Winston Churchill States the Core Principle of His and the 20th Century’s Guiding Foreign Policy

Then in 1919, in response to the Russian Revolution, the Allies sent men to Russia to aid the White (anti-Communist) forces. Their efforts were, however, piecemeal and ineffective. It was then that Churchill became head of the War Office, and in that capacity, the threat of Bolshevism became one of his prime concerns. He foresaw its potential for trouble and strongly urged his government and the Allies to pursue a policy of ridding Russia of Bolshevik control.

However, in January of 1920, following Red victories, Prime Minister Lloyd George and French Premier Clemenceau refused to extend their missions and withdrew their troops. The Americans did likewise for their own reasons, as there was little popular support for mounting a war effort in Russia. Seeing this, and with the divisions between the Allies at the Versailles Conference fresh in his mind, Churchill warned that very great evils would befall the world, and particularly the Allies, as a consequence of their divided policies and inability to coordinate actions.

In early 1920, Churchill was also in the midst of writing his monumental history of the Great War and was thinking deeply about the lessons of the war and post-war period and the impact of U.S. involvement. A document has only recently come to light that shows him actually melding his views that U.S. participation with Great Britain was of the utmost importance, and that lack of Anglo-American cooperation would be disastrous. This became a coherent policy that would have profound impact on world history twenty years later when he would serve as prime minister.

Winston Churchill Autograph Manuscript Signed, War Office, Feb. 16, 1920. “The consciousness of a common purpose in great matters between Britain and the United States is the only sure guarantee of the future peace of the world.”

This quotation, newly discovered, is of such significance that it appeared in the Churchill Centre’s magazine, “Finest Hour.” The policy Churchill articulates here guided his actions before and during World War II, and formed the basis for the Atlantic Alliance, which was created in 1941 at the Atlantic Conference and has lasted well over half a century. It also greatly impacted on the Cold War, as Churchill was one of the earliest advocates of united opposition to Communist expansion (he even coined the phrase 'Iron Curtain’ to describe what was happening in Eastern Europe). The policy still remains apt today, as the U.S. and Britain continue to cooperate around the world.