Lecture to the Churchill Society of New Orleans,
Windsor Court Hotel, November 30, 2006
Winston S. Churchill and the Cold War, 1945-1955:
In Search of Summitry and Détente with the Kremlin
Günter Bischof, University of New Orleans
Next to the dictators Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong, the democratic politicians Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Charles DeGaulle and Konrad Adenauer were arguably giants among 20th century leaders. This suggests that we tend to value the leaders and peacemakers of the World War II era even more highly than the leadership of the Great War.
Even though the legacies of World War I changed the international arena as profoundly as did World War II, Woodrow Wilson, Lloyd George and Georges Clemenceau were less successful in shaping a peaceful world. Moreover, the Russian Czar, the German Kaiser and the Habsburg Emperor lost their empires while the former predominance of European royalty in world affairs began to fade into the past.
Among all these giants, Churchill may well be the most colorful figure. Stalin (1926-53) and Mao (1949-76) wielded their dictatorial powers for 27 years, Adenauer (1949-63) for 14 years, Roosevelt (1933-45), de Gaulle (1945, 1958-69) and Hitler (1933-45) governed the fate of their nations for 12 years; Churchill (1940-45, 1951-55) governed his for a “mere” 9. Yet governing beyond the age of 80 and hanging to be 90, Churchill lived the longest and most productive life of them all.
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