The Day When Churchill Chose War

On May 28, 1940, British officials prepared to deal with Hitler. They even suggested a mediation with Mussolini. Alone against all in his war cabinet, Churchill, using his wits and cleverness, convinced his collaborators to fight. Without him, the English government would have held onto the illusion of preserving its empire, and the course of the Second World War would have been very different.

[@billotto602]

Sir Winston Churchill, one of the all time greatest world leaders. God bless you sir. RIP 🫡 🇬🇧 🇺🇸

[@kashrut18]

In the end. In his youth and up to WWI he made several blunders and was not in any way great.

[@TheCdecisneros]

The king asked him " How do you drink during the day"? His reply? Practice.

[@thierrybidault5837]

As a French, I always admired Sir Winston Churchill; he was a rock and a true English fighter, unlike Chamberlain and the French Prime Daladier who both trusted Hitler in Munich. He also welcomed and helped De Gaulle who called the French to keep fighting, the French officers nobody listened in 1936. RIP Sir Winston

[@TechnikMeister2]

His speech to parliament in the 18th June 1940, was a stupendous one: "We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be."

[@heyhandersen5802]

rhetoric at it's best. ....a new dark age made more evil by the lights of a perverted science....

[@tenacious3911]

Meaningless word salad.

[@Jens-Viper-Nobel]

@@tenacious3911 Oh? And just where do you think all of us would be today if that speech had not been delivered? as free and able as we are today? Better? worse? Churchill used that speech to tell the British and the world that he wanted to fight and had the spirit to do so. But both you and I know very well that it would be up to the British people to follow him or tell him to sod off. They chose to follow him despite many thinking that it could not be won. Had Churchill not made that speech, or many later just like it, in all likelyhood, Europe would have looked like the movie with Rutger Hauer as an SS officer in a nazi Europe in constant war with USSR. You should watch that movie. It's very enlightening. Because you would not have been able to utter words like the ones you just wrote here without most likely disappearing behind the doors of the Plötzensee prison, never to be heard from again.

[@nickbarton3191]

​@@Jens-Viper-NobelQuite agree, and I saw that movie. What's perhaps more remarkable that they didn't know at that point quite how monstrous the Nazi tyranny was to become.

[@user-ws1qf7ol4k]

​@@tenacious3911that's special!!! Pobrecito!!

[@seandobson499]

"The English army"? The, Royal Navy was doing its best to evacuate the British and French Armies, who, along with British regiments, fought a gallant rear-guard action.

[@nicktecky55]

Including most famously the 51st Highlanders, a Scottish Regiment.

[@kmully8873]

I read the news today, Oh boy!

[@rogerclarke1739]

@@nicktecky55 The 51st did not evacuate from Dunkirk.

[@nicktecky55]

@@rogerclarke1739 The OP referred to a gallant rearguard action. The 51st did not get off the beaches, they were captured and marched away. That is the point of a rearguard.

[@seandobson499]

@@nicktecky55 Who mostly ended up dead, wounded or in captivity, along with most of the rearguard, who enabled so many men to get back and carry on the fight.

[@terrysmith9362]

The 'English' army! Who wrote this garbage script

[@willevans429]

exactly

[@nicholasconnolly2227]

@@willevans429 British and Commonwealth army.

[@willevans429]

@@nicholasconnolly2227 BEF. I saw later on in the doc they used British instead of English so its probably AI mix up

[@willevans429]

otherwise it wasnt such a bad doc

[@terrysmith9362]

@@willevans429 beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[@davidholden9045]

The goverment and army was British not English and the Dardenelles campaign was in 1915 not 1916 , sloppy research

[@stephenarbon2227]

Plus, Churchill didn't lead the Dardanelles campaign, he was minister for the navy, he didn't control the army.

[@paulneedham9885]

@@stephenarbon2227it was his campaign though! Its failure fell at his door.

[@partygrove5321]

1915-16

[@terryhoath1983]

The whole thing was sloppy, correctly described as a pack of lies. See my post today.

[@Pincer88]

Stalin didn't "take the opportunity and invaded the other half" (of Poland), it was prearranged in the Molotov-Von Ribbentrop pact.

[@martinquinn9007]

The English army sorry its thw British army.not just English

[@gc3847]

Well said , more Scots killed than English Irish or Welsh put together. In both wars.

[@drno4837]

or "English government" history done by morons is never good

[@castlerock58]

It is made by France.

[@roddycavin4600]

​​​@@castlerock58doesn't matter. France should know better. Next week we'll remember operation Epsom when the 15 th Scottish division had a area of Normandy,The Scottish Corridor, named after them.

[@tommonk7651]

IMHO Sir Winston Churchill was probably the most significant historical figure of the 20th century.... Thank the lord Halifax was not named PM. He was a weasel, and Churchill sent him to the US as soon as he could. While not extraordinary wealthy, Churchill was not born penniless.... Churchill faced death numerous times in his life. Chamberlain was unbelievably naive and a poor judge of character. The quote is, "I have nothing to give but my blood, toil, sweat and tears."

[@virginiasoskin9082]

Your quote is incorrect. Here is the portion of the speech with those famous words: "I would say to the House as I said to those who have joined this government: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering." He was not referring to his OWN giving of blood, toil, tears and sweat. He meant I have nothing to offer YOU, the British people, but your sacrifice of your OWN blood, toil, tears and sweat. He was not sugar-coating the predicament Britain found itself in. This was the same meaning as a quote by Garibaldi who once rallied his troops with similar lines -- they would be faced with the requirement to donate their OWN blood, tears and sweat. I do agree that Churchill was the most important historical figure of the 20th century because it was his faith in the British people, and cussed stubbornness not to give in or appease Hitler. He knew Hitler's type of tyrant -- there would be NO appeasing him because he would demand that Britain become a vassal state and that the British people would become slave laborers just as the Czechs, Poles and Hungarians became when the Germans invaded and took them over. Hitler had plainly shown with these countries what happened to any country that opposed his rule. Many millions were made to leave their homes and become slave laborers; meanwhile, German families took over their homes -- that was lebensraum -- new living space for German families.

[@stomashek]

Enigma wasn’t broken until July, 1941…so Churchill did not have that “up his sleeve” in May 1940

[@thepoliticalhousethatjackbuilt]

Incorrect, Bletchley Park were able to break the Luftwaffe Enigma regularly and quickly by 22 May 1940. The Germans had different Enigma's for the Luftwaffe, Army, Navy, Abwehr and so on, each with different levels of complexity and security. Fortunately the Luftwaffe's frequent operating mistakes made it the first and most fruitful source of Ultra intelligence during the war. It is important to note that Enigma was first broken by the Poles in December 1932 with varying levels of success until 15 December 1938 when the Germans increased the complexity. The sharing of this intelligence by Poland was vital to the Allied war effort.

