Jonathan schneers, history professor at georgia tech, recounts Winston Churchills war cabinet, composes of men across the political spectrum who assisted the Prime Minister in the war effort. This is next on booktv. Our guest tonight is jonathan schneers. He is here to speck about his latest book, ministers at war Winston Churchill and the war cabinet, schneer is a professor of modern history and has taught modern european and british history since 1989. The author of several major works, including the thames. Dr. Schneers writings can can you found in periodical and his editor ya experience clues work as a board member of the 20th century british history. Dr. Schneers newest work spotlights churchills war cab it in of world war ii. The work illustrates how churchills own team of rivals, proved instrumental in combating nazi germanys advance towards the british isles. Joint me in welcoming jonathan schneer. [applause] good evening. Thank you for coming on a spring night when no doubt there oar things you could be doing. I want to thank first john golden who is the director of the livingston lecture series, and i want to thank Sheffield Hale who just gave me the generous introduction and id like to thank kate whitman who expedited much of my arrangements to speak here today. Im very glad to be here. Thank you all three of you very much indeed. So now im going to begin. Ill speak for about 45 minutes member also less than that, and then ill take questions. Ive just written a book about win store churchills war cabinet. The war cabinet was a subset of a larger body, the cabinet itself. The car cab bet debt only with the most important issues raised by world war ii, and originally its members had no departmental responsibilities to distract them. The larger cabinet included war cabinet ministers and also ministers and secretaries of various departments. Ministers of supply and town and country planning, ministers of mines and so on. Ill be mentioning both the cabinet and the war cabinet in my talk to you tonight. Churchill folder his war cabinet in may 1940. It has five members including himself, at the start. Over the course of the war he enlarged it to suit circumstances, the cast of characters shifted over time but it never had more than eight members at once. And here is a photo of the original eightman team. Hmm. Supposed to be. There we go. Now only two members remained constant. Churchill himself of course, and also clifford atley the leader of the labor party. Then there was a conservative, Anthony Eaton the great trade unionist and labor party member, ernest bev vein,in and then bevin, and then a nonparty man John Anderson. Sir John Anderson. Furthermore, this man herbert more morrison, member of the two individuals flashed through like comets, one was lord beaverbook and the second was the socialist Stafford Crips. Tonight i cant talk about all of them but because i do not discuss the roles 0 say Neville Chamberlain or Kingsley Woods doesnt mean theyre unimportant. However, for their roles and others who served at one time or another in churchills war cab not, i have a suggestion. Please read my book. Led by Winston Churchill these men successfully steered britain through the greatest crisis in her modern history and churchills war cabinet has been deservedly celebrated ever since. But the story is more complicated than often thought. The feet of my book ministers at war has a double meaning. Churchills war cabinet warred against in the nazi of course, and but also is members sometimes warred against each other. This has been mentioned by historians but it has been generally downplayed, and i try in the book to present a more nuanced. A more complex portrait of the war cab cabinet than is common hi authored. If shake the kaleidoscope to show familiar pieces in unfamiliar patterns and thats what i intend to try to do tonight in the time remaining to me. I take it as given that everybody here is familiar with and accepts the common assessment Winston Churchills war cabinet saved britain hoped to save the world from nazi horror. I agree. I would never minimize the greatness of Winston Churchill or his Wartime Coalition government. We all owe it an unpayable debt. But life is not black and white. Life is not simple. Churchills war cab necessary was not simply a smooth, functioning machine. Its members including the Prime Minister were highpowered, ambitious, hard men. They had great talent and great capacity for work and also had great egos. They worked together to save their country but it was not always smooth sailing. On more than one occasion conflict with the war cabinet threatened to cab capsize the ship. Today we think of church hill as the indispensable man. Its hard to imagine brian without churchill hasridge but believe me it was not impossible then and ill be explaining that. I want to just pull out the water. In the book, i show how churchill assembled his team in may 1940. It included men whose politics conflicted more starkly than do those of american liberal democrats and Tea Party Republicans today. Socialists like atley Bevin Morrison Crips believed in nationalizing the means of production distribution, and exchange. No american liberal democrat, believes in that. Crips, moreover, was not even certain that nationalization could be carried out or maintained peacefully. He thought it might require revolutionary violence. The socialists also believed that government should sponsor far reaching social welfare programs more farreaching than those