Question 1
Using these four sources in their historical context, assess how far they support the view that Churchill was out of office in the 1930s because he was in conflict with his own party and leaders.
Source A: Churchill comments on the Government of India Act 1935.
Does this Bill mean a broadening of Indian life; a widening and elevating of Indian thought? Does it mean that the Indian worker when he rises to his daily task will have a better chance of ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’? India is a country, almost a continent, which has responded to the influence of British peace, order and justice and all the applications of modern science. New wealth, new food, new facilities. They have been brought into being in the last fifty years. Such a vast helpless mass of people requires extra British guidance. All you offer them are liberal formulas and decline.
Churchill, speech in the House of Commons, 5 June 1935.
Source B: Churchill comments on the royal crisis of 1936.
I plead for time and patience. The nation must realise the character of the constitutional issue. There is no question of any conflict between the king and parliament. Parliament has not been consulted in any way, nor allowed to express any opinion. The question is whether the king is to abdicate upon the advice of ministers of the day. No such advice has ever before been tendered to a sovereign in parliamentary times. If an abdication were to be hastily extorted, the outrage so committed would cast its shadow forward across many chapters of the history of the British Empire. The matter is pregnant with calamity and all the evil aspects will be aggravated beyond measure, if the utmost chivalry is not shown by ministers and the British nation to a gifted and beloved king.
Churchill, public statement, 5 December 1936.
Source C: In a letter to his sister, the prime minister reflects on Churchill’s proposals for change in foreign policy.
The plan of the Grand Alliance, as Winston calls it, had occurred to me long before he mentioned it. I talked about it to Halifax and we submitted it to the chiefs of staff and foreign office experts. There is everything to be said for it until you come to examine its practicability. From that moment, its attraction vanishes. You only have to look at the map to see that nothing France or Britain could do could possibly save Czechoslovakia from being overrun by the Germans if they wanted to do so.
Chamberlain, letter, 20 March 1938.
Source D: Chamberlain’s private secretary, later to work in the same capacity for Churchill, gives his view of Churchill.
He certainly gives one confidence and will, I suspect, be prime minister before this war is over. Nevertheless, judging from his record of untrustworthiness and instability, he may, in that case, lead us into the most dangerous paths. But he is the only man in the country who commands anything like universal respect, and perhaps with age he has become less inclined to undertake rash adventures.
Sir John Colville, diary, 1 October 1939.
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Answer
