Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T23:05:07.325Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

18 - Churchill and the ‘United States of Europe’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2023

Allen Packwood
Affiliation:
Churchill College, Cambridge
Get access

Summary

The chapter looks in detail at Churchill’s post-Second World War campaign for European unity. It begins by explaining the concepts of ‘the English-speaking peoples’ and ‘Christian civilisation’ that informed his thinking, before outlining the evolution of his thought through exposure to the ideas of Coudenhove-Kalergi and Briand. Prior to the Second World War, Churchill stated explicitly that Britain should not be a member of a proposed United States of Europe, but his ideas continued to evolve. In 1940 his government made the offer of Franco-British Union, and by 1942 he was promoting the idea of a Council of Europe as a counterweight to Russian ‘barbarism’. Defeated at the 1945 election, his Zurich speech and ensuing United Europe campaign are seen within the context of his desire to demonstrate his continued relevance on the world stage and against the backdrop of the developing Cold War. Nonetheless, they were based on sincere beliefs that helped inspire a broader transnational movement. The chapter concludes with the ambiguities in Churchill’s views on the role of Britain in Europe and argues that they may be a ‘problematic guide’ to more recent European politics.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Further Reading

Beloff, M., Churchill and Europe. In Blake, R. and Louis, W. R. (eds.), Churchill (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993)Google Scholar
Duranti, M., The Conservative Human Rights Revolution: European Identity, Transnational Politics, and the Origins of the European Convention (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klos, F., Churchill’s Last Stand: The Struggle to Unite Europe (London: I. B. Tauris, 2017)Google Scholar
Ramsden, J., Man of the Century: Winston Churchill and His Legend Since 1945 (London: HarperCollins, 2002)Google Scholar
Toye, R., ‘This Famous Island Is the Home of Freedom’: Winston Churchill and the Battle for ‘European Civilization’. History of European Ideas, vol. 46, no. 5 (2020), pp. 666–80Google Scholar
Young, J. W., Churchill’s ‘No’ to Europe: The ‘Rejection’ of European Union by Churchill’s Post-War Government, 1951–1952. Historical Journal, vol. 28 (1985), pp. 923–93Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×