TODO: -- The summary of this book, in Churchill's words: "A deadlock supervened and was not relieved for eight months of severe fighting, which will be presently recounted."Churchill, Winston (2010-07-01). Closing the Ring (Winston Churchill World War II Collection) (Kindle Location 3957). RosettaBooks. Kindle Edition. --- GB has become a small Power in the war. As a consequence, its role in policy-making has reduced, and increasingly we see the US discussing directly with Russia. An account from the side of GB is, thus, reduced in importance.+ Husky (Sicily)"In the initial assault nearly 3000 ships and landing-craft took part, carrying between them 160,000 men, 14,000 vehicles, 600 tanks, and 1800 guns."Churchill, Winston (2010-07-01). Closing the Ring (Winston Churchill World War II Collection) (Kindle Location 356). RosettaBooks. Kindle Edition. -- In managing the disgraced government of Badoglio in Italy just after Mussolini, Churchill seems to forget his promise to Stalin that no peace will be signed by Allies without each Ally agreeing.- The endless preparation for Overlord (Normandy, D-Day). The main problem was not that the preparation took long, but that the description through a long stream of multi-partite letter-based exchange is tedious.++ Interesting discussions about the technical innovation needed to carry through the Overlord operation, including the floating harbors which would prove so important around the D-Day.++ Interesting discussions about the technical advances of the Germans, including radio-controlled drones (very long-range rockets, glider bombs, etc.) By June 1943, high-tech has become the only hope of Nazi Germany; on June 10, Hitler informs the military that the annihilation of London by the end of 1943 was imperative and certain, and would cause Britain to surrender. This anticipates the destruction of Hiroshima by the Allies.++/-- An overview of the aerial bombing actions above Berlin, Hamburg, the Ruhr area, etc., of historical interest. We learn that the Allies also conducted blind bombing (e.g., the OBOE device), for example over Essen, and had overall in their bombing policy, besides destroying the Nazi machinery, "the undermining of the morale of the German people to a point where their capacity for armed resistance is fatally weakened." Churchill, Winston (2010-07-01). Closing the Ring (Winston Churchill World War II Collection) (Kindle Locations 8429-8430). RosettaBooks. Kindle Edition. ++ Glimpses of the smart battle to destroy German super-weapons. Mainly covert ops, especially involving Peenemünde.+ The episode of the use of the provisions of a treaty signed between England and Portugal in 1373, albeit largely irrelevant for the war, is delicious.+ The episode about smuggling an entire rocket from Nazi-occupied Poland to Britain is interesting and with important consequences for the defense of London.+++ A lesson, alas, not learned: the treatment of the "liberating" armies by the local population."The situation was at first bewildering for our troops on the spot. The Italians had been their enemies for more than three years. By joining the United Nations they had in the space of a few weeks acquired a new status, and some of them assumed a new attitude. Requisitioning was no longer possible. Accommodation was denied to British troops, and food refused to officers without Italian ration cards. British military currency was treated with suspicion."Churchill, Winston (2010-07-01). Closing the Ring (Winston Churchill World War II Collection) (Kindle Locations 3195-3198). RosettaBooks. Kindle Edition. --- Regarding Italian prisoners, Churchill seems to suggest forced labor. (This is also what Stalin suggests of doing with Germans, for the purpose of repairing the damage they did during the war. Stalin refers here only to the Germans that he does not propose to kill at the end of the war.)"in respect of the use of Italian prisoners of war and manpower? We cannot allow these large numbers of Italians to be freed from discipline and control and left at large in Britain or North Africa. There is no means of repatriating them without straining our shipping. Meanwhile we need their man-power."Churchill, Winston (2010-07-01). Closing the Ring (Winston Churchill World War II Collection) (Kindle Locations 3264-3266). RosettaBooks. Kindle Edition. -- The string of justification for the apparent inability, sluggishness, and lack of courage of British commanders. Stalin does not mince words and claims that the British are slowing down their advance and even refusing to fight at all, for fear of risks. The blame-game includes Aegean islands (especially Crete, Rhodes, and Cos), taking of Rome in the Italian campaign, etc. It's always the fault of Russians, Americans, the weather, etc. The Anzio operation, which instead of taking Rome has turned into months of inactivity and a delay of Overlord, is in particular attributed to the failure of Americans to follow the soft British commander (who "urged" instead of "ordered" the Americans to advance).+ The insistence of Churchill to allow (push?) Turkey to join the Allies in the war seems a much longer-term game: Churchill seems to want to prevent the Russians (or any other Power but Britain) from claiming the Dardenelles (Canakkale). To close the link: Churchill is able to claim that no discussion about the strategic straights Dardenelles can take place until Turkey decides on whether to join the Allied side, effectively blocking Stalin's plans in this matter. +/- The intention of Churchill to ensure British control the Balkans misfires. Stalin, having own intentions on the matter, insists on the British honoring first their commitments elsewhere. The Americans, under the claim of insufficient resources, side with Stalin. This anticipates the post-war spheres of influence.+++ The beginning of the discussion about the after-war situation, with great consequences especially for the nations of Europe. For example, the discussion about new Polish frontiers, the treatment of Germany after the war, etc. = There is an tragic tension between politicians and army commanders, in what concerns the Nazi combatants. Churchill wanted German capitulation on the Italian front. General Alexander wanted total annihilation of the Germans, on the battle field.--- Although he is concerned with shortening the war and thus militates for taking negotiating with the German combatants, Churchill does not seem interested in the humanitarian treatment of Germans after the war. In his view, the Germans have broken the Atlantic Charter /Geneva Convention/ and should thus be guaranteed any protection. Churchill desires Britain and Ahe allies to remain humane, that is, to not torture unduly the Germans, but is indifferent to whether German prisoners are put on fair trial or are immediately shot, and to similar approaches. A similar debate was to occur at the fall of Communism in Europe, when decommunization /addressing the problem of former Communist officials and collaborators/ struck similar chords.+/- The meeting in Teheran between Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. ? Claims of hearty collaborationism from the Polish Government, regading both working with the Germans and killing partizans, but these claims are attributed to Stalin. --- During Teheran, there seems to be no mention of the Jewish problem.--- Churchill is dismissive of China, but it seems that Stalin was seeing Britain as Churchill was seeing China: "The talks of the British and American Staffs were sadly distracted by the Chinese story, which was lengthy, complicated, and minor." Churchill, Winston (2010-07-01). Closing the Ring (Winston Churchill World War II Collection) (Kindle Location 5342). RosettaBooks. Kindle Edition. --- Churchill has often reproached Stalin of remorselessly reapeating the arguments and causing endless discussions about the Second Front, but he was doing the same about Turkey (see my other point about this topic).--- After Darlan in Northern Africa and Badoglio in Southern Italy, Churchill now supports Tito in Yugoslavia. (Stalin is so big that supporting him does not count.) Not for nothing Churchill mentioned publicly that he would make friends with the Devil to win the war.--- The political situation in Greece seems mishandled by the British, who fail to help the King retain power and allow Communists to take over in the field.
