Schools to teach the whole truth about Churchill and not just the “hero” of Britain.
Schools to teach the whole truth about Churchill and not just the “hero” of Britain.
The Issue
In school we are taught that Hitler was an incredible politician and leader, however was a horrible human who led a genocide and started WWII. Churchill however is taught to be a hero through and through. Education should show the full rounded out version of Churchill!
Growing up I was taught that the war was won for us by Winston Churchill and branded him as a hero. I was also taught that Hitler was a racist, fascist who began the second world war. As I grew older and was taught more in history about WWII, I learnt that for Germany, Hitler was an incredible politician and a strong leader who led Germany into economic success with increasingly low unemployment rates etc but that was undeniably outweighed by his disgusting character and genocide. However, Churchill was not touched upon anymore, he stayed a war hero to us. In the last couple of years I have learnt that he was actually a horrible person himself and was extremely in support of white supremacy, until now I excused it, but I recently saw a lot of twitter threads about Churchill’s crimes and decided to do some research into fact-checking and gathering sources. I believe that from now on, pupils should learn of Churchill’s efforts for us in the war, but also of his disgusting crimes so we do not blindly follow him but learn to see him as a deeply flawed human.
When in Afghanistan, he said - “After today we begin to burn villages. Every one. And all who resist will be killed without quarter. The Mohmands need a lesson, and there is no doubt we are a very cruel people.” And the reason for this action being as vital as it was being that they “recognise superiority of race”. (1) He gladly took part in raids that laid waste to whole valleys, destroying houses, and burning crops.
In 1944, Churchill ordered the massacre of anti-Nazi protestors and supported the new right-wing government and Nazi collaborators. 28 civilians were killed and many more injured – many of whom had fought to get rid of Nazi invasion.(2)
Whilst home secretary in 1910, the suffragettes, consisting of 300 women attempted to enter parliament to argue for their rights. Churchill helped cover up the evidence of police brutality and serious physical assaults on the day that has been coined ‘black Friday’. This use of extreme force on what had previously been peaceful protests led to the suffragettes turning to riots to fight for their cause. (3) A similar cycle is being repeated today… we need to learn from our history - not repeat it.
Churchill wrote that he was concerned Cuba would turn in to “another black republic” in 1896. By “another” he was referring to Haiti which was the first nation in modern times to abolish slavery.(4) he stated that “A grave danger represents itself. Two-fifths of the insurgents in the field are n*****s.”(5)
He supported concentration camps in South Africa, for white Boers, he said they produced “the minimum of suffering”. The death toll was almost 28,000, and when at least 115,000 black Africans were likewise swept into British camps, where 14,000 died, he wrote only of his “irritation that Kaffirs should be allowed to fire on white men”. Later, he boasted of his experiences there “It was great fun galloping about.”(6)
He said in 1921 that Ibn Saud’s followers “hold it as an article of duty, as well as faith, to kill all who do not share their opinions and to make slaves of their wives and children” He then wrote that his “admiration for Ibn Saud was deep, because of his unfailing loyalty”(7)
After British troops in Iraq clashed with Kurdish rebels, Churchill authorised two squadrons to the area, proposing that they be equipped with mustard gas to use against the rebels. "I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes"(8) He also described the Arabs as a "lower manifestation of humanity" than the Jews who he treated a "higher grade race" compared to the "great hordes of Islam"(9)
He spoke of Indians as "a beastly people with a beastly religion"(10) He continued to insist that exported rice to fuel the war effort bypass India. "ordered the build-up of a stockpile of wheat for feeding European civilians after they had been liberated. So, 170,000 tons of Australian wheat bypassed starving India - destined not for consumption but for storage” He then went on to blame the famine which killed 3 million people because the Indians "breed like rabbits".(11)
Winston Churchill believed that the Egyptians were an inferior and essentially cowardly people.(12) he stated that “If we have any more of [Egyptian] cheek we will set the Jews on them and drive them into the gutter from which they should never have emerged.”(13)
In 1951, Churchill moved kenyan’s into ‘enclosed villages’ (concentration camps) so that white colonial settlers could have the fertile land that they lived on. Hundreds of thousands were beaten or sexually assaulted to extract information about the Mau Mau threat. Later, prisoners suffered even worse mistreatment to force them to renounce their allegiance to the insurgency and to obey commands. Prisoners were questioned with the help of "slicing off ears, boring holes in eardrums, flogging until death, pouring paraffin over suspects who were then set alight, and burning eardrums with lit cigarettes". Castration by British troops and denying access to medical aid to the detainees were also widespread and common.(14) 150,000 rebellious Kikuyu “blackamoors” were placed into these villages.(15)
In 1937, he told the Palestine Royal Commission: "I do not admit for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race, a more worldly wise race to put it that way, has come in and taken their place."(16)
Churchill played a large part in the loss of polish territories to the soviet union by repeatedly not informing the Polish government of his meetings with Stalin leading to troops who had fought for the British army to permanently lose their homes – directly causing immense pain and suffering and the suicides of at least 30 soldiers.(17)
Churchill actually had great admiration for Hitler, he praised “the courage, perseverance and the vital force which enabled him to overcome all the resistances which barred his path”(18) His Brutal mistreatment of India led to the British secretary of state in India to write "on the subject of India, Winston is not quite sane" and that he did not "see much difference between [Churchill's] outlook and Hitler’s".(19)
Churchill’s war efforts though valiant, were not against the fascist Nazi state, they were against the threat to his empire which he fought strongly to maintain.
