Who’s who: Key figures Churchill 1920-45

David Lloyd George

Liberal Party member and leader, PM 1916-22 (Coalition).
Friends with Churchill from 1904.
Appointed Churchill to key positions: Minister of Munitions (1917-18), Secretary of War and Air (1919-21), Secretary of State for the Colonies (1921-22).
Relationship deteriorated over economic issues, specifically reducing unemployment (1924-29), and appeasement during the 1930s (Lloyd George admired Hitler).
Despite disagreements, Churchill invited Lloyd George to serve in his Cabinet in May 1940, but Lloyd George declined.

Stanley Baldwin

Conservative Party member and leader, PM (1923-24, 1924-29, 1935-37).
Invited Churchill to serve as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1924-29) and to rejoin the Conservatives, which was controversial.
Oversaw Churchill’s return to the Gold Standard and actions during the General Strike.
Relationship strained over Indian independence (1931-37), appeasement of Hitler in the 1930s (Baldwin admired Hitler and viewed war as a terrible prospect), and the abdication crisis of King Edward VIII; Baldwin favored quick abdication, while Churchill wanted to delay and negotiate terms with the King, leading to Churchill's formation of the ‘King’s Party’.

Neville Chamberlain

Conservative Party member and leader, PM (1937-May 1940).
Persuaded Baldwin to appoint Churchill as Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1924.
Appointed Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty (1939).
Disagreements arose over Ireland in 1938 (Chamberlain made concessions, such as returning key ‘Treaty Ports’ to Ireland, while Churchill opposed giving them up) and appeasement of Hitler/Munich Agreement in Oct 1938.
Churchill criticized the Munich Agreement: “England has been offered a choice between war and shame. She has chosen shame, and will get war”
Churchill admired Chamberlain’s efforts for peace until Sept 1939, acknowledging his sincerity.

Anthony Eden

Conservative Party member, Foreign Secretary (3 times), Conservative leader, PM (1955-1957).
Resigned in Feb 1938 over appeasement of Italy (Abyssinia) and Nazi Germany, due to Chamberlain’s interference; member of ‘Glamour boys’ anti-appeasement group after Feb 1938. Churchill part of the similar ‘Old guard’ group.
Churchill claimed he had “lost sleep” over Eden’s resignation.
Churchill didn’t agree with Eden’s resignation over Chamberlain’s interference, suggesting he should have waited for a “better issue”.
Churchill and Eden did not closely collaborate in opposing Chamberlain over appeasement due to differing viewpoints: Churchill's were moral, Eden's were political.
Later, Eden became a key ally of Churchill during WWII, appointed to Political Warfare Executive in 1941, and served as negotiator with de Gaulle/Free French.
Succeeded Churchill as PM but resigned in Jan 1957 after the Suez Canal Crisis when GB support for France against Egypt didn’t received backing from the USA.
Tenure as PM seen as a failure although did oversee the lowest unemployment figures of the post World War II era, with unemployment standing at just over 215,000 in July 1955).

Ramsay McDonald

Labour Party leader, PM Labour (1924, 1929-31) + PM National Gov. (1931-35).
Criticized by Churchill for “turning a blind eye” to Hitler and German rearmament (1934-35), seen as weak.
Viewed as one of the ‘Guilty men’ in 1939 for appeasing Hitler through the 1930s and not preparing Britain for war.
Referred to as the “Boneless wonder” by Churchill, who viewed him with disdain.
Abandoned his party in 1931 over spending cuts policy, often viewed as disloyal as a result.

Andrew Bonar Law

Conservative Party leader (1911-21), PM (1922-23).
Agreed with Churchill over various affairs, including the Chanak Crisis (1922) and proposed use of military force against Turkey.

Clement Attlee

Labour leader (1935-), PM (1945-51), Member of Churchill’s Coalition (1940-45), Deputy PM (1942-45).
Supported Churchill throughout WWII, including continued resistance in France after the French surrender in 1940.
Seen as very reliable by Churchill as a subordinate in chairing both the War Cabinet and Defence Committee.
Viewed as a trustworthy confidant by Churchill, someone he could leave to run domestic affairs.
Led one of the most successful Labour governments ever: shaped post-war Britain’s struggle – full employment, welfare state (formed NHS), mixed economy, gender rights.

