The Greatest Statesmen of all time

Scroll to see replies

That'd be Napolean probably.

Napolean, FDR, Churchill, Gandhi, areall decent contenders

I'd probably say Charlemagne.

Both Churchill and Gandhi have been far too mythologised and deified since their deaths, to the extent that their actual contribution to history has been distorted beyond recognition.

The importance of those stirring speeches for which Churchill is now best known has been grossly overstated, for one thing. Against the popular view that these orations roused the nation and galvanised wartime morale, many were not even broadcast ('We shall fight them on the beaches' was made in the House of Commons for instance), those that were broadcast were largely received poorly, and the famous 'Finest Hour' speech was met with outrage and bewilderment at Churchill's apparent drunkenness.

Churchill's actual political views on the other hand were about a century out of date. He was a fervent imperialist (even when, during his wartime administration, the British Empire was in its death throes) and his intransigence on this issue was a major barrier to a peaceful transition to Indian independence. His regressive attitudes here are widely accepted by historians to be a root cause of the political and social strife of the India-Pakistan partition that followed independence, and the animosity that persists in that region to today. This sort of blinkered political vision, the inability to sense the changing direction of the tide, isn't the hallmark of a great statesman imo.

As well, Churchill was an ardent elitist, who showed himself in the 1955 election campaign to be either completely ignorent of or completely indifferent to the hardship that British people had endured during the war. He was booed and harried throughout much of his election campaign, but still remained aloof to the grievances of ordinary people. When comparisons are drawn with Attlee's personable disposition and his vision for a welfare state, Churchill's enormous defeat shouldn't be a matter of surprise. Again, such obstinate shortsightedness is a significant weakness in a statesman.

Gandhi in fact possessed similarly backward views - ones that, had they gained traction post-independence, would have stifled India's development into a modern nation and made it an anachronism in the modern world. He wanted India to revert to a primitive "spiritual" society based, practically, on cottage industry, a state of affairs that would have led to the starvation of millions had his advice been taken at all seriously.

His pacifism - possibly his greatest trait - often showed itself to be dogmatic to the point of intoxication. When in 1942 the Japanese army, having conquered Burma and Malaya, were threatening to invade India, instead of attempting to foster national solidarity and a unity of interests with Britain he chose this moment to boycott politics altogether and call for Britain to leave India "to God or to anarchy" (which in reality meant the same thing). Hardly the resolve of a great statesman I would argue. In a period of its history when India most needed a modern, rational leader to unite its various factions, India got a rhapsodising fakir instead.

The Greatest Statesmen of all time

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you