In this lecture, Dr. Alan Allport of Syracuse University, discusses World War II’s critical first years and how the United Kingdom’s strategic and political decisions impacted the outcome of the war.
Just a small thank you: you noticed that you have an audience online. Over the years, your online audience for this single hour will e much larger than the number of people actually in the room. That probably means we're worth a it of editing, e.g. to cut out announcements that are only relevant locally. Of course this is an *occasion* for the people who are there in person, so they come first, in a sense. But thanks for noticing the rest of us, too.
The problem is that the 'rearmament' wasn't actually done that well. Sure after 1935 they slightly increased funding but from a incredibly low bases. Compared to the massive investments going on in Germany, Soviet Union and Japan it was not comparable. In reality only after Hitler invaded Prague did Britain actually start a serious 'rearmament' policy.
Allport mentions that Churchill was the grandson of the Duke of Marlborough. But before WW1, Churchill had campaigned aggressively against the House of Lords. He used bold and even demagogic rhetoric to attack the power of the aristocratic landowners that Allport implies Churchill wanted to preserve. For this reason among others, Churchill was widely disliked by the Establishment, which regarded him as reckless, destructive, and a traitor to his own class.
I'll also mention that it had for generations been tradition that former Prime Ministers, upon leaving that office, would be offered an earldom by the Sovereign as a reward for service. Churchill was offered an even greater honor - of being duke - on two separate occasions, and turned it down. Meanwhile Attlee, despite being a socialist, accepted an earldom, as did Asquith, who had bitterly fought to break the power of the Lords.
