“Look around the world today, the one thing that we seem to lack everywhere is leadership. And that’s why Winston Churchill is, and an analysis and understanding of Winston Churchill is so important,” declared Lord Michael Dobbs, opening the first session of the 2024 International Churchill Conference late last month in London.
The first discussion of the conference focused on one of the most crucial yet often misunderstood periods of Winston Churchill’s life – his “wilderness years” of the 1930s. These were the years when Britain’s future wartime leader found himself politically isolated, publicly derided, yet ultimately vindicated in his warnings about Nazi Germany.
In a discussion that wove together political insight, personal details, and historical analysis, three distinguished scholars offered fresh perspectives on how these years of exile from power paradoxically prepared Churchill for his finest hour to come.
The session was masterfully chaired by Lord Michael Dobbs, whose own connection to Churchill scholarship runs deep. Best known to the public as the author of the original “House of Cards (later turned into a BBC and then Netflix series),” Dobbs has dedicated much of his academic and literary career to understanding Churchill’s legacy. As a Conservative peer and former Chief of Staff at Conservative Party headquarters, Dobbs brings a unique perspective that bridges the political and historical aspects of Churchill’s career. His own writings on Churchill have been praised for their insight into the personal struggles behind the public figure.
Katherine Carter arrived at the conference fresh from the success of her bestseller “Churchill’s Citadel: The Gatherings Before the Storm.” As a historian who has delved deep into the visitors’ books and private papers of Chartwell, Churchill’s beloved country home, Carter has uncovered new details about the networks of information and support Churchill built during his years in the political wilderness. We actually recently intereviewed Carter on the Anglotopia Podcast about her new book, which you can listen to here. Her work has been praised by leading Churchill scholars including Andrew Roberts and Tom Holland, offering fresh insights into how Churchill’s private residence became an unofficial diplomatic hub during the crucial pre-war years (I have read the book and can add to this chorus – it’s incredible).
Completing the panel was Tim Bouverie, whose “Appeasing Hitler” has been hailed as one of the most important recent works on the pre-war period. Described by Max Hastings as “one of the most promising young historians to enter the scene for a very long time,” Bouverie brings a precise analytical eye to the policy of appeasement and Churchill’s opposition to it. His work has helped reshape our understanding of how British policy toward Nazi Germany evolved, and why Churchill’s warnings went unheeded for so long.
Together, these three scholars offered complementary perspectives on Churchill’s wilderness years: Dobbs provided the political context, Carter illuminated the personal sphere and the role of Chartwell, and Bouverie explained the broader diplomatic and policy implications of Churchill’s stance against Nazi Germany.
The Fall from Grace
The depth of Churchill’s political isolation during the 1930s becomes particularly stark when considered against his previous achievements. As Tim Bouverie explained, “to understand quite how low Winston Churchill sank in the 1930s, you have to remember how high he rose beforehand.” Churchill had held high office from a remarkably young age, including the prestigious position of First Lord of the Admiralty during World War I. Yet by the early 1930s, he found himself increasingly marginalized within his own Conservative Party.
The extent of his isolation was perhaps best illustrated by the government’s decision to appoint Sir Thomas Inskip as Minister for Defense Coordination in 1936. As Bouverie noted, this was “an appointment which caused the, even then, cliché to be deployed, that it was the worst appointment since Caligula had appointed one of his closest consul.” Churchill was clearly the most qualified candidate, yet such was the distrust among Conservative leadership that they preferred Inskip, whom Bouverie described as “a second-rate lawyer who had distinguished himself most in politics as a stalwart of the Protestant cause in the prayer book debate.”
Chartwell: Command Center of the Resistance
While politically marginalized in Westminster, Churchill was far from idle. Katherine Carter explained how visitors to Chartwell served two distinct purposes: “You were either someone from whom Winston Churchill wanted to glean insights and information, or you were someone that he wanted to bring around to his way of thinking, where there was value in him in getting his argument put across.”
