Romanian Eagle

Chapter 630 Churchill comes to power

Italy's declaration of war is a major event in the world, and all countries feel that this war is more and more likely to develop 20 years ago. Neutral countries have begun to arm themselves on a large scale. Whether it is for profit in this war, or to ensure their neutral status, at least to make themselves look unproblematic, it is a wise choice.

Compared with other countries, Britain and France are the most directly related. For Italy's declaration of war, the French side has a great opinion on this. For this reason, in a diplomatic letter sent by French Prime Minister Daladier to London, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the loss of the British fleet in the Mediterranean.

The French Prime Minister's telegram also became the last straw that crushed Chamberlain's government. The Labour Party, which was originally very dissatisfied, immediately demanded the Prime Minister's resignation in Parliament.

To make the situation even worse, some people in the Conservative Party expressed dissatisfaction with the Prime Minister. Since the declaration of war, in just two months, Britain has suffered heavy losses both militarily and diplomatically. Clearly someone needs to be held accountable, and there is no better candidate than Chamberlain for the prime minister's seat.

Neither the appeasement policy he directed, nor the later expectation of a conflict between Dro and the Soviet Union, failed. Not to mention that under his leadership, the British Imperial Navy suffered a disgraceful defeat at Alexandria, which led directly to the declaration of war in Italy. The prime minister who has suffered countless failures like this, why don't he step down and stay.

Although Chamberlain has made great contributions to the recovery of the British economy, he has made mistakes before, and it is no longer possible for people to think that he is qualified for the post of Prime Minister, at least he is not qualified for the post of Prime Minister during the war.

In fact, after Chamberlain declared war in Italy, he knew that his prime minister's time was short, but he was still holding on temporarily for the follow-up arrangements, but his approach was even more criticized. Some even called him a treacherous figure who coveted power and refused to leave.

In the face of such a turbulent wave of opposition, Chamberlain naturally couldn't ignore it, and now he was greeted with boos as soon as he went to Parliament.

Fortunately, what he arranged was almost the same. On the third day after Italy declared war, Chamberlain announced his decision to step down.

It stands to reason that after Chamberlain stepped down, the opposition Labour Party should form the cabinet, but it is a pity that the Conservative Party still dominates the parliament. In the Conservative Party, not many people have the courage to succeed Chamberlain as prime minister. Because they all know Chamberlain's methods, even he has made a big somersault on it, and other people don't have the ability to do this job well.

At this time, Chamberlain recommended Churchill as the party's candidate for the post of Prime Minister.

As for Churchill, he was known throughout the Conservative Party. It's just that it has nothing to do with ability, but Churchill is called an outlier in the Conservative Party, and he is too tossed.

Since entering politics in 1900, Churchill has been out of step with the Conservative Party. A few years after joining the party, he called himself an "independent Conservative" and was expelled from the Conservative Party.

He later turned to the Liberal Party, and after the Liberal Party came to power, Churchill was appointed under-secretary in the Department of Colonial Affairs. Churchill was later appointed Secretary of State for Commerce and officially entered the Cabinet. After that, Churchill has been spinning around in various ministerial positions, which can be regarded as a mess.

It was not until the outbreak of the First World War and the failure of the Dardanelles plan, which he led, that he lost power and became the lowest-ranking minister in the cabinet. Churchill, who was excluded from the political circle, decided to resign and rushed to the French front to participate in the war in person.

Churchill was later recalled to be appointed Minister of Quarters after a few months as battalion commander. (Well, the tank was invented by Churchill)

After the war, the Liberal Party lost elections one after another, and Churchill found that the ship was unreliable, so he gradually distanced himself from the Liberal Party and moved closer to the Conservative Party.

It's just that this period of time is the time when the Labour Party's power has risen sharply, and neither the Conservative Party nor the Liberal Party is an opponent of the Labour Party.

After the First World War, the whole of the United Kingdom believed that there would be no danger of war and advocated disarmament, and Churchill was one of the very few people in Parliament who opposed disarmament.

And in the UK Churchill is also known for his tough attitude, so Churchill is also a minority in the Conservative Party, and his relationship with the Liberal Party is more prominent in the party.

It's just that in the face of Chamberlain's proposal for Churchill as the next prime minister's candidate, although there are different views within the Conservative Party, there are no other suitable candidates. In the end, Chamberlain's proposal was accepted.

So on November 5, the king summoned Churchill to order him to form a cabinet. Churchill met Labour leader Attlee an hour later and invited Labour to join the cabinet and gain support.

Then Churchill made his famous speech: "I have nothing but blood, toil, tears and sweat to dedicate to you. You ask: What is our purpose? I can answer in one word: Victory, to win at all costs. Victory, no matter how terrifying, fight for victory, no matter how far and hard the road is, because without victory there is no survival."

And then Churchill was also resolute, he himself opened up several aspects of the Admiralty as the temporary headquarters of the new cabinet. He himself lived in the Admiralty.

It's just that even if he has rummaged through the British family, he has no good way to deal with the current disadvantage in the land. Because the UK lacks new battleships, the old Queen Elizabeth and Vengeance classes cannot compete with the new Italian battleships at all. The only one that can compete with it is the George V class, just to see if the German Navy can move lightly.

Moreover, the vast British colonies also need warships, so regardless of the huge force of 12 battleships, 2 battle cruisers, and 3 aircraft carriers in the British Navy, only 2 of the Axis capital ships can compete with the George V. The World-Class and the Hood, the others are old-fashioned battleships.

On the one hand, Churchill could only order the Navy to speed up the sea trials of two Glory-class aircraft carriers, and to speed up the construction of three George V-class aircraft carriers. That's right, the British Navy is currently lacking the most battleships. In the North Sea and even the North Atlantic with harsh weather conditions, the role of battleships is irreplaceable. At present, the British Navy does not lack battleships, but lacks new battleships with excellent performance.

Of course, Churchill also knew that Britain alone would not be able to compete with the Axis group. Therefore, he attached great importance to France. On the third day after he became prime minister, he personally went to Paris to discuss with France. Only this conversation was not very pleasant, because France asked Britain to send naval forces to the Mediterranean to help itself relieve the pressure from Italy.

Moreover, it was specified that battleships such as battle lines and battle cruisers were needed, which made Churchill, who was planning to use heavy cruisers to fool the past, to be fooled. How could Churchill send out the main ship at this time, the force needed to block the German Navy was much more.

Now Germany has a fleet of 1 battleship, 2 battlecruisers and 3 pocket battleships. Although its strength is not worth mentioning compared to the UK, its speed is far from comparable to the old warships. There are only two battlecruisers and 2 George V. number to follow in its footsteps. However, these four warships alone cannot complete the task, and the only way to stop these fast-running German warships can be dispersed deployment.

Because if it can't be stopped, it will threaten the vital sea transportation line for Britain. Without sea lines, England would not even have enough food.

It is precisely because of this that Germany is so interested in breaking the war, which is why the United Kingdom attaches so much importance to blocking the North Sea.

He failed to get the Churchill he wanted from France, and then went to Paris many times, but at this time, it was France who urged Britain to send an expeditionary force to facilitate joint operations between the two countries.

Churchill also took the opportunity to use the army as a bargaining chip to dispel the French request for naval assistance. It's just that the French navy alone is too difficult to resist Italy and Rome in the Mediterranean. After Churchill looked around, he set his sights on the American continent.

(Recommend a domestic history "Chu and Han Subversives", interested book lovers can go and see)

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