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Birth of Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, UK to Lord Randalph Churchill and Jennie Jerome, an American woman. His father was a politician with the Conservative party. His mother was the daughter of an American millionaire. His military career started at age 14 and after finishing school, he continued on to the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. -
Beginning of Churchill's political career
After completing his education at the Royal Military Academy, Churchill served in the military. He fought in what in what is now Pakistan and served in Egypt and the Sudan. He resigned from the military in 1898 and ran ran unsuccessfully for a seat in parliament. He was a war correspondant during the Boer Wars but was captured and place in a POW camp. Upon his return, Winston Churchill won an election as Conservative MP (member of parliament). -
First World War begins
WWI broke out over the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary after a period disagreement between the major European powers over colonial issues. Churchill held a variety of government jobs during WWI. He was First Lord of the Admiralty at the outbreak of WWI and Minister for Munitions at the end of WWI. He also briefly left the government, rejoined the army and fought in the trenches in France. -
Churchill's Dardanelles campaign
It was Churchill who suggested starting a new front in the Dardanelles in Turkey in order to end the war early. His idea was to weaken Germany by forcing it to split its troops between the three fronts. After the disastrous outcome of the campaign including high numbers of British casualities, Churchill resigned his post on the War Council, and rejoined the army. He commanded a battalion on the Western Front. -
World War I ends
The Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919 officialy ended the war between Britain, Germany, France and Italy. Following WWI, there many changes made to the map of Europe and the Balkans. For example, Bosnia, Herzogovina, Croatia, Slovenia were all joined with Serbia to form one state. The Treaty paved a path to WWII and is often referred to as "the peace to end all peace". -
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Churchill between the wars
Winston Churchill continued to hold a variety of government jobs between the wars. He was Sectary of State for War and Air, the Colonial Secretary as well as the Chancellor of the Exhequer. By the 1930's, however, Churchill was out of the government. Throughout this time period, he warned people about the threat that Germany posed as it recovered from and rearmed after WWI. -
World War II begins
When Britain declares war on Germany, Winston Churchill returns to government as First Lord of the Admirality.Churchill was 64 at the time. Suddenly all his warnings about the dangerous Germans proved to be correct. -
Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain.
Winston Churchill leads Britain through most of World War II including Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. He was particularly good at inspiring the British people when things weren't going well. He's know for some of his marvelous, uplifting speeches. -
Winston Churchill's party loses election
Churchill's party loses the election in large part to due to the bad financial circumstances WWII had created in Britain. Churchill is replaced by Clement Attlee of the Labour Party. Although Churchill led Britain through most of the war, Attlee was in charge at the end and during the aftermath. -
End of World War 2
Britain was one of the victors of WWII. However, the war left Britain almost bankrupt. It caused the empire to start to crumble and Britain began to lose one colony after another. -
Churchill elected prime minister again
During his last period as prime minister of Britain, Churchill tries to end the Cold War. He arranges a summits conferences between President Eisenhower, Josef Stalin and himself but it comes to nothing. He resigned in 1955 due to health reasons. -
Nobel Prize for LIterature awarded to Winston Churchill
After publishing his six volume history, The Second World War, Winston Churchill is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for what the Nobel Prize Committee described as "his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values". -
Death of Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill died at the age of 90 a very old age for that time period, after a stroke. His wife of 57 years, Lady Clementine, and other family members were at his side. He died at his home in London. He was given a state funeral service, unusual for a man of his position, and was buried near Blenheim Palace where he was born.
