When it comes to the spirit of World War II, the person I admire the most is the British leader Churchill.
The leader of the Second World War even became almost the embodiment of the British spirit. Obviously, when it comes to Britain, when it comes to World War II, Churchill is a figure that cannot be bypassed.
British Prime Minister: Churchill
In the face of such a once-in-a-century figure, even his opponents are satisfied with him:
"Churchill was the one who agreed that he could never become prime minister, but he was also the only person who could be a leader at this critical juncture."
"People can't dislike him, his talent and vitality are unparalleled."
<h1>1. Son of the nobility: A young man in the famous door</h1>
At 1:30 a.m. on November 30, 1874, Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace in Oxford, England.
The reason why his name is so long is because the longer the name in the UK, the older the family is, indicating the higher the social status of the family.
Churchill's ancestor John Churchill supported William III in the Glorious Revolution, and as commander-in-chief of the army made great contributions to the victory in the wars against Spain and France, and was made Duke of Marlboro by Queen Anne in 1702.
Portrait of the Duke of Marlborough
The Dukes of Marlborough ranked tenth out of 24 royal families in England in the 19th century. Churchill's father, Randolph Churchill, the third son of Duke VII of Marba, was the founder of the Conservative Primrose Society, was once the powerful Chancellor of the Exchequer, a leader in the House of Commons, second only to the Prime Minister.
Mother Jeron jerom is the daughter of American millionaire and one of the shareholders of The New York Times, Renjanie Jerome.
Churchill parents
Churchill, who came from a noble family, was particularly mischievous as a child, his father was keen on political careers, his mother was keen on high society, and Churchie was brought up by his nanny, Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Avilis.
His father was busy socializing, his mother was beautiful, and he had countless lovers outside, including Edward VIII, the future King of England, then Prince of Wales. His wife was unfaithful, and Randolph Churchill also began to have extramarital affairs with beautiful women outside, and after the two divorced, Churchill's mother remarried her husband who was younger than Churchill.
Churchill's mother
Churchill, who grew up in this original family, suffered from "bipolar disorder" from childhood, which is specifically, emotions are high and low, circulating between low and high. It may be a low period for a long time, or it may be a long time when the mood is high, and the mood of this patient is always switching back and forth between the two extremes, so the mood fluctuations are very large.
The lack of love in the original family always makes him feel lonely and eager to prove himself, so he is always ambitious. In fact, Churchill, whose life was often plagued by depression, called it the "Black Dog", and although he eventually became a hero in saving Britain, he said to his children in his later years: "I have accomplished a great deal, but in the end I have achieved nothing." ”
Later, the family invited a tutor for little Churchill, but from a young age Churchill was full of personality, liked to learn the class history, geography, without the teacher's control, he sat up early and put up his ears to listen, did not like mathematics, Latin, etc., he fled, the teacher chased over, he simply closed the door.
In 1881, at the age of 7, Churchill was sent to the aristocratic School James Preparatory School, a public school known for its strict rigidity and expensive tuition, Churchill was mischievous at home, and he was seriously biased, becoming a famous poor student in the school.
Childhood Churchill
Two years later, his parents had no choice but to transfer him to the relatively relaxed Brighton School, where he wandered until graduation. Because of his poor grades, he was unable to enter his father's alma mater, Eton College, and went to Harrow College, which was second only to Eton College.
Harrow College is also a well-known school in the United Kingdom, and students are either rich or expensive, and they also have to pass strict entrance examinations. But fortunately, Churchill had a high-powered father, and it just so happened that the principal of Harrow College had a relatively high emotional intelligence, and Churchill was able to enroll loosely.
The problem of partiality and mischief was not cured, and Churchill always counted down the whole school, and the first time he took the exam and came back from the bottom.
This made Randolph Churchill, who was the social elite in all aspects, unable to look up for a long time, but Churchill's American grandfather, Leonard Jerome, did not see it that way, because Churchill, although the overall results were not satisfactory, but the overall quality was very good. For example, some of his conceited self-confidence, speech ability, leadership ability, and his sports, military, writing classes, etc. are particularly outstanding.
He advised his son-in-law: "Boys find an occasion where they can show their talents, and naturally they will get better." ”
Churchill was 18 years old when he graduated from Harrow College, and the way out became another problem. After considering this, his father enrolled him in the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst.
