Honourable Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, FRS PC (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. At various times a soldier, journalist, author and politician, Churchill is generally regarded as one of the most important leaders in British and world history. He won the 1953 Nobel Prize for literature.
Churchill's legal surname was Spencer-Churchill, but starting with his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, his branch of the family always used just the name Churchill in public life. Because of the existence of another author called Winston Churchill, his books were published under the name "Winston Spencer Churchill" or "Winston S. Churchill".
He was born at Blenheim Palace, near Woodstock in the English county of Oxfordshire and was a descendant of John Churchill, who became the first Duke of Marlborough. Winston's politician father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was the third son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough and his mother was Lady Randolph Churchill (née Jennie Jerome), daughter of American millionaire Leonard Jerome. Neither parent showed young Winston much affection or love. Churchill spent much of his childhood at boarding schools, including Harrow. He was rarely visited by his mother, whom he virtually worshipped, despite his letters begging her to either come or let his father permit him to come home. He had a distant relationship with his father despite keenly following his father's career.
He was very close to his nurse, Elizabeth Ann Everest (nicknamed "Woom" by Churchill), and was deeply saddened when she died on July 3, 1895. Churchill paid for her gravestone at the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium.
In 1893, on his third attempt, he passed the entrance exam and enrolled in the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. He entered the college near the bottom of the intake of 102 cadets, but when he graduated two years later he was ranked eighth in his class. He was appointed Second Lieutenant in the 4th Hussars cavalry.In the second Anglo-Boer war, Winston Churchill was a war correspondent between Britain and the Afrikaners in South Africa. In a Boer ambush of a British Army train convoy, he was captured and put in prison.
One night he made a daring escape by climbing the prison walls and slipped by the sentries. He traveled over 500 kilometers, traveling on freight trains through enemy territory. He crossed the South African border to Lourenco Marques (Maputo in Mozambique). Returning to British-controlled South Africa, he joined a South African cavalry regiment where he was involved in several brutal battles. He resumed filing stories for the public in Britain.
In July 1917 Churchill was appointed Minister of Munitions. After the end of the war Churchill served as both Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for Air (1919–1921). He became Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1921 and was a signatory of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 which established the Irish Free State.
He became concerned over the rise of Adolf Hitler and the dangers of the rearmament in Germany. He seemed to be a lone voice calling on his country to strengthen itself against the belligerence of Germany. He criticized any appeasement of Hitler and was an outspoken supported of King Edward VIII during the Abdication Crisis.
At the outbreak of the Second World War Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. In this job he proved to be one of the highest-profile ministers during the so-called "Bore War", when the only noticeable action was at sea.
In May 1940, directly upon the German invasion of France by a surprising lightning advance through the Low Countries, it became clear that the country had no confidence in Chamberlain's prosecution of the war. Chamberlain resigned, and Churchill was appointed Prime Minister and formed an all-party government. He quickly created the position of Minister of Defense.
His first speech as Prime Minister was the famous speech:
"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat".
Another immortal line by Winston Churchill before the Battle of Britain:
"We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."
And another important line:
"Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'"
When the United States became involved in World War II, Churchill worked closely with General Dwight Eisenhower who would later become President of The United States.
Churchill resigned as Prime Minister of Britain in 1955. He retired to his home in Chartwell, Kent, England.
In 1963, pursuant to an Act of Congress, U.S. President John F. Kennedy named Churchill the first Honorary Citizen of the United States. Churchill was too ill to attend the White House ceremony, so his son and grandson accepted the award for him.
Winston Spencer Churchill married Clementine Hozier on 2 September 1908 at St. Margaret's Westminster. They had five children. Clementine's mother was Lady Blanche Henrietta Ogilvy who was the second wife of Sir Henry Montague Hozier. She was the daughter of the 7th Earl of Airlie.
Winston Churchill suffered a stroke on 15 Jan 1965 nine day later on 24 Jan 1965, he died. His father had died on the same day 70 years prior. At Churchill's request, he was buried in the family plot at Saint Martin's Churchyard, Bladon, near Woodstock and not far from his birthplace at Blenheim.
Dwight D. Eisenhower (left) and Winston Churchill. This is an AP copyrighted photo. ([1]). I contend that it's use in Wikipedia is a fair use of the image. – Quadell (talk) (sleuth) 01:10, Mar 26, 2005 (UTC) (This work is copyrighted. The individual who uploaded this work and first used it in an article, and subsequent persons who placed it into articles assert that this qualifies as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.) Wikipedia.com
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