[@beneleonhard7915]

@@thepoliticalhousethatjackbuilt Thanks for mentioning the work by the Polish bureau. After the invasion, there was no way they could go on. The basis of their efforts were information passed on by the French, obtained by the brother of a German general working in Berlin and disclosing documents.

[@landsea7332]

This "documentary " is terrible . Gordon Welshman figured out that they could get information without breaking the code . Using triangulation of the radio signals , Bletchley could figure out where each enigma machine was . Using the call sign and the "touch" of each morse code operator , they could distinguish each enigma machine . Bletchley also had a chart showing the hierarchy of the German command . So they knew where each enigma machine was , which general was sending the message , and how often he was sending a message . Absolutely brilliant .

[@Inkling777]

@@landsea7332 A good comment. This technique is called "traffic analysis." If a tank repair unit that has been enjoying Munich beer is suddenly transferred to some miserable little village in Eastern Europe, it hints that Germany might be planning a move against Russia.

[@christiansfortruth5953]

Winston's personality did not play against him as you suggest at the start . It WAS the power of his personality that won the war. He had more military experience that the whole lot put together. People are very fond of aiming the Dardaneles at him. However, he was a man of who could make a decision. There an old saying. If you never make a mistake you are not fit to lead. The fact is a leader can make popular decisions... but if he cannot make the tough ones...right or wrong...he cant lead. 😊😊😊. If it was not for Churchills personality....his tough resolute stance we would have been in deep crap. He once said something in the war room in this time. He was challenged as to the responsibily of his position and his decisions and he replied..."That sir, is why I sit in this chair." He was our leader and he knew Hitler was a LIAR. Churchchill also said, "You cant negotiate with a lion when your head is in his mouth." How true. Thank God for Churchill. And I believe that God did help him.😅😅😅😅

[@timothywelch6450]

There is no british channel. It is ENGLISH Channel.

[@thierrybidault5837]

Hmmm, look at the Credits at the beginning: "A la suite productions" with participation of "France Televisions"

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

La Manche to you, Timmy.

[@michaelharrington7656]

Whoever wrote the script is not a historian. When Churchill was forced to resign after the Dardenelles disaster he served in the army as a brigadier in France until Lloyd-George brought him back into the Government as Minister for Munitions. You cannot say he was "not a nobleman" , he was the grandson of a Duke. I could go on. But it is true to say that it was Churchill who made Britain continue the war after the fall of France. Otherwise Hitler would have won the war in 1940.

[@chrismac2234]

And the misquotes.

[@j.dunlop8295]

Definitely, history limited in context! Dardanelles, debacle was horrifying for...NZ and Aussies' fighting in the battle of gallipoli

[@andrewgeraghty7495]

Well said Michael

[@Crashed131963]

Won the war? I keep hearing Hitler wanted to take over the world . How was Germany with a population of only 70 million in 1940 sailing over to North America and taking it over? The US alone had 40 million more people and a industrial capacity 3X that of Germany .

[@janviljoen-rm8zs]

sweden stayed neutral thats what king wanted. uk the king also wanted that because he knew chuchill was a sicko at the cost of 1.2 million British lives . not to mention the b s he made during the ww1 .the french do not care and they will have uk fight more wars for them as useless french do ww1 ww2

[@sess5206]

It is correct that there was a strong isolationist movement in the United States at that time. Sadly, there is also an equally mistaken movement there now. But, be that as it may, it was also mandated by law that the United States was to be neutral unless attacked. That law was the primary reason that Roosevelt was unable to assist at that time.

[@Centurion101B3C]

Excellent handling of this pivotal moment where WW2 stood on the knife's edge. As to factuality and correctness of the script, one may find a bone or two to pick with the producers, but the line of events, all too often unbeknownst to the general public, led to the singlmost and most dangerous point where democracy as we know it could be extinguished. Churchill was an imperfect person as we all are, but in this he was right and we owe him for his valliant and victorious efforts against the so powerful forces in his own country who sought furthering the course of the ever self-defeating effects of appeasement. There is a very valid lesson in this for our current predicament with regard to the Ukrainian conflict and the autocratic and undemocratic forces that have risen from the depths of history to haunt us once again. No surrender! No appeasement! No Negotiations. Slava Ukraini!!

[@gaelricciulli4268]

This short documentary shows not only the incredible blindness of the French and British governments during the rise of Hitler, but also the existence of a strong pro-German group in the British aristocracy .

[@robertewing3114]

Incredible blindness of some old men in Britain and France, eye-sight tests showed all capable of winking at fate. What hype all this is, pathetic!

[@bucksdiaryfan]

I’ve always thought WW2 should be viewed as a series of wars. After all, at no point did the Germans combine with Japanese. The Soviets didn’t participate in the Six Week War in May of 1940. Neither the Brits nor Americans fought in the Eastern War. The Soviets didn’t get involved in the Pacific War until the final week, or in the west. These were all separate but simultaneous conflicts like the Napoleanics War”S”

[@coldennis6089]

I wonder what the men and women would think of this country now ???

[@seandobson499]

More to the point, what would they think of Sunak, who cut short his visit to record an interview that he thought was more important.?

[@RedcoatT]

They would look at the conditions people live in, the country has become a far better place.

[@andycallaghan5975]

What's wrong with it now then ?

[@LiftOffLife]

​ Weimar conditions require Weimar solutions.

[@charliestafford9978]

Give it a rest

[@melmack2003]

Sir Winston died in January of 1965; I watched his state funeral on TV at the age of 17. He loved the Queen and she loved Sir Winston.

[@richardgrant7055]

Let's try for some accuracy - Churchill followed the declartion of war, AND he did NOT "choose" it. With your claimed title "History & Warfare...." you could try and reach some standards !

[@gspaulsson]

Actually, it was Neville Chamberlain who declared war on Germany.

[@gspaulsson]

My theory is that Chamberlain, like everone else in government, could see war coming. Hitler was belligerent and aggressive, his published phiilosophy glorified war, Nazi society was militaristic to the core, Germany was rapidly rearming. But Britain was woefully unprepared, and public opinion even less so. Thus I see Munich was ploy to buy time. Between the reoccupation of the Rhineland in 1936 and the invasion of Norway in 1940 (which triggered Chamberlain's resignations), Britain developed the key technology that won the Battle of Britain, particuarly cutting-edge aircraft and Chain Home radar.

[@pressureworks]

Lots of inaccuracies here. Maybe do proper research next time.