Strange to say, this time Churchill seems to have suddenly opened up, in order to get into the military school of his choice, he actually worked hard for the first time, he frantically tutored his most hated mathematics and Latin... This time, he was admitted to the military preparatory class of Harrow College with his strength, but despite this, he failed the exam twice, and Churchill, who was more and more frustrated, was admitted to the cavalry section with a score of 95 in the third year.
Churchill, the "scum" who was finally admitted to the military academy
His grandfather was right, "Boys find an occasion where they can show their talents, naturally they will get better", Churchill in the military school finally found his best state, he actively participated in military training, learned military knowledge, interpersonal relations are also like a fish, when he graduated from the military school, his grades were already the 8th in the school, and finally gave himself and his father a breath of air.
This year Churchill was 21 years old, when he began to grow up, his father died, this year, for his family can be described as a "disaster", shortly after the death of his father, his grandmother and nanny also died.
Churchill, overnight, felt the coldness and impermanence of the world, and he had to plan for his future life.
<h1>61 years of political career: The spokesman for the British spirit</h1>
In 1895, after graduating at the age of 21, Churchill soon became a lieutenant with his performance.
Lieutenant Winston Churchill in a spirited manner
After becoming a lieutenant, the British Intelligence Service sent him to Spain and Cuba to investigate the local people's uprising war, and he covered the war as a reporter for the Daily Chronicle, and received the Spanish Red Cross, and he has loved to write ever since.
The following year, the 22-year-old Churchill was transferred with the army to Bangalore, India, where he read a large number of philosophical, historical, religious, and economic works, which were "monotonous, tedious and boring" days, and it was books that made his thoughts deep and formed an indestructible belief in life.
After the armed uprising against the British in India, he covered British military operations as a reporter for the Calcutta Herald and the Daily Telegraph. The economically savvy Churchill revised the manuscripts of two newspapers, plus other materials he collected, and wrote his debut novel, "The Military Discipline of the Malakand Field.".
War correspondent Churchill
After his 24-year-old debut was published in Britain, he published the novel "Saflora" and the "War on the River" of the British-Sudanese War.
At the age of 25, he resigned from the military and went to South Africa as a reporter for the Morning Post to cover the Anglo-Boer War, with a salary of £15 per column for reporting, and Churchill was paid more than £300 a month for writing (his lieutenant's salary was 12.5/month).
During the armed struggle of the Boers in South Africa, he was unfortunately captured by South African Prime Minister Shi Mozi and sent to the rear of the Boers, and Churchill was able to successfully escape from prison in the prisoner camp without the guards noticing. He climbed over the wall and climbed onto a train loaded with coal, and at dawn he hid in the grove to wait for the next day's train, but after a day of starvation the train did not come, he risked his life to find a strange Englishman in the mining area, who hid him in the wagon of the freight car bound for the Portuguese colony, and 16 hours later, he managed to reach the British consulate in the then Portuguese colony of Mozambique, and escaped successfully.
After Churchill's successful escape from prison in 1899, he published in the Morning Post a detailed account of his escape from a prisoner-of-war camp, and a week after his escape, Britain was defeated in South Africa, becoming the "Black Week", and Churchill became a legend and became famous in The First World War in Britain.
In October 1900, when the 26-year-old Churchill returned to England, he made a name for himself by supplementing his war communications, especially the part of his successful prison escape that became the highlight of the book, "From London to Ladysmith", and in just 4 months, the new book sold out in 15,000 copies. Together with the Indian novel Savolola, the royalties of the two books totaled £4,000, which became the first pot of gold for his next political capital.
Churchill's lecture tour was grand
Beginning in November 1900, he toured England, the United States and Canada, and when he returned to London, his fortune doubled to £10,000.
By writing articles, publishing books and giving lectures, Churchill amassed a wealth and popularity, and was elected to parliament by the British Conservative Party, which really began his 61-year political career.
But in the beginning, Churchill's political path was not smooth,
In 1904, he was expelled from the Conservative Party the following year because of his independent opinions, known as an "independent defender".
In 1906, after the Liberals came to power, he was appointed deputy secretary of the Colonial Affairs Bureau, whose responsibility was to promote south autonomy.
