Editing Winston Churchill (section)

===Dunkirk to Pearl Harbor: May 1940 to December 1941===
[[File:Winston Churchill As Prime Minister 1940-45 H10688.jpg|thumb|right|Churchill takes aim with a [[Sten]] sub-machine gun in June 1941.]]

====War ministry created====
{{main|Churchill war ministry}}
In May, Churchill was still unpopular with many Conservatives and most of the Labour Party.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=590}} Chamberlain remained Conservative Party leader until October. By that time, Churchill had won over his doubters and his succession was a formality.{{sfn|Blake|Louis|1993|pp=249, 252–255}} He began his premiership by forming a [[Churchill war ministry|war cabinet]]: Chamberlain as [[Lord President of the Council]], Labour leader [[Clement Attlee]] as [[Lord Privy Seal]] (later [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Deputy Prime Minister]]), Halifax as [[Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (UK)|Foreign Secretary]] and Labour's [[Arthur Greenwood]] as a [[Minister without portfolio (United Kingdom)|minister without portfolio]]. In practice, these five were augmented by the service chiefs and ministers who attended most meetings.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=587–588}}{{sfn|Hermiston|2016|pp=26–29}} The cabinet changed in size and membership as the war progressed, a key appointment being the leading [[Trade unions in the United Kingdom|trades unionist]] [[Ernest Bevin]] as [[Secretary of State for Employment|Minister of Labour and National Service]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pages=714–715}} In response to criticisms, Churchill created and assumed the position of [[Minister of Defence (UK)|Minister of Defence]], making him the most powerful wartime prime minister in history.{{sfn|Blake|Louis|1993|pp=264, 270–271}} He drafted outside experts into government to fulfil vital functions, especially on the Home Front. These included friends like [[Lord Beaverbrook]] and [[Frederick Lindemann]], who became the government's scientific advisor.{{sfn|Hermiston|2016|p=41}}

====Resolve to fight on====
{{main|1940 British war cabinet crisis}}
At the end of May, with the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]] in retreat to Dunkirk and the [[Fall of France]] imminent, Halifax proposed the government should explore a peace settlement using the still-neutral Mussolini as an intermediary. There were high-level meetings from 26 to 28 May, including with the French premier [[Paul Reynaud]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=599}} Churchill's resolve was to fight on, even if France capitulated, but his position remained precarious until Chamberlain resolved to support him. Churchill had the full support of the two Labour members but knew he could not survive as prime minister if both Chamberlain and Halifax were against him. By gaining the support of his outer cabinet, Churchill outmanoeuvred Halifax and won Chamberlain over.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=602–603}}

Churchill succeeded as an orator despite being handicapped from childhood with a speech impediment. He had a [[lateral lisp]] and was unable to pronounce the letter ''s'', verbalising it with a slur.{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=65}} He worked on his pronunciation by repeating phrases designed to cure his problem with the sibilant "s". He was ultimately successful, turning the impediment into an asset, as when he called Hitler a "Nar-zee" (rhymes with "[[khazi]]"; emphasis on the "z"), rather than a Nazi ("ts").<ref>{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/myths/churchills-speech-impediment-was-stuttering/ |last=Mather |first=John |title=Churchill's speech impediment |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=29 August 2008 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=14 May 2020 |archive-date=25 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925185352/https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/myths/churchills-speech-impediment-was-stuttering/ |url-status=live}}</ref> His first speech as prime minister, delivered to the Commons on 13 May, was the "[[blood, toil, tears and sweat]]" speech.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=591}} Churchill made it plain to the nation that a long road lay ahead and that victory was the final goal:<ref name="BTTS">{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/blood-toil-tears-and-sweat-2/ |title=Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=13 May 1940 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=30 April 2020 |archive-date=19 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519170443/https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/blood-toil-tears-and-sweat-2/ |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="H360:1501">{{cite periodical |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/may/13/his-majestys-government-1 |title=His Majesty's Government |magazine=Hansard |date=4 June 1940 |series=5th |volume=360 |pages=1501–1525 |publisher=House of Commons |location=Westminster |access-date=30 April 2020 |archive-date=20 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620001930/https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/may/13/his-majestys-government-1 |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{blockquote|I would say to the House... that I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. You ask, what is our policy? I will say: it is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: it is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.}}
Churchill's use of rhetoric hardened public opinion against a peaceful resolution – Jenkins says Churchill's speeches were "an inspiration for the nation, and a [[catharsis]] for Churchill himself".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=611–612}}