[@BillHalliwell]

G’day H&WN, I’m a retired Australian journalist and author who served in the RAAF during the early 70s. For the past 15+-years I’ve been a military historian. For longer than that my special area of interest has been WW2. I guess, being an Australian it’s almost ‘genetic’ that I should dislike a lot about W. S. Churchill’s life and career. In a way, I did until I learned the first ‘golden’ rule of studying and researching historical topics; that is: never, ever impose one’s ‘modern’ worldview on figures from past generations. Before one even gets to implementing that maxim, it is a given that one’s research be, absolutely, the most accurate one can manage and, professionally, that usually means corroborating known facts from as many sources as is practicable. You, H&WN began this disappointing and slipshod anti-Churchillian diatribe by presenting a ‘self-confessed’ meeting between Churchill and others that was, according to you, never recorded for posterity. That, I have to point out, didn’t stop you from ‘making something up’, just the same. Not a good start and, worse still, not a good look. I stopped watching, for a time, at 10:23 because in that brief period you had racked around nine inaccuracies that I knew of, off the top of my head. As I don’t have the time or inclination to fact check all of your work; I know there’s more ‘fiction’ to come. The glaring, visual one was your depiction of Churchill dictating to a ‘weaselly’ looking male assistant with some unidentifiable junior British Army officer leaning over a desk, apparently doing nothing. Wrong. Mr Churchill did have a couple of senior male, civil servant secretaries but he never made them ‘take dictation’. Winston always had a rota of female typists available on a moment’s notice when at Dowing Street; in his underground command centre or when working on his books and articles at Chartwell, his home in Kent. Yes, he kept non-banker’s-hours and, yes, he was known to work wearing one of three favourite dressing gowns. None of them, I am certain, was “trimmed with lace”, as you asserted. Mostly, he liked to wear his collection of blue ‘boiler suits’ for comfort. Many ‘enemies’ of Churchill, “foreign and domestic’, have made much of his alleged ‘drinking to excess’, you included. This sticks in the minds of would-be historians merely because FDR’s or Truman’s casual drinking habits was not considered newsworthy of even a passing, mention. If it was Martini vs Martini with Winston; Franklin would have drunk the Englishman under the table. He was the personal guest of FDR long enough to know that was the truth. This touches on one of Winston’s strokes of pure political genius. At all costs, WSC had to convince FDR to commit to knocking off Hitler before he dealt with an attack from Japan which we, sort of know now, that many, ‘high-rollers’ in the States were expecting. Back in the days when I too tried to nail WSC for his drinking habits, I found that to be a ‘fool’s errand’. The facts are he didn’t take cognac, as you claimed he did during the day. His tipple of choice between meals were what we would call small half-shots of whisky, continually topped up with increasing amounts of soda water. Winston once bragged he could make ‘two whiskies and soda’ last over three hours, while he was writing or dictating… to a female typist. A lot of these drinking yarns were nothing more than envy, during wartime, when supplies of the good, ‘hard stuff’ was expensive and in short supply. The facts are; in that generation, casual drinking was rife and, generally, increased with one’s social standing. No one was going to tell the Prime Minister of Great Britain he couldn’t have a drink of whisky or whiskey, if he was drinking Jameson’s or some other Irish brand. (The former Irish drink was one of the official tipples of both houses of Parliament at the time and for decades after the war.) It’s true that Clementine often complained of his drinking; but only of the costs; similarly of Winston’s appetite for fresh oysters which had to be delivered to Chartwell, (then over 32 miles by old roads, from Billingsgate Fish Market, London). His liquid tastes, with meals, ran to good, old French reds and Champagnes, both difficult to obtain, at decent prices, considering that ‘teetotal Adolf’ was, at the time, the ‘ruler of most of France’. Then, Winston would have a Cognac or Armagnac; neat. (What, no complaint about his constant cigar smoking…?) After writing the above, I popped back to catch more of your ‘I Hate Winston Fest’. That’s your right, of course. I only urge you to get all your ducks lined up before you do it. For someone making a video about the most examined war in history; you toss facts to the wind or didn’t know them in the first place. You state that the retreat of British and French forces from the beaches of Dunkirk was the worst defeat in the history of the British Army. Wrong. Let’s take a look at the real death tolls during the retreat from Dunkirk: Around 16,000 French soldiers and 1,000 British soldiers Nowhere near that number were lost at the Battle of the Somme. On the 1st of July 1916, British forces had suffered 57,470 casualties, of whom 19,240 were killed. This represented the largest losses suffered by the British Army in a single day. Again, for instance; you messed up one of the most famous quotes from WW2 when you said that PM Chamberlain said, upon returning from Munich, “Peace for all time…,” when, in fact, he said “Peace in our time.” How tiresome. Perhaps you can have a whip around to buy a computer so you can look at official British Army figures or, at least, access Google for basic facts. Of course, like any good Aussie or Kiwi, it will probably take another generation before teachers ‘forget’ about Churchill for the all-out slaughter at Gallipoli. Sending HM’s warships up the Dardanelles was not a great move by the Admiralty. They were genuinely shocked when the huge guns up on the hills were able to pick off a fine selection of vessels. “Oh, I know,” said some four or five striper at the Admiralty to Winston, “Let’s do the biggest amphibious attack with troops onto enemy soil in history. We won’t have a practice run, you, know, somewhere slightly less suicidal. It’ll be alright on the night!” Mind you, I still haven’t seen ‘The Churchill Hanging’ document that pins, in writing, all those deaths and shocking decisions squarely on Winston; but he did have a significant role in the planning and implementation of the Gallipoli campaign. No hiding the fact he was at the top of the pole as First Lord of the Admiralty, so the total blame was his to bare. I have read enough of his private papers to know that the Dardanelles ‘stuff-up’ did weigh heavily on his shoulders for many years after the fact; and contributed to his infamous, chronic 'Black Dog' depressions. I recall watching the old man’s funeral on the telly in ‘65. My folks and their folks hated WSC with a passion, however, most of them did give him a few, begrudging, parting toasts for his part in defeating Hitler. Years later, reading about his life at Uni, I was struck with a thought, that I ‘greenly’ turned in an essay which suggested that ‘Prime Minister Lord Halifax’ might have had all of my European relatives either learning German or becoming just a few of the many more slaves Hitler and his lot would have had worked to death or summarily gassed or shot. Most Australians were keen to even suck up to Doug MacArthur as long as he drove the Japanese away from Australia without causing the slaughter of too many Aussies. You’ll pardon the cynicism; but that was the way they spoke of ‘Dugout Doug’ back then. Australian Prime Minister, John Curtin, a recovering alcoholic, with self-confessed zero military knowledge, kind of ‘lost it’ over the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines. He begged FDR for, “an American General” and troops to help defend Australia and New Guinea. Our everlasting bad luck was that FDR sent us Doug MacArthur not so much to help us out but more to keep Doug out of America. Not realistic? Well, Doug had said so many times he had absolutely no desire for high political office that FDR knew he would start campaigning as soon as he came home permanently. So, installed in his Melbourne, then Brisbane HQ; Doug MacArthur said to Aussie General (later Field Marshal) Sir Thomas Albert Blamey, of the ‘Diggers’ on the Kokoda Track, “Your troops are getting nowhere because they are not dying in sufficient numbers...”. I kid you not. Our General Blamey was a clever man and, once Chief Commissioner of the Victorian Police, between the wars. He knew how to ‘work a high-ranking problem’. General Blamey needed to know what MacArthur was up to with his “Gang” of notorious senior staff officers. Easy. Blamey had Doug’s HQ’s switchboard ‘manned’ with young, Aussie Army females, in civies. He also had Doug’s phones tapped. To cover this, he got an old Army mate, The Postmaster General, to tap all the phones in Brisbane to cover his ‘internal information gathering’. Then some of ‘Blamey’s switchboard operators’ got some bonus ‘pillow-talk’ intel…as well. And you, inferred Churchill was someone approaching ‘crazy’ for what he wore when not speaking at the Dispatch Box in Parliament. I can’t take your video any more. It’s a shameful waste of all of your viewers and subscribers time who trust they can rely on you for accurate information; not to mention my time. I’ll be steering well clear of your channel from now on. Yours sincerely, Bill Halliwell