In 1908, after Prime Minister Asquith came to power, he was appointed Minister of Commerce and formally entered the Cabinet: promoting forced labor and obstructing the Navy from increasing its financial budget.
In 1908, at the age of 31, after becoming Minister of the Navy, he established the Operational Staff in the Admiralty, and finally suffered heavy losses due to a command error. During World War I, he also suffered heavy losses due to command errors.
But officially these exercised Churchill's counterattack in World War II.
On March 7, 1936, Hitler announced in the Reichstag that the German army had re-established the Rhineland Demilitarized Zone, but Neither Britain nor France even stood up to oppose it, and Churchill bravely stood up and warned Germany to violate the Treaty of Versailles!
When he learned that France was ready to surrender, Churchill gave a sensational speech:
"We have only one goal, one that cannot be changed. We are determined to eliminate Hitler and eliminate all traces of the Nazi system. Nothing can make us change this resolve, nothing can! We will never negotiate, we will never negotiate with Hitler or any of his henchmen. We will fight Him on land, we will fight Him on the seas, we will fight Him in the sky until we ask Heaven's help to clear His shadow from The Earth and liberate the people of the Earth from His yoke! ”
On September 1, 1939, World War II broke out. On 10 May 1940, the Queen summoned Churchill and ordered him to form a cabinet, and a little later he invited Labour Leader Attlee to join the Cabinet, and in May 1940 he attended the House of Commons for the first time as Prime Minister and gave a sensational speech:
"I have nothing but blood and hard work to dedicate to everyone." What is our purpose, you ask? I can reply with one word — victory, to win at all costs, no matter how terrible it is, to win victory no matter how far away and difficult the road. Because without victory, we cannot survive. ”
Churchill was giving a speech
Churchill was able to lead Britain to victory over fascism in World War II, becoming the only country in Europe to compete with Germany, and the reason why it can boost British morale is inseparable from Churchill's speech and leadership temperament, the following is a passage of Churchill's iron-blooded speech during World War II:
"We will fight to the end! We will fight in France! We will fight at the bottom of the ocean! We will fight in the air with more and more confidence and more and more strength! We will fight in the fields and in the streets! We will fight in the mountains! We will never surrender, even if our island, or most of it, is conquered and starved! ”
<h1>Third, the all-rounder: a magnificent life</h1>
In addition to the identity of the British prime minister and politician in World War II, Churchill was also very versatile, a painter, an orator, a writer, each of which achieved a height that ordinary people could not reach.
(1) Politicians
During World War II, the people of LinkedIn countries won national victories and stood side by side with Stalin and Roosevelt.
Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill "Big Three"
Churchill's life is extremely wonderful, but aside from the superficial glitz and noise, Churchill behind him is lonely, even depressed, and it can be said that his life is to fight in effort and despair.
Churchill's tenure as Prime Minister was the most tragic moment for Britain, when the whole of Europe was shrouded in fascist darkness, and the pressure of Churchill's ascension to the British Prime Minister was reproduced in the movie "The Darkest Hour".
France had surrendered, Germany's next target was Britain, and the whole of Britain was underconfident at the time, and the Conservative leader Chamberlain had given Churchill the throne because of inability to give way.
Churchill was well aware that with British strength it would be difficult to resist German fascism, so he decided to pull the United States and the Soviet Union into the water, he traveled back and forth between the Atlantic Ocean, and roosevelt formulated "Operation Overlord", and finally in 1944, Normandy landed, Hitler failed.
Allied forces landing in Normandy
No one wanted to be prime minister because no one had confidence in Britain's national fortunes at the time.
Churchill was elected as a strategist by liberal and Conservative politicians who wanted to elect a "scapegoat" to deal with the war first, and when the time was ripe, they were ready to "negotiate peace with Germany".
In the beginning, Churchill was just a transitional figure on the bench, and no one believed that he could sit on the prime minister.
He was reckless and hot-tempered, and during the First World War, he suffered 200,000 casualties in the Battle of Gallipoli because of his hot temper, and he also used military artillery to suppress workers' strikes, and even the king was afraid of him.
