Was Churchill overrated?

I am certainly not in on macker's bashing post,

but I dislike Churchill for the reason (my knowledge about him is limited) that he was kind of a German hater. He had been one in WWI and he did not seem to distinguish/differentiate between Germans in general or Germans of WWI to those Nazis of WWII.

Could I have been wrong for a long time about that?

Regards
Kruska

 

Churchill isn't my area, but I dare say that his dislike of Germans was quite a common one for the time considering that Germany had twice plunged Europe (and following on, the World) into a major war in the space of 35 or so years, and in the space of 70 years had invaded France three times.

 

Hello hucks 216,

I tend to disagree on your 3 accounts,

1. Churchill disliked (hated) Germans even before Hitler came up, so the Nr. III doesn't count.
2. WWI surely wasn't caused or erupted just because of Germany alone,
3. Napoleon III declared war on Prussia not the other way around.

So no really good reasons for Churchill on those accounts.

Regards
Kruska

 

Like I said, Churchill isn't my area so I'd be grateful if could you point me in the direction of a book/source or two where I can read up about his attitudes towards the Germans and help expand my knowledge. Thanks.

 

This guy is the reason I have not been on here a lot lately CHURCHILL STARTED THE BLITZ AND BATTLE OF BRITAIN WAS WON BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE FEW OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE AND THOSE FOREIGN ALLIES WHO ALSO SERVED WITHIN.

 

My apologies, just trying to be cute and failing at the task, miserably.

 

Hello hucks216,

sorry, neither am I too literate about him. I remember reading that during the Boer War he already had a grudge against Germans. I remember a movie called 'Young Winston Churchill" were I also got this impression.

Well maybe some more knowledgable members here can help to clear up our views.

Regards
Kruska

 

It was Churchill's overall impression of the German nation as aggressors on the European mainland which shaped his "wary" stance (not hatred) concerning them. He had studied the aggression of the Franco-Prussian War, participated at the highest level in the First World War, and now was now embroiled in the Second.

One must remember that the Boers in South Africa were not "Germans" per se, but german dialect speaking descendants of a Dutch splinter group of the Dutch Reform Church, who had moved to south Africa’s Cape so as to escape religious persecution and to make money supplying Dutch ships with fresh vegetables and meats as they rounded the horn on their way to and from the East Indies.

In the 18th Century another splinter group of French Huguenots joined them in the area. So when the young Churchill went to serve in the "Second Boer War" at the end of the 19th Century, he wasn’t fighting against "Germans", he was fighting a mix of Dutch and French settlers who had split off from their own nations, speaking an "Africaner" dialect which was neither German nor Dutch anymore.

The Boer's attitude toward racial inferiors was a fore runner of the Nazi racial ladder, and held on well into the twentieth Century with apartide in South Africa. Not bad things to dislike overall.

They (Boers) were carrying German weapons (the Mauser rifle for example), but not supplied by Germany directly. They also carried Winchesters and Remingtons. Churchill himself carried and dearly loved his own Mauser "broomhandle" semi-automatic pistol (C-96), since Mauser simply made some of the best weapons of the moment.

 

Churchill warned GB of the danger of Nazi Germany but was called a waremonger. He was a man of foresite who loved his country and hated anything that threatened it whether Nazis ( Finest Hour speech ) or Communist Russia ( iron Curtain Speech). Take time to listen to his speeches, no ranting or raving, given in a measured tone with no false promises. Winston knew his audience well. When he describes the Nazis you can hear his hatred for them.
A great orator you can find his quotations by simply googling his name .Some display an impish sense of humours others a fine understanding of life. His books are heavyweight reading.quote" History will be kind to me for I intend to write it."
The thread name Was Churchill Overated should be Will we ever see the likes of Winston Churchill again.

 

Hello brndirt1 and rhs,

thanks for the added information. The way I see it, Churchill set his country above all others but to the extend that he disliked what others (e.g.germans) did, demanded or displayed - but he wouldn't hesitate to do just the same for himself or Britain.

As such Germany was an obvious rival or even the most dangerous opponent to his beloved Britain.

So I guess that he was no different from any other politician of his generation - with one destinction, he just wouldn't give in and therefore he wasn't a man of compromise. As such one might call him a hardliner and due to the century he was living in the most obvious "enemy" or "threat" to him and the British Empire was Germany even before the Nazis.

So I guess that I am quite close as having him identified as being anti German -maybe not a hater - for plausible reasons from his point of view.

