![]() ![]() Four days after Churchill became prime minister, Nazi military forces blitzed through French defenders at Sedan. “Meanwhile events across the Channel were moving fast,” writes Churchill’s daughter Mary Soames. When he walked into the House of Commons for the first time as prime minister, his own party, the Conservatives, gave him a tepid response, not even offering a standing ovation-though they heartily applauded Neville Chamberlain. He would have to demonstrate personally how to “keep calm and carry on.” The challenges he faced in forming a new government reveal the enormous size of the task.įor starters, he had to put together a coalition consisting of various political parties and their leaders, all of whom he had managed to offend at some point in his long career. His own personality and character would be a crucial element in this enterprise. To do that, he would need to keep the nation calm, a goal he would accomplish with his speeches and his demeanor of relentless optimism and composure. In less than a year, his great concern would turn to holding the British ship of state on an even keel as it was pounded by Nazi assaults. The great question before him initially was how to keep his naval forces afloat amid the turbulence of the early days of the war. ![]() However, it would be a frightening and arduous journey. And this time Churchill would come out the victor. This time, the first lord of the Admiralty would voyage with all his “shipmates” into a typhoon of even greater proportions. The last time Churchill had helmed the British navy, he had sailed into the storm of the Dardanelles controversy. When word of his appointment reached the Admiralty Board, the order was given to send a message to all British naval stations and ships: “WINSTON IS BACK.” This time, however, he would meet with only acclaim. As he scanned the rooms so familiar to him, he could still see the maps depicting positions of ships in 1915, when he had left the Admiralty after the Gallipoli disaster. His destiny-the day for which his entire life had been preparing him-was yet ahead. However, as he took up residence in Admiralty House, where he had last lived a quarter century earlier, it was really only the beginning. As first lord of the Admiralty, he also had a seat on the War Cabinet.īy now 64 years old, Churchill probably thought that his career had already crested. On September 1, 1939, as Nazi troops invaded Poland, Churchill again found himself at the helm of the British navy, at the invitation of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. His life, as we have seen, was pummeled by heavy waves of adversity that could have capsized him many times, but he stayed on beam and sailed ahead. How, then, can we remain steady and unruffled in the civilization-battering turbulence all around us? Many people are wondering about that, as evidenced by the recent popularity of posters, T-shirts, and other objects bearing a message that symbolized British pluck during the fiery storms of the Second World War: “Keep Calm and Carry On.”įor many, Winston Churchill epitomized the attitude those words convey. until it was too late and people could see the Great Unraveling for what it was and what it had wrought. The great rising nations of vast populations held the fate of the world in their hands but hardly seemed to care. Dystopia was a vogue word, like utopia in the 20th century. Politicians, haunted by their incapacity, played on the fears of their populations, who were device-distracted or under device-driven stress. Democracy looked quaint or outmoded beside new authoritarianisms.
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