Winston Churchill's Rise to Fame: From Boer War to WW1

Winston Churchill's Rise to Fame in the Boer War

In 1913, Winston Churchill was the First Lord of the Admiralty, a post he held since his appointment on October 25, 1911. Previously he held the position as the president of Britain's Board of Trade. Churchill was born on November 30, 1874 and came from a prominent, aristocratic British political family. In 1886, his father had become the youngest Chancellor of the Exchequer in British history at the age of thirty-seven.

Churchill became famous during the Boer War in South Africa when in 1899, he escaped from a prisoner of war camp. He had traveled to Cape Town South Africa on October 30, 1899 to work as a journalist documenting the war. Churchill was hired by the London Morning Post for the modern-day equivalent of $150,000 for four months of work.^[1] He joined the likes of other famous writers documenting the Boer War such as Rudyard Kipling and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Several publications competed for Churchill's services as he was known for his writing skills. He is known to have stated, "my literary talents do not exist in my imagination alone."^[2] Less than one month into his job, on November 15, 1899, the train he was a passenger on was ambushed and he was captured and became a political prisoner held in a POW camp.

Only about a month later, Churchill escaped the POW camp on December 12th with nothing but a few bars of chocolate. A reward of 25 pounds was offered by the Boers for Churchill's capture as the 24-year old Churchill embarked on a 300 mile journey to reach safety.^[3] Through trial and some fortuitous circumstances, Churchill made his way to East Africa. Although Churchill was young, he had already been through other character-refining experiences and after enduring these trials, it further confirmed to Churchill in his mind that he was destined for greatness. As Churchill recalled his life in the light of the events of World War II, he stated "I felt as if I were walking with destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and this trial."^[4]

Churchill in 1913 Before the War

In the May of 1913, as the First Lord of the Admiralty, Churchill embarked on a cruise through the Mediterranean joined by his mother, and Prime Minister Asquith's family. At the moment, Jennie, Churchill's mother, was divorcing her second husband, George Cornwallis-West. Jennie's first husband and Churchill's father had passed away in 1895. As the cruise continued, they made stops in Malta, Greece, and Italy. The cruise was a leisurely experience but little did Churchill know that the continent would be embroiled in war and the naval campaign which would earn him his demotion would take place not far from this trip's path.^[5]

The Marconi Scandal

While Churchill was on his Mediterranean cruise, several prominent members of the British government were embroiled in a scandal. It began in 1912 when the Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George as well as others were accused of insider trading in shares of the Marconi Wireless Company. At the time, the Marconi Wireless Company was the largest radio company in the world, and the British parent company known as British Marconi was founded by the Italian inventor of the radio, Guglielmo Marconi in 1897. Churchill was also implicated in the scandal but aggressively defended himself as innocent calling the accusations slanderous.

The scandal began when the British Post Office accepted a proposal from the British Marconi to construct and maintain a national radio system made up of regional radio transmitters throughout the British Empire. Given that the British Empire was at its height and encompassed 25 percent of the world, this was a massive contract for whoever would win it.

As government officials were determining who they would award the contract to, it was leaked to certain government officials that the government had submitted the request for proposal and that British Marconi would win the contract. The officials involved included the aforementioned Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George, the Attorney General Sir Rufus Isaacs, the Postmaster General Herbert Samuel, and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury Alexander Murray.^[6]

Despite accusations of insider trading from multiple publications, no legal action was brought against any of the government officials. Several of the accusing publications were either charged or threatened with libel lawsuits, including the French publication Le Matin and Cecil Chesterton, brother of the more famous, G.K. Chesterton, who wrote for a British publication called New Witness.^[7]

In 1913, H.H. Asquith set up an investigative committee to help resolve the issue. Both Isaacs and Murray confessed to purchasing shares in the American subsidiary of British Marconi known as American Marconi. Nonetheless, the investigative committee concluded that the government officials did nothing wrong by using their inside information to profit on American Marconi shares.

An Oil-Powered Navy

Since taking the position as First Lord of the Admiralty in 1911, Churchill had been focused on transitioning the British Admiralty from being powered by steam produced from coal to being powered by oil. Oil-powered ships contained several strategic advantages that if they were gained by some other navy, Britain's navy would lose its position atop the best in the world. In July 1913, Churchill petitioned the House of Commons to purchase a stake in the Abadan Oil Refinery by purchasing a 51 percent stake in the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. In July 1914, the British government arrived at an agreement to purchase a 51 percent stake in the Anglo-Persian Oil Company which eventually became known as British Petroleum. In exchange, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company was obligated to provide oil to the British Navy at a certain price. It proved to be a valuable decision just as the world was on the doorstep of war.

