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The following is a timeline of the first prime ministership of Winston Churchill, who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the bulk of World War II. His speeches and radio broadcasts helped inspire British resistance, especially during the difficult days of 1940-1 when the British Commonwealth and Empire stood almost alone in its active opposition to Nazi Germany. He led Britain as Prime Minister until victory over Nazi Germany had been secured.
After the Conservative Party lost the 1945 election, Churchill became Leader of the Opposition to the Labour Government. He would go on to be re-elected as Prime Minister in 1951.
Sir Winston Churchill | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
| In office 26 October 1951 – 6 April 1955 | |
| Monarchs | |
| Deputy | Anthony Eden |
| Preceded by | Clement Attlee |
| Succeeded by | Anthony Eden |
| In office 10 May 1940 – 26 July 1945 | |
| Monarch | George VI |
| Deputy | Clement Attlee |
| Preceded by | Neville Chamberlain |
| Succeeded by | Clement Attlee |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 26 July 1945 – 26 October 1951 | |
| Monarch | George VI |
| Prime Minister | Clement Attlee |
| Preceded by | Clement Attlee |
| Succeeded by | Clement Attlee |
| Leader of the Conservative Party | |
| In office 9 November 1940 – 6 April 1955 | |
| Preceded by | Neville Chamberlain |
| Succeeded by | Anthony Eden |
| Minister of Defence | |
| In office 28 October 1951 – 1 March 1952 | |
| Preceded by | Emanuel Shinwell |
| Succeeded by | The Earl Alexander of Tunis |
| In office 10 May 1940 – 26 July 1945 | |
| Preceded by | The Lord Chatfield |
| Succeeded by | Clement Attlee |
| First Lord of the Admiralty | |
| In office 3 September 1939 – 11 May 1940 | |
| Prime Minister | Neville Chamberlain |
| Preceded by | The Earl Stanhope |
| Succeeded by | A. V. Alexander |
| In office 24 October 1911 – 25 May 1915 | |
| Prime Minister | H. H. Asquith |
| Preceded by | Reginald McKenna |
| Succeeded by | Arthur Balfour |
| Member of Parliament for Woodford | |
| In office 5 July 1945 – 15 October 1964 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency created |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished (Replaced by Wanstead and Woodford) |
| Member of Parliament for Epping | |
| In office 29 October 1924 – 5 July 1945 | |
| Preceded by | Sir Leonard Lyle |
| Succeeded by | Leah Manning |
1940[edit]
April[edit]
- April 3, 1940: The Ministerial Defence Committee, with the First Lord of the Admiralty (Winston Churchill) as its chair, replaces Lord Chatfield's ministerial position of Minister for Coordination of Defence.
May[edit]
- May 10, 1940: Germany invades Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom upon the resignation of Neville Chamberlain. The United Kingdom invades Iceland.
Belgium declares a state of emergency. Churchill is called on to form a wartime coalition government.[1]
- May 11, 1940: Churchill offers the former Kaiser Wilhelm II, who is now living in the Netherlands, asylum in the United Kingdom; he declines.
- May 13, 1940: Dutch government-in-exile established in London.
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands flees to asylum in the United Kingdom.
Churchill's "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" speech in Commons.
- May 14, 1940: The creation of the Local Defence Volunteers (the Home Guard) is announced by the new Secretary of State for War Anthony Eden. It is mostly composed of the elderly and retired.
Churchill asks President Roosevelt and Canada for aid in these dark days. Outlines of the new British coalition, which includes Labour, Liberal, and Conservative members, is made public.
- May 16, 1940: Churchill visits Paris and hears that the French war is as good as over
- May 30, 1940: Crucial British Cabinet meeting: Churchill wins a vote on continuing the war, in spite of vigorous arguments by Lord Halifax and Chamberlain.
August[edit]
- August 20, 1940: Italy announces a blockade of British ports in the Mediterranean area.
- Churchill's speech "Never was so much owed by so many to so few" speech delivered to the House of Commons
- August 25, 1940: Churchill orders the bombing of Berlin in retaliation for the previous night's bombing of Cripplegate.
October[edit]
- October 9, 1940: Neville Chamberlain resigns from the House of Commons for health reasons; Winston Churchill is elected head of the Conservative Party.
November[edit]
- November 16, 1940: Churchill orders some British troops in North Africa to be sent to Greece, despite concerns by his military
1941[edit]
February[edit]
- February 9, 1941: British forces reach El Agheila, Cyrenaica. British battleships shell Genoa and British aircraft attack Livorno. Churchill again pleads with the US: "give us the tools."
April[edit]
- April 23, 1941: Greek government is evacuated to Crete, which Churchill is determined to defend.