favored by american liberals today. On the other hand, conservatives, like chamberlain halifax, beaverbook, believed finally in free enterprise. They thought that government should usually keep hands off the economy. They did not believe that it had a major role to play with regard to social welfare either, and i churchill himself was instinctive plain of the right. Instinct stiffly a man of the right yet he was determined to keep his disparate Team Together and by and large he did it. In the book, i show how that team faced the problems of the war. To for a year britain and her empire faced the nazis alone. And during that period war cabinet minimum towards largely suppressed whatever ideological and personal tensions existed among them, but also i show in the book that once russia and then america entered into the fray, the war cabinet ministers began to argue. The emergency had eased. Britain seemed likely to one the war after all and now cabinet ministers could vent jealousy, enmitts, strains always present but previously always papered over. Ideologyical conflict grew fierce, and churchill tried to contain it all in 1945, laborer pulled out of this coalition get. When germany surrendered and the war against japan still raging churchill called a general election proved to we one of the woes termers of the 20th 20th century. All the pentup frustrations of the free five years finally the previous fire years finally burst forth. It was like a volcano. What i intend to do tonight is to give you a further test. Im going to try to show you how members of the car cabinet functioned for good or will before 1945. I show you how one of to the war cabinet ministers came to the conclusion that he could run the war and the war cabinet better than Winston Churchill could andryllll show you how churchill fought off the threat posed by this man. So the men of the car want net sat around war cabinet salt around a table every monday afternoon at 5 30, every westerns and thursday at noon, attempting to hammer oust policy on the most pressing domestic foreign and imperial issues razeed by the raised by the war. During poured crisis they met more than three times a week, sometimes even three times a day. At first the war cabinet met in the cabinetroom at 10 downing street. During the blitz and the v1 and v2attacks, they usually met in a suite of underground rooms the basement of the new government offices at the corner of horsguard road and king charles street across from st. James park. Today that site is a museum called the war cabinet rooms. I suspect some of you will have visited the place and for those who havent strongly recommend it. Its a wonderful museum. Its well worth the trip. Anyway the war cabinet sat and debated and argued in those two venues about matters of life and death. Secretaries took notes. Afterwards the notes were compiled and an accurate summary of the might was produced and circulated to the proper esip yeps. The original notes were supposed to be destroyed. One secretary however named john burgess kept his notes and today they may be found at the churchill archive, char churchill college, cambridge university. Burgess employed an idio sin thattic shorthand his handwriting varied between legible and illegible. Moreover as the war progressed hills notes grew every more cryptic. Deciphering them is a great chore, believe me, but on occasion they provide a better sense of how the war cabinet functioned than the official minutes do. And tonight when repeat war cabinet discussions for you i am largely quoting from burgess notes. Heres an example. I cant see it from here but i hope that you can see it where you are. From september 11, 1940. Bit the way this is an uncharacteristickicly legible example. So september 11, 1940, some months after dunkirk when the british had managed to evacuate most of their army from the european mainland before the germans could kill or capture them thus staving off what would have been an absolute disaster however britains ally france, was about to surrender. Neither the soviet union nor the United States had entered the war yet. The British Empire would soon stand alone against hitler, who had most of europe at his feet. No one really saw how britain even supported by the white dominions, australia, new zealand, canada, south africa could beat hem and the germans had begun the terrible Bombing Campaign of london called the blitz. Members of the war cabinet believed that would be the prelude to an attempted invasion. So here is an excerpt from the meeting they held, eaten who was minister of war at that point, led off. He circuit im quoting and i think this is on i cant see it at all but i think this is on that page saw commander in chief this a. M. One, said extension of german shipping down coast extreme. Two guns on coast. Given to his command moved two or three into Southeast Area to defend against invasion. Three. Guns. Want one regiment, 36 guns, which were used to shoot at lowflying attacking german aircraft. Churchill then spoke. Invasion anywhere else that is anywhere other that brians southeast coast, north the same thing. Atley, troops in reserve to go to south coast. Eden commander in chief had in mind keep tank troops in madestone area for action in dungeness, which is southeast coast. Churchill hms rodney, a battle ship should stay at knee edinburgh in the northeast. Alexander, who was the first lord of the admiralty expected this in fails of size of attack, have matter in hand. Well these minutes reveal the war