Their Finest Hour

Winston Churchill (1874-1965) was a prominent British politician, statesman, writer, and orator. He served as the prime minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1955. His first term largely coincided with WWII, and he played a key role in leading the country to victory. Even beyond his tenure as prime minister, Churchill had a long career in politics, serving as a member of Parliament for over 60 years and belonging at different points to the Liberal and Conservative Parties. He was First Lord of the Admiralty twice, first from 1911 to 1915 and later from 1939 to 1940. During his years at the post, he reformed the British navy and was thus partially responsible for its relative strength entering into WWII. Churchill was also a prolific writer and historian and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his literary works and speeches.

Despite being born into an aristocratic family, Churchill was in his early career a fervent supporter of workers’ rights, higher taxation of the wealthy, and the dissolution of the House of Lords, which he saw as an undemocratic body. As a member of the Liberal Party, he introduced eight-hour working days for miners, with a break for a meal, and stricter safety standards for the mines themselves. He also established the principle of minimum wage and promoted the idea of an unemployment insurance scheme partially funded by the state. In the 1920s, however, Churchill became increasingly disturbed by what he viewed as the socialist leanings of the Labour Party and joined the Conservative Party to oppose it.

Around the same time, Churchill was also greatly concerned with the possibility of a second global conflict. In the years before the outbreak of the WWII, he warned against the Nazi regime’s rapid industrialization, which increasingly was turned to military ends, and called for collective action to deter German aggression. While this put him at odds with Neville Chamberlain’s government, which had adopted a policy of “appeasement” toward Germany, it positioned him as a logical successor when Chamberlain’s policies failed to prevent war.

Churchill’s first speech as prime minister, delivered to the House of Commons on May 13, was the “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” speech. In it, he urged the opposing parties to support his government and its cabinet. To facilitate this, he included both Labour and Conservative Party members in his cabinet, thus demonstrating that he could work with anyone and that the survival of the country was more important than party politics. Unity in the Face of an External Threat remains an important theme in “Their Finest Hour.”

During WWII, Churchill became known for his inspirational oratory and his resolute leadership in the face of Nazi aggression. He worked closely with other Allied leaders, including Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin, to coordinate military strategy and ensure the defeat of Nazi Germany. However, while Churchill’s legacy as a wartime statesman and leader is widely celebrated, he has also attracted criticism for other aspects of his time in office—in particular, his advocacy of the British colonial project.