First off, I want to start by giving the link to another blog post which talks about the leader, follower and situation. This is where I got the idea to talk about Winston Churchill and his "downfall".
Part II – The Prime Minister
We all remember Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill from his first term during World War II. As was the case with Ying Zheng, the situation was one of crisis. It lent itself to a strong, flamboyant leadership style. Churchill was an inspirational leader who was seen at the end of the war as a hero. However, in the 1945 election, he was defeated in a landslide.
In 1940, Britain was already at war with Germany, but no real action (this is relative…) had been taken against Adolf Hitler's ambitions. By May, the current Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain had lost the confidence of the Houses that he could lead the country to victory. At that point, the Germans were invading Norway and were poised to attack France. The situation in the British Empire was not as bad as it would be a few months later, but everyone could sense that radical action had to be taken for the Empire to survive. . On the 10th of May, Winston Churchill was appointed Prime Minister by King George VI.
Churchill had been part of the war cabinet during World War I and since the beginning of World War II and had considerable influence on all the parties in the House of Commons. He also had a lot of credibility with the various military leaders due to his time as First Lord of the Admiralty during the First World War. Through his inspirational speeches, he was able to connect emotionally with everyone throughout the Empire.
For his followers, Churchill became the very embodiment of victory in the face of adversity. Throughout his more than 4 years as the leader of the British Empire, he worked really hard to make sure his country would win the war; he worked equally hard to make sure that the people knew that this is what he was doing. He was unwavering against the Germans, rejecting the idea of an armistice in 1940. He managed to transmit this dedication to his followers, the military and civilians of the British Empire. This kept the British resistance alive and increased the confidence the people had in him. This is the kind the leader the followers needed in this particular situation.
In 1945 however, the focus was completely different. After 6 years of war and 10 years of depression, the focus of the Empire was on reconstruction. People were wary of the war and Churchill's status as a hero became an impediment to him. While, in theory, the skills Churchill had displayed could have been useful during peace time, the image he had built of himself made him undesirable. Instead, Clement Attlee was elected Prime Minister for two consecutive terms. Through certain natural consequences, the second Attlee government only lasted a year and the hero Churchill was re-elected Prime Minister in 1951.
While the cold war was going on, this was still a reconstruction time for the Great Britain. Attlee had been pursuing a rather effective dismantling of the Empire but Churchill was still following his WWII vision of a glorious British Empire. His violent reprisal of rebellions led to several foreign crisis for Britain. The colonial rule of Britain was coming to an end, but Churchill would not see that. He would say (and funny enough, this is similar to Chretien's thoughts in 1995 in Canada) that "he [would] not preside over a dismemberment". His success in the war had made him think that this was yet another battle that he had to win, while this was just the evolution of society.
I will be posting part III soon…
No comments:
Post a Comment