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Churchill's view of events - Coggle Diagram
Churchill's view of events
views on India
he served in India as a young officer and took on the view that India was 'the Jewel in the crown" of the whole British empier
he took a view that British rule prevented the domination of Hindus elites over the large Muslim Indian population
he thought that the british rule had ensured good government, prevented endemic corruption and protected the weal and had a strong belief in the racial superiority of the Anglo- Saxons
British rule was becoming under pressure in the 1920s to 30s and the Indian population wanted independence. The mass of people were led by Gandhi- in non violent protests. Britain reacted to the protests in repression and reform
Rowlatt act of 1919 increased police powers by allowing imprisonment without a trial
Gandhi led a mass campaign against this act which resulted in the troops firing on the protesting crowd and this killed 400 and wounded 1200. this gave the protest new supporters
after the Rowlatt act followed a mass civil disobedience campaign and in 1930 Gandhi led a mass march to the sea to protest about salt tax
resulted in numerous arrests, including Gandhi who was released to attend conferences in London in 1930 and 1931 to end conflict
these protests resulted in Britain in 1933 announcing its intentions of allowing India a self government
this led to the act called the Government of India Act in 1935 which then took affect in 1937
Churchill was bitterly opposed to the movement for greater independence and he took it his own may by releasing extreme public statements and he supported eccentric and racist organisations who opposed independence.
his former supporter Leo Amery MP said that it was churchills "unique achievement to stup up a hornets nest where there were no hornets"
he aimed to get the secretary of India to resign and he threatened to shatter the conservative party and this only led him to be ridiculed by the conservative mps
when the act was passed he stopped agitating and even invited a close friend and political supporter of Gandhi to lunch and said he wished India well- " India, i fear, is a burden to us. If India can look after herself, we would be delighted. Make the reforms a success!"
views on the abdication of Edward VIII
David was George V eldest son and was seen as neurotic and unstable and he had the reputaion of being a playboy. He had the tedency to make off-the-cuff remarks which could be seen as political interference. Some believe he was an admirer of the Nazis
his main problem was his attachement to Wallis Simpson, who was an american women who had been previously divorced but David was keen to marry her.
this raised a considerable constituational issue as he was head of the church of england and he had commitment to defending its values and this included opposition to divorce
in november 1936, prime minister Stanley Baldwin told the king that the public would not accept the marriage and her as queen and so Edward proposed a morganatic marriage in where she would be a consort and not queen
however this requireed the parliaments approval both in britain and the self governing domains and the cabinet didnt give the approval.
and in December 1936, Edward broadcast his speech of abdication
churchill took the minority view and was a memvber of a limited and informal group called "the kings friends" who supported the monarch because for the reasons of personal loyalty and chivalry
on one day churchill made a speech in favour of the king and was shouted down as the majority of the parliament were against him staying king
views on rearmament and appeasement
a majour concern was the defence of the British power and influence and this was challenged by Hitler who became chancellor in 1933. He had views of needing to rearm and end the restrictions of the treaty of versailles and he didnt object to the concept of a nationalist dictatorship
but when German rearmament started Churchill became alarmed and wrote and spoke about the dangers
he objected so much because the saw the new regime in germany as brutal and disliked its racism and violence, he feared a repeat of the situation prior to 1914 when Germany had become a threat to Europe and challenged Britain by building and new naval fleet, he was a member of parliament when the treaty of versailles was agreed, he was worried about air power and understood the dangers of air warfare and feared britain would be defenceless
used his positition as a backbench MP and his journalism to utter warnings about the need to rearm
he was heavily criticised as critics pointed out that he himslef had been responsible for disarming in 1920s and for maintaining the 10 year rule
secondally, the financial crisis had necessitated and poorer people were suffering and an arms race would need a very compelling reason to begin
many people also believed that the first world war orginated from an arms race and seen as dangerous and unnecessary
it seemed to many people that Churchill was apart of a pre-1914 mentality to war and had a tendancy to over exagerate figures and speak in alarmist terms
hitler reintroduced conscription in 1935, breaking the treaty of versailles. his small forces in Rhineland remilitarised. Germany left the league of nations in 1933
unable and unwilling to stop german rearmamnent, the government decided to try and limit it by agrrement
churchill had a concern of hitler and he decided to oppose the givernment's policy of trying to deal with hitler with negotiations and instead built up stong alliance and increased britains defences
central to churhcills career was his view about the appeasment policy and he used the term himself, urging the "appeasment of european hatreds"
in the first world war, britain had shown itself to be a majour military power and the british navy was formidable and the empire had grown to include key oil rich possessions in the middle east. britain could of inforced policies to maintain enough forces to maintain gains and meet any threats but the public opinion and britians economic strength didnt permit this. instead british statesmen disarmed and out their faith the the locarno pact and the league of nations
the british leaders in 1930 then inherited a dangerous situation, which was partially caused by churchill who had insisted on reducing arms in 1920s,
there was little money for upgrading