cabinet at a moment of extreme peril absolutely focused on saving their country and confident they can do it despite all odds. Yet, there were obvious divisions among the group. Ive referred briefly already to the ideological divide, and if youd like we can return it to during the question time. I wont be talking more about it in this talk for you. Instead im going to tell you first of all about a fairly obvious class divide. The conservative ministers were all more or less wealthy. Some were aristocratic, labor ministers came from mixed backgrounds. Attley was middle class, crips was the son of a lord. But morrison was the son of a south london policeman and ernest bevin was the legitimate son of a char woman. He labored on the docks of bristol as a young man. The only member of the cab note havent earned his living as a manual laborer occasionally one can perceive in the notes or letters a class consciousness dividing the group and ill give you a couple of examples. First, here is anthony eden after the war anthony eden, a bare bareronnette. Quote. He was a good rifleman, the kind of man you promote to Lance Corporal one week and he may lose this stripes the next but hell be back up soon. Comenys make the best soldiers. Herbert morrison. The cockny. The co addition i have just given you is a co indication from an officer referring to his subordinate. How the son of a bareronnette refers to a social inferior. No wonder here morrison felt he had something to prove in the war cabinet and does it not sound he is trying to do just that in a letter he wrote to the lard chancellor, sir job simon. Simon had graduated from the exclusive public school, fetts in edinburgh had attained a first class degree at oxford where re pass president of the famous debating Society Oxford union. He had been a liberal in the government during world war 1 when the liberals split during the depression in 1931, he had joined the National Liberals who supported the conservatives. But just that the midpoint of the war he made a speech in the house of lords and then morrison wrote him a letter about it. Quote. May i say how much i enjoyed reading your speech of yesterday . There was only one thing which marred and it that was the stupid instanters error giving printers error giving the date of the publication of the great poem by milton written during the english civil war as 1694 instead of 1949. Instead of 1649. Simon, morrison. Even looking at them, you can see, i think what morrison was up against. Its easy to imagine the unspoken assumption, tensions, hesitations, and reservements that must have been part of the atmosphere of war Cabinet Meetings. In fact, churchill had assembled his open team of rivals at Doris Carnes Goodwin termed abraham lincolns cabinet during the american civil war. Churchills men were constantly carping, backbiting maneuver for positions. Lord Beaver Brooke the minister of aircraft production, employed flatter to too toe get what he wanted. Sometimes it worked. During a Cabinet Meeting he passed a note to alexander labor man serving as first lord of the admiral. This note said, quote will do all i can to help you. It said, continuing, i believe you will do the job better than anybody else can. And alexander became one of beaverbooks chief spouter inside the cabinet. Sometimes the flattery failed. Quote, can we make a platform for you where i can stand by your side . I am sure you can do into if you determine to build it he wrote to ernest bevin the minister of oops there the minister of labor. He seemed to be suggesting bevin built a plat form to rival Winston Churchill and bevin thought this forecast quite dangerous. He replied i have no intention of build anything platforms during the war outside the platform of the government itself. Ive seen letters in which beaverbook tried to flatter herbert morrison. Letters in which he tried to flatter Stafford Crips. Hi churchill he laid on the flattery with a trowel, and there are maybe a dozen such examples. Ill give you one. Quote i send this letter of brattitude and devotion to the leader of the nation, the save saviour of our people. Churchill enjoyed receiving these letters. But not surprisingly he never trusted lord beaverbook. And by the time the war had finished blackly nobody probably nobody trusted lord beaverbook. Quote there are many people to whom it will be easy to talk. I warn you if you talk to him no good will come 0 come of it. Be ware of flattery. Well you may object. Any group of strong individuals will jockey for position and that was all beaverbook was doing. Yes, actually, i agree. Still, i was struck by the intensity of discord and dislike within a war cabinet celebrated for the opposite. Beaverbook despised atley who returned the favor. Once he quit trying to flatter him, he howed so betterly with e. Nest bevin, the latest actually threatened to sue him. He dismissed the imposing John Anderson as ill pomposo. Opposite called the religious lord halifax this is were missing a wonderful picture of lord halifax whom beaverbook called where is it now. Hang on the sort of jesus in long boots. And he says, the long boots are needed because he has had to wade through the mud but he was not responsible for the mud oh, deer no, dear, no. He would never make anything as dirty as mud and the last thing he would think of was to throw it at others. Everybody poked fun of the deputy leader of the labor party, arthur greenwood. This man. Are their greenwood has a drinking problem. Quote, he cannot seen sign his