Regards
Kruska

 

Kruska

Your placing your euro cents on the wrong bet.
Take some time to read Churchills own books, and you will find that there is no hate against germans. Hitlers gang is another story...

In the years befor the NSDAP came to power there was a general mood in the British public that the French were beeing to hard on the Germans. (payment of war damages etc.)

 

I have a link to Churchill's speeches here.

http://www.ww2f.com/wwii-general/25528-winston-churchill-speeches.html

To learn more about Winston Churchill from online sources (some well-respected and researched books would also be educational!):

Winston Churchill - Biography

This one is quite thoroug:
Sir Winston (Leonard Spencer) Churchill Biography - Biography.com

The Official Churchill Biography


A Winston Churchill Biography

Winston Churchill Biography,Winston Churchill The Legend,Winston Churchill Interviews,Winston Churchill biography for kids,,Winston Churchill Autobiography, Winston Churchill, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Fraklin Roosevelt, Oxfordshire, England

The Churchill Papers: Biography

Books about Churchill:

Winston Churchill biography - Google Books


Just a few. As others have said - he was the right man, in the right place, at the right time. Can we say that we have been as fortunate since?

 

Look theres no agenda here and i will admit i was being hard,but only because controversal statements usually get better answers,
Personally i can take or leave churchill although i do think he is over glorified.

I got some good answers too before the brit defender club kicked in but i've seen this before so i'm not perturbed.

I thought the question was a good one,would britain have capitulated if it wasnt for churchill,
could chamberlin if he was allowed to continue on kept going until the end of the war,

As for the blitz,hitler only ordered the blitz after british bombers under orders from churchill bombed german cities in retaliation for german accidental bombings of british cities.

relax people

 

WDIT45: slick

 

Just look into the Gallipoli campaign. I hate the arrogant pommie bastard.
No not british hater just that pompas twat.
I apologise for language if I offended anyone

Most of you wont realise it but Gallipoli is sacred to most Australians and the more we learn of the campaign , the more churchill is to blame as are the british higher officers there who used Aussies and Kiwis as fodder.
A.N.Z.A.C.s forever

 

Macker 33 its WTID45! and what a croc of SH!T "Germans accidentally bombed british cities" First phase 1940, 10 July to mid August Luftwaffe objective is to win superiority in the air over the channel and southern England.In the second phase the aim was to destroy the RAF as a fighting force by attacking its fighters, its airfields and installations.In the third phase 7 September to 27 September the Luftwaffe attacked London and attempted to foece RAF fighters into the air in order to destroy them.In the fourth and final phase 27 September to 31 October the Luftwaffe concentrated on night bombing of London andother major cities, WHICH CONTINUED LONG AFTER THE OFFICIAL END OF THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN.Now your statement that Germans accidently bombed british cities is not true.On the night of August 1940 a group of Heinkel bombers missed their targets at Rochester and Tameshaven, inadvertently, but against Hitlers express command , they released their bombs on the city of London so can we call this an accident

 

I think you will find that MOST people do know that. This isn't the official Brittny Spears Fan Club site.

In addition the ANZAC's have been banging on about this for some years now.
As for the Darnadelles and useless officers. No different on the western front mate. The casualties were just as horrible there.

 

Hello Kruska, I agree with a lot of what you say in your last post but possibly for different reasons.
Churchill was immensley proud of his country and so would set it above all others.The British Empire had passed its zenith but Hitler did say GB could keep as part of the peace offers he made.
You believe that Churchill did the same as Germany did, demanded or displayed. After the WW1 Germany was disorganised and probably a bigger threat to itself than other countries.With the rise to power of Hitler and the Nazis Churchill recognised the threat to Europe which proved correct. First by Annexation then by force of war Hitler set out to colonise both the west and the east.If he had succeeded there would be no free world as we know it.
I do not believe that GB won the war .The Allies together did that. GB was the first country not to fall to the Nazis and so became the worlds largest aircraft carrier and enabled the Normandy Invasion to take place.
Churchill bound our nation together and kept it free until the USA entered the war as an ally. Had it been left to other politicians all of us would now be speaking German. With the British Empire in Hitlers hands he would have had no need to attack Russia. All the imports he needed, fuel from Persia and the Gulf states. Which way would Canada, South Africa and Australia have gone.Germany's living space that Hitler demanded ?
Love him or hate him Churchill has had a great bearing on the lives of many of us today. We shall soon be gone from this world and who will speak our names in 50 years time?