[@jamescrydeman540]

I thought the war chose Churchill rather than him pursueing it. His was the superior connection to and understanding of the character of the British people and had faith that they would not forsake him nor him they and Britain. I wonder how he would respond today.

[@Andy_Babb]

80* years ago right now, my grandfather was probably getting ready to get on board his ship, uncertain (but probably a good clue) about where he was going as he was preparing to invade France. He’d already fought 200+ days of combat and fortunately, bc of his experience, he was chosen to be part of the 3rd or 4th days troop arrival on shore. o

[@step4024]

May God blessyour grand father and we give our thanks to him and the thousands like him who protected and saved our island....Advance Britannia as the great man said.

[@jasonreed7817]

I think he’s saying that his grandfather was a German Wehrmacht or Schutstaffel (“SS”) soldier, not an Allied one. I don’t say that lightly, but based on the fact that he’s talking about 1940, before the Allies made much of a war of it at all- and before the Americans were even part of the effort. 1940 was much of what was known as as the “phony war,“ and otherwise it saw Germany run “rough shod” across Europe, whether it was in Czechoslovakia, Poland, France, and Norway. Of course, I could be wrong, and Andy Babb could simply be getting his dates wrong. Irrespective of it all, whether his grandfather was a Wehrmacht/SS or an Allied soldier, it doesn’t matter ultimately. It’s all history, now, and we’re all on the same page, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on one’s perspective. And whomever might be reading this, might be Russian or is Israeli and subscribe to its fascists regimes, with its callous and coldhearted ideologies and destructive policies of war-like in the Ukraine or/or Gaza, based on its racist and uncompromising repression of other ethic groups and religions.

[@Andy_Babb]

@@jasonreed7817 oh boy. Yeah I certainly didn’t realize he was talking about that. I’m not sure why I typed 84 years, I meant to say 80* years ago 😖 He was preparing for D-Day 🤦🏻‍♂️ sorry lol

[@Jens-Viper-Nobel]

80 years ago, my maternal grandfather did the same with the Canadian army despite being a Dane. He died on Juno Beach. Never learned about it in childhood because he had immigrated to Canada after leaving my Grandmother and his daughters, and they never forgave him for that. It was by coincidence that I learned of it because someone in my family decided to do a little digging into our ancestry and the family tree. He is in a war cemetery plot in France now. And that is just about everything I know about him.

[@bucksdiaryfan]

The leaders of that era knew that the masses LOVED nationalism… Mother Russia, the Fatherland, King and Country, the American Way, the Emperor and the Rising Sun… people WILL fight for those causes

[@bucksdiaryfan]

Had the British signed an armistice it would have set up a situation like the Napoleanic Wars - perpetually changing coalitions and 14 years of fighting… it sort of worked out that way anyway, there was a long pause where Britain didn’t hit back in France on the ground for nearly 4 years

[@andrewjones-productions]

"The Royal Navy was trying to evacuate the English Army under German fire...". I beg your pardon? The English army? What an insult to all the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish soldiers that were also part of the UK army. England and the English have their merits in their own right, but they are not synonyms for the entire United Kingdom. A terrible insult and most vulgar.

[@roddycavin4600]

'As the Royal Navy was trying to evacuate the English army '? Im sure the Scottish, Welsh and Irish troops ( including my mothers uncle) were back home in bed

[@foucault8964]

Yeah…I mean Churchill even buoyed Russia with supplies from America. He and Kennedy not invading Cuba in 62 saved the planet, I’d say.

[@jonathanpersson1205]

Winston Churchill was also very important in the winning of world war one. The development of the tank was his initiative he made that happen. After serving as an officer on the western front Winston returned to the Government and served as minister of munitions where he solved to shell crisis and provided the entant powers with the munitions needed for the overwhelming firepower needed for successful offensives. These two things won the war.

[@brentinnes5151]

and Gallipoli could easily have gone the other way ...first naval attack (govt was leaving city and Chunak Bair)

[@RafaelSantos-pi8py]

The entry of the Us into the war and the german supply shortages had also something to do with it. Churchil made many blunders in both world wars.

[@brentinnes5151]

@@RafaelSantos-pi8py1. he was the only one to standup and publicly warn about Nazis 2. He refused to negotiate with Nazis after Battle of France .3 He held on until Yanks and commies turned war.......Gallipoli was a disaster, but it was actually much closer than Churchill haters like yourself ever say and it probably would have ended the war

[@jonathanpersson1205]

@@brentinnes5151 having a campaign to take Gallipoli was a good idea strategically. But it was poorly implemented and persevered with for far too long after it failed. Winston took the blame for it because it was his idea, but there were a lot of other people involved in making a mess of this plan. The worst part was doing an unsupported naval attack followed by land invasions once the Turks were warned. Two of my fathers Uncles were involved in the battle for Chunak Bair, one was killed, the other wounded. The Wellington Rifles took horrendous casualties capturing that high point then it was lost the next day by the British unit who relieved them.

[@brentinnes5151]

@@jonathanpersson1205 I am a Kiwi and studied about Chunak Bair, Malone etc and digging in on reverse slope...my great Uncle was in from Wellington ( I was born there) and he was in NZ Rifle Brigade on Western Front..also those dreadnoughts could have made it, Turks had left..Cheers

[@roywinchel3620]

Churchill didn't choose war; war was pressed apon him

[@pop5678eye]

The bravery and dedication of the RAF in face of grave danger cannot be overstated. About 40% of their crews were lost during WWII with heavier losses among bombers than fighters. In turn they crippled the Luftwaffe and decimated Germany's war production.

