Winston Churchill Essays (3203 words) - Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill Churchill, Sir Winston (1874-1965), became one of the greatest statesmen in world history. Churchill reached the height of his fame as the heroic prime minister of Great Britain during World War II (1939-1945). He offered his people only "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" as they struggled to keep their freedom. Churchill was also a noted speaker, author, painter, soldier, and war reporter. Early in World War II, Great Britain stood alone against Nazi Germany. The British people refused to give in despite the tremendous odds against them. Churchill's personal courage and his faith in victory inspired the British to "their finest hour." The mere sight of this stocky, determined man--a cigar in his mouth and two fingers raised high in a "V for victory" salute--cheered the people. Churchill seemed to be John Bull, the symbol of the British people, come to life. Churchill not only made history, he also wrote it. As a historian, war reporter, and biographer, he showed a matchless command of the English language. In 1953, he won the Nobel Prize for literature. Yet as a schoolboy, he had been the worst student in his class. Churchill spoke as he wrote--clearly, vividly, majestically. Yet he had stuttered as a boy. Churchill joined the armed forces in 1895 as an army lieutenant under Queen Victoria. He ended his career in 1964 as a member of the House of Commons under Queen Elizabeth II, the great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Few men ever served their country so long or so well. Early life Boyhood and education. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born on Nov. 30, 1874, in Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England. He was the elder of the two sons of Lord Randolph Churchill (1849-1895) and Lady Churchill (1854-1921). Young Winston, a chunky lad with a mop of red hair, had an unhappy boyhood. He talked with a stutter and lisp, and did poorly in his schoolwork. His stubbornness and high spirits annoyed everyone. In addition, his parents had little time for him. When Winston was 6 years old, his brother, John, was born. The difference in their ages prevented any real companionship. At the age of 12, Winston entered Harrow School, a leading British independent school. Throughout his school career, Winston was bottom of his class. At Harrow, however, his love of the English language began to grow. There, he said later, he "got into my bones the essential structure of the ordinary English sentence ..." In 1893, at the age of 18, Winston entered the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. He had failed the entrance examinations twice before passing them. But he soon led his class in tactics and fortifications, the most important subjects. He graduated eighth in a class of 150. In 1895, Churchill was appointed a second lieutenant in the 4th Hussars, a proud cavalry regiment. Soldier and reporter. Twenty-year-old Lieutenant Churchill ached for adventure. For a soldier, adventure meant fighting. But the only fighting at that moment was in Cuba, where the people had revolted against their Spanish rulers. Churchill was on leave from the army, and used his family's influence to go to Cuba as an observer with the Spanish. While there, he wrote five colourful articles on the revolt for a London newspaper. Churchill returned to London with a love for Havana cigars that lasted the rest of his life. In 1896, Churchill's regiment was sent to Bangalore, in southern India. There he read many books he had neglected in school. The works of Edward Gibbon and Thomas B. Macaulay interested him the most. In 1897, Churchill learned that fighting had broken out in northwestern India between British forces and Pushtun warriors. He obtained a leave from his regiment, and persuaded two newspapers to hire him as a reporter. Churchill joined the advance guard of the Malakand Field Force and took part in bloody hand-to-hand fighting. After returning to Bangalore, Churchill wrote about the campaign in his first book, The Story of the Malakand Field Force (1898). A British force was being built up in Egypt to invade the Sudan. Churchill got himself transferred to the force, and again obtained a newspaper assignment. In 1898, he took part in the last great cavalry