Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

66 • CHURCHILL, WINSTON S.
SMITH; DOSHISHA UNIVERSITY; KIDDER, MARY EDDY; NI-
IJIMA, JO; UCHIMURA, KANZO.
CHURCHILL, WINSTON S. (1874–1965). From 10 May 1940 until
27 July 1945 (and again from October 1951 until April 1955), Winston
Churchill served as Great Britain’s prime minister. An eloquent
public speaker (and writer), Churchill was possessed of an immense
energy and steadfastness, qualities that enabled him to carry Britain
through some of its darkest days in World War II.
Born in 1874 to a British father and American mother, Churchill as
a 21-year-old joined the army. This gained him considerable experience
abroad, until 1900, when he embarked on a career in politics.
Elected to parliament in 1900, he served over the ensuing years as under
secretary of state for the colonies, home secretary, first lord of the
admiralty, minister of munitions, secretary of state for war, secretary
of state for air, secretary of state for the colonies, and chancellor of
the exchequer. In the late 1930s, he emerged as a fierce critic of
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement policies toward
Adolf Hitler. He marked his rise to the prime minister’s office by
claiming that his people would fight to the bitter end rather than see
their country occupied by Nazi Germany. He forged an intimate relationship
with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, based at least
partly on the hard political calculation that Britain could emerge victorious
only if the United States were willing to bring its immense
power to bear upon Germany.
Through 1941, Churchill inevitably viewed Japanese intentions
through the prism of Britain’s fight for survival against the Axis.
Japan’s alliance relationship with Nazi Germany signified clearly
that nation’s intentions toward the colonial regions of Southeast Asia.
Britain, however, did not have the resources at its disposal to simultaneously
fight Germany and strengthen the defenses of its Far Eastern
colonial outposts. Churchill thus found himself almost wholly dependent
on Washington. This placed him in an awkward position, for
although he could do little to strengthen Britain’s stance in the Pacific,
he recognized the need to encourage every initiative that the
United States might take against Japan. Not only would this serve to
buttress Britain’s exposed position in the Far East, but it might also
serve to facilitate American entry into the war against Germany.