[@rogerhudson9732]

A bit simplistic, he actually beat the war Cabinet by adjourn it and going to the larger Cabinet where there more pro-war men and using them as leverage against Halifax.

[@jamesstuart3346]

16:10 Chamberlain actually said "peace for OUR time"

[@baruchben-david4196]

This seemed to be an interesting documentary, but there were so many factual errors that I found I couldn't rely on facts that I hadn't known before. For example, Churchill didn't offer "blood, sweat, and tears." He said, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." Blood, Sweat, and Tears is the name of a band. I've already caught several errors like this. How can I believe the things that I don't know about? That's most unfortunate, because, as I said, this started out being a fascinating documentary.

[@sightsounds9453]

This production is littered with inaccuracies. But Jeremy Clarkson's narration and the actual enormity of Churchill, and the story told, make up for it. I am sure that Churchill would never have worn such a theatrical or foppish hat - even in his leisure time! (A French production, maybe!)

[@matthewhiggins2699]

Jeremy Clarkson? If you stuck around for the credits you'd have seen the narrator was Robert Dauney, whoever he is.

[@sightsounds9453]

@@matthewhiggins2699 Exactly - it could be anyone then - including Clarkson himself! If it sounds like him it may as well be him in any case! So-called 'credits' mean little in iffy productions like these!

[@wordsmith52]

@@matthewhiggins2699 "Credits" my Rs! The credits relate to what I believe is the original French language production - not the English language narration! Need I say more!?

[@LarsPallesen]

Jeremy Clarkson? Where did you get that idea from? He sounds nothing like Jeremy Clarkson.

[@sightsounds9453]

@@LarsPallesen YES HE DOES! GOOD IMITATION IF NOT! so what anyway!?

[@heyhandersen5802]

As he said during one of the speeches dedicated to the heroism of the pilots during the Battle of Britain, he noted that they were an international group of fighters, and that they were fighting a "world cause" for freedom and democracy, and that the rest of the world would soon realize and join. He considered that this was their "finest hour" of a thousand years of their history. Against him was a powerful group that wanted to appease Hitler and cave in and had repeatedly done so. As history has shown, he was correct, and he became the de facto leader of the free world. The post war military alliance he helped create, NATO continues to uphold world freedom and democracy despite difficulties to this day.

[@HistoryWarfareNow123]

Great points!

[@claudiomarcelosilva1087]

The Soviet Union was the power that crushed the Nazi war machine. Three quarters of it were destroyed in the Eastern Front. Without this, the American Chiefs of Staff estimated in 1942 that it would take 15 years to defeat Germany and Japan. The role of China holding a miilion Japanese troops in their soil is also overlooked. The Western allies did not win the war without substantial help from all over the world.

[@dougmoore5252]

Churchill continues to inspire us all over world. What a great leader he was!

[@IbnBahtuta]

If he lived his life again today he would be executed as a war criminal, allegedly.

[@davepx1]

"Armoured trucks?" "Daladiah?" They should really have found a competent translator and a narrator who could spot the howlers and pronounce the names - and a mapmaker who knew where the Ardennes are.

[@andrewgeraghty7495]

The word "decimate" has been poisoned by persistent incorrect usage, until the wrong meaning has become the accepted one. Roman legions that failed in battle were paraded, and every 10th man put to death on the spot. Hence the use of "deci-". Today it means "wiped out", whereas the decimated Legion was suitably encouraged to perform better next time !!

[@andytongdee921]

Winston Churchill’s powerful words were “If this long island story is to end at last, let it end only when each one of us lies choking in his own blood upon the ground” were delivered during the rousing speech, not"rolling on the ground". You dummies play disgracefully with the facts.

[@sharonwhiteley6510]

Thank Heaven for Churchill

[@jonathansimmons5353]

Yeah.. look at the uk today.. No empire, and brokeass with open borders.

[@brentinnes5151]

Rice would be my no 1 dish if it wasnt for Winnie and the Yanks

[@tancreddehauteville764]

Nah, he should have cut a deal with the watercolour painter.

[@philpryor7524]

Don't forget to mention hell...

[@redrichard9801]

Winston Churchill did not Choose War hitler mussolini and tojo They chose war.

[@thisisnumber0]

Just imagine this happening now, with the influence of the weedy young generation on social media. We would be sunk.

[@richardgalea9884]

Those were dark days for Malta and also being offered to Mussolini for peace……Of course we Maltese did not know about the deal.

[@HistoryWarfareNow123]

😔

[@knicklas48]

Zelensky of Ukraine: The Churchill of the 21st century.

[@willhovell9019]

The Labour heros that were the background to the wartime coalition and effectively the home front. Atlee, Morrison, Cripps, Dalton and of course Ernie Bevin

[@ruskinyruskiny1611]

Pity about Staffords grandson. turning Tory.

[@willhovell9019]

@@ruskinyruskiny1611 even worse with Morrison's grandson who blighted the last Labour governments. Let's hope that Keir ignores any advice from his directuin, no weapons of mass destruction, dodgy loans and his association with Epstein. Old Herbert and the old LCC must be turning in their graves.

[@ruthjellings6648]

And Labour won the general election of 1945 with a landslide.

[@josephfreedman9422]

Labor Party support was one reason Sir Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in the first place, and I do believe that their support was important again in the War Cabinet in these May decisions.

[@ruthjellings6648]

Clement Attlee was Deputy PM during the war and other Labour members held important posts.

[@dies1domini]

But, as lord Halifax said, UK lost what they want to save, their empire. UK emerged from the war as a power of a second class, with a huge debt, with food restrictions until early 1950's, under the will of USA. The fight against Hitler had an immense cost.

[@jonathansimmons5353]

.. and uk.was offered a exit ramp at dunkirk... which was ignored.

[@gc3847]

Yes ,but we kept our freedom . As for the will of the USA, only for as long as it suits both sides . Perhaps Hitler would have been less murderous to other peoples if Britain had just went along ,after all ,he liked us and the murder increased the more he lost. But that was Stalins original philosophy ,not quite the same as Chamberlain ,whose intentions were at least decent, naive as it turned out ,but decent.

[@user-ws1qf7ol4k]

Hitler liked the Brits;;?? Seriously??

[@jonathansimmons5353]

@@user-ws1qf7ol4k yes. In this interview, at the end, the last man is adolf galland luftwaffe ace, google him. He is interviewed freely after ww2. What does he say? -->kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqjUn6drlKx4nrM

[@jonathansimmons5353]

@@gc3847 haha we kept our freedoms.. Hitler did not invade japan .. japan had its empire..

