Anarchist Movements in Europe and America

Anarchist Movements

Anarchism is a political belief that rejects organized government and asserts that each individual person should govern himor herself. Anarchists believe that all forms of rulership and government over a people are detrimental to society because they interfere with individual action and responsibility.

The term is distinguished from the word anarchy, which means the actual absence of any form of organized government. The origin of anarchism can be traced to the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century, when movements supporting intellectualism and reason became influential. Some of the effects of the ideas of this age were radical changes in government ideals and values.

The ideas of Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–78), a Swiss-born philosopher, influenced the inciters of the French Revolution. Some of these groups applied the term anarchist to themselves as a positive label referring to people who were opposed to old and undesirable forms of government.

Anarchist ideas can be found in the writings of William Godwin (1756–1836), the father of Frankenstein author Mary Shelley. Godwin attributed the evils of mankind to societal corruption and theorized that it was better to reduce organized government. Godwin felt that humans' possession of a rational mind would be spoiled should external controls interfere.

The person who is most often credited as the father of modern anarchism is Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809–65). He was the first to coin the words anarchism and anarchist to refer to his belief system. In 1840 he published his first significant work, What is Property? He was also opposed to both capitalism and communism, though his beliefs and writings put him under the socialist umbrella.

Proudhon, when he settled in Paris, found people who had already accepted his ideas. However, the movement soon evolved into several types of anarchism mainly due to views on economics. Most of the concepts of anarchist groups are based on the treatment of the industrial worker, as this was a primary concern at the time these groups were founded, and workers were the ones who most commonly formed anarchist groups.

The major types of anarchism that have evolved since then are:

• Mutualism—Although this started as a set of economic ideas from French and English labor groups, it later became associated with Proudhon. It bases its ideas on Proudhon's assertion that a product's true price should be determined by the amount of labor spent to produce it without considering materials. Therefore, mutual reward is achieved when people are paid for their labor no matter what economic conditions will apply. However, private ownership of production facilities is maintained. Collectivist Anarchism—This movement is mostly attributed to Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin (1814–76). For collectivist anarchists private ownership of the means of production is opposed, and ownership is collectivized. Workers should be paid according to the time spent on production work.
• Anarchist Communism—Also called communist anarchism, this movement suggests that a worker is not necessarily entitled to the products that he or she worked to produce and that mere satisfaction of needs is the payment. Instead of a general government, selfgoverning communes can be organized that are ruled by actual democracy, based on constituent voting. Joseph Déjacque (1821–64) is considered the first figure of this subgroup, while the most influential is Peter Kropotkin (1842–1921). Like in communism, private ownership is opposed.
• Anarcho-Syndicalism—This movement promotes the power of trade unions to override capitalism and seeks to abolish the wage system and private ownership. It borrows heavily from collectivist and communist modes of anarchism. Workers' groups are to have a heavy degree of solidarity and are able to self-govern without external controls. The most prominent anarcho-syndicalist was Rudolf Rocker (1873–1958).
• Individualist Anarchism—This is the most common form of anarchism in the United States. Individualist anarchism is influenced mainly by the writings of Henry David Thoreau (1817–62), although his writings are mainly philosophical and do not recommend any kind of action. Other U.S. anarchists, such as Josiah Warren, Lysander Spooner, and Benjamin Tucker had more explanation on their courses of action. However, another kind of individualist anarchism, egoism, was presented by German philosopher Max Stirner (1806– 56) in the mid-1800s.

Other anarchist forms were anarcho-capitalism, which enjoys a strong following in the United States, and anarchism without adjectives, a uniquely named form championed by the most prominent female anarchist in history, Voltairine de Cleyre (1866–1912).

Russian writer Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) promoted a religion-based form of anarchism, Christian anarchism, advocating that since God is the ultimate government there should be no human governments organized.

Anarchist ideals had gained a significant following by the 19th century but had lost mass appeal by the turn of the 20th century. In the Russian Revolution and Civil War of 1917, anarchists participated alongside communists but were turned against by the communist government. This led to the 1921 Kronstadt Rebellion, and anarchists were either jailed or made to leave the country.