June[edit]
- June 22, 1940: Germany invasion of Russia begins, as Operation Barbarossa
July[edit]
- July 19, 1941: The "V-sign", displayed most notably by Churchill, is unofficially adopted as the Allied signal, along with the motif of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
August[edit]
- August 9, 1941: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet at NS Argentia, Newfoundland. The Atlantic Charter is created, signed, and released to the world press.
December[edit]
- December 7, 1941: Japan attacks the US Navy base of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Within the next week, Japan also invades the Philippines, Burma, and Hong Kon.[2]
1942[edit]
April[edit]
- April 14, 1942: Winston Churchill, concerned that the situation in Malta will cause the Axis forces in North Africa to be better supplied than British forces, sends a telegram to Sir Stafford Cripps in Cairo, asking him to pressure General Auchinleck to take offensive action before this can occur.
- April 20, 1942: General Dobbie, Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of Malta, sends a message to Winston Churchill saying "it is obvious that the very worst may happen if we cannot replenish our vital needs, especially flour and ammunition, and that very soon...." Churchill concludes from this and other "disturbing news" that Dobbie is not capable enough for such an important job, and decides to replace him with Lord Gort.
May[edit]
- May 9, 1942: On the night of 8/9 May 1942, gunners of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery on Horsburgh Island in the Cocos Islands rebelled. Their mutiny was crushed and three of them were executed, the only British Commonwealth soldiers to be executed for mutiny during the Second World War.
USS Wasp and HMS Eagle deliver a second contingent of Spitfires to Malta in Operation Bowery. A few days later, a grateful Churchill will signal Wasp "Who says a Wasp can't sting twice?" These aircraft, employed more aggressively than those previously delivered, turn the tide in the skies over Malta during the next few days, and the Axis is forced to abandon daylight bombing. This is a major turning point in the Siege, and thus in the North African Campaign, although the approaches to the island remain subject to deadly and accurate Axis air attack, preventing efficient re-supply of the island.
- May 10, 1942: 10: Churchill, growing ever more frustrated with General Auchinleck's inactivity, finally sends him a telegram with a clear order; attack in time to cover for the Harpoon/Vigorous convoys to Malta during the dark of the moon in early June. This places Auchinleck in the position of complying or resigning. Auchinleck does not immediately reply, leaving Churchill, CIGS, and the War Cabinet in a state of suspense.
- May 17, 1942: It has been a week since Churchill sent his ultimatum to General Auchinleck, and he has not yet received a reply. He sends a terse follow-up: "It is necessary for me to have some account of your general intentions in light of our recent telegrams." Again there is no immediate reply.
- May 19, 1942: General Auchinleck at last replies to Churchill's somewhat urgent telegram of the 10th, saying he will have an attack ready by the sailing of the Harpoon/Vigorous convoys for Malta.
- May 21, 1942: In discussions with Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden, Molotov continues to press Soviet demands for territorial acquisitions made during the run-up to war, including the Baltic states, Eastern Poland, and Bessarabia. Churchill cannot or will not agree to these demands, and the talks become deadlocked.
June[edit]
- June 14, 1942: At the Gazala Line, the British position has become untenable, and General Auchinleck authorizes General Ritchie to make a concerted withdrawal from forward positions along the line.
1st South African Division is able to withdraw along the coastal road, but the road cannot accommodate all the troops at once, and this route is in any event is under threat of being cut by Rommel's forces; so troops including 50th Division must first breakout to the southwest, through the area occupied by Italian X Corps, and then turn east to rejoin 8th Army. This somewhat daring operation is concluded successfully. The RAF forces available, although outnumbered, make a valiant effort to cover the retreat. Churchill sends Auchinleck a telegram beginning, 'To what position does Ritchie want to withdraw the Gazala troops? Presume there is no question in any case of giving up Tobruk.'
The convoy 'Vigorous', en route to Malta, sights a large Italian naval squadron headed toward it. 'Harpoon' comes under attack for the first time; 'Vigorous' has been under air attack almost since leaving port.
- June 15, 1942: General Auchinleck sends Churchill a reply to the latter's telegram of the 14th, saying in part, "...I have no intention whatever of giving up Tobruk."
- June 16, 1942: Churchill, about to leave for America, takes the unusual step of sending a letter to HRM George VI, advising him to make Anthony Eden Prime Minister should Churchill not survive the journey.
- June 18, 1942: Winston Churchill arrives in Washington for meetings with Roosevelt.
July[edit]
- July 2, 1942: Churchill survives a censure motion in the House of Commons.
August[edit]
- July 12, 1942: At a conference in Moscow, Churchill informs Stalin that there will not be a "second front" in 1942.
- July 13, 1942: General Bernard Montgomery appointed commander of British Eighth Army in North Africa; Churchill is anxious to see more offensive action on the part of the British.
November[edit]
- November 10, 1942: Montgomery begins a major British offensive beginning at Sollum on the Libya/Egypt border. The British reach Bardia on the 11th, Tobruk on the 12th, and Benghazi on the 18th.
