Winston Churchill and a United Europe

Winston Churchill, was earlier in his life been a British army officer, he was also a reporter during the war. He was later to be the Prime Minister of Britain from 1940 to 1945 and later from 1951 to 1955. Winston Churchill was among the first people who called for the creation of the United States of Europe. After the experiences during the Second World War, Churchill was convinced it was necessary for there to be a united Europe which would work in ensuring that it guarantee's peace to all those who live in Europe (Parker and Barnett, 2002). His goal for calling for a united Europe was to unsure that they eliminated all the ills in European that were in regards to nationalism and the war mongering completely.

Winston Churchill had all along insisted on the surrender of Hitler prior to the Second World War and he had been very critical of Chamberlain's tendency of appeasement towards Nazi Germany. He had warned of a Cold War in Europe saying that an iron curtain had befallen the continent. Basing his ideas on his extensive political exposure in United Kingdom then, as a war correspondence in military service then being elected to the House of Commons for the Conservative Party, he had learnt a lot and had ideas on how to conquer Germany and any other foreign forces that may have looked into challenging the UK in any way (Eder and Roberts, 2010). Being the patriot that he was, his country's welfare came first and he was always in the front line to protect his country in all ways. He was a great spokesman and this came in handy when he wanted to pass any messages across since he was very articulate in his speech. He was also a great Historian and author and has many books to his name.

Churchill held a series of ministerial posts and was the Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1924 through to 1929.He became the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense on all party coalition when Neville Chamberlain resigned.

Churchill enjoyed privileged access to state documents even in retirement, for which he used the information in the documents to write his books which became very popular and sold in the thousands. Book sales generated a lot of money for Churchill. He had made a deal with the government that the History research fellows he used be allowed access to the state documents but he would not print any information that would jeopardize the country or leadership of the country (Rasor, 2000). His books were thus very up to date and made excellent sales numbers both in his home country Britain and in the United States and made him a very rich man. He had a lot of personal knowledge which gave him an edge over other Second World War Historians for many years. Only after his death and following opening of the government archives did the deficiencies of his work finally come to light.

Churchill advocated for the building of a kind of United States of Europe in the early post war era, in 1946, based on the close dealings between Germany and France but not including his native country, United Kingdom. He then prepared Britain to fight alone against Germany whilst building very close relations and bonds with the United States of America thus securing both economic and military aid from that country. He said that having a United Europe would bring hundreds of millions of toilers together and help them regain simple joys and hopes which were the basics to a life worth living. He however never gave a concrete reason as to why he objected to the inclusion of Britain in the United Europe. He went on to comment in the American Journal that a European Union was viable and possible between continental states but with the exclusion of Britain. He had all along held an isolationist attitude towards continental Europe. He said that there was hope for Europe with the commonality of a united force but Britain had a different dream and task to fulfill, Britain was with Europe but was none of it. He also said that Britain was interested but would not let itself be absorbed by a United Europe.

Churchill took a more cautious stand to the idea of a European integration than the federalist approach taken by the larger continent. The Federalists rallied for full integration with a constitution while the United European Movement advocated for a consultative body. The Congress of Europe managed to form a European Court of Human Rights which predated the European Union.

According to the European union website, it states that in one of his speech he stated that 'Speech to the academic youth' held at the University of Zurich in 1946: "There is a remedy which ... would in a few years make all Europe ... free and ... happy. It is to re-create the European family, or as much of it as we can, and to provide it with a structure under which it can dwell in peace, in safety and in freedom. We must build a kind of United States of Europe."

Winston Churchill was a noble man, a renowned politician and Statesman in United Kingdom. Among his many feats was his unrelenting effort to defeat Nazi Germany and protect Britain from the effects of the World War. Sir Winston Churchill was also a winner as he had been awarded for his work as a writer and a painter the Nobel Prize Literature in 1953. Therefore the gentleman who used to be a driving force in the anti-Hitler coalition after the war, he turned to be one of those who were actively fighting for the cause of Europe.