January 24, 2015 marked 50 years since the death of sir Winston Churchill - one of the defining figures of the 20th century and undoubtedly one of the greatest characters in British history. For half a century, his personality and legacy have been subject to respect and admiration, that was not limited to his homeland only. His statue and bust look down upon us in Prague, many of our streets and squares are named after him. Last year, President Miloš Zeman bestowed the highest Czech distinction upon him in memoriam. Just why is so much attention paid to a British statesman here?
It may be because he did more than just leave an extraordinary body of work behind him. He led his nation successfully through the toughest existential test during World War II, he became the symbol of unwavering opposition to tyranny of all kinds, but Churchill also speaks to us through his stormy personal life that lasted 90 outstanding years.
It was a truly human life, full of struggles and victories, as well as mistakes and defeats, stubborn intransigence, remarkable perseverance, as well as hot-headed impatience and adventurism, life with a minimum of friends and thousands of enemies, brought about by his indomitable temper. His work does not belong only in the world of politics where he was most successful, clinching the post of cabinet minister eleven times, and the post of Prime Minister twice. He did a remarkable job as a journalist, writer, historian and painter, too. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and his paintings are on display in London's National Gallery. His energy and scope of activities were overwhelming. That is why he is still so inspiring, not merely as a historical figure, but as a man whose legacy reaches out to people outside his country and time.
Winston Churchill was born on November 30, 1874 into a family of prominent British aristocracy. Among his ancestors, we find John Churchill, 1st duke of Marlborough, the famous British military commander in the War of the Spanish Succession and a friend of our (Austrian) Prince Eugene of Savoy. His father was an important member of the Conservative party, while his mother was American, daughter to one of the co-owners of the New York Times. This is probably where his literary talent as well as his active and impatient nature may have come from.
Although he never excelled in school, his family background was good enough to open the doors for a career in Victorian England. It started first in the army, where he made quick fame as a war correspondent, reporting from colonial expeditions in India and Sudan. This is where he took part in the famous Battle of Omdurman where the British troops defeated Islamic mahdists (times do not change all that much), linking the British holdings in Africa from Cairo to Cape Town. His participation in the Second Boer War in 1899 earned him nationwide fame. His dramatic escape from the prison camp made him a war hero, opening the way towards winning a seat in Parliament on a Conservative Party ticket.
As a politician, Churchill was never bound by partisanship too much. He soon parted ways with the Conservatives, eventually crossing the floor to the Liberals in 1904. Two years later he joined the government and served in several ministerial posts.
World War I saw him as the First Lord of the Admiralty, and in that position, the adventurous young minister made history mostly as the spiritual father of the Gallipoli operation, designed to control the Dardanelles, and cut off Turkey from the war. The Allied landings there ended up in a massacre and one of the most serious defeats of the Entente, costing Churchill his post in 1915.
Next he returned to government in 1917, as a vicious opponent of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and supporter of western intervention against the Soviet regime.
Following electoral defeat in 1924, Churchill left the Liberals, formally rejoining the Conservative Party, quickly becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer. In that post, he made history by appreciating the sterling, and returning it to the Gold Standard, with catastrophic consequences for British export, eventually leading to General Strike and the fall of the government. Churchill himself saw this as the worst decision of his career, bad enough to prompt J.M.Keynes to comment on it in "The Economic Consequences of Mr. Churchill". At this time, Churchill earned himself a reputation of an unsuccessful, controversial risk-taker and the top echelons of British politics were closed to him from then on. He was generally seen as a loser and figure of the past. His extremist image was strenghtened by his tough stance on the expanding Nazi regime in Germany, and criticism of the appeasement policies of the Conservative Party.
The outbreak of World War II changed everything. It turned out to be an obvious defeat for the appeasers, elevating Churchill back to the position of the First Lord of Admiralty. He used his notorious energy to fight the German submarine attacks, seeking active war measures against the will of the Cabinet. Following the invasion of Norway by the Nazis he became Prime Minister in May of 1940 - in the toughest of times before the German offensive on the western front.
In his famous speech he offered the nation nothing but "blood, sweat and tears", heralding the unrelenting doggedness and brave resolve with which he was to lead Britain throughout the war. He avoided the nation's collapse after France's defeat and did not give in, even when Britain stood alone, in a seemingly lost position against Germany that ruled the whole of Europe.
He founded and strenghtened the British-American military and political alliance, which became the basis of transatlantic relations until this day. After the Soviet Union was attacked, the old archenemy of Communism did not hesitate and forged the Russo-Anglo-American alliance to defeat Nazism.
As a member of the "Big Three", deciding the future of the world, he was a formidable opponent to Stalin, trying to stop or at least complicate Soviet Union's dominance in eastern Europe. His problem was that Britain was already too weak and dependent on the Americans, who in turn were partly naive when it came to dealing with Stalin, and partly trying to take over Britain's positions. He failed in his attempts to launch the Allied offensive in the South of Europe, blocking the advances of the Red Army, rather than in the West, and he was equally unsuccessful when it came to the issue of Polish borders. Despite all of that, he was a tireless and strict player and a brave warrior.
He was everything but the current political ideal - the hypocritical human rights promoter of the Good. He did everything to achieve the only goal of his policies, and that was the defense of interests of the British Empire. American messianism and unproductive moralism in politics bothered him when facing Stalin's cynical steps. On the other hand, he was no stranger to cynical Realpolitik himself, as he kept carving out postwar spheres of influence with Stalin. He was able to be merciless vis a vis the enemy. That is why he gave consent to operations such as the destruction of Dresden and other German cities by Allied bombing campaigns.
He was a loud and clear supporter of the postwar transfer of ethnic German minorities from neighboring countries. He had plans to divide Germany into several states and deindustrialize them, but developments taking place towards the end of the War allowed no such thing. In June of 1945, following electoral defeat he resigned from his post as PM. To Stalin, this was further evidence of the inferiority of parliamentary democracy.
Sir Winston Churchill achieved supreme victory in British history, but it was a Pyrrhic victory at the same time. His homeland bled badly in the war, subsequently losing its empire, and becoming a second-class European power. The Nazi threat was replaced by the Soviet threat. And Churchill was the first one to call the new situation by its right name in his famous Fulton speech - the descending of the Iron Curtain. As the Cold War started, he returned to the top once again as Prime Minister in 1951-1955, but failed to stop the ongoing disintegration of the empire.
In his life, he became a symbol of British resilience, courage, toughness and sense of humor. Despite his affinity to whisky and cigars he survived his opponents as well as partners, shamed his enemies and became role model for his successors. If not for World War II, he could have easily ended up as a distinctive but not too successful politician of local importance. But great times have ways of finding great men and Winston Churchill was lucky enough to live in such times and help create them.
Jiří Weigl, executive director of the Václav Klaus Institute.