name after 2 00 in the afternoon thats what one cabinet minister said and if you look at this photograph he may look as though he has had a drink or two at lunchtime. Anthony eden disdained Kingsley Wood. The conservative chance love othe exchecker, the little man will not me missed, me wrote after Kingsley Wood subtly died. Eden sat between the two men and found it uncomfortable because when morrison spoke bevin provided an accompaniment of jibes and taunts. Someone once said of herbert morrison, who was an inveterate political intriguer he was his own worst enemy. Not while im alive he aint snapped ernest bevin. So how did churchill attempt to keep his illassorted team in good termer . He could be solis to us. Quote, was sorry to see you looked very tired the other night at the cabinet. I hope youve will not hesitate to take a wellearned holiday he wrote this to one cabinet minister recovered from the pflum or he could be encouraging, quote you speech was magnificent and giving sense of strength and resource. When members of the team disagreed with each other he worked to con sillate them. At one meeting anthony eden declared he would not attend a celebration of the anniversary of the bolshevik revolution because, quote it is promoted under communist influence but in russia that it comparable to kings birthday, argued the socialist, crist, who returned as a stint as britains ambassador to russia. You mean the czars death day snapped herbert morrison, who distrust expedition liked crips. Distrusted and disliminged crips. Churchill said why not have a meeting in november no specific russia date so celebrate the russian resistance, and with this compromise the meeting concluded. When churchill thought a cal league was barking up the wrong tree he could employ humor to change his mind. In 1940, july 1940 the minister of food, Frederick Wilton, recommend that brittons follow a more balanced diet. Churchill found time this is in the midst of the greatest emergency the country has ever seen to write to lord wilton, quote, almost all the food faddists i never knopp not eater and the like, have died young after a long period of senile decay. The way to lose the war is to try to force the British Public into a diet of milk, oatmeal potatoes et cetera washed down on gala occasions with a little lime juice. Sometimes churchill backed down himself and heres an example. A telling one. In june of 1942, the nazis slaughtered 1,300 innocent czech civilians, and burned to the ground the two villages in which they had lived as a reprical for the assassination of a leading nazi rinehart. The war cabinet met to consider the response. Churchill advocate using the next moonlit night to, quote wipe out three german village. Ernie bevin the sledgehammer, agreed with him. Quote, German Response to brute force and nothing else. The secretary of state for india, leo amerry was more ferocious and advocated bombing highly populate up toes, not just mere villages. But then datley produced a moral consideration, quote doubt if it is useful to enter into competition in frightfulness with germans. Herbert morrison backed him up. If the Royal Air Force purposefully bombed german civilians, a cycle of frightfulness would ensue and then quote public will say why did you draw this down on to us . The secretary of state for air a liberal Archibald Sinclair introduced a practical consideration. Momming civilians would represent, quote diversion of effort from the military objective, and anderson agreed. Quote, it costs us something and them nothing. By which he meant that if britain bombed the defenseless towns or villages she would lose an opportunity to bomb important military objectives while germany would lose only civilian lives. And now anthony eden, too swung decisively against the proposed action. Quote, waste of a moonlit night. Birth die version than i thought. Bigger diversion than i thought. So three for bombing german civilians, five opposed. Churchill argued, quote my instink is all instinct is all the other way but he defender, quote, i submit unwillingly to the view to the cabinet against. So supportive, humorous, democratic, Prime Minister, kept his fractious war cabinet on an even keel. It sounds to go to be true to go to be true and in fact often it was too good to be true. First of all war cabinet ministers deemed churchill to be an unrealistic romantic. Quote, it does drive me to despair when he works himself up into a passion of emotion when he ought to make his brain think and reason, halifax wrote early in the war. Some deemed churchill a tyrant in cabinet like a quote, rouge elephant. Another said, quote what he does is jump to decisions illconsidered and then say it shows weakness to recede. Anthony eden kept a diary and it its sprinkled with comments like the following quote winston wants to move all the pieces himself. And another example i find winstons dictator moods irritating. But none of churchills colleagues were some rinking violents. When churchill acted like dictator they objected and here are two sames. Quote, i think youll wish to withdraw your minute. I do not accept any finings in the third paragraph. Do not let us wound each other if we can avoid it. That was a. Z alexander writing to churchill0. Heres fredericks wilton, quote told him if he continued to make Public Comment in the strain of those he made today eh he would have to find another minister of food. He is a bully and its necessary to deal brutally with him. Then also churchill was not a good chairman