Carter revealed a particularly dramatic example: “A gentleman called Heinrich Röhmann… brings with him his former transport secretary from the Weimar government, who has fled Germany during the Night of the Long Knives… He has SS officers turn up at his house when he’s playing tennis in his garden. And he has to flee in his tennis gear.” This made the stakes of what Churchill was advocating for all the more real.
The house itself nearly became a casualty of Churchill’s financial difficulties. Carter noted that “there’s a point when he nearly has to sell Chartwell, in the winter of 1937-38… Chartwell had been such a source of comfort for him. You know, one could argue it was the second love of his life.”
Surviving the Wilderness
How did Churchill maintain his resolve during these years of isolation? Carter observed that “his own absolute certainty that he was right and that incredible courage is, in my opinion, what sort of fuelled him through that extraordinarily difficult time.” His coping mechanisms included painting, which, as Lord Dobbs noted, became crucial after the failure of Gallipoli when “Clemmie said that she feared that he might even die of grief.”
The Path Back to Power
The turn of events that would eventually bring Churchill back to power began with the gradual discrediting of appeasement. As Bouverie explained, “People quickly realized that although they were relieved that war had been avoided, this was not a victory. This was something that had been gained by Hitler at the point of the gun.”
The pattern of Hitler’s deception became clear: “Hitler keeps on saying that he is a man of peace… Then he says he wants the Rhineland. Then he goes into the Rhineland, he says he has no interest in Austria. After he goes into Austria, he says no interest in Czechoslovakia. It goes on and on.”
What emerges from this examination of Churchill’s wilderness years is a picture of leadership very different from the bulldog warrior-statesman of later years. Instead, we see a man who built networks, gathered intelligence, and maintained his convictions despite overwhelming opposition. His pragmatism was remarkable – despite being strongly anti-Communist, he recognized the necessity of working with the Soviet Union to counter Hitler, demonstrating a flexibility that many of his contemporaries lacked (and it’s helpful to point out that Stalin thought he could tame Hitler).
The wilderness years weren’t merely a period of political exile; they were a time of preparation and perspective-gathering that would prove invaluable when Churchill finally returned to power. His unofficial intelligence network, his deep understanding of the Nazi threat, and his tested resilience would all serve Britain well in the dark years ahead.
As we face our own gathering storms in the 21st century (the rise of far-right populism and dictators seeking to unend the current world order), Churchill’s wilderness years offer valuable lessons about the importance of moral courage, the value of diverse sources of information, and the need to confront uncomfortable truths even when they clash with prevailing opinion. As Lord Dobbs observed, in an era when leadership seems in short supply worldwide, Churchill’s example remains more relevant than ever. The conference session served as a powerful reminder that sometimes, being out of power can be the best preparation for wielding it wisely when the moment comes.
Contemporary Relevance
Carter drew striking parallels to current events, noting how while researching Hitler’s positioning of troops on the Czechoslovakian border, “literally as I was researching that, Vladimir Putin was putting troops on the border [of Ukraine]. So there was this astonishing comparison playing out… And I remember at the time, a lot of the sort of response was quite hopeful, on the sort of geopolitical scene. And yes, he’s doing that, but nothing’s actually happened yet.”
The lessons for today, as Bouverie summarized, are threefold: “Recognize the world as it is, not as we would wish it to be… maintain armaments… and maintain and cultivate alliances.”
As we face our own gathering storms in the 21st century, Churchill’s wilderness years offer valuable lessons about the importance of moral courage, the value of diverse sources of information, and the need to confront uncomfortable truths even when they clash with prevailing opinion (and those who win elections, who are wrong even if they’re winners). The conference session served as a powerful reminder that sometimes, being out of power can be the best preparation for wielding it wisely when the moment comes.
We will have more dispatches from the 2024 International Churchill Conference in the coming weeks and months.
