User:Lord Milner/sandbox/The Strange Juxtaposition of the Lives of Sir Winston Churchill and Lord Alfred Milner

The Stain of Censure

This article traces the interweaving of the lives of Winston Churchill, the former Prime Minister of England, and Alfred Milner, a former member of the British War Cabinet of Prime Minister Lloyd George during World War I.

Winston Churchill (1874-1965) and Alfred Milner (1854-1925) are both from the Victorian Era of England, although Milner was a generation older than Churchill. Milner graduated from Oxford University with a law degree in 1879, and Churchill graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, as a commissioned officer in 1894.

Both worked as newspaper reporters, Milner for the Pall Mall Gazette (1881-1885), and Churchill for The Daily Telegraph and The Morning Post (1894-1903).

The two first met in 1898 when Milner was The High Commissioner for South Africa, at the outbreak of the Second Boer War. Introduced by a letter from Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain, Lord Milner briefed Churchill on the outbreak of the war, and on the dire position the British were in until they received reinforcements. Winston went on to fame in the armored train incident, where he was captured, taken prisoner as a POW, escaped, and returned to England. After escaping the Boers, and finding safety at the British Embassy in Portuguese East Africa, Churchill telegraphed Milner to let him know he was OK.

"Statesmen of World War I", depicting the low point of the war. Lord Milner is seated between Lloyd George and Winston Churchill.

William Orpen's painting of the signing ceremony of the Treaty of Versailles. Lord Milner is seated, third from the right

After the successful conclusion of the Boer War, Lord Milner returned to London on July 12, 1905. He gives his first speech in the House of Lords on February 26, 1906. Three weeks later, Winston Churchill, now a liberal member of the House of Commons, denounced Milner for his treatment of Chinese laborers during the rebuilding period of South Africa. The first laborers arrived in June 1904, nine months before Milner left, and Milner denied knowledge of any mistreatment. He was supported by fellow conservatives, who gathered together 370,000 signatures from the public. However, the Boer War was was controversial, with about half the public supporting it, and half opposed. Milner, Arthur Balfour and Joseph Chamberlain represented the British Empire, while the liberals represented the commoner. Liberal newspapers referred to the national elections as the "Chinese Slavery" elections, so despite Churchill's admission that calling the importation of contract workers "slavery" was a "terminological inexactitude", the controversy sidelined Milner's career for ten years.

With the defeat of the Balfour Government in late 1905, and the rise of liberals, Churchill was appointed Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies by Prime Minister Campbell-Bannerman. In this capacity, it was Churchill's duty to supervise the return of the whole of South Africa to the Boers.

The two were on opposite sides of the People's Budget of 1910. This budget signified the rise of the modern welfare state in England. Milner, having a background in budgeting, said in a speech in Glasgow on November 26, 1909, "If we believe a thing to be bad, and if we have a right to prevent it, it is our duty to try to prevent it and to damn the consequences." The budget was supported by Winston Churchill and his contemporary, David Lloyd George.

When David Lloyd George became Prime Minister in December 1916, he appointed Lord Milner as a member of his select "British War Cabinet", which were a handful of professionals who ran World War I for England. Seven month's later he appointed Winston Churchill as Minister of Munitions. Although this was not a War Cabinet position, it revived Churchill's career after the Gallipoli campaign, his resignation from government, and self-banishment to the Western Front. Milner and his allies on the War Cabinet strongly opposed this move, fearing that Churchill would foul things up. However, the Prime Minister liked Churchill, particularly his fruitful mind and ideas, and this was very important to his small insular group, which often suffered from isolation. Due to the Lloyd George's penchant for second opinions, Churchill became an unofficial member of the War Cabinet, allowed to sit in on meetings, but not to contribute.

After the German Spring Offensive was launched in March 1918, Lord Milner was sent to France, he attended the Doullens Conference, and he returned to London. On his heels, the Prime Minister sent Winston Churchill to France to serve as a liaison to French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau. This too, Milner and his friends opposed. The War Cabinet was a bit of a necessary evil for Lloyd George, a liberal politician who had to employ conservatives and empire builders to manage the running of a world war. From the Empire Builders came the Imperial War Cabinet, the Supreme War Council, and smaller groups like the X Committee and the War Policy Committee. They feared that Churchill's inexperience and mingling in affairs could upset England's relations with France. Too, some personal animosity may have existed against Churchill, but the record on this is unclear. It is a known fact that Clemenceau liked Milner, famously stating to Raymond Poincaré in 1917, "He is an old friend of mine. We admired and loved the same woman. That is an indissoluble bond." That woman was Violet Cecil, who Milner married in 1921.

As Minister of Munitions, Churchill was responsible for tank production. At a war cabinet meeting in the summer of 1918, Churchill protested the conscription of munitions workers into the Army. He was certain tank production would fall behind targeted levels, which called for a massive buildup for a decisive outcome of the war in 1919. However, Milner replied by saying, "Priorities right now call for manpower at the Front." Just weeks later, Allied Commander Ferdinand Foch turned the tide of the war, leading to the armistice of November 11th.

The two are famously featured in the painting "Statesmen of World War I".

Milner was the driving force behind the policies of Lloyd George's policies in World War I, and he went on to sign the Treaty of Versailles. Churchill became prime minister in World War II, guiding Great Britain's wartime efforts against Nazi Germany, and later the Cold War.

Upon Milner's transfer from Secretary of State for War to Secretary of State for the Colonies in January 1919, Churchill succeeded him at the War Office.

On Milner's retirement from government in February 1921, Churchill succeeded him as Secretary of State for the Colonies.

Of Churchill, Milner wrote:

"Churchill seems inclined to go out & see for himself immediately, & I am strongly encouraging this idea.  He is very keen, able & broad minded & I'm sure, if he only gives himself time to thoroughly understand the situation, he will take sound views & you will find him a powerful backer."  On Churchill's weakness, he wrote he was "too apt to make up his mind without sufficient knowledge."

The above passage is from a letter Milner wrote to Sir Herbert Samuel, the High Commissioner of Palestine, on February 5, 1921, as he was preparing to retire from the Colonial Office. It is not known what Churchill thought of Milner later in life.

References

Gilbert, Martin, "Winston Churchill, Vol. IV, 1917-1922", London: Heinemann, 1975