of meetings. He loved the sound of his own voice. He thought that what he said was much more interesting than what anybody else said, and of course he may have been right half the time but here is edens comment one comment taken from many, quote cabinet in evening when winston spoke to us at tremendous length of all aspects of military situation. The australian Prime Minister, robert menses, who attended war Cabinet Meetings when he came to london, spoke of at those meetings, quote, the complete ignoring of time by churchill in the war cabinet makes me very cross. Then churchill rarely red the notes prepared for his guidance prior to war Cabinet Meetings. Atley took him up on this and on his tendency to pontificate and wrote him a famous letter, part of which went as follows quote. Offer hall an our or more is half an hour is wasted explaining what could have been understood by reading the paragraph. Not infrequent lay phrase catches you eye which guys right to discourse on a subject lightly connected to the subject matter. The result is long delays and long cabinetted. I consider the present condition injurious to the war effort. So its not surprising anthony eden, whom churchill designated his heir in the automatic of 1942 autumn of 1942 should anything happen to him. Dreamt of recession but eden refrained from undermining the Prime Minister during the war. The die arrives Frederick Wilton the minister of food, later minister of reconstruction revealed he toyed with the idea of mounting a challenge to churchill but never acted. Herbert more rein is so, intended to replace atley as leader ship of the labor party and if the election took place while the war was still on, which at one or two points seemed possible, that so be it. Lord beaverbook seriously considered overthrowing Winston Churchill, he good friend help took preliminary steps but never a decisive one for complicated reasons i can go into during the question period if anybody wants to pursue that. Stafford crips came closest to mounting a direct attempt at overthrow. Churchill faced and beat it and im going to conclude this talk with a brief explanation of churchill versus crips. First a little about this man. Before the war he had been an extremely successful barrister. He had a mind like a calculating member and had an astop issuing organization and he was patriot who deeply loved his country. Labor barret leader feared him because he was both effective and extremely left wing. Before the war he had advocated a popular front including communists as well as liberals and conservatives and labor members to confront fascism. The later party leader wood have nothing do with communistment and when crips would not back down the expelled him from the lab your party so crips began the war as a man without a party. He was personally peculiar. And that was to have important consequences. He did not drink for reasons of health and also because he was a puritan. He stuck to a vegetarian diet for reasons of health and because he disapproved of gluttony. He was militant socialist militant christian we can shorten that. A militant christian socialist. He did not appeal to Winston Churchill at all quote he has all the very virtues i dislike and none of the vices i admire. But churchill recognized Stafford Crips abilities and his patriotism when the war began he sent crips to russia as british ambassador. He experience of russia disillusioned Stafford Crips with soviet style communism. However, he still sympathized with aspects of Russian Foreign policy and for that reason, the British Foreign office distrusted him. Crisp felt and indeed war underutilized in russia. He wanted to return home. He thought he could make a greater contribution to the war effort there. Germany invaded russia in june 1941. Nobody nationalled the soviets could stand up to the blitzkrieg but they did in britain people felt immense guardrailitude. Quote. Thank god for russia is a frequent expression of the very deep and fervent feeling for that country which permeates wide sections of the public, the hole Intelligence Branch reported to the government. Given russia residents new found popularity start crips reaped the benefits. Quote, some day sir stafford will return from moscow wrote a journalist. He will have a great following and his sense off power will be developed fully he will be dressed in the garb of leadership and will find somewhere to go. In fact crips may already have been eyeing the top position all the way from moscow. Churchill thought he was. He told anthony eden hed let crips come home as crips wanted to do, and then, quote i will put my fist into his face. Crips returned to britain in the middle of january 1942. Many thought he had come to claim the top job. Churchill did not punch him. But he did intend to prick his bubble. He invited crips to lunch quote, well, stafford, how have you returned, friend or foe crips relied, a friendly critic oar critical friend. Churchill offered him a post in the cabinet but not the war cabinet, and crips turned it down as beneath his dignity and ability. He then gave press conference about rights so interesting about russia, so interesting one quoted that journalist forgot to take notes and burst into applause help gave an address on the bbc. The radio. About the russians heroically coping with horrific conditions, a wellinformed andwell wellchecked listener wrote the trouble in the past has been that there has been no one to replace winston. Now crips is the man. Crips popularity