Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer
1874-1965, British statesman(estadista), soldier, and author; son of Lord
Randolph Churchill. |
1. Early Career.
Educated at Harrow and Sandhurst, he became(se convirtió)
(1894) an officer in the 4th hussars. On leave(de
permiso) in 1895, he saw his first military action in Cuba as a
reporter for London's Daily Graphic. He served in India and in 1898
fought(combatió) at Omdurman in Sudan under Kitchener.
Having resigned(renunciado) his commission(nombramiento,
graduación, servicio), he was sent (1899) to cover the South
African War by the Morning Post, and his accounts(informes)
of his capture and imprisonment(encarcelamiento) by the
Boers and his escape raised him(llevó, erigió) to
the forefront(vanguardia) of English journalists(periodistas).
2. Political Career.Early Government Posts
Churchill was elected to Parliament as a Conservative in 1900, but he
subsequently switched to(se pasó a) the Liberal
party and was appointed(nombrado) undersecretary(subsecretario)
for the colonies in the cabinet(gabinete) of Sir Henry
Campbell-Bannerman. Under Asquith, he was initially (1908-10) president of
the Board of Trade(Cámara de Comercio), then
home secretary(Ministro del Interior) (1910-11), and
championed(defendió, lideró) innovative labor exchange and
old-age pension(pensión de jubilados) acts. As
first lord of the admiralty(Ministro de la Marina)
(1911), he presided over the naval expansion that preceded World War I.
Discredited(desacreditado) by the failure(fracaso)
of the Dardanelles expedition, which he had championed(liderado),
Churchill lost (1915) his admiralty post(trabajo de almirantazgo)
and served on the front lines in France. Returning to office under Lloyd
George, he served as minister of munitions (1917) and secretary of state for
war and for air (1918-21). As colonial secretary (1921-22), he helped
negotiate the treaty that set up(estableció) the Irish
Free State(estado libre irlandés).
After two defeats(derrotas) at the polls(votaciones,
urnas) he returned to the House of Commons(Cámara de los
Comunes), as a Constitutionalist, and became (1924-29)
chancellor of the exchequer(~Ministro de Economía) in
Stanley Baldwin's Conservative government. As an advocate of laissez-faire
economics, he was strongly criticized by John Maynard Keynes . Churchill was
not a financial innovator(innovador financiero); he
basically followed conventional advice(consejo) from his
colleagues. Nevertheless(no obstante), Churchill's
decision to return the country to the prewar gold standard increased
unemployment(desempleo) and was a cause of the general
strike(huelga general) of 1926. He advocated(abogó
por, fue partidario de) aggressive action to end the strike, and
thus earned(se gano) the lasting distrust(larga,
duradera desconfianza) of the labor(sindicato,
trabajadores, laboristas) movement.
World War II
Out of office from 1929 to 1939, Churchill wrote and remained in the
public eye(fue objeto del interés público) with his
support for Edward VIII in the abdication crisis of 1936 and with his
vehement opposition to the Indian nationalist movement. He also issued
warnings(emitió advertencias) of the threat(amenaza)
from Nazi Germany that went unheeded(que fueron desatendidas),
in part because of his past political and military misjudgments(juicios,
decisiones erróneas). When World War II broke out(estalló)
(Sept., 1939), Neville Chamberlain appointed(nombró) him
first lord of the admiralty(Ministro de la Marina).
The following May, when Chamberlain was forced to resign(fue
obligado a dimitir), Churchill became(se convirtió en)
prime minister.
Churchill was one of the truly great orators(grandes oradores);
his energy and his stubborn public refusal(rechazo público y
decidido) to make peace until Adolf Hitler was crushed(aplastado)
were crucial in rallying(concentrar, reunir) and
maintaining British resistance to Germany during the grim years(desalentadores,
sombríos años) from 1940 to 1942. He met President Franklin
Roosevelt at sea (see Atlantic Charter ) before the entry of the United
States into the war, twice(dos veces) addressed(dirigió)
the U.S. Congress (Dec., 1941; May, 1942), twice went to Moscow (Aug., 1942;
May, 1944), visited battle fronts, and attended a long series of
international conferences (see Casablanca Conference ; Quebec Conference ;
Cairo Conference ; Tehran Conference ; Yalta Conference ; Potsdam Conference
). |