World War I and Winston Churchill

World War I started in the middle of 1914. Soon after the war began, the two sides reached a stalemate on the western front which extended across France's eastern border. This led to both sides trying to determine their next move. This led British leadership to engage the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915.

The Gallipoli Campaign

In February 1915, the infamous Gallipoli campaign began. Although many people were responsible for planning and signing off on the campaign, Churchill became the primary individual that was held responsible. The Gallipoli Campaign is also known as The Dardanelles Decision named after the Dardanelles Strait which is a narrow strip of water that connects the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmora. This was strategic for the Allies because this ultimately then leads into the Black Sea through a narrow isthmus where Istanbul, Turkey sits. In 1915, Istanbul was known as Constantinople, and was the capital of the Ottoman Empire. France and Britain together planned to force its way through the Dardanelles Strait to attack Constantinople but after a long campaign lasting most of the year, it was determined a failure. Initially, the shelling of the forts from sea failed followed by attempts of amphibious landings which for survivors of the landing, quickly led to trench warfare.^[8] The campaign lasted from February 19, 1915 to January 9, 1916.

When the war began, leaders had originally expected and hoped that the war would be brief. And British leadership hoped that the Gallipoli Campaign would potentially achieve these ends. Here, Churchill broadly documents the events of 1915 in this short post-mortem.

The year 1915 was disastrous to the cause of the Allies and to the whole world. By the mistakes of this year the opportunity was lost of confining the conflagration within limits which though enormous were not uncontrolled. Thereafter, the fire roared on. . . Thereafter events passed very largely outside the scope of conscious choice. Governments and individuals. . . swayed and staggered forward in helpless violence. . . In January 1915 the terrific affair was still not unmanageable. . . It could have been grasped, before the world was exhausted, before the nations were broken, before the empires were shattered to pieces, before Europe was ruined.^[9]

One of the challenges of the Gallipoli campaign were Britain's old ships. Britain had a fleet of new ships arriving in 1915 and many of the crews on current ships would become employed on the new ships. The new ships were Dreadnoughts which were an altogether new type of ship which rendered the old ships obsolete. Dreadnoughts were larger, they were faster, and they were equipped with large-caliber guns. These older ships, although obsolete versus the modern German battleship, were expected to be able to hold their own against the Ottoman's forts in the Straight of Dardanelles. Furthermore, the Ottoman's didn't have a navy worth mentioning. However, several miscalculations led to the failed attempt to force their way through the Dardanelles. Here, Churchill describes the state of the British ships in the attack.

All the Majestics, all the Canopuses, all the Formidables, all the Duncans, were inexorably marked for final extinction within the next year to fifteen months. . .In 1905, no one would have risked them in trying to force the Dardanelles. They were our latest vessels and all we had. In 1915, they were surplus and moribund. Yet related to the forts their strength was unimpaired.^[10]

Winston Churchill On The Front Lines

In November 1915, Churchill resigned from First Lord of the Admiralty and entered a new position as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. In the same month, and for the next six months he joined the Royal Scots Fusiliers as an infantry officer on the Western Front. He wrote this letter on January 12, 1916 to the Duke of Marlborough describing his circumstances as potentially Fiel pero desdichado, meaning "Faithful but unfortunate", were he to parish on the front lines.

I have meditated a great deal on the g[rea]t situation & have fairly clear views about it. Perhaps later in the year I shall come back to the House: but for the moment this is the course marked out for me. I see no reason to expect a Brigade for a long time & of course there can be no question of any military career. On the other hand, I like soldiering for its own sake; & if I am killed at the head of my battalion, it will be an honourable & dignified finale. Do you think I sh[oul]d deserve the family motto "Fiel pero desdichado"? I am now passing through a stage in my journey quite beyond any that my father had to traverse. Your letters & affection are a g[rea]t pleasure to me. We must always try to keep together as the world grows grey.^[11]

In another excerpt, Churchill described the miserable circumstances of the front lines within the trenches.