[@JohnRoberts-wk6rf]

This is what made Churchill the greatest man of the 20th century. The British didn't win WWII, but they didn't lose it either.

[@tenacious3911]

Are you sure about that? Quite a few thousand million men lived in the 20th century; including Alexander Fleming, Norman Borlaug, Stephen Hawking, Tim Berners-Lee, Leo Baekeland, Francis Crick, James Watson, Jonas Salk, and Christiaan Barnard.

[@jonathansimmons5353]

Uk lost the war.. -Empire gone.. - bankrupt.. - endebtted to USA And today, open borders.

[@JohnRoberts-wk6rf]

@@tenacious3911 I'm very sure about that. If the Nazis had won WWII in Europe, these men might not have been so great. Take a few minutes to think about it.

[@JohnRoberts-wk6rf]

@@jonathansimmons5353 "indebted to the USA" you mean. What kind of education are kids getting these days? The UK lost a lot as the result of the victory in WWII, no one can deny that. But if they had given into the Nazis, we'd all be speaking German or Japanese now.

[@tenacious3911]

@@JohnRoberts-wk6rf That just sounds ridiculous. Especially as Fleming had already discovered penicillin and Baekeland had already invented bakelite.

[@HenriHattar]

ReneauxDID not want to carry on the war at all, indeed Churchill offered the French a union that would mean France would not be able to surrender by itself, this was rejected by the French, strange that this is not said, but then again this IS a French production

[@user-xp5ng6bh8t]

FDR was forced to join the war not of his choice

[@nickdanger3802]

Tripartite Pact was a mutual defence pact, Hitler and Mussolini had no obligation to declare war on America. Hitler declared war because FDR had been supporting Britain from 1939. His lengthy speech can be found in the Jewish Virtual library.

[@Juan_lauda]

Can’t help but notice the timing of this video with the Reform MP badmouthing Churchill.

[@tehdoors]

@42:07 it was the boarding of sinking U-boat 559 by the Royal Navy and their retrieval of the codebooks, which enabled Turing and co. to crack Enigma

[@kurtgodel5236]

It were the Polish who "cracked Enigma". This was in in 1932. In 1939, they shared their knowledge with the British. Based on their work, Turing and collaborators would then crack more complicated versions of the Enigma code. Most of this happened before the sinking of U-599 in 1942.

[@kevineakins5276]

Despite the many factual errors especially in the first half of this documentary, it remains in spirit true to the incredible achievement of one of the greatest statesmen who ever lived. Was he great by perfection and a total absence of faults? Was he great because he was always right? Was he great because he was smarter and better informed in all details than everyone else? No, no, and no. He was great because he recognised the enormity of the threat to civilisation and democracy. He was great because he realised the enormity of the evil the world was facing. He was great because he acted with bravery and vision when the world was teetering at the edge of a seismic cataclysm. He was great because he acted when no one else could and saved the free world. Whatever measure of freedom the west has enjoyed these past 80 years or so is actually due to this man. One man. Incredible.

[@ingerlander]

Very well put

[@jonathansimmons5353]

Yeah..been at war with communists since 1945... and the wehrmacht was at khimki in 1941 and that's 20kms from.the kremlin. If the uk had quit at dunkirk, the kremlin would have been taken, and we wouldnt have been threatened by russia since.. nor china.in the future.

[@castlerock58]

Churchill was lucky that Hitler invaded Russia and declared war on the US. Britain had no chance without at least one major power fighting on its side. It would have been a rational strategy to agree to a truce if Germany offered one. That was the strategy that Britain used against Napoleon. They waited until Napoleon looked weak and then formed a coalition against him. Churchill was right that Hitler had to be defeated but he adopted a reckless strategy and was lucky that Hitler blundered. I wonder if there are secret documents about what terms Hitler was willing to offer Britain for a truce. It is a very important issue that is almost never discussed.

[@micksherman7709]

I remember one of my Dad’s army mates told me how in 1941 he was leaving an army post and had just reached the barrier when he saw someone had burst out of the HQ and was frantically waving at him. He went back and heard that Hitler had just invaded Russia. THANK GOD was his heartfelt response.

[@stormywindmill]

The offer of a pact with England and France by Stalin before the Molotov Ribbentrop agreement was dismissed by the then prime minister Neville Chamberlin, with the phrase "We will have nothing to do with communism".

[@bobjackson4720]

It's amazing to think that at one time Labour were patriotic, and not the snizzeling traitors they are now.

[@RaymondCore-ts5jl]

Great Britain would have become a neutral, neutered country, Germany would have won its war with the Soviet Union, and the Third Reich would be a World Power today except for an American divorcee named Wallis Simpson. Even though she had other lovers, Wallis Simpson kept Edward VIII, the King of England, infatuated with her to the point he abdicated the throne to marry her, allowing his younger brother George VI became King of England. Edward and Wallis were admirers of Hitler; Hitler's FM, Ribbentrop, even sent carnations to MS Simpson every day. When, in 1940, with the entire British army about to be lost on the beaches at Dunkirk, there was huge pressure on PM Winston Churchill to make a peace deal with Hitler. Churchill was alone in his desire to fight on and had he not got the support of King George VI, Great Britain may have dropped out of the war; leaving Hitler with no threat on his Western Front. Without any enemies to defend against on his West coast, Hitler would have been able to concentrate all his forces against the USSR and, when he had defeated Stalin, would have the vast resources of the entire USSR to build a Germany that could have surpassed the US in size, natural resources wealth, and industry. At the end of the US' war against Japan, when the US had the atomic bomb, would they have reignited hostilities in Europe to topple Hitler who had done nothing to them? I doubt it. We should be erecting statures to Wallis Simpson for taking the Hitler-loving Edward VIII off the throne so Britain-loving George VI could be installed who would back Churchill to continue the war.

[@makulunyoka8592]

I was particularly annoyed by the misspelled and pointless subtitles - Heir Hitler, Giering, hooves clopping etc. Sound effects have been part of movies for the last century and we viewers don't need to be told what they are. I must remember in future to avoid the output from this producer.

[@alkaseltzer8036]

Completely wrong to state that the two labour members of the war cabinet "their voices hardly counted". In fact Attlee and Greenwood strongly supported Churchill, to face down Halifax and Chamberlain. Attlee - Major Attlee as he then was - had a distinguished WW1 record. No way would have the Labour party in May 1940 supported entering into negotiations with Hitler.

[@robertbrynin9919]

I stopped it at 47 seconds when he referred to 'the English Army'.

