The British Bulldog

Date Written: October 3, 2012

Preface

Previous papers by the Author on other personalities or concepts indicate that articulating “The greatest” is often a subjective opinion that can only be substantiated by historical record and/or statistics[ii]

Introduction

While Churchill must be considered as one of the greatest Englishmen that ever lived for reasons that will be given below one could better define the criterion as “English-speaking persons” as Englishmen would be an extremely wide selection of people over history; after all, how can such a criteria possibly exclude the likes of Shakespeare, Sir Isaac Newton, The Duke of Wellington, Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, Raleigh, Frobisher, William Pitt, Queens Victoria and Elizabeth (both the second and the first!)? Indeed, some mat even wish to throw in such names as McCartney, Lennon, (Elton) John, and George Best[iii]

Thoughts and Conclusion

When any country faces impending doom /occupation/annihilation any leader that can save that country from such a fate must surely be considered as one of that country’s greatest personalities. As indicated above the world has been gifted with many great Englishmen but as there have been many great “? English-speakers trying to whittle this number toa select few is q quite a task. Few can deny that Britain faced destruction in the early years of the Second World, a fact Churchill predicted[iv]

With Britain, her Empire, and the free world teetering on the edge of falling into the abyss of Nazi subjugation, evil, and all the horrid results that we are all too familiar. A leader with absolute determination to get his fellow countrymen through such a crisis. Churchill galvanized the free world into a mammoth entity of resistance; indeed, had Churchill failed to win Roosevelt and the U.S.A. to his cause one can only speculate what calamity may have occurred. With the U.S.A. ON side AND A British Empire united to defeat together with a similarly inspiring King George 6, Hitler and Nazi Germany and thereby guarantee the continuity of a civilized world. Therefore, without Churchill’s leadership and vision it could be argued that the free world would not have prevailed and therefore Churchill must be considered the greatest? English-speaking person of all time.

Figure 1: a young Churchill as an officer in the British Army/the 11th Hussar, a cavalry regiment[i]

Figure 2: one of the photos that epitomized Churchill’s determination (credit the Canadian photographer Kirsch for this masterpiece[i]

Figure 3: the ever-defiant leader showing the world that he and his country would prevail and be victorious

Figure 4: The famous photo of the war team that Churchill brought together as a team to defeat Hitler. In the front row are (L-R), Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin and in the rear their senior military commanders/chiefs of staff including Montgomery (extreme left) and the Soviet Victor of Stalingrad, Zhukov (extreme right)

Figure 5: division of Europe into east and west divided by the Berlin Wal. This arrangement was a product of the Yalta Conference signaling the start of the Cold war[i]r.

Bibliography

“The Last Lion Winston Spencer Churchill by William Manchester

“The Second World War by Sir John Keegan

Previous papers by the Author, previous papers August-October 2012[ii]

“The Gathering Storm” by Winston S. “Churchill

[i] One can google Churchill’s dramatic speech in which he declared “an Iron Curtain” has descended on Europe. [ii] Best was a member of England’s World Cup winning team in 1967.

[1] In an interview with the CBC who asked Kirsch how he was able to capture such a photo, Kirsch explained that when Churchill arrived for the photo-shoot, Kirsch asked Churchill if he would put down his trademark cigar. When the great man refused, Kirsch, leaned forward and snatched it from him; hence the legendary scowl!

[2] papers on “Canada’s Mount Rushmore re and “Sacred Thoughts/Concepts and policies

Many forget that Churchill commanded an infantry battalion on the western front in 1915.

[3] See “The Gathering Storm”

[4} One can google Churchill’s dramatic speech in which he declared “an Iron Curtain” has descended on

[5] Best was a member of England’s World Cup winning team in 1967.