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Winston Churchill II

The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965

Four brief passages from the Manchester/Reid book. The italicized  materials below are each taken from pp. 506-07.

"It was over India and empire that Churchill and Roosevelt had their first serious political argument. Roosevelt presumed he could speak frankly to Churchill on most matters, including -- and mistakenly -- India. Churchill, out of politeness, kept Roosevelt abreast of Cripp's progress, or lack thereof."

Stafford Cripps, in the spring of 1942 the most prominent member of the Labour Party in the War Cabinet, had gone to India to attempt to negotiate an understanding with the nationalist leaders, in particular Gandhi, by offering them semi-independent for India after the war if they would assist in the resistence to Japan in the meantime. It wasn't going well. But back to the book:

"When the talks broke down, Roosevelt blamed Churchill, in the most frank terms. The two men had very different long-term objectives. Beyond the defeat of Hitler, Churchill wanted above all to preserve the British Empire, including of course India, a goal that was anathema to Roosevelt, a devout anti-imperialist."

Roosevelt's letter to Churchill on this point, hand-delivered by Harry Hopkins, said: "The feeling is almost universally held here that the deadlock has been caused by the unwillingess of the British government to concede to the Indians the right of self-govermment. I feel I must place this issue before you very frankly, and I know you will understand my reasons for so doing."

Churchill was not happy.

Upon reading the message Churchill unleashed a barrage of curses that echoed throughout the great house. After regaining (some) of his composure, he voiced his long-held belief that any imposition of political will by the [majority] Hindus upon one hundred million India Muslims would result in a total breakdown of order, and large-scale bloodshed, and this at the very moment the Japanese were waiting in the wings, with Gandhi and his 'Quit India' cohorts ready to accept the enemy peacefully, thereby easing a Japanese passage to the Middle East.

Perhaps next week I will explain why I think this passage in the book is important enough to single out here.
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