He has a lot of mood swings, but he also has the courage to be wise. He awakened the british nation like a lion:
"Those countries that struggle to the end will rise again, and those that obediently surrender will perish."
In the end, he led the British people to victory in the anti-fascist war like a god.
Churchill was irritable and often out of control, his emotions were as elusive as laughing, he was domineering and direct and rarely cared about the feelings of others, but fortunately, he had a wife with high emotional intelligence.
The Churchills
In terms of interpersonal relationships, his wife Clementina is his "needle in the haystack". When he was afraid of timidity, his wife encouraged him to cheer up and show his true qualities and courage; when he was fragile and crying, her wife encouraged him: "You have endured inner torment, you are not perfect, but you are very strong, you do not blindly follow, so you are very wise." ”
In his later years, Churchill wrote a letter of thanksgiving to his wife:
"Your love and pity are the source of my relief and self-confidence. Who else but you can break the loneliness of this noisy and chaotic world. ”
Why only Churchill could win the victory of the British, Stoll said:
"In 1940, any political leader was utterly desperate and most likely just lip service to cheer up the British. Only one person, who understands and faces his inner despair, can accept the cruel reality at that moment, and only this person knows how to grasp a glimmer of hope in despair, and in the siege of the enemy, the fighting spirit is burned to the extreme, and can transform the display of compassion into fearless words, and in the stormy summer of 1940, we will not fall. Churchill was such a man, and precisely because he had been fighting his despair all his life, only he could tell others that despair could be overcome. ”
(2) Writers
Churchill was a politician, but for writing Memoirs of the Second World War (aka The Unwanted War), he won the Nobel Prize in Literature, an honor that many writers could not touch in their lifetime.
Churchill won the Nobel Prize in Literature
Why did this book achieve such a high level of achievement? Because Churchill sympathized with Germany from a humanitarian point of view and pointed out that World War II was a stupid war that could have been avoided.
In the book, he points out the root cause of World War II: because of the stupidity of the public and the weakness of politicians in democracies.
In this book, Churchill pointed out that the greatest folly of the victorious powers after World War I was that the demand for Germany to pay huge war reparations in the Treaty of Versailles was "so harsh and stupid that it was obviously impossible to achieve it."
Let's take a look at how harsh the Versailles Contract was on Germany:
13% of the territory; loss of all overseas colonies; compensation of $32 billion in war reparations, plus $500 million in interest per year; 26% additional charges for exports; the Army retains only 100,000 people, the Navy's main warships must not exceed 6 searches, and must not possess offensive weapons such as submarines, aircraft, tanks or heavy artillery...
The British Prime Minister at the time, Lloyd George, said viciously: "Search the pockets of the Germans, and find out the money!" ”
Where there is war, there is resistance!
Faced with such a hegemonic treaty, the German people had only two paths: they could not abide by it or wage war.
Germany itself is not a soft persimmon country, and the unequal contract of World War I is equivalent to sowing the seeds for Germany to start a war 20 years later.
Rules do not limit the will of man. From 1924 to 1930, Germany issued a large number of foreign bonds to compensate for war reparations, after the global financial crisis in 1929, began in 1931, Germany provisionally reparations, in 1933 After Hitler came to power, directly tore up the contract, Germany began to secretly charge the army, develop police, spies, manufacture tanks, heavy machine guns...
Churchill's wisdom is witnessed in this book.
Churchill,d'Étaux, a lifelong lover of literature, from his teenage years in the military and as a war correspondent, never stopped after a small test, and Pound, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Mail, with whom he had a long-term relationship, recalled:
Churchill wrote with a good attitude and high professionalism, and his manuscripts were always neatly written and delivered according to the agreed date. His writing is good at combining literature and historiography, using his own and family history as the material, using literary pen and ink to interpret historical events vividly. ”
His most satisfying work is his memoir of his early life, My Early Life.
Churchill's autobiography My Early Life in English
He also wrote a biography of his father, The Biography of Lord Randolph Churchill. He also baptized his ancestors with The Biography of Malpole: His Life and Age, a million-dollar biography that, after its publication, Churchill won the reputation of a biographer.
In addition to war works and family biographical works, Churchill is also good at historical and ethnic historiography masterpieces, he wrote "British National History", 24 volumes, including Britain from 1901 before, its content covers political, economic, cultural, military, religious aspects, great historical research value, literature, historiography can be seen.
