Churchill devoted considerable resources, money, speech-making, and political organization to the cause of European unity. Today, Churchill the European is being written out of British history, writes Denis MacShane

MacShane, Denis

English

LSE Research Online

Churchill	the	European	has	been	written	out	of	historyChurchill	devoted	considerable	resources,	money,	speech-making,	andpolitical	organization	to	the	cause	of	European	unity.	Today,	Churchill	theEuropean	is	being	written	out	of	British	history,	writes	Denis	MacShane.One	of	the	comfort	blankets	for	pro-Brexit	evangelists	is	that	Germany	will	ride	to	Boris	Johnson’s	rescue	andsideline	Michel	Barnier	and	impose	a	political	deal	that	chimes	with	the	wishes	of	Dominic	Cummings	or	MichaelGove,	and	other	Brexit	hardliners.	Sometimes	President	Macron	is	mentioned	as	the	man	on	a	white	horse	who	cansend	Barnier	packing	and	cut	a	deal	mano-à-mano	with	the	UK	prime	minister.	French	food	and	wine	exports,	andGerman	automobile	exports,	are	so	important	to	Paris	and	Berlin,	runs	the	argument,	that	the	two	leadinggovernments	will	accept	far	more	of	what	the	UK	is	demanding	than	the	inflexible	team	from	Brussels.There	is	not	the	slightest	evidence	for	this.	It	is	true	that	elected	political	leaders	across	the	Channel	have	on	thewhole	not	attacked	Brexit,	or	Johnson,	though	that	may	be	because	since	February	they	have	been	overwhelmedby	Coronavirus.	Emmanuel	Macron	has	been	an	elected	politician	for	40	months.	Barnier	was	an	elected	Frenchpolitician	for	40	years	rising	to	the	highest	post	in	the	French	government	and	the	European	Commission.	WhileEnglish	newspapers	are	full	of	insult	against	a	group	known	as	“The	Europeans”,	Michel	Barnier	has	been	on	apunishing	non-stop	round	of	visits	and	talks	to	27	national	government	leaders	and	their	parliaments.	The	Britishdecision	not	to	honour	the	international	treaty	consisting	of	the	Withdrawal	Agreement,	and	the	Protocol	onNorthern	Ireland,	has	caused	an	uproar.	Even	if	many	in	Britain	see	it	as	a	negotiating	ploy,	the	language	ofrepudiating	international	law	produced	rebuke	from	Clément	Beaune,	the	unflamboyant	French	Europe	ministerwho	has	been	Macron’s	main	aide	on	EU	politics	in	the	Elysée	since	2017.Now	in	Der	Spiegel,	the	German	Europe	minister	Michael	Roth,	quotes	Winston	Churchill,	in	an	open	letter	tofriends	in	Britain	about	Brexit.	Roth	writes:	Winston	Churchill	was	right	when	he	said:	“You	must	look	at	facts,because	they	look	at	you”.	Roth	a	veteran	respected	SPD	politician	would	not	have	gone	full	frontal	without	theapproval	of	Angela	Merkel.	It	is	interesting	that	Roth	quotes	Churchill	and	it	is	worth	looking	at	Churchill’s	approachto	Europe	1930-1955	to	see	how	he	saw	the	UK’s	relationship	with	the	continent.	Churchill,	of	course,	is	a	politicalversion	of	Shakespeare	or	the	Bible.	We	can	take	from	him	almost	anything	we	want.	His	decades	of	words	andpolitical	activity	contain	endlessly	different	lines	and	contradictory	positions.Yet	there	is	one	Churchillian	cause	that	never	changed	and	to	which	he	devoted	considerable	resources,	money,speech-making,	and	political	organization.	That	cause	is	European	unity.	It	has	been	written	out	of	recent	Churchillhistoriography	as	the	21st-century	biographers	of	Churchill,	like	Boris	Johnson	and	Andrew	Roberts,	are	allideologically	committed	to	Tory	anti-Europeanism.	Johnson	referred	to	a	“Gestapo-controlled	Nazi	EU”	in	hisChurchill	biography.	He	quotes,	as	do	most	Churchill	biographers,	his	1930	article	for	the	American	SaturdayEvening	Post,	in	response	to	the	first	stirring	of	pan-European	unity.	Churchill	supported	the	principle	but	added	thatBritain	would	‘interested	and	associated,	but	not	absorbed’.	But	this	quick	dismissal	does	no	justice	to	Churchill’spolitical	commitment	to	European	unity	in	the	1930s.He	applauded	the	speech	at	the	League	of	Nations	in	Geneva	in	1929	of	the	French	foreign	minister,	AristideBriand,	who	made	the	case	for	the	abolition	of	economic	frontiers	between	the	nations	of	Europe.	Briande	was	thehonorary	president	of	the	Pan-European	Union	set	up	in	the	1920s	to	promote	European	unification	in	response	tothe	disaster	of	the	first	world	war.	Churchill	praised	Briand’s	call	for	“some	‘federal	link’	established	between	all	thedifferent	states	(of	Europe)”.	The	most	important	component	of	that	federal	link’	should	be	“economic	agreement.”But	it	was	more	than	commerce.	Why	can’t	the	citizen	of	different	countries	“realize	himself	as	French,	German,Spanish	or	Dutch,	and	simultaneously	as	a	European	and,	finally	as	citizen	of	the	world?”,	Churchill	wrote.	