Lord Irwin (1925-34) / Viscount Halifax (1934-44)

Member of the House of Lords, Viceroy for India, Secretary of State for War, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, British Ambassador for the United States (1940-46).
Challenged / proposed as PM successor to Chamberlain in 1940; had support of most Conservative members, King George + acceptable to Labour. More popular choice than Churchill due to previous positions. Refused due to being member of Lords.
Never had a positive relationship with Churchill and didn’t “agree with Churchill’s way of doing business”.
Lasted for 7 months as Foreign Secretary in Churchill’s cabinet before deployment in the USA.
Famous fallout in June 1940 over deployment of the BEF to France: Halifax worried they would be destroyed + wanted withdrawal, Churchill wanted to bide time and continue deployment in France.

Randolph Churchill

Winston’s son, Politician, MP (1940-45).
Rocky relationship with Winston; both loyal to each other but always tension.
Key example of falling out: 1935, Randolph attempted to enter Parliament as a Conservative candidate, against his father’s strong wishes. He failed and Winston emphasised: “I told you so”.

Leo Amery

Conservative politician, Colonial Secretary (1924-29), Secretary of State for India and Burma (1940-45), journalist.
Similar views / interests to Churchill: interest in Army, Empire and India: like Churchill fought in the Boer War and acted as a correspondent there. Also, A First Lord of the Admiralty (1922) like Churchill. Disagreed over India and the Round Table Conferences though.
Harsh critic of appeasement through 1930’s, like Churchill (though concentrated on army and need for rearmament throughout, rather than air defences like Churchill at first).
Unlike Churchill wanted an alliance with Italy throughout the 1930’s to oppose Germany and NOT the Soviet Union (strong fear of Communism); strongly against policy over Abyssinia – thought sanctions on Mussolini drove Italy into German alliance.
During WWII, disappointed not to be given a post in the War Cabinet, but was determined to do all he could in the position he was offered. Often frustrated by Churchill's stubbornness : memoirs state that Churchill knew "as much of the Indian problem as George III did of the American colonies."
Felt he was more informed on India than Churchill.

John (Maynard) Keynes

Established economist, advisor to the government and author of key economic books such as ‘General theory of employment, interest and money 1936’ (which became a popular reference for post WWII British governments).
Critical of the appointment of Churchill to begin with in 1924 – saw him as too inexperienced in finance to run the Exchequer well.
Highly critical of Churchill’s return to the Gold Standard in 1925 when Churchill was Chancellor. Churchill (as advised) argued that showed the pound as a stable currency and that there was always a guarantee for British traders that Gold would have a fixed value….
…Keynes argued that returning to the Gold Standard was at too high an exchange rate for Britain to manage - it would lead to an economic depression and mass unemployment, as interest rates would rise and employers wouldn’t be able to afford workers’ wages.
Keynes published a 36 page article , ‘The Economic Consequences of Mr Churchill’ , which condemned Churchill’s policies and position as Chancellor.

Jock Colville

Civil Servant and private secretary to Churchill during WWII (1940-41 and 44-45) and between 1951-55 (also acted as Chamberlain’s before 1940 and Attlee’s from 1945).
Kept diaries between 1939 and 1957 , and was present at key events such as the May 1940 War rooms debates , when Lord Halifax proposed to Churchill , Attlee etc using Mussolini (still neutral) to bargain peace terms with Hitler.
Greatly trusted by Churchill as a reliable confidante and chronicler of events. Diaries show how, even when beset by disasters in the early days of his premiership (1940), Churchill was still able to raise the spirits of those around him, with his sense of purpose and his sense of humour.
Close friend of Churchill family too – summoned to accompany Clementine Churchill to Egypt during WWII to visit Churchill when he was ill.
Military background as served in the RAF from 1941-44.

Sir William Beveridge

Economist and social reformer.
Proposed the ‘Beveridge Report’ in 1942, on Social Insurance and Allied Services: stated that poverty could be abolished with a better social insurance scheme, recommended child allowances and an early plan for the NHS.
Churchill condemned it strongly: “The work of a dreamer” and ordered for it to be censored as he didn’t want criticisms of the country being aired during times of War.
‘Beveridge Report’ = used by Attlee as base for welfare state, 1945.

