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Was Churchill Overrated?

Fusion

You might be surprised by some of the stuff he said.

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Reply 1

Hermóðr

Vastly.

The almost unanimous praise that this war criminal is afforded by the British media makes me sick.

Reply 2

@Sam

Look at the sort of people that get that level of respect in the modern day from the everyday public, nothing that they have done could even stand up to what he did and really what he really did do to inspire them in the dark days of war it’s hard for us to appreciate as we have not had such context. On the basis of his decisions alone yes he probably is overrated to some degree, but even then his worst failures have often come about to be successful i.e. the Dardanelles campaign and its impact on the culture of countries like Australia and New Zealand, overall he gave people the willingness to continue on with their lives and responsibilities. That cannot be underated.

Reply 3

Michael Locke

He certainly was overrated (and history tends to gloss over his more odious views) but he was an excellent orator and I don't think anyone can fault his resolve during WWII.

Reply 4

Aspiringlawstudent

Except no, not really :fatcontroller:

He was a racist.

Original post by The Marshall

He was a racist.

That is an anachronism. You have to view him in the context of his own age.

Reply 7

gladders

Depends what you mean.

If you mean, 'he wasn't that good at commanding the armed forces on a strategic level', I think he has a mixed record. But then I think he was the best of a bad lot. Two decades of pacifism had sapped Britain's fighting capabilities.

If you mean, 'Churchill was racist, imperialist, and bombed natives', then again, mixed record. He was a product of his times, and to judge him by modern values is incredibly stupid.

If you mean, 'Churchill didn't like common people', then no, I disagree. He was a Liberal cabinet minister before the war and instrumental in pushing through the People's Budget and destroying the veto power of the House of Lords.

If you mean, 'Churchill wasn't a great war leader', then again, I disagree. He was proved right over Hitler's threat, at a time when it was unpopular to say so. He was a great orator and extremely proud of Parliament. He was able to keep the spirits of the country up, and despite being made a virtual dictator by the House of Commons, he refrained from using his powers to the full out of respect of his beloved Parliament.

No.

Original post by Iron Lady

No.

Well isn't that ironic. Haha.

Reply 10

james22

He was a very good figure for people to get behind during the war, whatever you think of his decision making you cannot say he didn't inspire people.

Reply 11

sorafdfs

Yes, considering most people overlook the fact he was apparently bipolar and just got pissed every morning throughout the war.

Reply 12

Howbeit

I always viewed him as a great man of his age and a great leader. I don't think he is overrated.

Reply 13

kingsholmmad

Original post by Fusion

You might be surprised by some of the stuff he said.

Was he overrated? This country has a great deal of which to be proud. Churchill was unquestionably in the top ten individuals who created that pride and its causes. By today's standards you could probably say he was a sexist, racist, misogynist alcoholic. He's not living today. He was living at a time when this country desperately needed someone like him and he did what was needed brilliantly.

Yes, he probably is overrated but I'd be interested to hear who you would rate more highly than him. And why.

Reply 14

username782284

I think it's fairly telling that the electorate kicked him out at the earliest opportunity following the war.

Reply 15

SpiggyTopes

Original post by The Marshall

He was a racist.

He set up the Court of Human rights which treated everybody with equality.

Reply 16

Electric_Dynamo

He may well have been over rated in the sense of tactics/planning but thats why he had a vast team around him to advise him accordingly. His oratory skills were second to none and the will to keep fighting on was paramount for national sentiment. He got the nation to keep going through the darkest days in his speeches. I shudder to think what we would be today, if the morale had collasped.