75	yearslater	his	successor,	as	British	Prime	Minister,	scorned	Churchill’s	idea	when	she	said:	“If	you	are	a	citizen	of	theworld,	you	are	a	citizen	of	nowhere.”LSE Brexit: Churchill the European has been written out of history Page 1 of 5		Date originally posted: 2020-10-01Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2020/10/01/churchill-the-european-has-been-written-out-of-history/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/LSE Brexit: Churchill the European has been written out of history Page 2 of 5		Date originally posted: 2020-10-01Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2020/10/01/churchill-the-european-has-been-written-out-of-history/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/Commemorative	plaque	for	the	speech	of	Winston	Churchill	at	the	University	of	Zürich.	The	final	sentence:	“Therefore	I	say	to	you:	let	Europe	arise!”	Churchill	often	returned	to	the	idea	of	European	citizenship	worrying	at	the	concept	like	a	favourite	bone.	Speakingin	1948,	he	said:“We	hope	to	see	a	Europe	where	men	of	every	country	will	think	as	much	of	being	a	European	as	ofbelonging	to	their	own	native	land,	and	that	without	losing	any	of	their	love	and	loyalty	of	their	birthplace.We	hope	wherever	they	go	in	this	wide	domain	they	will	truly	feel	‘Here	I	am	at	home.	I	am	a	citizen	ofthis	country	too.”LSE Brexit: Churchill the European has been written out of history Page 3 of 5		Date originally posted: 2020-10-01Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2020/10/01/churchill-the-european-has-been-written-out-of-history/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/A	decade	earlier,	in	the	News	of	the	World	in	1938,	Churchill	said	Britain	should	promote	“every	practical	step	whichthe	nations	of	Europe	may	take	to	reduce	the	barriers	which	divide	them	and	to	nourish	their	common	interests	andtheir	common	welfare.”	At	the	high-water	mark	of	Tory	isolationism,	under	Stanley	Baldwin	and	NevilleChamberlain,	Churchill	urged	the	creation	of	common	European	postage	stamps,	a	single	currency,	and	a	tariffunion.	He	argued	the	menace	of	fascism	and	the	threat	of	war	would	“draw	together	the	peace-loving	states	and	socontribute	indirectly	to	the	development	of	the	pan-European	ideal.”Nothing	enrages	today’s	anti-Europeans	more	than	the	claim	Europe	is	a	peace	project.	The	Tories	of	1938	alsohated	Churchill’s	visionary	Europeanism	and	made	serious	moves	to	de-select	him	as	an	MP	early	in	1939.	80years	later	pro-European	Conservative	MPs	like	Nick	Boles	and	Amber	Rudd	faced	de-selection	at	the	hands	of	thedescendants	of	Tory	isolationist	appeasers	who	tried	to	force	Churchill	out	of	politics.	And	just	as	NevilleChamberlain	in	1939	made	no	efforts	to	call	off	the	de-selection	dogs	so	too	Theresa	May	was	destroyed	by	theirsuccessors	as	she	was	driven	out	of	office	by	hard-line	anti-Brexit	Tory	MPs.In	1942,	at	the	height	of	the	war,	in	the	darkest	period	of	Nazi	domination	of	Europe,	Churchill	sent	a	minute	tocabinet	colleagues	stating:	“I	look	forward	to	a	United	States	of	Europe	in	which	the	barriers	between	the	nationswill	be	greatly	minimized	and	unrestricted	travel	will	be	possible.”	In	November	1945	he	told	the	Belgian	Parliamentof	his	wish	for	“the	United	States	of	Europe	within	which	all	its	peoples	may	dwell	together	in	prosperity,	in	justice,and	in	peace.”	A	year	later,	in	Zurich,	he	made	a	more	famous	speech	calling	“for	a	kind	of	United	States	of	Europe”which	set	Europe	ablaze	with	the	vision	of	the	European	Union.	In	a	recent	book	(Churchill	on	Europe),	the	Dutchhistorian,	Felix	Klos,	has	ranged	far	and	wide	in	archives,	the	Churchill	papers,	diaries,	memoirs	both	in	English	andcontinental	languages.	His	research	goes	well	beyond	the	limited	inquiries	by	Tory	English	Churchill	hagiographers.They	are	not	quite	honorary	members	of	the	Stalin	school	of	falsification	of	history,	but	they	go	out	of	their	way	tobelittle,	or	reduce	to	nugatory	importance,	Churchill’s	enthusiasm	for	European	unity	between	1945	and	1951,	andin	the	1930s,	or	during	the	war.In	1939,	the	Labour	leader	and	prime	minister	after	1945,	Clement	Attlee	had	declared	“Europe	must	federate	orperish.”	After	1945,	Labour	in	power	opted	for	a	sturdy	British	nationalism	in	foreign	affairs	with	a	close	alignment	toWashington	and	hostility	to	European	construction.	The	intellectual	architect	of	post-1945	Labour	hostility	toEuropean	integration	was	Labour’s	international	secretary,	Denis	Healey,	a	Eurosceptic	avant	la	lettre.	