Duff Cooper

Secretary of State for War (1935-37), First Lord (1937-38), Ambassador to France (1944-48) Conservative politician, author.
Close friend to Churchill from mid 1920’s.
Churchill appointed him Minister of Information (1940) then Resident Minister in Singapore; oversaw loss of Singapore and was removed.
Most open of Chamberlain’s appeasement critics within Cabinet in mid 1930’s; condemned policy as he wanted “War with honour” against threat of fascism. Famously resigned from Admiralty day after Munch Oct 1938.
Later critical of Chamberlain’s wartime leadership, e.g. Norway debate May 1940; Chamberlain tried to state that Allied losses = light in withdrawal from Norway. Cooper and Opposition countered this, passing Chamberlain as his government off as liars.
Helped force Chamberlain’s resignation with Norway debate opposition. Campaigned for Churchill as PM.

Arthur Harris

RAF commander, Head of Bomber Command 1942-45.
From 1942, made British policy on bombing / area bombing more ruthless. Fought against all attempts to persuade him to switch to precision bombing (e.g against ‘Operation Pathfinder 1942).
Wanted to undermine the morale of the civilian population to bring early end to WWII – ordered bombing of Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Dresden.
At first his ruthlessness was advocated by Churchill, but 1945 ordered to stop; Churchill stated: “bombing of German cities simply for the sake of increasing the terror, should be reviewed. Otherwise we shall come into control of an utterly ruined land."
Seen as having few feelings for German lives or future after the War. Condemned by many as having “no moral compass”.

Lord Beaverbrook (Max Aitken)

Business tycoon, writer, Conservative Politician, Minister of Supply, Minister of Aircraft Production (1941-42).
‘Media Baron’: founded Daily Express newspaper in 1918 and used it often to convey controversial political views e.g during General Strike,1926, condemned the strikers and Unions as “left-wing hooligans”.
Hugely successful owner of the paper; by 1934 1,708,000 copies were in daily circulation.
Condemned by Baldwin in 1931, after Beaverbrook had strongly criticised his economic policies as having “Power without responsibility - the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages.”
Strong supporter of appeasement in 1930’s , as opposed to Churchill e.g praising Chamberlain after Munich Oct 1938 in the Daily Express because Britain “had made no pledge to protect the frontiers of Czechoslovakia”.
Changed views in 1940 due to actions of Hitler in France.
Great friend of Churchill who wanted him within his War Cabinet as soon as possible; Churchill viewed his charisma and business-sense as being key to Wartime production: “His personal force and genius made this Aitken's finest hour."
Accompanied Churchill to various wartime meetings (e.g Washington Conferences) with the Americans; became close to Roosevelt during these visits. This friendship sometimes irritated Churchill who felt that Beaverbrook was distracting Roosevelt from concentrating on the war effort.

Lord Birkenhead

Conservative politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1919-22), Secretary of State for India (1924-28).
Key associate of Churchill and great friend.
Unpopular with many in the Conservative party for criticising junior members and for being ‘morally corrupt’.
Played key role in Churchill’s negotiations with the Irish over the ‘troubles’ (1921-22) and shared Churchill’s views of wanting to go to war with Turkey over Chanak crisis (1922).
Also shared views over Indian independence when made Sec. of State for India by Baldwin: like Churchill, was firmly anti the INC and the Indian independence movements.

Michael Collins

Key figure in the Irish independence movement, member of the IRA, leader of Sinn Fein (political wing of IRA).
‘The Big Fellow’: integral in Anglo-Irish negotiations from 1918.
Supported 1921 negotiations with Churchill and Lloyd George in order to end fighting and was prepared to accept Irish free state that was still part of the Empire.
Final settlement in July 1921 only signed due to Churchill’s key final threat that Collins would be on the end of ‘real war’ if he didn’t sign.
Both Churchill and Collins highly criticised by certain factions (Churchill by Conservatives and pro- imperialists, Collins by radical Irish pro-independence campaigners).
Fact that Churchill was able to produce a treaty with Collins was proof of Churchill’s strong negotiating skills – Collins hated the English and “Churchill’s type”, but Churchill due to much persuasion and soft threats was able to make him sign.