Lieutenant General Montgomery is knighted and made a full General. Churchill speaks: "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
December[edit]
- December 17, 1942: From the floor of the House of Commons, Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden reads what is known as the Joint Declaration by Members of the United Nations, in which the Allies denounce the German extermination of Jews. A copy of the declaration appears on the front pages of newspapers around the world.[3]
1943[edit]
January[edit]
- January 14, 1943: The Casablanca Conference of Allied leaders begins. Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt discuss the eventual invasion of mainland Europe, the impending invasion of Sicily and Italy, and the wisdom of the principle of "unconditional surrender".
May[edit]
- May 12, 1943: The Trident Conference begins in Washington, D.C. with Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill taking part. The discussions are mostly on future strategy.[4][5]
- May 19, 1943: Winston Churchill addresses a joint session of the U.S. Congress. He praises the partnership of the two Allies.[5]
July[edit]
- July 25, 1943: Benito Mussolini, which leads to the formation of a new government in Italy.
August[edit]
- August 19, 1943: Roosevelt and Churchill signed the Quebec Agreement during the Quebec Conference.[6]
October[edit]
- October 3, 1943: Churchill appoints Lord Louis Mountbatten the commander of South East Asia Command.
November[edit]
- November 16, 1943: 160 American bombers strike a hydro-electric power facility and heavy water factory in German-controlled Vemork, Norway
- November 22, 1943: The Cairo Conference: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and ROC leader Chiang Kai-Shek meet in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss ways to defeat Japan.
- November 27, 1943: The Cairo Conference ("Sextant") ends; Roosevelt, Churchill, and Chiang Kai-shek complete the Cairo Declaration, which deals with the overall strategic plan against Japan.
- November 28, 1943: The Tehran Conference . US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Leader Joseph Stalin meet in Tehran to discuss war strategy; (on November 30 they establish an agreement concerning a planned June 1944 invasion of Europe codenamed Operation Overlord). Stalin at last has the promise he has been waiting for.
1944[edit]
February[edit]
- February 10, 1944: Winston Churchill urges Harold Alexander to order the Anzio generals to show more aggression.[7]
June[edit]
- June 6, 1944: British and US troops land at Normandy in France, initiating a Second Front against Germany. Codenamed Operation Overlord, the day is also known as D-Day.
August[edit]
- April 20, 1945: Allied troops reach Paris.
September[edit]
- September 12, 1944: The Second Quebec Conference (codenamed "Octagon") begins: Roosevelt and Churchill discuss military cooperation in the Pacific and the future of Germany.[8]
October[edit]
- October 9, 1944: The Moscow Conference (1944) begins: Churchill and Stalin discuss spheres of influence in the postwar Balkans.
December[edit]
- December 3, 1944: The British army and the police shot unarmed protesters in Athens, the crowd carried Greek, American, British and Soviet flags, and chanted: "Viva Churchill, Viva Roosevelt, Viva Stalin’"
- December 16, 1944: Battle of the Bulge begins.
- December 28, 1944: :28: Churchill and his Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden are in Athens in an attempt to reconcile the warring factions.
1945[edit]
February[edit]
- February 4, 1945: The Yalta Conference of Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin begins;[9][5] the main subject of their discussions is postwar spheres of influence.
April[edit]
- April 16, 1945: The Soviets overtake Berlin.
- April 30, 1945: Hitler commits suicide.
May[edit]
- May 7, 1945: Germany surrenders to the western Allies.
July[edit]
- July 17, 1945: The Potsdam Conference begins under British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (later replaced by Clement Attlee), Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Joseph Stalin and U.S. President Harry S. Truman. The Allied leaders agree to insist upon the unconditional surrender of Japan.
- July 26, 1945: The Labour Party win the United Kingdom general election by a landslide. The new United Kingdom Prime Minister Clement Attlee replaces Churchill at the negotiating table at Potsdam. The Potsdam Declaration is issued.|
August[edit]
- August 6, 1945: The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
- August 8, 1945: The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria.
- August 9, 1945: Japan agrees in principle to unconditional surrender. [10]
September[edit]
- September 2, 1945: Japan formally surrenders, ending World War II [10]
References[edit]
- ^ Keegan, John (1994). The Times Atlas of the Second World War. London. pp. 16–17.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Robinson, Bruce. "World War Two: Summary Outline of Key Events". BBC History. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
- ^ "BBC On This Day: 17 December 1942". Retrieved 1 February 2016.
- ^ "1943 Timeline". WW2DB. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
- ^ a b c "Chronology of World War Two". andrew.etherington. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
- ^ "Avalon Project - The Quebec Conference - Agreement Relating to Atomic Energy". yale.edu. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
- ^ "1944 Timeline". WW2DB. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
- ^ "BBC - WW2 People's War - Timeline". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-09-11.
- ^ "1945 Timeline". WW2DB. Retrieved 2011-02-09.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
ushmmwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).