because he pulled off one of the greatest Houdini escape acts History has ever seen.

Military Situation
At this point Germany had annexed sizeable parts of Europe by political means, defeated Poland in a matter of weeks, invaded and occupied much of Scandinavia , torn through and defeated the French and British armies in six weeks, - something that four years of bloody attrition in 1914-18 had failed to achieve.. Despite its reputation and numbers the Royal Navy consisted of far too many older warships – she had for example no modern battleships and an inadequate number of destroyers for wartime convoy protection. The rampant German Army supported by a formidable Luftwaffe stood barely 21 miles across the channel. A British army effectively did not exist and what there was of it had been thoroughly beaten leaving most of its equipment behind in France. What Hitler didn't achieve in 1940 could and should have happened sometime in 1941

Geo-political Situation
Russia currently had a non-aggression pact with Germany. Roosevelt’s America had no intention of entering the war on Britain or anybody’s behalf. Indeed ,the so called “special relationship” was distinctly cool at the time. Italy had joined the war on the Axis side and threatened to roll over the tottering British Empire in the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa. Hungary, Bulgaria, Rumania, and Finland were for various reasons pro-German. In the Far East an expansionist Japan was a threat to Britain’s position there.Apart from her own dominions and colonies Britain could not muster a single ally anywhere.

Home Position
Churchill had been a compromise choice for PM and had occupied the position for barely two months. For the previous 25 years or so he had been out of mainstream politics. He was regarded as a political maverick by many of his government colleagues, some of whom did not have a great deal of faith in him, regarding him as little more than a showman. His cabinet were divided and his hold on office was tenuous.

Against this background Hitler offered peace terms …… what did Churchill do ? ….. rejected them out of hand and committed Britain to a catastrophic losing war.

With hindsight, we know that Churchill and Britain ended up on the "winning side" ... but not ( importantly) as a victor … however at the time, he had no army , no allies, no cards to play and no reason to believe the New Germany wouldn’t continue on its hitherto unstoppable progress.

Seriously ask yourself … what did he think he was doing ??????
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