Stalin was quite instrumental in the liberation of many European countries however he murdered millions of people and so his atrocities outweigh his good and he is as a result he is known for his acts.(20) Why, just because he led us to the win in the war, is Churchill any different? The double standards need to be dropped.
It is racist to exonerate/belittle racism for what he did because he is a war hero – Teach both sides of this man!
1. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/10022399/How-Winston-Churchill-got-his-taste-for-war.html
2. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/30/athens-1944-britains-dirty-secret
3. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/feb/06/1910s-suffragettes-suffragists-fern-riddell
4. https://medium.com/@write_12958/the-crimes-of-winston-churchill-c5e3ecb229b3
13. https://richardlangworth.com/egyptians
14. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/jul/05/highereducation.news1
Caroline Elkins (2005). Britain's gulag: the brutal end of empire in Kenya. Pimlico. pp. 124–145.
15. http://www.citizens-international.org/ci2017/2015/02/06/winston-churchill-the-imperial-monster/
16. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29701767
17. http://arno.daastol.com/books/Wittmer,%20THE%20YALTA%20BETRAYAL%20(1953).pdf
19. The Empire at Bay. The Leo Amery Diaries. 1929–1945. Hutchinson.
20. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/21/stain-and-the-fate-of-europe-norman-m-naimark
103
The Issue
In school we are taught that Hitler was an incredible politician and leader, however was a horrible human who led a genocide and started WWII. Churchill however is taught to be a hero through and through. Education should show the full rounded out version of Churchill!
Growing up I was taught that the war was won for us by Winston Churchill and branded him as a hero. I was also taught that Hitler was a racist, fascist who began the second world war. As I grew older and was taught more in history about WWII, I learnt that for Germany, Hitler was an incredible politician and a strong leader who led Germany into economic success with increasingly low unemployment rates etc but that was undeniably outweighed by his disgusting character and genocide. However, Churchill was not touched upon anymore, he stayed a war hero to us. In the last couple of years I have learnt that he was actually a horrible person himself and was extremely in support of white supremacy, until now I excused it, but I recently saw a lot of twitter threads about Churchill’s crimes and decided to do some research into fact-checking and gathering sources. I believe that from now on, pupils should learn of Churchill’s efforts for us in the war, but also of his disgusting crimes so we do not blindly follow him but learn to see him as a deeply flawed human.
When in Afghanistan, he said - “After today we begin to burn villages. Every one. And all who resist will be killed without quarter. The Mohmands need a lesson, and there is no doubt we are a very cruel people.” And the reason for this action being as vital as it was being that they “recognise superiority of race”. (1) He gladly took part in raids that laid waste to whole valleys, destroying houses, and burning crops.
In 1944, Churchill ordered the massacre of anti-Nazi protestors and supported the new right-wing government and Nazi collaborators. 28 civilians were killed and many more injured – many of whom had fought to get rid of Nazi invasion.(2)
Whilst home secretary in 1910, the suffragettes, consisting of 300 women attempted to enter parliament to argue for their rights. Churchill helped cover up the evidence of police brutality and serious physical assaults on the day that has been coined ‘black Friday’. This use of extreme force on what had previously been peaceful protests led to the suffragettes turning to riots to fight for their cause. (3) A similar cycle is being repeated today… we need to learn from our history - not repeat it.