Samuel Hoare

Conservative politician, Secretary of State for foreign affairs (1935-37), Home Secretary (1937-39), British Ambassador to Spain (1940-44)
Involved in controversial Hoare-Laval Pact, 1936 with French President during Abyssinian crisis. Offered to grant Italy huge territorial gains in Abyssinia in order to appease Mussolini. Seen by Churchill as being a sign of weakness if passed in the face of Italian aggression.
Key fallout with Churchill in 1935 over passing of the India Bill (which granted Indians increased independence such as large measure of autonomy to the provinces). Hoare passed the Bill; Churchill strongly opposed this throughout 1935.
Along with Halifax and Simon was a key member of Chamberlain's inner ministerial circle: one of the ‘Men of Munich’. Hoare had close links to the Czech government. In retirement he stood strongly by Chamberlain's essential judgments, but regretted Chamberlain's lack of sensitivity in foreign affairs, and his tendency for personal intervention which not only led to his failure to retain Eden, but overrode his Foreign Office advisers.
Used “pacifist public opinion” to justify his appeasement policy .
Key fallout with Churchill in 1935 over passing of the India Bill
Seen as being too close to Chamberlain regime by Churchill when he took over in May 1940; removed from Cabinet position.

Harold Macmillan

Conservative politician, Parilamentary Secretary to the Minister of Supply (1940-42), Secretary of State for the colonies (1942), Secretary of State for Air (1945)…Minister of Defence (1954-55), Chancellor of the Exchequer 1955-57), PM (1957-63).
Isolated himself, like Churchill, from Conservative leadership during the 1930s by strongly criticising Baldwin and Chamberlain’s appeasement policies. Viewed as a ‘Conservative rebel’ in line with Churchill.
Churchill rewarded his loyalty by appointing him to his Cabinet as an Under Secretary in 1940. Went on to work as a very successful Minister of Supply under Lord Beaverbrook.
One of the closest men to Churchill between 1942-45 as Minister resident in the Mediterranean; served to report over the head of even Eden as Foreign Sec. Proved a reliable mediator between Churchill and Eisenhower over Allied negotiations about North Africa.
Became highly trusted by Churchill.
Later took over as PM after resignation of Eden in 1957 and dealt successfully with economic issues and international affairs.
Gifted writer; produced extensive memoirs of political career e.g ‘Blast of War (1939-45)’.

Charles Wilson (Baron /Lord Moran)

Churchill’s personal physician (doctor), served throughout WWI in Royal Army Medical Corps (won Victoria Cross for bravery in 1916); experience of both World Wars.
Knighted in 1942, for services to the military and medicine and made Baron in 1943.
Close to Churchill throughout the period 1941-45 as personal doctor; Churchill had a heart attack (1941) and caught severe pneumonia (December 1943)…
So Moran = present at Conferences like Casablanca (Jan 1943), Quebec (1944).
Wrote ‘The Struggle for Survival’ about Churchill during and after the war. It describes his failing health in detail. The book was published 15 months after Churchill's death (1966); caused a great deal of controversy for what critics saw as breach of patient-physician confidentiality.
Criticised by many, including Churchill’s Private secretary Sir John Colville for exaggerating his proximity to Churchill during the war / his close relationship to PM (“Lord Moran was never present when history was made but he was invited to luncheon afterwards”).

Ernest Bevin

Labour politician, Trade Unions chief (head biggest Union : Transport and General Workers’ Union 1922-1940), appointed coalition Minister of Labour (1940-45), Foreign Sec (1945-51).
On ‘right wing’ of Labour Party e.g took part in General Strike of 1926 but WITHOUT enthusiasm / fuelling Union hatred for Baldwin / Churchill/Conservatives.
Heavily involved with TUC/ concern for workers’ rights but always favoured direct negotiations with strike action as a last resort.
Greatly respected by Churchill for non-striking, pacifist and hard-working attitudes; leading to his appointment in 1940…
…Churchill: “ By far the most distinguished man that the Labour Party have thrown up in my time”.
Key to war effort e.g diverting 48,000 non-active military conscripts (‘BEVIN BOYS’) to work in the coal industry to fuel production.
Became close to Churchill e.g VE Day 1945 stood at Churchill’s side when Churchill addressed crowds.

Other figures to revise

Gandhi (India)
Sir Thomas Inskip (appeasement)
John Simon (India / appeasement)
Dwight Eisenhower (WWII)
George Marshall (WWII)
General Montgomery (WWII)