In the 1930s, anarchists were opposed to the Fascist government of Italy under Benito Mussolini. Anarchists were active also in France and Spain. In 1937, the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo was a generally anarchist labor union that participated in events leading to the Spanish civil war.

Appeasement Era

Appeasement Era

In October 1925 British, French, Belgian, and Italian representatives met in Locarno, Switzerland, to settle postwar territory claims in eastern Europe and normalize diplomatic relations with Weimar Germany. Germany also sought to establish guarantees protecting its western borders as established by the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I.

Under the Locarno Pact, Germany, France, and Belgium agreed not to attack each other, while Great Britain and Italy signed as guarantors to the agreement. As such, all parties pledged assistance if Germany, France, or Belgium took any aggressive action against any of them.

Additionally, Germany agreed with France, Belgium, Poland, and Czechoslovakia to handle any disputes diplomatically through the League of Nations, while France guaranteed mutual aid to Poland and Czechoslovakia in the event of a German attack.


Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forced to disarm, lost all territorial gains, and had to pay reparations as part of the acceptance of guilt in starting the war. Germans resented the treaty, considering it far too harsh and demeaning.

Many blamed the treaty for compromising Germany's economy, so much so that by 1923 the Weimar Republic could not make the required reparation payments. The situation worsened when the Great Depression hit in the 1930s, heightening the already-bleak socioeconomic pressures of the country.

As a result, Germans faced a complete disintegration of their society, as a majority of citizens became disillusioned about the future of the country. Upon his ascension to the chancellorship in January 1933, Adolf Hitler sought changes to the treaty that would allow for German lebensraum (living space).

With that in mind, Hitler formally repudiated the Treaty of Versailles in March 1935, using it as both scapegoat and propaganda for the ills of the nation. He set about restructuring the economy and, more importantly, rearming the military in violation of the treaty.

Industrial production and civic improvements were expanded, the results of which were both positive and negative: The unemployment rate fell with continued arms production and construction projects, while inflation increased due to currency manipulation and deficit spending.

The German military (Wehrmacht) reintroduced conscription, which helped to lower the unemployment rate further, and reorganized to include a new navy, the Kriegsmarine, and an air force, the Luftwaffe—both of which were severe violations of Versailles.

Hitler made the argument that rearmament was a necessity for Germany's continued security. At the time, European leaders felt such allowances simply corrected certain wrongs that bitter victors had set in the aftermath of a brutal world war; thus, Germany faced no repercussions other than formal protests.

Neville Chamberlain holding the paper containing the resolution to commit to peaceful methods signed by both Hitler and himself on his return from Munich. He is showing the piece of paper to a crowd at Heston Aerodrome on 30 September 1938

When France and the Soviet Union signed a treaty of alliance in 1936, Hitler's aims became even more significant. In response to the Franco-Soviet treaty, Hitler pressed for the stationing of German troops in the Rhineland. In accordance with the Treaty of Versailles, the entire Rhineland area was demilitarized to serve as a buffer between Germany and France, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

By 1930 Allied forces had completely withdrawn under the terms of the treaty, which equally prohibited German forces from entering the area. Further, the Allies could reoccupy the territory if it was unilaterally determined that Germany had violated the treaty in any way.

France was not prepared militarily to dispute any claim over the territory without British aid. Great Britain could not provide such support. As a result, both countries had no choice but to allow Germany to retake the region.


Thus, a policy of appeasement toward Germany was officially born under British prime minister Stanley Baldwin (1935–37), though it had already begun under his predecessor, Ramsey McDonald (1929–35).

Guided by the growing pacifist movement, both Ramsey and Baldwin realized that national consensus did not favor military action. In spite of pressure from outspoken critics like Winston Churchill, who recognized the dangers of German rearmament, both were determined to keep the country out of war.

Hitler's ambitions grew greater. Unwilling to assist the Republican government, Baldwin initiated a pact of nonintervention with 27 countries, including Germany and Italy.

Despite being signatories, Hitler and Italy's Benito Mussolini, in violation of the agreement, sent weapons and troops to support General Francisco Franco and his nationalist forces. By December both countries were fully involved in the Spanish conflict, having agreed two months earlier to an alliance, known as the Axis, to solidify their positions in Europe.

