Hi all
If the topic has been discussed before please post it thank you.
I was thinking today about the great Winston Churchill and how so many incidents could have turned against him and one of the infamous was Gallipoli. Now I know to all intended purposes he was incompetent at that time because he was a politician and not a maritime or military scientist and it is hard to strike a balance between these two.
So my theoretical question is if he had been successful with the Gallipoli campaign what affects would this have on his future career?
In my view:
The most likely possibility is that he stays in First lord of admiralty and what effect he personally has on the navy before the Washington Naval conference of 1921 could be pivotal as anyone but Winston should know that if there is a time for British dominance it is now by pushing through the laying of battleships.
In reality after being fired from first lord of the admiralty and returning from the Western front in 1916 he got chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, resigned from government and was then assigned the following list appointments: Minister for munitions, secretary of state for war, secretary of state for air and secretary of state for the colonies from 1917 to 1922.
I would expect if he did stay as First Lord of the Admiralty then he get one of those ministries after WWI but the important question is, would his Gallipoli victory have opened up a bigger position such as secretary of state for India.
The most important question is Prime minister, from 1924 - 1929 he was a disastrous chancellor of the exchequer a position which would have been good to avoid and correct. Interestingly in the 1930s he fell from grace in what he called the "wilderness years" where he became politically estranged and isolated from everyone. Most notably he did not support Indian independence and spoke openly with outrage, of German and Italian rearmament which did finally pay off in the public eye as they thought he predicted WWII. He also supported Edward VIII.
To me, it seems that even if he had won Gallipoli it would not have increased his chances in the long run of becoming prime minister sooner because in the 1920s it was too soon while in the 1930s he was in his "Wilderness years". However, I can see that crucial impact on the British navy and the appointment of the secretary of state of India (1924-1929) could have had a significant impact on Indian independence.
Regards