Editing Winston Churchill (section)

===Defeat of Germany: June 1944 to May 1945===
[[File:Prime Minister Winston Churchill Crosses the River Rhine, Germany 1945 BU2248.jpg|thumb|Churchill's crossing of the [[Rhine]] river in Germany, during [[Operation Plunder]] on 25 March 1945]]

====D-Day: Allied invasion of Normandy====
Churchill was determined to be actively involved in the [[Normandy invasion]] and hoped to cross the Channel on [[D-Day]] (6 June 1944) or at least D-Day+1. His desire caused unnecessary consternation at SHAEF, until he was effectively vetoed by the King. Churchill expected an Allied death toll of 20,000 on D-Day but fewer than 8,000 died in all of June.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=744–745}} He made his first visit to Normandy on 12 June to visit Montgomery, whose HQ was five miles inland. That evening, as he was returning to London, the first [[V-1 flying bomb]]s were launched. On 22–23 July, Churchill went to [[Cherbourg]] and [[Arromanches]] where he saw the Mulberry Harbour.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=746}}

====Quebec Conference, September 1944====
Churchill met Roosevelt at the [[Second Quebec Conference]] in September 1944. They reached agreement on the [[Morgenthau Plan]] for the Allied occupation of Germany, the intention of which was not only to demilitarise, but de-industrialise. Eden opposed it and was able to persuade Churchill to disown it. US Secretary of State [[Cordell Hull]] opposed it and convinced Roosevelt it was infeasible.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=754}}

====Moscow Conference, October 1944====
At the [[Moscow Conference (1944)|fourth Moscow conference]] in October 1944, Churchill and Eden met Stalin and Molotov. This conference has gained notoriety for the so-called "[[Percentages agreement]]" in which Churchill and Stalin effectively agreed the post-war fate of the [[Balkans]].{{Sfn|Resis|1978}} By then, the Soviet armies were in Rumania and Bulgaria. Churchill suggested a scale of predominance throughout the whole region so as not to, as he put it, "get at cross-purposes in small ways".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=759}} He wrote down some suggested percentages of influence per country and gave it to Stalin who ticked it. The agreement was that Russia would have 90% control of Romania and 75% control of Bulgaria. The United Kingdom and United States would have 90% control of Greece. Hungary and Yugoslavia would be 50% each.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=760}} In 1958, five years after the account of this meeting was published (in ''[[The Second World War (Churchill)|The Second World War]]''), Soviet authorities denied Stalin had accepted such an "imperialist proposal".{{Sfn|Resis|1978}}

====Yalta Conference, February 1945====
{{main|Yalta Conference}}
[[File:Yalta Conference (Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin) (B&W).jpg|thumb|right|Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at the [[Yalta Conference]], February 1945]]

From 30 January to 2 February 1945, Churchill and Roosevelt met for their [[Malta Conference (1945)|Malta Conference]] ahead of the second "Big Three" event at [[Yalta]] from 4 to 11 February.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=773}} Yalta had massive implications for the post-war world. There were two predominant issues: the question of setting up the [[United Nations Organisation]], on which much progress was made; and the more vexed question of Poland's post-war status, which Churchill saw as a test case for Eastern Europe.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=778–779}} Churchill faced criticism for the agreement on Poland. For example, 27 Tory MPs voted against him when the matter was debated in the Commons at the end of the month. Jenkins, however, maintains that Churchill did as well as possible in difficult circumstances, not least the fact that Roosevelt was seriously ill and could not provide Churchill with meaningful support.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=779}}

Another outcome of Yalta was the so-called [[Operation Keelhaul]]. The Western Allies agreed to the forcible repatriation of all Soviet citizens in the Allied zones, including [[Nazi crimes against Soviet POWs|prisoners of war]], to the Soviet Union and the policy was later extended to all Eastern European [[refugee]]s, many of whom were anti-Communist. Keelhaul was implemented between August 1946 and May 1947.{{sfn|Tolstoy|1978|p=360}}<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=econ_pub |last1=Hummel |first1=Jeffrey Rogers |title=Operation Keelhaul—Exposed |journal=San Jose State University ScholarWorks |date=1 November 1974 |pages=4–9 |access-date=28 January 2020 |archive-date=4 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604054926/https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=econ_pub |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Area bombing controversy====
{{main|Bombing of Dresden}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1994-041-07, Dresden, zerstörtes Stadtzentrum.jpg|thumb|The destruction of Dresden, February 1945]]
On the nights of 13–15 February 1945, 1,200 British and US bombers attacked [[Dresden]], which was crowded with wounded and refugees from the Eastern Front.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=777–778}}{{sfn|Taylor|2005|pp=262–264}} The attacks were part of an [[area bombing]] campaign initiated by Churchill in January with the intention of shortening the war.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=777}} Churchill came to regret the bombing because initial reports suggested an excessive number of [[civilian casualties]] close to the end of the war, though an independent commission in 2010 confirmed a death toll of about 24,000.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8574157.stm |title=Up to 25,000 died in Dresden's WWII bombing |publisher=BBC News |date=18 March 2010 |location=London |access-date=2 May 2020 |archive-date=5 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205054434/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8574157.stm |url-status=live}}</ref> On 28 March, he decided to restrict area bombing{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=778}} and sent a memo to [[General Ismay]] for the [[Chiefs of Staff Committee]]:{{sfn|Taylor|2005|pp=430–431}}{{Sfn|Marr|2009|pp=423–424}}