Using the war as a test for its armed forces and methods, particularly the Luftwaffe and blitzkrieg tactics, Germany demonstrated how far its remilitarization efforts had advanced. On April 26, 1937, the town of Guernica came to symbolize and foreshadow the German advancements. German and Italian forces in a joint operation began a bombing campaign against the town.

The attack happened so swiftly that it appeared as one continuous assault, with no other intent than the complete decimation of the civilian population. However, several thousand refugees had come to the town in the wake of the war; by all estimates the number of dead stood near 1,700, consisting mainly of women, children, and elderly, with over two-thirds of the town in ruins.

Anschluss

As the Axis powers continued to lend support in Spain, Hitler forced his native Austria to unify politically (Anschluss) with Germany in March 1938. Despite the Treaty of Versailles's prohibition of union between Germany and Austria, again the Allies' response to the Anschluss went no further than formal diplomatic protests.

A month earlier, on February 12, Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg had met with the führer in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria. Hitler had demanded the ban on the Austrian Nazi Party be lifted and that they be allowed to participate in the government, or Austria would face military retaliation from Germany.

With little choice, Schuschnigg complied with the demands by appointing two Nazis to his cabinet, Arthur Seyss-Inquart and Edmund Glaise-Horstenau. He also announced a referendum to decide independence or union with Germany—a stall tactic aimed at preserving Austrian autonomy.

However, the gradual usurpation of authority by Schuschnigg's newly appointed ministers and pressure from Germany—in the form of an ultimatum from Hitler that threatened a full invasion—forced Schuschnigg to hand power over to Seyss-Inquart and the Austrian Nazi Party. When Hitler further threatened invasion, Miklas reluctantly acquiesced.

On March 12 the German Wehrmacht 8th Army entered Vienna to enforce the Anschluss, facing no resistance from the Austrians. Many Austrians gave their support to the Anschluss with relief that they had avoided a potentially brutal conflict with Germany. Others fled the country in fear of the Nazi seizure of power.

Austria was only the beginning. When Neville Chamberlain became prime minister of Great Britain in May 1937 he adhered to the policy of appeasement that his two predecessors had cultivated. He believed that the continued consent of changes to the Treaty of Versailles could prevent another war with Germany.

To that end, Chamberlain, France's Édouard Daladier, and Italy's Benito Mussolini met with Hitler in Munich, Germany, in September 1938 to settle a dispute over the German speaking Sudetenland, which both Czechoslovakia and Germany claimed.

Hitler claimed that the Czech government was mistreating Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia, despite no evidence of such treatment and adamant denials from government officials; the same argument was made for German minorities living in Hungary and Poland. Exploiting ethnic tensions as a pretext to gain a foothold in eastern Europe, Germany demanded the incorporation of the region into Nazi Germany.

The Allies urged the Czech government to comply. In what is known as the Munich Pact, the parties agreed on September 29, 1938, without Czech representation, to the transfer of the Sudetenland to German control. Terms of the agreement included the allowance of German settlements in the region, with Germany exacting no further claims of Czech lands.

Triumphant that the situation had been resolved and war resoundingly avoided, Chamberlain and Daladier returned to England and France, declaring that the peace had been preserved. Feeling abandoned by its allies, particularly France, Czechoslovakia had no choice but to capitulate to Hitler.

As German troops moved into the newly acquired territory, the Czech population fled to central Czechoslovakia. Six months later Germany violated the Munich agreement by invading Czechoslovakia itself. Despite an alliance with France and the Soviet Union, neither came to Czechoslovakia's aid. Hitler's main motivation for the invasion involved the seizure of Czech industrial facilities.

However, Hitler's intentions to invade Poland following the breakdown of negotiations over territorial concessions deemed it necessary that he eliminate Czechoslovakia first. Accordingly, on March 15, 1939, German forces entered the Czech capital of Prague, proclaiming the regions of Bohemia and Moravia as German protectorates.