. . .[f]ilth and rubbish everywhere, graves built into the defences & scattered about promiscuously, feet & clothing breaking through the soil, water and muck on all sides; & about this scene in the dazzling moonlight troops of enormous rats creep & glide, to the unceasing accompaniment of rifle & machine guns & the venomous whining & whirring of the bullets which pass overhead.^[12]

Churchill's playful attitude in the midst of chaos shows up in this excerpt from a letter written to his mother the month he arrived at the front lines.

I am happy here … I always get on with soldiers. I do not certainly regret the step I took … I know that I am doing the right thing out here … Do you know I am quite young again?^[13]

On May 3, Churchill was recalled back to Britain to once again take a position inside the government. His battalion was combined with another and his position became redundant. In a letter written in 1915 by Hankey, the Secretary of the War Cabinet, he recognized there was a lack of courage in the cabinet.

Since Churchill left the Cabinet and War Council we have lacked courage more than ever.^[14]

The Minister of Munitions

On July 18, 1917, he was appointed as the Minister of Munitions by the now Prime Minister David Lloyd George and remained in that position until January 1919. Churchill was offered his choice between Ministry of Munitions or the Air Ministry, which was just created. This appointment by Lloyd George was controversial from both sides of the aisle, however Lloyd George moved ahead and eventually people accepted the decision.

The Minister of Munitions was a new position that was created in July 1915 with the Munitions War Act, in the midst of the Gallipoli Campaign. The department was created to oversee the production of munitions to ensure demand for the war was met. As the war continued, and especially in the midst of the Gallipoli Campaign, it began to require more munitions than was previously expected.

By 1917, when Churchill took the position, he described Britain as entirely focused on winning the war and production for the war had become a part of everyone's lifestyle in some way.

Three years of the struggle had engaged very nearly the whole might of the nation. Munition production of every kind was already upon a giant scale. The whole island was an arsenal.^[15]

One of the most dramatic events that happened on the western front during his duty as Minister of Munitions was the German Spring Offensive of March 21, 1918. On that day, beginning at 4:30 AM, the British Armies were barraged by over 6,000 German artillery guns and 3,500 heavy mortars.^[16] As Churchill sat 8,000 yards away from the front lines, writing in 1927, he said it "was the most tremendous cannonade I shall ever hear."^[17] It was an offensive that the Germans had been planning since November 1917 and the first surge lasted until the evening of March 27th. The second surge continued on the 28th and the result was failure for the Germans. "The Germans, who advanced with the utmost bravery, were mowed down in heaps."^[18] The German Spring Offensive hoped to break through the western front before more Americans arrived and viewed this as one of their last chances to do so. Although America entered the war in 1917, they didn't begin offensive action until May 1918.

World War I ended shortly thereafter in November of 1918.

The Secretary of State for Air and War

On January 10, 1919, he stepped down from Ministry of Munitions and was appointed simultaneously as the Secretary of State for both Air and War. He was part of the British delegation at the Paris Peace Conference in June 1919 although he did not play an active role in the conference.

Despite the war being over, the British Empire was in a state of uncertainty after the war. Although the British were on the winning side, the British Empire was never as large as it was prior to the war. Ireland's fight for independence was gaining ground. Arabs in the region of modern-day Iraq were revolting and assassinating British officials.

Anti-Semitism was also becoming more common. And in 1917, the Balfour agreement created British backing for a Jewish state in the region where Palestine existed. In 1920, Churchill was what is known as a Zionist and felt compelled to write:

If as may well happen, there should be created in our own lifetime by the banks of the Jordan a Jewish State under the protection of the British Crown, which might comprise three or four millions of Jews, an event would have occurred in the history of the world which would, from every point of view, be beneficial.^[19]

Churchill held the positions of Secretary of State for Air and War until February 13, 1921.

Churchill's Growing Legacy

Following World War I, Churchill's experiences and legacy were large enough for one man's life time. And yet, more challenges lay ahead for Churchill.

Churchill's story from 1913 to 1920 was one which showcased Churchill's willingness to lead coupled with humility. There are few men living in any time period who would be just as happy serving on the front lines as they would be in the safety of an office, delivering orders. And while Churchill was fighting on the frontlines, it left a noticeable lack of courage in the War Department according to Mr. Hackney. Churchill was a great man because he was not only ready to serve Britain in the capacity of First Lord of the Admiralty, but after he became responsible for Gallipoli, he was equally willing to join the front lines of the war. Churchill's tremendous personality became a recurring theme during his life, from the Boer War and all the way through World War II.