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Contributor: Meghan Vestal. Lesson ID: 11164
Your country is under constant attack, and thousands have already died. Your leader quits, and now you're in charge. What do you say? Read Churchill's speeches and see what made him great!
Your country is at war, and the enemy is regularly dropping bombs on your capital city. Innocent civilians are being murdered every day, more than half of the capital city has been destroyed, and thousands are being forced from their homes.
Amid the chaos, the former leader has resigned, and you have been called to power.
This is precisely the situation Winston Churchill walked into. There was no time for a honeymoon period or to lay out a plan for his time in office. The country was at war and under daily attack.
Churchill's response to this challenge has made him one of history's most outstanding wartime leaders!
In the previous Related Lessons, found in the right-hand sidebar, you learned about some of the events leading up to World War II (WWII) that defined Winston Churchill as a man and a leader, thereby influencing the type of prime minister he became for the people of Great Britain as war raged in the streets of London.
In this lesson, examine and evaluate Churchill's leadership during WWII.
Shortly after Churchill became prime minister, Adolf Hitler released an inferno in London.
During an eight-month bombing campaign, the Nazis regularly dropped bombs on the city in what is now referred to as the Blitz. Nearly 60% of London was destroyed during the Blitz, and approximately 43,000 civilians were killed.
First, explore these images showing some of the destruction caused by the Blitz.
Read The London Blitz, 1940, for a first-hand account of the terror created by the Blitz.
Many, including Hitler, assumed that Churchill fled London and was hiding somewhere in the English countryside while the Blitz was happening, but this could not be further from the truth.
Churchill remained in the one place that Hitler would never have suspected him to be: London!
Churchill built his war rooms below the streets of London, not too far from Parliament. Churchill remained in London, with the people, throughout the Nazi killing spree.
Churchill remained an unwavering leader for six years when England was at war with the Axis powers.
Read about his leadership throughout the war in Churchill's Finest Hour—World War II 1939-1945. As you read the article, make a list of words that describe Churchill as a leader.
Now, move to the Got It? section to further evaluate Churchill's leadership during WWII.
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