Chamberlain and the Allied nations now faced a major international impasse. They had granted concessions to Hitler, with no repercussions when Germany violated the agreements. If Hitler were to continue that course of action, the Allies would find themselves in a difficult position in regard to other international commitments. In particular, both Great Britain and France pledged aid to Poland were Germany to invade it.

The scenario became a reality when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. In a final attempt to avert war Great Britain and France lodged formal warnings and diplomatic protests against the invasion, to no avail. As a result, notwithstanding the Soviet-German agreement, both countries were forced to declare war on Germany.

Balkan Wars (1912 - 1913)

Bulgarians overrun a Turkish position at First Balkan Wars

During 1912–13 the Balkan Peninsula witnessed two wars: the First Balkan War, which saw an alliance of Balkan states all but destroy the Ottoman presence in the region, and the Second Balkan War, fought between the former allies over the division of the spoils. The Balkan Wars were the result of the incomplete processes of nation-state formation in southeastern Europe at the beginning of the 20th century.

Ever since the Congress of Berlin in 1878 warranted the continued existence of the Ottoman Empire in the region, the dominant foreign policy goal of the Balkan states had been expanding into European provinces. Their main motive was to recover territories that were perceived to be under foreign occupation.

Thus, one of the dominant claims of the Balkan states at the time was that their fellow ethnic kin were still oppressed by the Ottoman sultan. Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, and Montenegro justified their desire to extend into Ottoman-controlled Macedonia and Thrace through the principle of "liberation" of subjugated populations.


For this purpose each country supported armed groups of its conationals that subverted and challenged the Ottoman regime. One of the aims of the Young Turk revolutions of 1908 had been precisely to end these revolts, suppress rival national identities, and "Ottomanize" the population.

In this context the situation in the European provinces of the Ottoman Empire impressed on the Balkan governments the need to cooperate. External great powers such as Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Italy were also sizing up the opportunity to get their share of the crumbling Ottoman state, which was referred to at the time as the "sick man of Europe."

The war that Italy launched against the Ottoman Empire in September 1911 hastened the resolve of Balkan governments to sit at the negotiating table. On March 13, 1912, Bulgaria and Serbia signed a treaty of alliance and friendship, which was accompanied by a secret annex anticipating war with Turkey and providing for the division of territorial acquisitions in case of a successful war.

Ottoman forces in the Balkans

According to this annex the territory of Macedonia was to be divided into three zones: two zones that would belong, respectively, to Bulgaria and Serbia and a third one that was contested and would be subject to the arbitration of the Russian czar. At the same time Greece and Bulgaria were conducting separate negotiations, which culminated in the signing of a mutual defense treaty on May, 29, 1912, assuring support in case of war with Turkey.

Bulgaria and Serbia had separate discussions with Montenegro, which concluded with verbal agreements that provided for mutual actions against the Ottoman state. By autumn the Balkan governments had managed to prevail over their mutual distrust and had formed a Balkan League premised on an extensive system of bilateral treaties.

The Balkan Wars began immediately afterward. On September 26, 1912, Montenegro opened hostilities invoking a long-standing frontier dispute as an excuse for declaring war. On October 2 Turkey hastily concluded a peace treaty with Italy, and on the next day it broke diplomatic relations with Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro but tried to mend relations with Greece.

Serbian army uniform

On October 4, 1912, the Ottoman Empire declared war on the Balkan League. In turn Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, and Montenegro declared war, accusing the Sublime Porte of not having implemented an article of the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, which insisted on the recognition of the minority rights of their conationals in Macedonia. This event began the First Balkan War.

With specific manifestos the governments of Athens, Belgrade, and Sofia informed their citizens that they were to fight for a common cause and against Ottoman tyranny. Military operations began on all frontiers of European Turkey.

Within a month after the start of hostilities, the Balkan armies had won spectacular victories on all fronts. The Bulgarian troops had pushed the Ottoman army to the Çatalca line of defense, just 40 kilometers outside of Istanbul, and had besieged Adrianople (modern-day Edirne in Turkey).


The Serbs had surged into Macedonia, reaching Monastir (Bitolj) on November 17, 1912, and together with Montenegrin forces had occupied the Sandzak of Novi Pazar and had besieged the town of Scutari (today Shkodra in Albania).

