Earlier Life

Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace on 30 November 1874. His father, Lord Randolph, was a prominent Conservative politician and his mother the daughter of a New York financier.

Le père épouse la fille d'un homme riche car il doit entretenir le château ("Blenheim Palace") obtenu par le duc de Malborough : le château étant un cadeau de la part du royaume d'Angleterre pour les nombreuses victoires militaires du duc.

Young Winston did not see his parents much. His father had him placed in the army class, believing that his son was not talented enough for politics or law.

Lord Randolph died, aged 45, before Winston had a chance to regain his father’s esteem.

Churchill obtained a commission as a cavalry officer in February 1895.

Il se dirige vers l'armée car il n'est pas bon à l'école, sauf dans les matières littéraires.

Interested in becoming a politician he hungrily followed political news from home. Concerned by his lack of university education, he read voraciously. Préoccupé par son manque d'éducation, il lit beaucoup.

Military Career

He had his baptism of fire in Pakistan in 1897 and in 1898 fought in Sudan. The Boer Republics declared war on Britain on 11 October 1899 and Churchill travelled to South Africa to cover the conflict as a war correspondent.

Boer Republics = Les républiques Boers sitiuées en Afrique du Sud et fondées par les Néerlandais "Dutch"

He was captured and imprisoned in Pretoria (capital of South Africa), but on 12 December he escaped. Churchill arrived in Durban (city in Soutgh Africa) a hero.

Early successes in politics

Now a famous man in Britain he became MP for Oldham at the 1900 General Election.

In 1908 he became the youngest cabinet (government) minister since 1866 and the social reforms he pioneered with David Lloyd-George laid the foundations of the welfare state.

Réforme social comme "National Health Insurance" équivalent à l'assurance maladie en France.

In 1911 he became First Lord of the Admiralty.

Grade militaire le plus prestigieux, chef de la marine anglaise, à cette époque la plus grande flotte du monde la "British Royal Navy".

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in June 1914 brought Europe to the brink of war.

World War One : first setbacks (revers ; échecs)

After a number of British naval failures in the early months of the war, Churchill sought to force Turkey, Germany's ally, out of the war. An attack was launched on 18 March 1915 in the Dardanelles (détroit turc).

Troops landed on Gallipoli (Turkey) on 25 April. It was a disaster. Losses were heavy and Churchill was forced to resign in disgrace (démissionner en disgrâce). 

Failure as a Chancellor of the Exchequer

Churchill was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer (ministre des finances) even though he knew little about finance. He followed the advice of ‘‘expert’’ economists in finance policies . The decisions he made brought about a terrible economic crisis. The Trade Union Congress called a general strike and the country ground to a halt.

A cause de cette crise, les syndicats appellent à une grève généralisée et un gel dans tout le pays.

In the 1929 General Election, the Labour Party won and Churchill was out of office once again ...

Life between the first WW and the second WW

General Elections were held (des élections ont été tenues / ont eu lieu) in June 1929 and the Conservative Party lost. Even though Churchill lost his ministerial post he retained his seat in Parliament.

Il perd son poste de ministre mais garde son siège au Parlement.

He kept writing history books and painting (il acontinué à ...).

In those days he was a supporter of Mussolini as he believed fascism to be the onlyanswer to the threat posed by communism (la menace posée par le communisme).

Yet when Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933, Churchill started a long fight against the Nazis. He tried to warn Britain and the rest ofthe world of the threat (la menace) posed by this gang of criminals.

Il a essayé d'avertir la Grande Bretagne et le reste du monde de la menace qu'était les Nazis.

He was right (il avait raison). Hitler forced France and the UK to declare war on Germany when his armies invaded Poland. After the defeat of the Allies in France and Belgium, he convinced the British government to refuse the ceasefire proposed by theNazi leader.

He was appointed Prime Minister (il fut nommé Premier Ministre),offering nothing but ‘‘blood, toil, tears and sweat’’ (du sang, un dur labeur, des larmes et de la sueur) until the war was won (jusqu’à ce que la guerre soit gagnée) in a speech upon taking office (dans un discours au moment de prendre ses fonctions). He remained in office until Germany’s defeat (jusqu’à la défaite de l’Allemagne) in May 1945. 

End of his life

The Conservatives lost the General Elections in 1945.

He became Prime Minister again in 1951 but resigned in 1955. He was now 81 and his health was deteriorating. He died in 1965.

During his last tenure as Prime minister he was awarded (on lui a décerné) the NobelPrize in Literature "for his mastery of historical and biographical description as wellas for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values".

En tout, 2 fois premier ministre :

• 1940 : succeding to Neville Chamberlain : "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war" after the decisions made during the Munich Accords 1938
• 1940-1945
• 1951
• 1951-1955