soared. Simultaneously churchills plummeted. For just at this moment came very bad war news. First, three damaged german warships sailed up the french coast without being discovered until it was almost too late. And many people wondered how the navy could protect england from invasion if it couldnt stop three boats sailing in plain view. Then two days later much, much worse. The fall of singapore. The japanese captured 130,000 british and imperial british soldiers three times as many as the germans had taken in france. That night wilton wrote in his diary that churchill was quote heading for a downfall. The chairman of the Parliamentary Conservative Party caucus called the 1922 committee, approached wilton, quote, theyre wondering how long churchill will last. Wilton wrote in his diary. The chairman came to see whether i had any views about succeeding him. The party wont mind having me if i would take it on but it was not lord withon wilton who worried churchill. He moved swiftly during the crisis to reorganize his cabinet and war cabinet. He was a romantic, yes but could be an efficient political butcher. He got rid over most of the remaining former advocates of appeasement. He dumped dead wood, regardless of party and ideology. By the way he dumped arthur thunder greenwood at this point. He knew he must recognize crips and he did so in a brilliant way. He appointed him lord privilegey seal and leader of the house of commons. That was enough to stop crips attempting a coupe at the moment, a coup at the moment but not enough to stop thinking about it or stop discussion it with friends. Churchill knew but he offered crips a poisoned challis and crips did not recognize it. The leader of the house concern spreads government policy to house but Stafford Crips never win to the house of commons bar because he didnt drink. He belonged belonged to know party and had no group of followers to support him which would have been the case if he was member of the labor party. Many labor m ps distrusted him and so did the vast majorities of conservatives and liberals. He was entirely unsuited for the job that churchill hat given him. In cripss first speech to the house as lead her condemned dog racing horse racing, boxing matches and quote personal extravagance together with every other form of e wastage small or large and all unnecessary expend did tour. At lunchtime the with the even though the Prime Minister was speaking. Cripps was appalled and members were rude and put their bellies ahead of their responsibilities and he said so to the house and i quote him i do not think we can conduct our proceedings there with the dignity and though weight which we should unless members are prepared to pay greater attention to their duties. The day after that the house reconvened and rose up as one to defend its honor conservative sen liberals peppered him with in then from his notes i am quoting churchill why encourage . Did it. Regretted lost opportunity for house members to express support over policy. Silent support is perhaps best part of house of commons in very good mood. Better to have left them alone. Generally effect was bad. Disagreed. They may wait until mps finished his speech. Did not worry me. The stock nosedived in churchill had a word he wanted. Cripps decided to resign but that was not part of his plan and. He fears the resignation would precipitate another crisis. On the night of September September 30th he warned him not to resign the two men argued. Cripps said churchill was doing a poor job to run the war. Over the next two days the fate of the government seem to hang in the balance. Churchill met with various advisers so did cripps. He didnt serve as a middleman. Churchill wanted to continue to take advantage of his abilities and wanted him out of the war cabinet but inside the larger cabinet we could do the work. And instructed instructed he didnt not to resign. And cripps confirmed and tertial suspicions we should all get along better without winston. The allies just mounted operation torch. With the Prime Minister did for the patriotism emhart to state to force a crisis at a matter that was so important of an operation. He promised to hold off resigning for the time being. If operation torch with bad the then everybody in the government may be resigning. If it went well the government would be popular and cripps would resign alone for pro tertial had maneuvered his opponent into excepting the following proposition. Heads you lose tales every bemuses heads cripps resigns after operation torch succeeded in and nobody even noticed. There were too busy celebrating. There was no crisis. Church children suffered reshuffled his cabinet to be the minister of aircraft production which is where he wanted him the entire time. That never again a rival to the Prime Minister. But the achievements of the war cabinets in the Prime Minister nobody else could do what he did and had the group of the highpowered men working together and in addition to Everything Else to keep eight balls in the air at once. He did it five years. But then they came crashing down this summer 1945 once the war was just about over. My book shows how little happened and why. Not only the familiar pieces inside the kaleidoscope why he lost the election at the betty shot his party would win. I have given you a glimpse of an aspect of the explanation this is not how the war cabinet is usually portrayed but the to know it serves no good purpose. Thank you very much. [applause] all questions must be asked from