The Greek troops advanced in Thessaly. They entered Thessalonica on October 28, only a few hours before the arrival of a Bulgarian detachment, and the town was occupied by both armies. In Epirus Greek detachments advanced all the way to Janina (present-day Ioannina in Greece) and on November 10 laid siege to the city.

By December 1912 the Ottoman rule in the Balkans was over. Save for the besieged Adrianople, Scutari, and Janina, the Ottoman troops had been driven out of the former European provinces beyond the Çatalca line covering Istanbul.

Depiction of the Battle of Sarantaporos during the First Balkan War

Alarmed by the success of the Balkan armies, the great powers imposed an armistice on the belligerents on December 3, 1912. It was signed by Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro, who pledged that their troops would remain in their positions.

Greece, however, did not join in, as it wanted to continue the siege of Janina and carry on with the blockade of the Aegean coastline. Yet despite the continuation of hostilities in Epirus, Greece, together with Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Turkey, took part in the peace conference that opened in London on December 16, 1912.

After two months of negotiations, toward the end of January 1913, a peace agreement seemed to be in sight. However, on January 23, 1913, a group of disgruntled Turkish officers overthrew the Ottoman government.

greece defeats turkish

By January 30 fighting had resumed on the Çatalca line. On February 21 the Greek army captured Janina, and on March 13 the Bulgarian troops broke the Turkish defenses at Adrianople and occupied the city. On April 10, 1913, Montenegrin and Serb forces entered Scutari, but they had to withdraw eventually under the threat of war from Austria-Hungary.

At this juncture the great powers again insisted on armistice and proposed a peace treaty, which projected that all the territory west of a straight line stretching between Enos (Enez) on the Aegean Sea and Midia (Midye) on the Black Sea would be ceded to the Balkan states, that this territory was to be divided between the Balkan states under the supervision of the great powers, that an Albanian state would be established, and that the future of the Aegean islands was to be decided by international arbitration. By the end of May 1913 all parties taking part in the First Balkan War were compelled to agree to these conditions at the Treaty of London.

Yet at that time rifts started to appear among the Balkan allies over control of the "liberated" territories, with skirmishes between the Greek and Bulgarian troops occupying Thessalonica. Furthermore, the creation of an Albanian state confused the agreements made between Athens, Belgrade, and Sofia before the start of hostilities.

Greece and Serbia insisted that the emergence of Albania deprived them of their anticipated gains on the Adriatic. Therefore, they asserted their right to retain the territories that their armies had already occupied in Macedonia at the expense of Bulgaria.

Serbian troops examining rifles, captured in large quantities from the Turks,
at Skopje, October 1912

Sofia insisted that the acquired territory should be divided in accordance with the principle of proportionality of the acquisitions to the military input. Athens and Belgrade insisted on a principle ensuring the balance of power among the members of the Balkan League.

Because of their shared interests, Greece and Serbia entered into secret negotiations and on May 19, 1913, reached an agreement for a military pact against Bulgaria. At the same time Romania, which had so far remained neutral, took the opportunity to obtain some concessions for itself.

On the pretext of concern about the treatment of the Vlach population in Macedonia, Romania demanded that Bulgaria give up some of its territory in the contested Dobrudja region.

Under pressure from Russia, Bulgaria agreed to cede the town of Silistra and the surrounding area to Romania. At the same time Bulgaria, urged by Austria-Hungary, refused to concede any territory in Macedonia to either Serbia or Greece.

In the beginning of June there were several military clashes between Bulgarian and Serbian troops. However, it was on June 16, 1913, by an oral command from the Bulgarian czar Ferdinand, that Bulgarian troops launched a full-scale attack on Greek and Serbian forces.

Ferdinand was partly encouraged by promises by Austria-Hungary of assistance. However, a recent visit to Bulgarian-occupied Adrianople had also stirred in him a desire to revive the medieval Bulgarian Empire and capture Constantinople. Thus, on June 16, 1913, the Second Balkan War began.