Churchill wrote that he was concerned Cuba would turn in to “another black republic” in 1896. By “another” he was referring to Haiti which was the first nation in modern times to abolish slavery.(4) he stated that “A grave danger represents itself. Two-fifths of the insurgents in the field are n*****s.”(5)
He supported concentration camps in South Africa, for white Boers, he said they produced “the minimum of suffering”. The death toll was almost 28,000, and when at least 115,000 black Africans were likewise swept into British camps, where 14,000 died, he wrote only of his “irritation that Kaffirs should be allowed to fire on white men”. Later, he boasted of his experiences there “It was great fun galloping about.”(6)
He said in 1921 that Ibn Saud’s followers “hold it as an article of duty, as well as faith, to kill all who do not share their opinions and to make slaves of their wives and children” He then wrote that his “admiration for Ibn Saud was deep, because of his unfailing loyalty”(7)
After British troops in Iraq clashed with Kurdish rebels, Churchill authorised two squadrons to the area, proposing that they be equipped with mustard gas to use against the rebels. "I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes"(8) He also described the Arabs as a "lower manifestation of humanity" than the Jews who he treated a "higher grade race" compared to the "great hordes of Islam"(9)
He spoke of Indians as "a beastly people with a beastly religion"(10) He continued to insist that exported rice to fuel the war effort bypass India. "ordered the build-up of a stockpile of wheat for feeding European civilians after they had been liberated. So, 170,000 tons of Australian wheat bypassed starving India - destined not for consumption but for storage” He then went on to blame the famine which killed 3 million people because the Indians "breed like rabbits".(11)
Winston Churchill believed that the Egyptians were an inferior and essentially cowardly people.(12) he stated that “If we have any more of [Egyptian] cheek we will set the Jews on them and drive them into the gutter from which they should never have emerged.”(13)
In 1951, Churchill moved kenyan’s into ‘enclosed villages’ (concentration camps) so that white colonial settlers could have the fertile land that they lived on. Hundreds of thousands were beaten or sexually assaulted to extract information about the Mau Mau threat. Later, prisoners suffered even worse mistreatment to force them to renounce their allegiance to the insurgency and to obey commands. Prisoners were questioned with the help of "slicing off ears, boring holes in eardrums, flogging until death, pouring paraffin over suspects who were then set alight, and burning eardrums with lit cigarettes". Castration by British troops and denying access to medical aid to the detainees were also widespread and common.(14) 150,000 rebellious Kikuyu “blackamoors” were placed into these villages.(15)
In 1937, he told the Palestine Royal Commission: "I do not admit for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race, a more worldly wise race to put it that way, has come in and taken their place."(16)
Churchill played a large part in the loss of polish territories to the soviet union by repeatedly not informing the Polish government of his meetings with Stalin leading to troops who had fought for the British army to permanently lose their homes – directly causing immense pain and suffering and the suicides of at least 30 soldiers.(17)
Churchill actually had great admiration for Hitler, he praised “the courage, perseverance and the vital force which enabled him to overcome all the resistances which barred his path”(18) His Brutal mistreatment of India led to the British secretary of state in India to write "on the subject of India, Winston is not quite sane" and that he did not "see much difference between [Churchill's] outlook and Hitler’s".(19)
Churchill’s war efforts though valiant, were not against the fascist Nazi state, they were against the threat to his empire which he fought strongly to maintain.
Stalin was quite instrumental in the liberation of many European countries however he murdered millions of people and so his atrocities outweigh his good and he is as a result he is known for his acts.(20) Why, just because he led us to the win in the war, is Churchill any different? The double standards need to be dropped.
It is racist to exonerate/belittle racism for what he did because he is a war hero – Teach both sides of this man!
1. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/10022399/How-Winston-Churchill-got-his-taste-for-war.html
2. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/30/athens-1944-britains-dirty-secret
3. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/feb/06/1910s-suffragettes-suffragists-fern-riddell
4. https://medium.com/@write_12958/the-crimes-of-winston-churchill-c5e3ecb229b3
13. https://richardlangworth.com/egyptians
14. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/jul/05/highereducation.news1
Caroline Elkins (2005). Britain's gulag: the brutal end of empire in Kenya. Pimlico. pp. 124–145.
15. http://www.citizens-international.org/ci2017/2015/02/06/winston-churchill-the-imperial-monster/
16. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29701767
17. http://arno.daastol.com/books/Wittmer,%20THE%20YALTA%20BETRAYAL%20(1953).pdf
19. The Empire at Bay. The Leo Amery Diaries. 1929–1945. Hutchinson.
20. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/21/stain-and-the-fate-of-europe-norman-m-naimark
103
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Petition created on 10 June 2020