04/10/02: No, Churchill didn't do that much for Britain.

Posted By: the_demon

His choices, after the fall of France and Dunkirk, were essentially came down to the following :

1) Accept the Nazi settlement, back out of the war. The British Empire would remain intact. A number of cabinet ministers (e.g. Lord Halifax) went for this position.

2) Fight on. They might lose everything, and even if they won, the cost to Britain would devestate her to the point that keeping her Empire intact would be an impossibility.

Obviously, Churchill went for #2. He knew what this would entail. It may not have been the best choice for Britain, but it did prove to be the best choice.

And yes, I have more sympathy for Chamberlain than is currently known. For one thing, the state of British military preparedness in 1938 was pitiful - if they'd stood up to Hitler then, they would have lost. But the main reason was to avoid the horror of WWI.

Mike

Mike

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