In the first few weeks the Bulgarian army had some limited success in holding to its positions, but by the end of the month the Serb, Montenegrin, and Greek armies were already on the offensive. On June 28, 1913, Romania also joined in the fray and declared war on Bulgaria.

By July 6 Romanian troops had occupied the whole of northern Bulgaria, and a Romanian cavalry detachment arrived at the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. On June 30, 1913, Ottoman troops began attacks on Bulgarian positions, and on July 10 they recaptured Adrianople. By mid-July Bulgaria was suffering defeats on all fronts and had lost most of the territory it had gained during the First Balkan War.

Serbian Soldiers - Second Balkan War 1913

The Second Balkan War ended in late August 1913. After a personal intercession by Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary, a peace conference was convened at Bucharest from July 17 to August 16, 1913. As a result of the Bucharest Peace Treaty, Serbia kept the territories of Macedonia, which its troops had obtained during 1912. Thus, it added Kosovo, Novi Pazar, and Vardar Macedonia to its territory.

Greece secured over half of Macedonia (Aegean Macedonia), the southern part of Epirus, and an extension into southern Thrace. Bulgaria received the smallest part of Macedonia (Pirin Macedonia) and a section of the Aegean coast, but it had to cede southern Dobrudja to Romania.

As a result of its treaty with the Ottoman government, Bulgaria also gave up its claims to Adrianople. In the meantime an independent Albanian state was officially created by the Conference of Ambassadors in London on July 29, 1913.

Second Balkan War

This series of treaties concluded the Second Balkan War. It was bloodier than the first one, cost more lives, witnessed horrific crimes against civilians, and deepened the divisions between the Balkan states. All sides in the Balkan Wars acted in a way that indicated that their main aim was not simply the acquisition of more territory but also ensuring that this territory was free of rival ethnic groups.

The atrocities committed during the Balkan Wars led to the establishment of an international commission of inquiry set up by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. It produced an extensive report detailing the crimes committed by all combatants against their enemies and against civilian populations.

Instead of resolving the problems between nationalities in the region, the Balkan Wars further exacerbated interethnic tensions. The psychological trauma of the wars and the displacement of populations increased the suspicions and divisions between the Balkan states.

The new boundaries that were established as a result of the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913 produced conditions for persistent resentment and created a feeling of unjust expropriation of territory and eradication of people.

The suffering and the perceived injustice that all nations in the Balkans experienced molded the foreign policies of regional states. In this respect the Balkan Wars became a major source of the grievances that contributed to the beginning of World War I.

Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, one of the greatest prime ministers of Great Britain and Nobel laureate for literature, was born on November 30, 1874, in Oxfordshire. He studied at Harrow and the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. With intermingling careers in the army and in journalism, he traveled to Cuba, the North-West Frontier in India, Sudan, and South Africa.

His political career began as a member of the House of Commons in 1900. After the electoral victory of the Liberals in 1906, Churchill became the undersecretary of state for the colonies. He also became the president of the Board of Trade and afterward the home secretary, undertaking major social reforms.

In 1911 he was appointed lord of the admiralty in the ministry of Herbert Asquith (1852–1928) and undertook modernization of the Royal Navy. An abortive naval attack on the Ottoman Turks and the Allied defeat at Gallipoli led to Churchill's resignation at the time of World War I.


He was called back and was put in charge of munitions production in the ministry of David Lloyd George (1863–1945) and was instrumental in deploying tanks on the western front. He returned to the Conservative Party as chancellor of the exchequer in 1924 in the ministry of Stanley Baldwin (1867–1947). He reintroduced the gold standard in his tenure of five years.

For about a decade he did not hold any ministerial office and was isolated politically because of his extreme views. Most of the political leaders also did not pay any heed to Churchill's caution against appeasement policy toward Germany and the German march toward armament.

For Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (1869– 1940) the policy of appeasement toward Nazi Germany was not working. There was no relenting of the march of Germany's army under Adolf Hitler (1889–1945). Churchill became the premier on May 13, 1940, when he also took charge of the Department of Defense.

