The British Imperial Establishment, Post Imperial Era, and the ‘Churchillian’ World View, 1945-2016. (Adjustments & Challenges in Contemporary British Diplomatic Strategy)

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However, a brief reference to the events during the Second World War is
necessary, to assist us in
our further examinations.

Within a fortnight of Churchill assuming office, the German army had
reached the Channel coast. The
German attack on Britain seemed imminent, since
the British army was inadequate for the task of defending
her shores, as most of
the British and Empire forces were engaged in fighting in other parts of the
world.
On 4th June 1940, Churchill, in his speech in the Commons, said: “We Shall
never
surrender; and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large
part of it
were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed
and guarded by the British Fleet,
would carry on the struggle until, in God’s good
time, the New World, with its power and might, steps
forth to the rescue and
liberation of the Old.”15 Britain once more, as she did in the First World
War,
turned to America, and the British Government effectively accepted that without
American
assistance she would not be able to defend the British Isle’s from
Hitler’s invasion. Roosevelt,
however, showed considerable reluctance to meet
Churchill’s request. Finally, Roosevelt put a
proposal to Churchill. “Britain could
receive military assistance from the United States, but she
would have to offer
something in return.”16 In return for
America’s help to Britain in fighting the war
Roosevelt wanted ninety-nine year leases on eight British
possessions in the
Americas, stretching from Newfoundland to the Caribbean, on which the
United
States could build air and naval bases to strengthen its own defences. Britain had
little
choice but to accept aid on the terms the Americans proposed. Churchill
made a compromise by making two
of the leases a ‘gift’ from the British
Government. At last the deal was signed and the United
States effectively agreed
to supply arms to Britain as America’s own front-line defence.

As
the war progressed, America became more and more involved in it and,
as a result, her demands for
‘something in return’ from the British grew. As Elliott
Roosevelt, the President’s son, who
was present at the conferences, remarks on

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