Had Churchill Become British Prime Minister In 1930, Would The British Empire Have Survived?
Just asking…
The first world war was a costly and ruinous enterprise.
None of the major European powers which went in battle with the other, gave any thought to the extreme consequences which the aftermath of the war would have on its currencies.
In abandoning the gold standard to bring the Serbians and Germans to heel, the British pound, French Francs, Italian Lira took a massive hit from which it never quite recovered.
Even though huge indemnities were imposed on the vanquished nation—Germany — it didn’t necessarily have any positive effect on the currencies of the victors.
And when the Chancellor of the Exchequer, made the decision to take the United Kingdom back to the gold standard in 1924, in the anticipation that things would go back to the way that it was before the war, had his hopes dashed, with one economic crisis after the other, which essentially destroyed his credibility.
And who was this individual?
Winston Churchill.
While it is absolutely imperative not to whitewash the very many negatives in Churchill’s long political career, we must ask some questions, however uncomfortable.