FH115 Final.qxd - Winston Churchill

Robert Courts...
Any organizer or leader must provide direction and
guidance. In teaching, one needs to gain the respect of
one’s class and to inspire students to learn. The situation
may be different, the skills may be called something
else—but it all comes down to leadership. And here
Churchill was sublime.
Above all, the greatest lessons young people can
learn from Winston Churchill were his belief in the
benevolent force of fate, that in the end, “all will come
right”; and in the importance of being true to oneself. He
knew that he could not remain in a party with which he
did not agree. He knew he could not hold office while simultaneously
warning of the Hitler war to come. He
could not tolerate being in a situation where he did not
belong. He was determined and industrious, forward—
looking and innovative, independent and brave. What
better role model could there be ,
TEACHING THE NEXT GENERATIONS
WHAT IF
Learn by Imagining...
JOSEPH R. ABRAHAMSON
Readers too young cogently to remember Winston
Churchill are far more numerous today than those
of us who do. What can we teach them Learn by
imagining!
On May 10th, 1940, Churchill became Prime
Minister of Great Britain. The appointment was a vindication
of the wisdom he had demonstrated, almost alone,
in opposition to the appeasement of Hitler.
On that same day the Germans attacked the Low
Countries and France. Within two weeks France collapsed,
and the British army was cornered at Dunkirk. It
seemed to many that Germany had won the war.
Churchill declared otherwise.
Powerful forces opposed him, even within his own
cabinet. Lord Halifax wanted to broker the best peace
Hitler would offer, cut Britain’s losses and avoid destruction.
Halifax had actually contacted Swedish diplomats
who were prepared to approach Hitler to learn his terms.
Realizing that once such contact with the Germans
was made, the game would be truly over, Churchill
fought to prevent that approach. In the end—with support
from Chamberlain, whom he had treated well—
Churchill prevailed. Five years later Germany was defeated.
This is our history.
______________________________________________________
Dr. Abrahamson is a retired M.D. living in San Diego, California.
But what if Churchill had not prevailed
Only those who were alive and sentient in 1940
can appreciate how different public opinion was then.
Today we value democracy and the free market. Sixty
years ago there was much less confidence in both. People
had lost faith in democratic forms of government. Many
admired Mussolini who, after all, had reduced the Italian
crime rate, made the trains run on time, and brought
order to a chaotic society. The murders of his political
opponents were casually overlooked.
Nazi Germany was also admired; an early form of
Political Corrrectness even held that she should not be
antagonized. Had not Hitler ended Germany’s earlier,
rampant anarchy Had he not put a stop to inflation,
built Autobahns and Volkswagens, ended unemployment,
and brought pride to a defeated people Even his
anti-Semitism found wide acceptance.
The desire for political and economic stability in
the depression-plagued West was so great that people actually
wanted more authoritarian government. Walter
Lippmann, in his widely read newspaper column, “Today
and Tomorrow,” wrote on 17 February 1933: “The danger
we have to fear is not that Congress will give Franklin
D. Roosevelt too much power, but that it will deny him
the power he needs.”
Writing in 1934, Reinhold Niebuhr, in his book
Reflections on the End of an Era, stated: “Next to the futility
of liberalism we may set down the inevitability of fascism
as a practical certainty in every Western nation....the
drift is inevitable.”
Many other influential Britons and Americans
agreed that democratic forms of government were effete,
and that the efficiency of fascist government was the future.
Joseph P. Kennedy, United States Ambassador to the
Court of St. James’s, expressed his view publicly in his famous
interview with Louis Lyons of The Boston Globe in
November 1940: “Democracy is done.... Democracy is
finished in England. It may be here.”
In the context of this reality, let us try to imagine
the results of a British surrender.
Hitler’s terms for Britain are known today. They
were not punitive. He did not look upon the Anglo-
Saxon as his inferior, or even his enemy. Britain would be
allowed to keep her Empire, and her navy. Germany was
to be given a free hand in Europe, but abroad all she
wanted was the African colonies that had been taken
away after World War I. How reasonable, after all!
From this point we can only speculate, using information
that has since come to light.
With support for fascism waxing, Britain elects a
fascist government headed by Sir Oswald Mosley, leader
of the British Union of Fascists. With Hitler’s approval,
Edward VIII is returned to the throne, with Wallis Simpson
his queen. Hated by Hitler, Churchill is in danger for
his life. He seeks asylum in America. Thus Britain is re-
FINEST HOUR 115 / 22