Comments by "Nicholas Conder" (@nicholasconder4703) on "Churchill was an idiot" video.

One marvelous line from the movie "Battle of Britain" pretty much sums up why the UK could not surrender to the Nazi's. The line is, "The Fuhrer's guarantees guarantee nothing!" Hitler broke every treaty he signed, so making peace with Germany would have put Britain on the back foot. It would also have lost Britain the respect of the US, and it is quite possible that isolationists in the US would have gained more power in the Senate, and blocked any attempt at passage of things like the Lend-Lease Act, which was critical to the survival of the Russians in 1942. By the time Britain could have built up their forces and been thinking about a second shot at Germany they would likely have been politically isolated and considered untrustworthy. It was Britain's courageous stand in 1940 that showed the world Germany could be beaten, and won the admiration of the nations that later became their allies.
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Churchill was the right man in the right place at the right time - with regards to keeping up British morale and being the face of British determination in their darkest hour. He never contemplated giving up. For this he does have to be given credit. I will agree, though, that he lacked the necessary self-control to direct military matters. Based on his bursts of activity and bouts of depression, I suspect he was manic-depressive, also known as bi-polar disorder. He was also not an idiot per se (after all an idiot would not be able to write the history books he is known for), but rather the epitome of someone who was intelligent but not wise. In D&D terms he had an Intelligence of 15 and Wisdom of 6. He was someone who would have been at home in the Napoleonic Wars on one of Nelson's ships, but he was an early 19th century person commanding in a mid-20th century war. And someone who liked to micromanage things. As such he was most definitely out of touch, and needed officers who could stand up to him. For instance Winston Churchill said of Alan Brooke, "When I thump the table and push my face towards him what does he do? Thumps the table harder and glares back at me".
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