March 12, 2015

On 1 September Churchill left for a holiday at Maxine Elliot’s villa in the south of France. For relaxation he painted.

World news was dominated by Mussolini’s threat to invade Abyssinia. Churchill advocated British support of League of Nations, action. But the real threat was still Nazi Germany which he saw as “an armed camp … with a population being trained from childhood for war.” The Germans, anticipating his inclusion in a Baldwin Cabinet, gave prominence to his speeches. In response to a Churchill article in Strand, “The Truth About Hitler” (Woods C282), the Nazi leader is purported to have said, “What is to be the fate of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement if the writer of this article is to be made a Minister of the British Navy?”

After the Tory victory in the November general election, however, WSC was not made a Minister. He had wanted to be First Lord, but Baldwin said to others, “If there is going to be war … we must keep him fresh to be our Prime Minister.”

Before leaving for a Mediterranean holiday to work on Volume III of Marlborough (A40) and draft chapters of A History of the English-Speaking Peoples (AI38), he reviewed Duff Cooper’s Haig, Volume I (C278): “Haig’s mind … was thoroughly orthodox and conventional. He does not appear to have had any original ideas.” He charged that Haig did not make effective use of tanks, nor was he aware of other theatres of war.

2024 International Churchill Conference

Join us for the 41st International Churchill Conference. London | October 2024

More

In an article in Collier’s on Charlie Chaplin, Churchill wrote, “He is no mere clown…. He is a great actor who can tug at our heartstrings as surely as he compels our laughter.”