The Hinge of Fate
THE HINGE OF FATE
WINSTON CHURCHILL
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Copyright
The Hinge Of Fate
Copyright © 1950 by Winston Churchill Cover art and
eForeword
to the electronic
edition
copyright
© 2002 by RosettaBooks,
LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
For information address [email protected] First electronic edition published 2002 by RosettaBooks LLC, New York.
ISBN 0-7953-0622-9
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Contents
eForeword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Book One
The Onslaught of Japan
1: Australasian Anxieties
2: The Setback in the Desert
3: Penalties in Malaya
4: A Vote of Confidence
5: Cabinet Changes
6: The Fall of Singapore
7: The U-Boat Paradise
8: The Loss of the Dutch East Indies 9: The Invasion of Burma
10: Ceylon and the Bay of Bengal
11: The Shipping Stranglehold
12: India — The Cripps Mission
13: Madagascar
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14:
American Naval
VictoriesThe Coral
Sea
and
Midway Island
15: The Arctic Convoys,1942
16: The Offensive in the Aether
17: Malta and the Desert
18: “Second Front Now!”April, 1942
19: The Molotov Visit
20: Strategic Natural Selection
21: Rommel Attacks
22: My Second Visit to Washington
23: The Vote of Censure
Book Two
Africa Redeemed
1: The Eighth Army at Bay
2: Decision for “Torch”
3: My Journey to Cairo:Changes in Command 4: Moscow: The First Meeting
5: Moscow:A Relationship Established 6: Return to Cairo
7: The Final Shaping of “Torch”
8: Suspense and Strain
9: Soviet “Thank You”
10: The Battle of Alamein
11: The Torch is Lit
12: The Darlan Episode
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13: Problems of Victory
14: Our Need to Meet
15: The Casablanca Conference
16: Adana and Tripoli
17: Home to Trouble
18: Russia and the Western Allies
19: Victory in Tunis
20: My Third Visit to Washington
21: Problems of War and Peace
22: Italy the Goal
Appendices
Notes
About the Author
About this Title
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Maps and Diagrams
Chart to Illustrate Mediterranean Campaigns, 1942
The Setback in the Desert, January, 1942
Malaya, Situation January 1, 1942
The Malayan Peninsula
Singapore Island
The U-Boats in American Waters December 7, 1941, to July 31, 1942
The Atlantic, General Area of North Atlantic Convoys Losses by U-Boat, January to July, 1942
The Crisis of Battle August 1, 1942, to May 21, 1943
The A.B.D.A. Area of Operations
Burma
The Indian Ocean
Madagascar
Pacific Theatre
Solomons — New Guinea
Track of P.Q.17
Russian Winter Offensives, January to March, 1942
Diagram 1. Enemy Plan for May 27–28
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Diagram 2. The Battle for Tobruk
The Western Desert
Tobruk
The Action at Minqa Qaim
The Western Desert
The German Campaign in Russia, 1942
The Battle of Alam el Halfa
Russian Counter-attacks at Stalingrad The Opposing Forces, October 23, 1942
The Plan of Attack
Battle of el Alamein. Northern Sector
“Supercharge”: The Break-through
Algiers — Tunis
The North Coast of Africa
The Front in Russia, April, 1942, to March, 1943
Tunisia
The Battle of Mareth
Tunis — The Last Phase May 6–12, 1943
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eForeword
One of the most fascinating works of history ever written, Winston Churchill’s monumental The Second World War is a six-volume account of the struggle of the Allied powers in Europe against Germany and the Axis. Told through the eyes of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, The Second World War is also the story of one nation’s singular, heroic role in the fight against tyranny. Pride and patriotism are evident everywhere in Churchill’s dramatic account and for good reason. Having learned a lesson at Munich that they would never forget, the British refused to make peace with Hitler, defying him even after France had fallen and after it seemed as though the Nazis were unstoppable.
Churchill remained unbowed throughout, as did the people of Britain in whose determination and courage he placed his confidence.
Patriotic as Churchill was, he managed to maintain a balanced impartiality in his description of the war. What is perhaps most interesting, and what lends the work its tension and emotion, is Churchill’s inclusion of a significant amount of primary material. We hear his retrospective analysis of the war, to be sure, but we are also presented with memos, letters, orders, speeches, and telegrams that give a day-by-day account of the reactions-both mistaken and justified-to the unfolding drama. Strategies and counterstrategies develop to respond to Hitler’s ruthless conquest of Europe, his planned invasion of England, and The Hinge of Fate
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his treacherous assault on Russia. It is a mesmerizing account of the crucial decisions that have to be made with imperfect knowledge and an awareness that the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
The fourth volume in this work, The Hinge of Fate is, as its name might suggest, the dramatic account of the Allies’
changing fortunes. By the end of the previous volume, The Grand Alliance, the Russians and the Americans had both entered the war on the side of the British, but Germany, Italy and Japan continued pressing forward successfully with their terrible onslaught. In the first half of The Hinge of Fate, Churchill describes the fearful period in which the Germans threaten to overwhelm the Red Army, Rommel dominates the war in the desert, and Singapore falls to the Japanese. In the span of just a few months, however, the Allies begin to turn the tide, achieving decisive victories at Midway and Guadalcanal, and repulsing the Germans at Stalingrad. As their confidence builds, and they begin to gain ground against the Axis powers, the Allies can begin to see the end of this terrible conflict in sight.
Churchill won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953 due in no small part to this awe-inspiring work.
RosettaBooks is the leading publisher dedicated exclusively to electronic editions of great works of fiction and non-fiction that reflect our world. RosettaBooks is a committed e-publisher, maximizing the resources of the Web in opening a fresh dimension in the reading experience. In this electronic reading environment, each RosettaBook will enhance the experience through The RosettaBooks Connection. This gateway instantly delivers to the reader the opportunity to learn more about the title, the author, the content and the context of each work, using the full resources of the Web.
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Preface
IN The Gathering Storm, Their Finest Hour, and The Grand Alliance I have described as I saw them the events leading to the Second World War, the conquest of Europe by Nazi Germany, the unflinching resistance of Britain alone until the German attack on Russia and the Japanese assault brought the Soviet Union and the United States to our side.
In Washington, at the turn of the year, President Roosevelt and I, supported by our Chief Military and Naval Advisers, proclaimed The Grand Alliance, and prescribed the main strategy for the future conduct of the war. We had now to face the onslaught of Japan.
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