May 8, 2015

Finest Hour 108, Autumn 2000

Page 12

By Larry Arnn

As the end of the millennium and century were celebrated last December, Time selected Albert Einstein as its Person of the Century, with honorable mention to Roosevelt and Gandhi. Churchill was excluded from the first or second ranks, largely because of his opinions about Home Rule for India.

First among the three criteria by which Time made its selections was “the grand struggle between totalitarianism and democracy.” Pertinent to this criterion is the following quotation: “I do not consider Hitler to be as bad as he is depicted. He is showing an ability that is amazing and seems to be gaining his victories without much bloodshed.” This was written by Mohandas Gandhi in May 1940, the same month in which Winston Churchill became prime minister of Great Britain. Within a month of Gandhi’s statement, Hitler would be in control of most of Western Europe. And of course, the murders of civilians, the destruction of millions because of their race or their political views or their nationality, would begin in France as they had begun already in Poland, in Czechoslovakia, and wherever the writ of the Fiihrer ran. May 1940 is certainly a late date for a respected world leader to be writing such a thing.

That brings us back to Churchill, who had a confrontation of sorts with Gandhi. Churchill was an opponent of Home Rule for India, and Gandhi was the leader of the movement that won Home Rule. Churchill’s views on this matter are not today well-known. His opinion was that the people of India were entitled to self-government. He had said years earlier, in a speech in honor of the Fourth of July, that the British Empire must stand for the principles of the Declaration of Independence. Equally, he believed that the people of India were incapable of self-government at the time. India was not so much a country, as he put it, as a “geographic expression.” It was divided among peoples of different tribes, languages, and religions, some of whom meant violence upon others. He predicted that Home Rule or independence would mean a civil war and massive casualties. Moreover, Churchill’s views continued, Britain carried a responsibility in India. Partly by accident, partly by policy, it had come to exercise sovereignty there, and because of its actions over many decades the population of India had greatly increased. Those people alive because of British rule could rightly blame Britain if they were subjected to violence or oppression.

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In the event, there was a civil war, and India and Pakistan, enemies and nuclear powers today, separated. At least several hundred thousand, and perhaps several millions, were killed in the strife that accompanied their division into separate countries. Gandhi was deeply disappointed by these events. He said to a journalist in 1947: “Madame, you may write in your paper that India has never followed my way.” Gandhi was finally murdered by people who did not like his policy of fair-dealing with Pakistan, and with Muslims generally.

Today India is a great nation, operating democratically, with fair if also incomplete protections for civil rights. Long a friend of the Soviet Union, which was no good thing to be, it has more recently made overtures of friendship to the West. Of course the West should consider these, and should wish India and every nation well. This is especially warranted toward nations that seek to be responsive to the will of their citizens.

As for Gandhi, we should praise him because he did not wish the death or suffering of anyone, Muslim or Jew, Hindu or Christian. That is greatly to his credit. Churchill was a different sort of man with different principles. He, like Gandhi, wished the good of the people of India and of every nation and every faith. But he was prepared to raise an army in defense of right and justice. He was prepared to fight for freedom and to give his life in that cause if necessary. And he possessed that prudence which could see into the future and predict destruction before it came.

And so if we are picking a man who in this century has played the central part in the defense of liberty against totalitarian force, there is a man to choose. He is not Mohandas Gandhi. In the next century, as in all that have come before, we will need such men as Winston Churchill. Let us hope we deserve them, and that they come when they are needed.

“Person of the Century” having been decisively decided in Churchill’s favor by the world press, our articles on this theme are entitled “Churchill’s Greatness” for the remainder of the 20th century. The first two in the series appeared last issue. Dr. Arnn is President of Hillsdale College and a member of the CC academic advisory board.