邱吉尔(1874～1965年)

Churchill, Winston (Leonard Spencer)

受封为Sir Winston

英国政治家和作家。他是兰道夫.邱吉尔的儿子，拥有不快乐的童年，在校时也不被看好。1895年参加第四轻骑兵团後，他同时担任士兵和记者，从印度和南非传送回来的报导广受注意。军事英雄的名声有助於他赢得1900年的下议院议员选举。他很快崭露头角，并在几届内阁中任职，包括海军大臣（1911～1915），但是在第一次世界大战和往後十年期间却被批评个性优柔寡断。在第二次世界大战爆发之前，他对希特勒领导之德国所产生的威胁提出警告，但一再遭到漠视。战争爆发时，他再度被任命为海军大臣。张伯伦辞职後，邱吉尔以首相身分领导一个联合政府（1940～1945）。他把自己和国家投入一次全力以赴的战争，直到获得胜利为止。他滔滔不绝的辩才、旺盛的精力、不屈的坚毅性格，鼓舞了英国人的人心，特别是在不列颠战役中。透过大西洋宪章、开罗会议、卡萨布兰加会议、德黑兰会议的磋商，他与罗斯福、史达林一起研拟出同盟国的战略。虽然他是胜利的总工程师，其政府却在1945年的选举中败下阵来。战後，他提醒西方国家注意苏联扩张主义的威胁。1951年带领保守党重掌政权，并担任首相至1955年，当时他因健康不佳而被迫辞职。写有许多着作，其中包括《第二次世界大战》六卷（1948～1953），於1953年获颁诺贝尔文学奖；晚期的作品有《英语系民族史》四卷（1956～1958）。1953年封爵，但後来他拒绝接受贵族头衔。1963年成为美国荣誉公民。晚年，他获得了20世纪巨人的英雄地位。

English version：

1874～1965年

Churchill, Winston (Leonard Spencer)

British statesman and author. Son of Lord Randolph Churchill and the American Jennie Jerome, he had an unhappy childhood and was an unpromising student. After joining the 4th Hussars in 1895, he saw service as both soldier and journalist, and his dispatches from India and South Africa attracted wide attention. Fame as a military hero helped him win election to the House of Commons in 1900. He quickly rose to prominence and served in several cabinet posts, including first lord of the admiralty (1911-15), though in World War I and during the following decade he acquired a reputation for erratic judgment. In the years before World War II, his warnings of the threat posed by Adolf Hitler's Germany were repeatedly ignored. When war broke out, he was appointed to his old post as head of the admiralty. After Neville Chamberlain resigned, Churchill headed a coalition government as prime minister (1940-45). He committed himself and the nation to all-out war until victory was achieved, and his great eloquence, energy, and indomitable fortitude made him an inspiration to his countrymen, especially in the Battle of Britain. With Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin, he shaped Allied strategy through the Atlantic Charter and at the Cairo, Casablanca, and Tehran conferences. Though he was the architect of victory, his government was defeated in the 1945 elections. After the war he alerted the West to the expansionist threat of the Soviet Union. He led the Conservative Party back into power in 1951 and remained prime minister until 1955, when ill health forced his resignation. For his many writings, including The Second World War (6 vols., 1948-53) he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953; his later works include his History of the English-Speaking Peoples (4 vols., 1956-58). He was knighted in 1953; he later refused the offer of a peerage. He was made an honorary U.S. citizen in 1963. In his late years he attained heroic status as one of the titans of the 20th century.

参考文章

• 邱吉尔的预感历史趣事