ABSTRACT
Churchill was thrilled to be back in power after eleven years of rebellious opposition. He immersed himself in naval matters. Churchill continued to busy himself with all kinds of affairs outside his immediate ministerial province. He corresponded with Roosevelt, promoted an ‘anti-waste campaign’, demanded increased war production, and gave speeches on the war in general. Historians have recently claimed that Britain stumbled unwillingly into war, little if at all aware of any point to it, of any crusading spirit, of a war of ‘good against evil’ : that such ideas were spread about later by Churchill. During the first quarter of 1940, Churchill’s position was being firmly consolidated – to such an extent that it was able to survive the blow to his reputation which was shortly to occur. One of the reasons for this was the fact that the public were being made aware over the radio of what the House of Commons had known for decades.