[@fredkruse9444]

AI?

[@rnedmondson]

Caprures the 'spirit' of May 1940 but is very weak on detail and much of the complexity of the issues involved are not properly explained. For example, the Dunkirk evacuation was described as 'bad' and yet the considerable success of the Dunkirk evacuation greatly strengthened Churchill. The full extent of that success was not known until later but if Churchill had not had the hope of success he would have been much weakened. Nevertheless, the documentary does give a fundamentally true picture of the events of the times and does show how much the world owes to Churchill. My own opinion is that if Britain had capitulated in May 1940, Hitler would likely have over-run Russia and would eventually have achieved world domination.

[@charlesarmstrong5292]

An amazing, extraordinary man and a giant in his time. Thank you for this expose of that critical time. So very well laid out. Most enjoyable.

[@daispy101]

Around the 41 minute the narrator claims Britain was the only nation with radar, which is factually incorrect. The Germans also had radar, which some Germans tried to pass details along to Britain, at great personal peril, but they were ignored until one British technician went looking for radar transmissions from Germany to confirm this. By the time this was accepted as fact, the RAF had pissed away numerous aircrew on bombing runs that were detected, intercepted and destroyed.

[@paulneedham9885]

RADAR was a British invention.

[@nickdanger3802]

@@paulneedham9885 FYI, first US patent for radar was granted in 1934. The Kammhuber Line was the name given by the Allies to the German night-fighter air-defence system established in western Europe in July 1940 by Colonel Josef Kammhuber. It consisted of a series of control sectors equipped with radars and searchlights and an associated night fighter. Each sector would direct the night fighter into visual range to target intruding bombers.

[@daispy101]

@@paulneedham9885 I did't say the Germans invented it. I said they had it. Put your flag away, this is history.

[@kevineakins5276]

The outflanking trap that brought the demise of the British expeditionary force was launched by a tank led spearhead attack through the Ardennes. The map shows this happening through the France-German border which was defended and therefore blocked and made impossible by the maginot line.

[@wajahatshafi6626]

I am impressed by the intellectual level and leadership qualities of Churchill. Love 💘 Britain 🇬🇧

[@stoobydootoo4098]

06:50 He did not 'lead' the Dardanelles operation in 1916! And, some of the AI pronunciation is laughable.

[@gravedigger9313]

Absolutely brilliant man Unbelievable

[@robertewing3114]

Rubbish, he wasnt the rocket scientist this sort of hype suggests. His rocket did very well, but the war was already established, and could be won. Is that Churchill right all along, no, actually it is his respect for Chamberlain, articulated to Bracken and others, and noted such as by Cecil King.

[@GunnH74]

No doubt Churchill was a handful, but he was the right man at this time for the rest of us europeans too.

[@alanaadams7440]

Yes

[@alanaadams7440]

He saw the writing on the wall and very early on warned the danger of Hitler and the British didn't heed the warnings. He knew Hitler would not stop at the continent of Europe and would come for England

[@timburr4453]

Great and informative program. Thanks!

[@kimba381]

Chamberlain didn't think they were ready. He KNEW they weren't ready in 1938. It was not so much appeasement as a delaying tactic. Hitler laid down conditions he thought would be refused; he wanted war in 1938. "I ought to have seized the initiative in 1938 instead of allowing myself to be forced into war in 1939; for war was, in any case, unavoidable. However, you can hardly blame me if the British and the French accepted at Munich every demand I made of them." Adolf Hitler, February 14, 1945

[@user-yo5el7nz2v]

How the French were defeated,no radios in the tanks

[@terryhoath1983]

I have given up at just after 6 minutes. What a load of twoddle ! "Churchill was not a nobleman like the others". WHAT ? Neville Chamberlain WAS NOT A "NOBLEMAN". Winston's pedigree was far higher than Neville's. The "Spencer" in his name is of the Althorp Spencers ... Diana, Princess of Wales' Spencers. He was a direct descendant of John Churchill.1st duke of Marlborough. In the British aristocracy, you cannot get higher than "Duke". Winston was born in Blenheim Palace. It wasn't Winston who chose war. It was Neville Chamberlain who had declared war on 3rd September 1939, pushing Édouard Daladier (France) to follow suit. Neville's government had been preparing for war since 1937 ... shadow factories being built in the North and West, armament production being quietly increased. Although limited conscription did not begin OFFICIALLY until June 1939, it had begun unofficially in April 1939, more than 4 months before the declaration of war. By May 1940, Neville was nearly out of it. The poor devil was in constant pain and making emergency dashes to the lavatory. He was suffering from the final stages of bowel cancer. On 28th May, he was shortly to withdraw from public life. He died, the cancer having progressively spread and consumed his body on 9th December 1940. It is true that Edward Wood, Earl of Halifax, was against the war, not because he was a defeatist but because he was a closet fascist .... a Quizling. Winston had allies in the War Cabinet, foremost of whom was probably the ultra-hawk, Frederick Lindemann, unelected but appointed by Winston to the War Cabinet holding the title of Winston's Chief Scientific Advisor, and probably having greater influence than his title might suggest. He was just one of Winston's loyal supporters in the War Cabinet. Whoever is responsible for this tripe should make a proper study of the facts before doing anything else .... or .... was this a deliberate attempt to subvert history for the sake of sensationalism and profit.

[@GregoryP-jw8qj]

I have to say, I'm 55 yrs. old and reasonably intelligent I suppose, and having a more than bystander interest in war, all kinds thru the history of mankind,and having studied this war quite a bit.. it still sends shivers down my spine as to how close Europe came to capitulating to the German War Machine !! Churchill was right so maaannnyy times and still that spineless Neville kept at him, for basically, a dishonorable peace accord with the Nazis. Talk about Hitler being a wolf in sheep's clothing.But my point is I can't shake the shame and low moral character the United States displayed by not coming to our cousins aid by popular "Public Opinion" and how ironic it is that when it was over we organized and assembled NATO. Britain I'm sure felt that kick in the teeth. It's just how I feel and don't really care if it's wrong. We should have ( Government) overrode public opinion and helped Britain not lose the number of the next generation that they did.

[@waynethomas4728]

ENGLISH ARMY? Really?

[@user-re2fl3sh2d]

Too much narration. Not enough hearing the actors playing the main participants.

[@robinblick9375]

I thought Hitler did. when he invaded Poland.

[@pingpong5000]

Churchill was great, this supposed documentary has many inaccuracies and omissions one has to assume it was made by a child.

[@HistoryWarfareNow123]

Inaccuracies and omissions such as?

[@pingpong5000]

@@HistoryWarfareNow123 There are many good and accurate books from which you could glean the answers to that question, which perhaps you could have read beforehand.

