Britain's wartime prime minister who divided Europe with Stalin on a half-sheet of paper
I wrote on a half-sheet: Romania—Russia 90%, others 10%; Greece—Britain 90%, Russia 10%; Yugoslavia 50–50… I pushed this across to Stalin. He took his blue pencil, made a large tick, and passed it back.
As Britain's wartime prime minister (1940–1945), Churchill led the Allied victory against Nazi Germany and returned to office from 1951 to 1955. In October 1944 he met Stalin in Moscow and scribbled the secret 'percentages agreement' dividing the Balkans into spheres of influence; at Yalta he pressed for free elections in Poland but could not prevent Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. An imperialist and anti-communist, his 1946 'Iron Curtain' speech at Fulton gave the Cold War its defining metaphor. Hailed as the greatest Briton of the 20th century for his wartime leadership, his legacy is contested over colonial policy, the Bengal famine, and area bombing.
Career Timeline
- 1940–1945Prime Minister (first term, coalition)
- 1951–1955Prime Minister (second term)
- 1945–1951Leader of the Opposition
- 1939–1940First Lord of the Admiralty
- 1924–1929Chancellor of the Exchequer
- 1911–1915First Lord of the Admiralty
- 1910–1911Home Secretary
- 1908–1910President of the Board of Trade
Related historical events
- 1941–1944The Second Front and the Normandy LandingsBritish prime ministerHe argued that Britain's limited forces, naval capacity, and air cover made a 1941 landing in France likely to fail.
- 1945.02–08The Yalta and Potsdam ConferencesBritish representative at YaltaAt Yalta he pressed for free elections and democratic governments in Poland, and agreed the terms for Soviet entry against Japan and the UN Security Council system.
- 1945.08The Soviet Entry into the War against JapanBritish signatory to the Yalta secret protocolBritish signatory to the Yalta secret protocol. Was notably absent from the Feb 8 Roosevelt-Stalin private discussion on Korea; when told of it afterward, reportedly quipped that the British would be 'offended' if excluded from trusteeship.
Empire and India
Churchill's historical meaning cannot be reduced to his anti-fascist wartime leadership. He was an imperialist who regarded preserving the British Empire as a condition of national greatness, and he strongly opposed constitutional reform and expanded self-government in India. During the controversy over the Government of India Act 1935, his opposition combined faith in empire with a struggle for influence inside the Conservative Party. That position sought to restrain colonised peoples' demands for self-determination, and his rhetoric of imperial defence continued after Indian independence. His statements and relief policy during the Bengal famine of the Second World War also drew criticism for placing imperial war priorities and racial hierarchy above the lives of colonial subjects. The famine had multiple causes, including war, the loss of rice supplies from Burma, natural disaster, and failures of administration and markets, but Churchill's indifference and responsibility remain central questions in assessing his record. His legacy is therefore clearest when his contribution to defeating fascism in Europe is held together with his record as a defender of colonial rule.