Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

British leader

• Famous Quotes
• War Speech
• Many Mansions
• Blood, Toil, Tears
• Their Finest Hour

Winston Churchill served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchhill was most noted as a great statesman, a great orator. His speeches during World War II brought out the best of England, installing the people with a sense of hope and courage.

During the first half of the 1930s, outspoken opposition towards the granting of independence to India and was very critical of Mahatma Gandhi. After the outbreak of the World War II, Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain in May 1940, Winston Churchill assumed the role of Prime Minister.

As defeat by the Nazis seemed imminent, Churchill refused to surrender and his brave and vocal stand rallied a nation to continue fighting.

One included the immortal line, "we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender." The other included the equally famous "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.