Winston Churchill is commonly thought to be the greatest ever British prime minister in recognition of the way that he led Britain to victory in the Second World War. Without doubt, Churchill was a politician who had a massive impact on the twentieth century, but the ‘hype’ surrounding him means that people can get carried away and think of him as a perfect leader. This makes it difficult for historians to form a reasonable judgement of Churchill’s war record. In order to discover the real Winston Churchill, we need to dig below the illusion of his being flawless and compare his faults with his achievements.
Churchill is famous for his role in the Second World War, but he was already a major figure in government at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. He was a member of the War Council and as First Lord of the Admiralty he was responsible for the running of the navy. Churchill was able to influence military strategy, and he supported the disastrous Gallipoli landings, in which thousands of Australian and New Zealand troops were killed when they tried to invade Turkey and knock the Ottoman empire out of the war. Blamed for the Gallipoli debacle, Churchill was moved from the Admiralty and decided to join the army. He was posted to the Western Front and commanded a battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers.
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