He	told	theNew	Statesman	shortly	before	he	died	in	2015	that	he	would	vote	Brexit	in	the	forthcoming	plebiscite.Churchill	by	contrast	took	on	Labour’s	post-1945	focus	on	national	sovereignty	and	rejection	of	Europeanpartnership.	When	Labour’s	right-wing	foreign	secretary,	Ernest	Bevin,	told	the	House	of	Commons	in	1948,	hewanted	to	avoid	“any	reference	to	the	surrender	of	sovereign	rights’	Churchill	replied	that	he	preferred	to	argue	for“countries	acquiring	an	enlarged	or	enriched	sovereignty	through	membership	of	a	European	Union.”Churchill	set	up	a	secretariat	to	campaign	for	Europe	hiring	pre-war	pan-European	federalists	to	organize	giantmeetings	in	London	and	on	the	continent.	He	used	his	own	money	to	finance	the	campaign	pulling	in	younger	MPslike	Duncan	Sandys,	Harold	Macmillan,	and	Robert	Boothby	to	form	a	high-level	political	unit	to	make	the	case	forEuropean	integration.	In	1950,	Churchill	called	for	“the	immediate	creation	of	a	unified	European	army	subject	toproper	European	democratic	control”	and	said	that	for	the	Conservative	Party	“national	sovereignty	is	not	inviolableand	that	it	may	be	resolutely	diminished	for	the	sake	of	all	the	men	in	all	the	lands	finding	their	way	home	together.”Churchill	the	European	has	been	written	out	of	history	by	today’s	Tory	Europhobes.	Of	course,	Britain	as	one	of	thethree	big	victors	of	the	second	world	war	was	not	going	to	fuse	itself	into	a	federal	Europe.	A	Britain	trying	to	takeover	Europe	after	1945,	or	1950,	would	have	made	the	European	unity	boat	top-heavy,	and	likely	to	capsize.	In	hismonumentally	unending	Churchill	biography,	Andrew	Roberts	finds	space	for	one	paragraph,	on	page	975,	todiscuss	Churchill’s	fairly	obvious	point	that	on	European	integration:“We	play	a	part,	but	we	are	not	merged	with	and	do	not	forfeit	our	insular	or	Commonwealth	character.Our	first	object	is	the	unity,	and	consolidation	of	the	British	Commonwealth	(…	)	Our	second,	the‘fraternal	association’	of	the	English-speaking	world;	and,	third	united	Europe,	to	which	we	are	aseparate,	closely	–	and	specially	related	ally	and	friend	(…)	It	is	only	when	plans	for	uniting	Europe	takea	federal	form	that	we	ourselves	cannot	take	part,	because	we	cannot	subordinate	ourselves	or	thecontrol	to	federal	authorities.”LSE Brexit: Churchill the European has been written out of history Page 4 of 5		Date originally posted: 2020-10-01Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2020/10/01/churchill-the-european-has-been-written-out-of-history/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/But	that	was	the	same	position	of	the	French	who	had	and	have	no	intention	of	dissolving	the	French	nation	into	afederal	Europe.	Today,	seven	decades	after	the	first	steps	to	the	European	Union,	with	the	creation	of	the	EuropeanCoal	and	Steel	Community	in	1950,	we	are	no	closer	to	a	fully	federal	Europe.	Churchill	was	thus	stating	theobvious.	But	after	he	returned	to	power	in	1951	he	enthusiastically	supported	the	creation	of	the	European	Court	ofHuman	Rights,	whose	judgements	are	superior	to	national	British	law	just	as	those	of	the	EU’s	Court	of	Justicehave	been	in	trade	and	commercial	disputes.In	the	last	major	speech	he	made	in	October	1959,	Churchill	said:“The	outlook	for	a	closer	unity	of	those	who	share	the	common	fruit	of	Western	civilization	is	full	ofpromise.	There	is	no	reason	why	these	developments	should	conflict	with	our	ever	closer	associationwith	the	countries	of	the	Commonwealth	and	the	United	States.	In	all	this,	we	in	Britain	have	a	great	partto	play,	a	leading	part.”Boris	Johnson	was	born	five	years	after	Churchill’s	final	appeal	for	Britain	to	stay	a	leading	player	in	Europe.	He	isnow	burying	Churchill’s	pro-Europeanism.	Meanwhile,	British	rightwing	historians	are	re-writing	history	to	take	out	ofour	national	narrative	the	role	of	Churchill	the	European.This	article	gives	the	views	of	the	author,	and	not	the	position	of	LSE	Brexit,	nor	of	the	London	School	ofEconomics.LSE Brexit: Churchill the European has been written out of history Page 5 of 5		Date originally posted: 2020-10-01Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2020/10/01/churchill-the-european-has-been-written-out-of-history/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/

Churchill the European has been written out of history

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Churchill the European has been written out of history

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