the microphone. To share the secret of the enigma code. [inaudible] i cannot answer that question. [laughter] not because the information is classified because although i have seen the movie i dont know the answer but i did not see in any Cabinet Meeting minutes reference to the codebreaking. But then again i dont know the answer. Here comes another one i probably cannot answer. Had a churchills three quick visits n pak the operation of the cabinet and what is your review of the timetable to show the reaction and expectations of the germans after pearl harbor hillers decision to declare war on the United States . Did you get any sense why he decided to do that . With the War Administration . The first passenger with his many trips to the United States. And not only the United States she traveled a great deal. There are a number of reasons. After one of them how to make them bleed but he also took those trips because he was greeted as a hero because in england dealing with a very difficult cabinet and of parliament to manage and deal with. He enjoyed flying and occasionally to the great terror would take over and fly the plane. [laughter] how did for cabinet ministers feel about this . Although they understood churchill was doing work nobody else could do they became a frustrated and annoyed there are many references to that of the labor party to push the programs for word and churchill is not there to take them up. And the second question about the german decision to declare war on the United States and my research did not touch on that except i have read on books on the subject but what i have read from secondary sources is that hitler was determined or had realized somehow he had to close down the pipeline of the atlantic ocean. He was not able to bomb american ships. He knew he would have to declare war on us sooner or later in that is my understanding why the germans declared war on us. That by research but by secondary sources. If i could interpret what you said meaning it was sent churchill that was so great but the threat of disaster once the threat abated it fell apart. With the abilities and is there any of their leader with whom you would compare churchill in terms of ability to navigate . Everybody and the war cabinet understood the nature of the threat. That did not stop them even before the United States and soviet union joined the war. The constant backbiting and jockey for position. In never boiled over until the threat hedys but it was always there. It did inhibit them to a degree or maybe to a large degree. However from the work i did come i did not see anybody else who could have kept this very fractious she working together the way for churchill did. The few examples a time that this speech had insulted a bunch of the mps that were anchored end complained Dan Churchill wrote a note to say you cannot do this sort of thing you cannot attack a party that is part of a coalition of which you are serving. I hear to every word i said is the equitation. Then churchill called in the conservative mps who were upset to smooth things over. The man who wanted to replace the churchill are the most important neither of them could have done it. But they came the closest to trying. I cannot imagine cripps or the board to smooth the ruffled the others 71 especially beaverbrook he hated talking to people. He like to order them around [laughter] so i came to the conclusion that Winston Churchill was not perfect. He had many faults he had objectionable ideas about race and i dont think any other man in the cabinet could do what he did. But the leader could not have been the Prime Minister by dont see another person who could have done that. Circumstances kept them from killing each other but church show played a very important role. That was a long answer. I forgot your second question. Remind me. I cannot do that one. I do not know. The other Great British wartime leader is boy george world war i to pay a significant role as churchill did for world war ii. They are as different as apples and oranges. Who else could speak like churchill . What about roosevelt . I am a british historian. [laughter] i understand he was a great president and wartime leader neece seems to be a completely different personality. But i am not minimizing roosevelt. Believe me. One more question. What about these conflicts in his cabinet were they Common Knowledge . But what about when churchill was a way . Who made decisions . There was lots of rumor in the newspapers. We spend a lot of time. These men were surprisingly select about who they were but it was kept within the closed circle to say everybody is rotten except for me or churchill. Is not eating it would be somebody else. That was the first part. What are the second parts . The deputy Prime Minister was the leader of the labor party was in charge when churchill went on his trips when he was in charge of the Cabinet Meetings they were faster and efficient and more smoothly thank you very much indeed. [applause] tonight is the first night his book is for sale. 25 off. What a great night. Thank you for coming. [applause] i have had some good reads this summer. The leather dash happened are had the privilege to meet of followup a former apollo astronaut she gave an autographed copy of his book called last man on the moon a very good read i am not through with the yen but he made a couple of trips to the moon first was a politician when he circled the moon one of the first to do so
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