How effective a leader was Winston Churchill or Josef Stalin during World War II?
#625Lab – History. You may also like: Leaving Cert History Guide (€). Credit: Ellis Byrne.
Feedback: This is a good essay, it directly answers the question and is a good length. There is lots of relevant factual information included, and your use of quotation is very good. Your introduction and conclusion are good lengths and bookend the essay well. However, you are a bit short on paragraphs. You have 8 paragraphs, and if you were to score a good mark of 7 on each of your main body paragraphs, and maybe 4 or 5 on the shorter intro and conclusion, then you would only have a maximum of 52 out of 60 cumulative marks. If you could get one more paragraph out of this question, you’d have a better chance of getting the maximum amount of cumulative marks. You should also avoid using words like “probably”, as it makes you seem unsure of what you’re writing. Similarly, words like “brilliant” are a bit too subjective in nature to use in a history essay, I’d suggest changing this to “strong”. Otherwise, this is a very good essay! It would likely score in the high 80s.
Winston Churchill took over the role of British Prime Minister from Neville Chamberlain in 1940, after the failure of the Munich Agreement. He was a very effective leader in a variety of different ways. His famous speeches were excellent in raising and maintaining morale in Britain during the war. His military policies were effective in assassination and kidnapping key Nazi leaders in foreign countries. As well as that, the British economy boomed under him. Churchill was a very effective leader during WW2, which is probably why he was re-elected into the office of PM in 1951.
Churchill’s speeches were, and still are, famous for their effectiveness in raising morale in people. When taking office in 1940, he gave a rousing speech about fighting the Nazi’s. He said, “We will fight them on the beaches, on the landing grounds, everywhere. We will fight and we will win.” This was excellent and very effective in raising morale in Britain at the start of the war. His other speeches were also effective, like the one he gave during the Blitz. After a particularly heavy night of bombing, on cities like Manchester and London, and fighting between the RAF and Luftwaffe, Churchill gave a speech. He praised the RAF pilots saying, “Never in the field of human history was so much owed by so many to so few.” These speeches are immortal and are still relied on today to raise morale in England. This shows that Churchill was an effective leader as he maintained public support for his office, as well as keeping morale high in England.
His personality, especially his optimistic view, was also effective during the war to raise morale. While at a party in 1943, a woman said he was a drunkard and a fool. Churchill’s response was, “Madam, I may be drunk but tomorrow I will be sober and you will still be ugly.” Newspaper printed this interaction and morale was raised. Churchill was brilliantly effective as a leader by raising the morale of his people. He was also famous for his V for Victory sign, which became a sign of hope for the British people, keeping them happy. This is a fine example of Churchill’s effective leadership skills, as his jovial personality was used to keep a sense of in the country. If the Prime Minister was seen laughing and joking, surely it was going to be alright.
His military polices were also effective, as they were instrumental in toppling Nazi occupation in foreign countries. He set up the SOE, Special Operations Executive, in 1940 to handle in assassinations and kidnapping of Nazi leaders. This can be seen in the assassination of Reinahrd Heydrich in 1942, in Prague in the Nazi occupied Czech Republic. The SOE sent two of their operatives to assassinate Heydrich while he travelled in his open top car around Prague. The initial assassination with a Sten Gun failed but they were able to detonate a homemade grenade at the general’s car. Heydrich, known as the Architect of the Holocaust, died later in hospital, after a piece of horse hair in the damaged car upholster entered his body. Hitler in response massacred all men over the age of 16 in the small town of Lidice, north of Prague. The operatives took their own lives in a church, when surrounded by Nazi soldiers. This was a key assassination under Churchill, as it was very effective in reducing the progress of the Holocaust. There was also the kidnapping of General Crepe on the Creite islands. He was a high ranking officer who was kidnaped by SOE Operative Paddy Leigh Fermor, which as effective as it reduced Nazi presence on that island. These operations are fine examples of Churchill’s leadership skills, as it helped topple Nazi occupied countries, helping the war effort.
Before becoming PM, Churchill was the Chancellor of Exchequer in England. This would go to explain how effective he was in boosting the British economy. While during the War, the British economy was boosted. Despite the cities being damaged by the German bombing, the industry of Britain, including Northern Ireland, boomed. Shipyards of Harvard and Wolfe were instrumental in building ships and munitions factories provided employment for many people. Unemployment levels dropped, as come 1944 the British Army had swelled to 2,700,000. They did this for a few reasons. There was the fact that military veterans got a pension upon their return, as well as the fact that it was mainly male ego which made a lot of man enrol. These were both improved by Churchill, who relied on propaganda posters to infatuate young men with the army and he increased the pensions. This showed that Churchill was an effective leader as he was able to maintain a steady stream of soldiers, for the likes of extensive operations like Operation Overlord, also known as the D-Day Landings.
The damage that the cities of London received meant that during the war, Churchill was effectively able to provide employment in construction. Many Irish people were enticed to England due to the fact that work was available with cheap labour, with such men as Sir Robert McAlpine. His workers built roads and pubs in the damaged cities, and became known as “The McAlpine Fusiliers.” Churchill did this, as he was a close friend with McAlpine and encouraged Irish men to come to England to work in construction. He said, “Put a Paddy behind a mixer and he’ll fix anything.” Again, Churchill was an effective leader in terms of economy, as it boomed under his rule. This shows that Churchill was an effective leader as he was able to optimise the damage done to his country to provide employment.
He was also a caring leader in WW2, working in tandem with the people, which proved to be effective. He was known to take Tube trains to work, sitting in the poor carriages with the people. He also set up many groups such as Dad’s Army, to keep the people safe and secure. Dad’s Army was composed of WW1 soldiers who were too old to fight but still wanted to help their country. Also known as the Home Guard, this was a brilliant move by Churchill. Not only did it provide employment, but it also kept morale high in the rural parts of the country. They were known to do public training drills and sing their song while marching. These lyrics included, “We’ll sell them Blighty, yard by yard, they’ll buy it from the old Home Guard.” He ensured that all children were evacuated from cities at risk of bombing and made sure that they were sent to the countryside. Air Raid Wardens patrolled the skies at night with spotlights and strict blackouts were enforced. There were all done to keep the English people safe from the German enemy. Churchill was very effective in looking after the English people and making sure they were safe and calm. He made sure that Anderson Huts were installed in every garden. He also made sure that when people were trapped in the Tube tunnel during an air raid, electricity, water and blankets were available to them. This is another example of his great leadership, as it minimised civilian casualties as well as keeping morale high.
In conclusion, Winston Churchill was a brilliant leader during WW2. He had his failures, such as the Siege of Gallipoli, which resulted in the deaths of 20,00 soldiers, including 2,700 Irish. But he was also effective in gaining international allies, such as Woodrow Wilson of USA. He wasn’t afraid to fight when he had to, such as can be seen when he remarked about Stalin during the Yalta Conference, “Such a small and angry man I have never before met.” He is an immortal person, because of his excellent leadership skills.