{{blockquote|The destruction of Dresden remains a serious query against the conduct of Allied bombing.... I feel the need for more precise concentration upon military objectives.... rather than on mere acts of terror and wanton destruction, however impressive.}}

Historian [[Frederick Taylor (historian)|Frederick Taylor]] has pointed out that the number of Soviets who died from German bombing was roughly equivalent to the number of Germans who died from Allied raids.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel-interview-dresden-bombing-is-to-be-regretted-enormously-a-341239.html |last=Hawley |first=Charles |title=Dresden Bombing Is To Be Regretted Enormously |newspaper=Der Spiegel |date=11 February 2005 |publisher=Spiegel-Verlag |location=Hamburg |access-date=2 May 2020 |archive-date=21 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621235051/http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,341239,00.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Jenkins asks if Churchill was moved more by foreboding than by regret, but admits it is easy to criticise with the hindsight of victory. He adds that the area bombing campaign was no more reprehensible than [[President Truman]]'s use of the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|second atomic bomb on Nagasaki]] six months later.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=778}} [[Andrew Marr]], quoting [[Max Hastings]], says that Churchill's memo was a "calculated political attempt...to distance himself...from the rising controversy surrounding the area offensive".{{sfn|Marr|2009|pp=423–424}}

====VE Day (Victory in Europe Day)====
[[File:Winston Churchill waves to crowds in Whitehall in London as they celebrate VE Day, 8 May 1945. H41849.jpg|thumb|Churchill waving the [[Victory sign]] to the crowd in [[Whitehall]] on the day he broadcast to the nation that the war with Germany had been won, 8 May 1945.]]
On 7 May 1945 at the SHAEF headquarters in [[Reims]] [[end of World War II in Europe|the Allies accepted Germany's surrender]]. The next day was [[Victory in Europe Day]] (VE Day) when Churchill broadcast to the nation that Germany had surrendered and that a final ceasefire would come into effect at one minute past midnight that night.{{sfn|Hermiston|2016|pp=353–354}} Churchill went to [[Buckingham Palace]] where he appeared on the balcony with the Royal Family before a huge crowd of celebrating citizens. He went from the palace to [[Whitehall]] where he addressed another large crowd: "God bless you all. This is your victory. In our long history, we have never seen a greater day than this. Everyone, man or woman, has done their best".{{sfn|Hermiston|2016|p=355}}

He asked Bevin to come forward and share the applause. Bevin said: "No, Winston, this is your day", and proceeded to conduct the people in the singing of "[[For He's a Jolly Good Fellow]]".{{sfn|Hermiston|2016|p=355}} In the evening, Churchill made another broadcast correctly asserting that the defeat of Japan would follow in the coming months.{{sfn|Hermiston|2016|p=356}}

Later in the month France attempted to put down a nationalist uprising in the [[Syria]]. Churchill intervened and on 31 May gave de Gaulle an ultimatum to desist, but this was ignored. In what became known as the [[Levant Crisis]], British forces from [[Emirate of Transjordan|Transjordan]] were mobilised to restore order. The French, outnumbered, had no option but to return to their bases. De Gaulle felt humiliated, and a diplomatic row broke out{{snd}}Churchill reportedly told a colleague that de Gaulle was "a great danger to peace and for Great Britain".{{sfn|Fenby|2011|pp=42–47}}

====Operation Unthinkable====
{{main|Operation Unthinkable}}
In May 1945, Winston Churchill commissioned the Chiefs of Staff Committee to provide its thoughts on a possible military campaign against the USSR, code-named [[Operation Unthinkable]].<ref>Daniel Todman, ''Britain's War: A New World, 1942–1947'' (2020) p 744.</ref> One plan involved a surprise attack on Soviet troops stationed in Germany to impose "the will of the United States and the British Empire" on the Soviets.<ref name="NationalArchives Op Unthinkable">{{cite web |work=British War Cabinet, Joint Planning Staff |date=22 May 1945 |title="Operation Unthinkable" |url=https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/cold-war-on-file/operation-unthinkable/ |via=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)]] |access-date=30 September 2023 |archive-date=26 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926080335/https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/cold-war-on-file/operation-unthinkable/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The hypothetical start date for the Allied invasion of Soviet-held Europe was set for 1 July 1945.<ref name="NationalArchives Op Unthinkable" />