Blenheim Palace, the Churchill family home

As wartime policy, he initiated measures that enabled the country to withstand the Nazi onslaught and led Great Britain toward victory. However, the bombing of German cities, particularly the firebombing of Dresden, which resulted in the loss of thousands of innocent lives, brought criticism against him.

Churchill initiated changes in the war efforts of his government. For the Air Raid Precautions (ARP), half a million volunteers were enlisted. Under the National Services Act, conscription and registration of men between 18 and 41 began. In 1944 the British army had a strength of about 2,700,000.

Women's emancipation took another step when they were called upon to work outside the home in the war economy. Agencies like the Women's Transport Service (FANY), the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), and the Women's Royal Naval Service were created, by which women contributed to the nation's war efforts.


Churchill, along with the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, formulated war strategy, peace plans, the reconstruction of Europe, and the fate of the Axis powers. Churchill had met Roosevelt on August 14, 1941, and signed the "Atlantic Charter," which spelled out a plan for international peace and adherence to national sovereignty.

The "Grand Alliance" was committed to defeating Nazism and bringing about world peace. The last wartime conference that Churchill attended was the Yalta Conference in Crimea in the Soviet Union (now in Ukraine) with Roosevelt and Stalin between February 4 and 11, 1945.

The differences between the Soviet Union on the one hand and the United States and Great Britain on the other were emerging. Churchill had many rounds of verbal dueling with Stalin over the fate of Poland, the division of Germany, and the occupation of Berlin. Once the war was over and their common enemy was defeated, the cold war began.

World War II ended in victory, but Great Britain was no longer the country commanding the most military and economic clout in the world. It was in debt £4.198 billion, and the cost of living had increased by 50 percent. Churchill's Conservative Party was defeated in the elections of July 1945, and the Labour Party under Clement Attlee (1883–1967) came to power.

Disillusionment with the Conservative Party, Churchill's neglect of the health and educational sectors, and economic woes contributed to the Conservative defeat. Churchill was the leader of the opposition in the House of Commons. He was relentless in turning public opinion against international communism.

His speech delivered on March 5, 1946, at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, was a clarion call to the West to be ultra careful against communism. He called for an alliance of the Englishs peaking peoples of the world before it was too late. This "iron curtain" speech was regarded as the beginning of the schism between the East and the West and the division of the world into two blocs.

With the return of the Conservative Party to power in Britain, Churchill became the prime minister as well as the minister of defense in October 1951. Great Britain intervened in Iran after its prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh (1880–1967), nationalized the Anglo Iranian Oil Company (AIOC).

Churchill planned a coup to oust the government with the help of the United States. He dispatched British troops to the colony of Kenya in August 1952 at the time of the Mau Mau Rebellion, which was suppressed. Churchill's administration dealt with the rebellion against British colonial rule in Malaya. Churchill during his first and second premiership was never willing to grant self-government to the colonies.

Although high-sounding words like democracy, national sovereignty, and self-determination had been uttered at the time of World War II by Churchill and other Allied leaders, granting independence to the colonies was not in Churchill's agenda. In fact, he had shown an apathetic attitude toward the Indian freedom movement. The Quit India movement of 1942 was suppressed ruthlessly.

He had lampooned Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) as a "naked fakir." He was also indifferent to the devastating famine of 1943 in Bengal, which killed about 3 million people. Churchill resigned in April 1955 due to ill health. He continued as a backbencher in the House of Commons until 1964. Churchill died in London on January 24, 1965.

In his lifetime Churchill was bestowed with many honors. He became Sir Winston Churchill after becoming a Knight of the Garter in 1953. For his contribution to European ideals he was awarded the Karlspreis award by the city of Aachen, Germany, in 1956.

The U.S. government made him an honorary citizen in 1963. His writing career began with reports from the battlefield like The Story of the Malakand Field Force (1898) and The River War (1899). He published a biography of his father, Life of Lord Randolph Churchill (1906), and wrote one on his ancestor, Marlborough: His Life and Times (four volumes, 1933–38).

Churchill's The World Crisis (1923–31) was a history of World War I in four volumes. He also wrote History of the English-Speaking Peoples in four volumes (1956–58). In 1953 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature for his six-volume work The Second World War (1948–53).