The Assault: Germany Before the Outbreak and England in War-TimeWile, Frederic William
History
The Assault: Germany Before the Outbreak and England in War-Time
Wile, Frederic William
World War, 1914-1918
Lloyd-George’s goal is undoubtedly the Premiership--the ambition of
every British politician. He has plenty of time to wait--he is only
fifty-two--and unfailing week-end golf keeps him as "fit" as a man
fifteen years his junior. Of Napoleonic stockiness of build, with a
wealth of wavy gray hair worn long, he is a figure which radiates
strength and power, though unimpressive of itself. He is a capital
"mixer." It is, indeed, his principal political asset. He is as much
at home laboring with a gang of recalcitrant miners at the pit-mouth--he
always goes straight to headquarters when he essays to settle a
strike--as he is on the floor of the House of Commons or as moderator at
a Baptist convention. He likes Americans and specializes in extending
hospitality to interesting ones. Unquestionably he has a strong hold on
our imaginations, as a man of his temperament, career and talent is
bound to have. An eminent Chicagoan visited London last summer, with
introductions which would have easily paved his way to the throne or any
other exalted British quarter. "Whom would you like to meet most of
all?" he was asked. "Lloyd-George," he said, with the intuitive sense
of a Yankee who only has time for the things worth while.
Winston Churchill, the son of an English father and an American mother,
is the Peck’s Bad Boy of the British Government. His popularity has
been sadly dimmed since the war began, for he was looked upon as not
only the author of the grotesque naval "relief" expedition to
Antwerp--now either prisoners of war in Germany or interned in
Holland--but the culprit who was chiefly responsible for the far more
disastrous Dardanelles adventure. Another crime is charged against him,
hardly less serious than the two just named: his imperious
administration of the Admiralty drove from the First Sea Lordship the
man universally considered Britain’s greatest sailor, Lord Fisher. All
agree, friend and foe, that to "Winston" was due in a very marked
degree, England’s superb readiness at sea when war broke out, but it is
a matter of grave doubt whether even that superlative service to the
country will be looked upon as great enough to blanket his subsequent
and costly incompetencies. When the upheaval in the Asquith Cabinet came
about, in the spring of 1915, Churchill was nominally squelched by
interment in the harmless berth of the Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster, most of whose official time is spent in licensing Justices of
the Peace and Notaries Public. That ennui hung heavily on his hands was
manifested by the announcement during the summer that Churchill had
taken up painting as a pastime.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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