====Operation Dynamo and the Battle of France====
The [[Dunkirk evacuation]] of 338,226 Allied servicemen, ended on 4 June when the French rearguard surrendered. The total was far in excess of expectations and gave rise to a popular view Dunkirk had been a miracle, even a victory.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=597}} Churchill himself referred to "a miracle of deliverance" in his "[[we shall fight on the beaches]]" speech to the Commons that afternoon. The speech ended on a note of defiance, with a clear appeal to the United States:<ref name="WSFB">{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/we-shall-fight-on-the-beaches/ |title=We Shall Fight on the Beaches |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=4 June 1940 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=30 April 2020 |archive-date=14 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200514012817/https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/we-shall-fight-on-the-beaches/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="H361:791">{{cite periodical |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/jun/04/war-situation#column_791 |title=War Situation – Churchill |magazine=Hansard |date=4 June 1940 |series=5th |volume=361 |page=791 |publisher=House of Commons |location=Westminster |access-date=14 January 2020 |archive-date=6 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206025900/https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/jun/04/war-situation#column_791 |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.}}

Germany initiated ''[[Fall Rot]]'', in France, the following day, and Italy entered the war on the 10th.{{sfn|Hastings|2009|pp=44–45}} The Wehrmacht occupied Paris on the 14th and completed their conquest of France on 25 June.{{sfn|Hastings|2009|pp=51–53}} It was now inevitable that Hitler would attack and probably try to invade Great Britain. Faced with this, Churchill addressed the Commons on 18 June with one of his [[This was their finest hour|most famous speeches]], ending with this peroration:{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=621}}<ref name="H362:61">{{cite periodical |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/jun/18/war-situation#column_61 |title=War Situation – Churchill |magazine=Hansard |date=18 June 1940 |series=5th |volume=362 |page=61 |publisher=House of Commons |location=Westminster |access-date=30 April 2020 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308190540/https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/jun/18/war-situation#column_61 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="TFH">{{cite web |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/their-finest-hour/ |title=Their Finest Hour |work=International Churchill Society (ICS) |date=18 June 1940 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing plc |location=London |access-date=30 April 2020 |archive-date=13 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200413090457/https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/their-finest-hour/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{blockquote|What General Weygand called the "Battle of France" is over. I expect that the [[Battle of Britain]] is about to begin. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Commonwealth and Empire lasts for a thousand years, men will still say: "This was their finest hour".}}

Churchill ordered the commencement of the [[Western Desert campaign]] on 11 June, a response to the Italian declaration of war. This went well at first while Italy was the sole opposition and [[Operation Compass]] was a success. In early 1941, however, Mussolini requested German support. Hitler sent the [[Afrika Korps]] to [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] under {{lang|de|[[Generalleutnant]]}} [[Erwin Rommel]], who arrived not long after Churchill had halted ''Compass'' so he could reassign forces to Greece where the [[Balkans campaign (World War II)|Balkans campaign]] was entering a critical phase.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Major-General I. S. O. |last1=Playfair |author1-link=Ian Stanley Ord Playfair |first2=Commander G. M. S. |last2=with Stitt [[Royal Navy|R.N.]] |first3=Brigadier C. J. C. |last3=Molony |first4=Air Vice-Marshal S. E. |last4=Toomer |editor-last=Butler |editor-first=J. R. M. |editor-link=James Ramsay Montagu Butler |series=History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series |title=The Mediterranean and Middle East: The Early Successes Against Italy (to May 1941) |volume=I |publisher=Naval & Military Press |year=2004 |orig-year=1st. pub. [[HMSO]] 1954 |pages=359–362 |isbn=978-1-84574-065-8 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref>

In other initiatives through June and July 1940, Churchill ordered the formation of the [[Special Operations Executive]] (SOE) and [[British Commandos|Commandos]]. The SOE was ordered to promote and execute subversive activity in Nazi-occupied Europe, while the Commandos were charged with raids on military targets there. [[Hugh Dalton]], the [[Minister of Economic Warfare]], took political responsibility for the SOE and recorded that Churchill told him: "And now go and set Europe ablaze".{{Sfn|Dalton|1986|p=62}}