It is fortunate for us as readers that Winston Churchill not only had the qualities of a writer, but that he also found the time to put them to such good effect. Many a retired politician has written his personal memoirs-few of them have ever done so quite as completely. In the war, Churchill used secretaries to help him cover the multitude of daily tasks he needed to get through and afterwards, when living at Chartwell, his home in Kent, he kept up the practise of using an amanuensis instead of writing himself. This allowed him to get far more work done, since he could literally do it with his eyes closed. Nevertheless, we may feel sure that the text is his own. Proud man that he surely was, there is little chance that he indulged anyone in much editing. When we see his virtually unedited copy sent from the field from India, the Sudan and South Africa at the end of the last century, we can feel sure that by the 1950s, he was a competent composer of text indeed."Closing the Ring" is the story of the climax of the Second World War. Although he refused to admit it, Hitler probably knew deep down what everybody else could see very clearly after Stalingrad. The once mighty armies of the Third Reich were being forced to withdraw; some of the best divisions had by then been so savaged that little remained. Berlin was being mercilessly ground down to rubble by legions of British and American heavy bombers that ended up attacking their targets almost unopposed. It was the time when madness reigned in the Fuhrerbunker and when the Allies could see the fruit of their careful planning starting to ripen. Churchill was at once rewarded by the knowledge that he had been right in thinking America invincible, and at the same time he was sadly aware that an era was passing and the British Empire was fading away in front of his eyes.This is a long sustained narrative, written by a man in full command of his enormous personal resources. In addition, Churchill had access to a vast quantity of documentation concerning the period, because he had written much of that too! Frankly, this is an admirable work of history, told with a writer's gift for spinning a yarn and I enjoyed every word of it.
What do You think about Closing The Ring (2008)?
It all goes to show: believe hard enough in your dream, and you can make it come true. Here, Adolf Hitler had the insane idea that the Jews, the Bolsheviks and the Americans were all involved in one big conspiracy to get him. Given that the Bolsheviks and the Americans were sworn enemies, it did seem a little far-fetched. All the same, by this stage of World War II, Adolf's dream was a reality. The Americans and the Bolsheviks were indeed openly encircling him, working together to hunt him down and kill him without mercy. Not only that, a bunch of largely Jewish scientists were creating a deadly new science-fiction weapon, which they planned to use against him and his remaining allies at their earlier opportunity.Faith is a mighty power. But he should perhaps have wished for something different.
—Manny
This book covers the time from mid-1943 to just before D-Day, June 6, 1944. The amount of planning it took to launch that invasion is incredible. The fact that two different governments, with two separate military bureaucracies, managed to do such a good job is absolutely astounding. And during all this build-up phase they were invading Italy, negotiating with the Russia and and busy with all sorts of things. I was sadly amused to notice that during this time the Greeks had what amounted to a civil war on top of being invaded by the Germans. There were three different factions claiming to be the REAL government in exile. It got so bad an entire battalion of Greek infantry refused to obey any Allied orders unless one group was recognized and a Greek destroyer mutinied. The peaceful resolutions of these difficulties showed a lot of patience on the Allied commanders' part, I thought.One reason I like reading histories is the applicability to our own times. I read the following quote right around the time of the election, and it seemed to sum up the problems I have with both GW Bush and Obama: What holds us together is the prosecution of the war. No Socialist or Liberal or Labour man has been in any way asked to give up his convictions. That would be indecent and improper. We are held together by something outside, which rivets all our attention. The principle that we work on is, "Everything for the war, whether controversial or not, and nothing controversial that is not bona fide needed for the war. That is our position." We must also be careful that a pretext is not made of war needs to introduce far-reaching social or political changes by a side-wind. We have been asked to be on a war footing for a long while, but except for a relatively small number, those sacrifices have been changes in the way we regard our freedoms. The war has been an excuse, not the cause, for a number of non-necessary controversial changes. I now worry that correcting those will also be an excuse, not the reason, for another round of forced changes. That's enough on politics for now. It is one of those things you either say very little or way too much.
—Kathy
Incredibly insightful. This account stands alone in a genre not commonly attempted: the voluntary revelation of one's choices and actions during a moment of tremendous testing, a moment when those choices and actions could easily be second-guessed. Of course, the outcome of the war made this an easier task than it would be for some; history is written by the victors and all that. But what gives these books there power is the tremendous amount of primary material in them -- letters and papers written during the actual events -- with only short introductory and connecting accounts to give the context. This is not merely Churchill self-interpreting and self-congratulating; it truly allows for responsibility and accountability. What is astonishing is, despite the monumental stakes, Churchill rarely evidences any doubt or misgivings.
—Tim Mygatt