(3) Orator
Churchill has loved to speak since he was a child, and his most successful speech was in 1948, when he was invited to a graduation lecture at Oxford University, short and concise, but never forgotten. The theme of the speech was "The Mystery of Success", and three months before the speech began, the media had begun to hype up enthusiastically, and on the day of the speech, the venue was crowded with people, and well-known media from all over the world arrived, ready to listen to the success secret of this successful person.
Churchill Oxford University Lecture "Never Give Up"
But after he came to power, he only said one sentence: "There are three secrets to my success: the first is that I will never give up; the second is that I will never give up; and the third is that I will never, never, never give up!" My talk is over! ”
He entered the hall that day accompanied by his entourage, wearing a thick coat, and to the cheers of the Cambridge students, he took off his coat, slowly took off his hat and calmly placed it on the podium, and when his life was dying, he looked a little old and tired, but he still stood straight and proud in front of the audience, and he condensed his life's experience into this last speech.
The audience below applauded thunderously, and after a minute, he greeted the audience below with a "V" gesture, and the venue suddenly fell silent. After another minute, he said in a serious tone, "Never, never, never, never give up!" (Never give up)"
A minute later, the applause thundered again. He said again, "Never give up!" (Never give up)! ”
This time his voice was louder, and the venue was suddenly quiet, and the whole venue was quiet, ready to listen to the advice and secrets of the prime minister next.
Who knows, the humorous Churchill actually put on his coat, put on his hat, turned and prepared to walk off the podium, yes, his speech was over, this was his speech, and when he was about to walk out of the room, he turned and looked at the audience silently, and he repeated his speech again: "Never give up!" (Never give up)! ”
After he finished speaking this time, he paused, and his resolute eyes were filled with tears.
This time, there was a long-lasting applause at the venue.
Churchill's last speech became the shortest and most shocking speech in the world.
Churchill greeted the audience with a "V" gesture and left the venue. Many of his photographs feature an action "V" gesture, which means "victory" in English, which later became popular around the world.
Churchill and his "victory" gesture
What does "never give up" really mean?
Never give up what you should do, as long as you don't give up, you will definitely succeed, and giving up is the beginning of failure.
If there is such a firm belief, even if it fails, but as long as you learn the lesson, work hard again, find opportunities, and act decisively, success is only sooner or later.
(4) Painter
Churchill was 66 years old when he was prime minister, and he won the battle, but in the end he was deposed by the people...
Stalin ridiculed Churchill, who had been deposed
In the days of being tormented by the depressed "black dog", he learned to draw, instead of tobacco and alcohol, Churchill from a young age, he was infected with a great addiction to smoking, he smoked cigars weighed three tons, once set a Guinness record for the most cigars, drinking is also, at first it was to borrow wine to dispel his sorrows, the British cabinet people used to secretly call him "drunkard", following his captain Thompson recalled: "He went to bed in the morning to drink whiskey, drank a glass of wine at noon, drank champagne in the evening, Sometimes you can drink brandy at night until the early hours of the morning. "Later Churchill was once addicted to the point of crisis of health...
As a young man, when he traveled to Africa as a war correspondent, he was accompanied by 36 bottles of wine, 6 bottles of brandy and 18 bottles of whiskey...
In his later years, Churchill quit drinking and smoking and fell in love with painting.
Churchill who painted in his later years
Churchill's painting "The Landscape of Tinhoree" presented to Marshall was auctioned for £610,000, and "The Goldfish Pond at Chatwell Manor" was auctioned at Sotheby's in 2014 for 15.33 million yuan.
In addition to the celebrity effect, what is the artistic value of Churchill's paintings? The British court painter once said: "If he had not entered politics, I believe he would have become a great painter." ”
Painting was originally a tool for masturbating when he was frustrated, but he did not expect to inadvertently insert willows in the end, and he even had a small achievement.
Churchill's life was the life of a warrior, and he was truly strong.
Only the strong can protect and defend everything they like. How to become a brave? To sum up Churchill's words:
"If you want to try the taste of the brave, you must act like a brave person, with all your strength, and then your fear will be replaced by courage and courage." 」