====Battle of Britain and the Blitz====
[[File:Churchill CCathedral H 14250.jpg|thumb|Churchill walks through the ruins of [[Coventry Cathedral]], 1941]]
On 20 August 1940, at the height of the Battle of Britain, Churchill addressed the Commons to outline the situation. In the middle of it, he made a statement that created [[The Few|a famous nickname]] for the RAF fighter pilots involved in the battle:<ref name="The Few">{{cite web |url=http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/thefew.html |title=The Few |publisher=The Churchill Society, London |date=20 August 1940 |access-date=30 April 2020 |archive-date=12 March 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050312093906/http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/thefew.html |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="H364:1167">{{cite periodical |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/aug/20/war-situation#column_1167 |title=War Situation – Churchill |magazine=Hansard |date=20 August 1940 |series=5th |volume=364 |page=1167 |publisher=House of Commons |location=Westminster |access-date=30 April 2020 |archive-date=4 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604054801/https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1940/aug/20/war-situation#column_1167 |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{blockquote|The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.}}

The Luftwaffe altered its strategy from 7 September 1940 and began [[the Blitz]], which was intensive through October and November. Churchill's morale was high and told his private secretary [[Jock Colville|John Colville]], in November, he thought the threat of invasion was past.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=640}} He was confident Great Britain could hold its own, given the increase in output, but was realistic about its chances of winning the war without American intervention.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=641}}

====Lend-Lease====
In September 1940, the British and American governments concluded the [[destroyers-for-bases deal]], by which 50 American [[destroyer]]s were transferred to the Royal Navy in exchange for free US base rights in [[Bermuda]], the [[Caribbean]] and [[Newfoundland]]. An added advantage for Britain was that its military assets in those bases could be redeployed elsewhere.{{sfn|Neiberg|2004|p=118–119}} Churchill's good relations with President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] helped secure vital food, oil and munitions via the North Atlantic shipping routes.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/content/churchill-offers-toil-and-tears-fdr |first=John |last=Lukacs |title=Churchill Offers Toil and Tears to FDR |journal=American Heritage |date=Spring–Summer 2008 |volume=58 |issue=4 |access-date=5 May 2020 |archive-date=8 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008055429/http://www.americanheritage.com/content/churchill-offers-toil-and-tears-fdr |url-status=live}}</ref> It was for this reason that Churchill was relieved when Roosevelt was [[1940 United States presidential election|re-elected in 1940]]. Roosevelt set about implementing a new method of providing necessities to Great Britain, without the need for monetary payment. He persuaded Congress that repayment for this costly service would take the form of defending the US. The policy was known as [[Lend-Lease]] and was formally enacted on 11 March 1941.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=614–615}}

====Operation Barbarossa====
[[File:President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill seated on the quarterdeck of HMS PRINCE OF WALES for a Sunday service during the Atlantic Conference, 10 August 1941. A4815.jpg|thumb|Churchill and Roosevelt seated on the quarterdeck of {{HMS|Prince of Wales|53|6}} for a Sunday service during the Atlantic Conference, 10 August 1941]]

Hitler launched his [[invasion of the Soviet Union]] on 22 June 1941. Churchill had known since April, from [[Enigma machine|Enigma decrypts]] at [[Bletchley Park]], that the attack was imminent. He had tried to warn [[Joseph Stalin]] via the ambassador to Moscow, [[Stafford Cripps]], but Stalin did not trust Churchill. The night before the attack, already intending to address the nation, Churchill alluded to his hitherto anti-communist views by saying to Colville: "If Hitler invaded Hell, I would at least make a favourable reference to the Devil".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=658–659}}

====Atlantic Charter====
In August 1941, Churchill made his first transatlantic crossing of the war on board {{HMS|Prince of Wales|53|6}} and met Roosevelt in [[Placentia Bay]], Newfoundland. On 14 August, they issued the joint statement known as the [[Atlantic Charter]].{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=665–666}} This outlined the goals of both countries for the future of the world and is seen as the inspiration for the 1942 [[Declaration by United Nations]], itself the basis of the UN, founded in 1945.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/decade03.asp |title=Joint Declaration by the United Nations |work=The Avalon Project |publisher=Lillian Goldman Law Library |date=1 January 1942 |access-date=11 May 2020 |archive-date=20 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820073546/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/decade03.asp |url-status=live}}</ref>