[@HistoryWarfareNow123]

@@pingpong5000 We are asking you specifically what you're referencing in this documentary so that we can look into the inaccuracies you yourself are bringing to our attention and attempt to prevent this from happening in the future.

[@pingpong5000]

@@HistoryWarfareNow123 I am done with this, I am certainly not going to rewatch something I viewed as flawed for you, as you use the word History in your name which implies you have a historical background so you should be keen to learn from your mistakes. There are professional peer reviewers who will fact-check your info and show you what's wrong, and that is done before you broadcast, I think you will learn much more by doing you own research/thinking.

[@specialandroid1603]

So many inaccuracies

[@otfriedschellhas3581]

When? When he was born, old warmonger...

[@davidamar4687]

I hate when people advertising a history with some facts that inaccurate . He was not underprivileged or poor . Winston Churchill was born into the privileged world of the British aristocracy on November 30, 1874. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a younger son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough. His mother, Jennie Jerome, was the daughter of an American business tycoon, Leonard Jerome.

[@nicktecky55]

Not just "not poor", but a member of one of the highest ranking aristocratic families in the land. The King was middle class in comparison!

[@divaden47]

Just a small correction, Cliveden is pronounced CLIV-den to rhyme with GIVE

[@HistoryWarfareNow123]

Thank you!

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

Your version of Churchill in the Dardanelles in WWI is charitable -- but gives Churchill rather more credit than he is entitled to. Your version suggests that he was defeated entirely by the Turks -- and it is true that the Turks saw him off, at least as much of him as turned up to fight. What you miss is that the silly bugger managed to run two or three of his battleships into mines, the shore, or maybe some aggressive sea anemones, who knows, before they got anywhere near the Turks.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

Churchill argued for the use of the Royal Navy's sea power to drive the Ottoman Empire out of the war. The Russian General Staff had asked Kitchener for help against Ottoman pressure on their southern flank. Both Churchill & Kitchener believed that it might be possible to achieve both aims at once, as well as, perhaps, bringing the neutral Eastern European states into the war on the Anglo-French side. He argued his case to Herbert Asquith, who authorised the campaign. After that, Churchill's involvement ceased. The planning and execution of the Operation was undertaken by miltary and naval officers. 'What you miss is that the silly bugger managed to run two or three of his battleships into mines.' On reflection, perhaps you might grasp how truly asinine that comment is.

[@user-rj5kx8wr6y]

Alas, there is little good that can be said for this documentary. There are several fairly obvious errors in fact as it progresses but, more important, its central premise --Churchill standing out alone against a united War Cabinet in search of a negotiated peace -- is simply incorrect. This was never the case. But, to learn more, you will have to await my book!

[@paulneedham9885]

Don’t need your book. Plenty out there already.

[@ssrrtt1234]

Lord Halifax was an Anglo Catholic, not a Roman Catholic. He was a member of the Church of England.

[@HistoryWarfareNow123]

Thank you for pointing this out!

[@myrisk123]

Talk about gaslighting- Only 3 members pf the War Cabinet mentioned - 2 others of the 5, mentioned, hardly at all. History is BUNK.

[@landsea7332]

The explanation of what occurred is terrible . Chamberlain and Halifax did not want to negotiate a separate peace . The initial estimate was that only 45,000 solders of the BEF could be rescued from Dunkirk . Facing the loss of much of the BEF , Lord Halifax wanted enter into negotiations , with the Italians mediating , to hear what terms Hitler would offer . .

[@LegendaryGamesPodcast]

In mid 1930s he was warning about Hitler and Germany, being clearly on that side of stating "we need to shut down this regime, because a war is inevitable" - which he was right about. So in my opinion the decision to stay in the war was made a long time before September 1st 1939.

[@johnmoulton9728]

This doesn’t represent the true story of Churchill , a bit of a fairy tale

[@HistoryWarfareNow123]

In what way?

[@k1200ltse]

What utter rubbish this is. Poorly researched is the kindest thing you can say about it. It is riddled with inaccuracies & about as much historical use as a 700 year old chocolate teapot.

[@CONNELL19511216]

The title suggests that Churchill was to blame for the war. Think of where Britain would be if Churchill had NOT decided to fight.

[@Crashed131963]

Britain declared war on Hitler for invading West Poland. At the end of the War Hitler's twin clone Stalin takes all of Poland and Eastern Europe and Britain went broke and lost its superpower status .

[@davidb2206]

Better off. It would have stayed a safe country for white women and children.

[@DavidSmith-fs5qj]

No world war, no blitz, no rationing, no lost empire and no bankruptcy for the entire county.

[@josephfreedman9422]

There are any number of counterfactual novels about a Britain that made peace with Germany, all frightening, but good reading. There is a fairly new series out about Britain under a restored King Edward and his consort and Queen, Wallace Simpson. I have long been fascinated by the possibility of Edward and/or Lloyd George forming a German-friendly government. Churchill was wrong, I believe, about many things in his long career, but he was right on the one thing that counted most, and our civilization is in debt to him.

[@davidb2206]

@@josephfreedman9422 Nah, Churchill lost the empire in one fell (stupid) swoop. (How utterly imbecilic of him to state that he would not be the one to do it!) Not surprising that he was voted out it 1945. The British people had had enough of his warmongering.

[@SkiiDreamr420]

Who wrote this clap trap?

[@jimmunro4649]

WTF you taking about

[@GrenvilleP710]

Churchill didnt choose war.Chamberlin did.

[@DennisMSulliva]

I always thought Hitler had something to do with it.

[@tancreddehauteville764]

@@DennisMSulliva Hitler never declared war on Britain, it was the other way round.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

@@tancreddehauteville764 hitler never declared war on anyone except the United States. The first his victims knew was the arrival of German aircraft, tanks, troops, and einsatzgruppen.

[@robertewing3114]

Chamberlain, he sure did. And who better? The great social reformer versus the great social deformer

[@robertewing3114]

​@@dovetonsturdee7033translated that last word means too quickly, without cold weather medicine and clothing, yet with precise anticipation of how difficult the British were to beat - written in Mein Kampf. He encouraged his generals to forget the latter, maybe that translates it more concisely.

[@brianwheelhouse551]

Lord Halifax was not o Roman Catholic, he was an Anglican, also known as Episcopal, sometimes known as Anglo-Catholic....

[@jayagopal50]

Maybe should talk about his PAST.. Galllopoli and Bengal Famine.. in days to come.. he will be reviled.. EVIL THAT MEN DO LIVES AFTER THEM THE GOOD WILL BE BURIED IN THEIR BONES

[@marcello234]

Looks like Churchill is collaborating with General Benny Hill

[@nelsonbailey310]

Whimsical, you got to be kidding