The World Crisis, Volume II Quotes

“The year 1915 was fated to be disastrous to the cause of the Allies and to the whole world. By the mistakes of this year the opportunity was lost of confining the conflagration within limits which though enormous were not uncontrolled. Thereafter the fire roared on till it burnt itself out. Thereafter events passed very largely outside the scope of conscious choice. Governments and individuals conformed to the rhythm of the tragedy, and swayed and staggered forward in helpless violence, slaughtering and squandering on ever-increasing scales, till injuries were wrought to the structure of human society which a century will not efface, and which may conceivably prove fatal to the present civilization. But in January, 1915, the terrific affair was still not unmanageable. It could have been grasped in human hands and brought to rest in righteous and fruitful victory before the world was exhausted, before the nations were broken, before the empires were shattered to pieces, before Europe was ruined. It was not to be. Mankind was not to escape so easily from the catastrophe in which it had involved itself. Pride was everywhere to be humbled, and nowhere to receive its satisfaction. No splendid harmony was to crown the wonderful achievements. No prize was to reward the sacrifices of the combatants. Victory was to be bought so dear as to be almost indistinguishable from defeat. It was not to give even security to the victors. There never was to be ‘The silence following great words of”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“No war is so sanguinary as the war of exhaustion. No plan could be more unpromising than the plan of frontal attack. Yet on these two brutal expedients the military authorities of France and Britain consumed, during three successive years, the flower of their national manhood. Moreover, the dull carnage of the policy of exhaustion did not even apply equally to the combatants. The Anglo-French offensives of 1915, 1916 and 1917 were in nearly every instance, and certainly in the aggregate, far more costly to the attack than to the German defence. It was not even a case of exchanging a life for a life. Two, and even three, British or French lives were repeatedly paid for the killing of one enemy, and grim calculations were made to prove that in the end the Allies would still have a balance of a few millions to spare. It will appear not only horrible but incredible to future generations that such doctrines should have been imposed by the military profession upon the ardent and heroic populations who yielded themselves to their orders.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“No one can tell that he may not some day set a stone rolling or take or neglect some ordinary step which in its consequences will alter the history of the world.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“It was our duty to take the fullest advantage of our superiority, and to fight only under conditions which gave solid assurances of victory.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis: 1915

“While time is young, while prospects are favourable, while prizes inestimable may be gained, caution, hesitancy, half measures rule and fetter action.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“It was not, however, knowledge that was lacking, but the collective will-power to turn it to account.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“while here and there the bright flashes of the guns or the occasional whistle of a random bullet accompanied our path, the conviction came into my mind with absolute assurance that the simple soldiers and their regimental officers, armed with their cause, would by their virtues in the end retrieve the mistakes and ignorances of Staffs and Cabinets, of Admirals, Generals and politicians—”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“The old wars were decided by their episodes rather than by their tendencies. In this war the tendencies are far more important than the episodes. Without winning any sensational victories we may win this war.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“Anzac is the greatest word in the history of Australasia. Is it for ever to carry to future generations of Australians and New Zealanders memories of forlorn heroism and of sacrifices made in vain?…”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“Every war decision must be forced to a clear-cut issue, and no thought of personal friendship or political unity can find any place in such a process. The soldiers who are ordered to their deaths have a right to a plan, as well as a cause.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“Nothing leads more surely to disaster than that a military plan should be pursued with crippled steps and in a lukewarm spirit in the face of continual nagging within the executive circle.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“It was not through wrong judgment that they failed, but through want of will-power. In such times the Kingdom of Heaven can only be taken by storm.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“unfortunately we have to make war as we must and not as we should like to.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“The Australians plunged through the apertures and slew or captured the defenders of the galleries.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“We have always sent two-thirds of what was necessary a month too late.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“When one thinks of these officers and men, penned together amid the intricate machinery which crammed their steel, cigar-shaped vessels; groping, butting, charging far below the surface at unmeasured, unknown obstructions; surrounded by explosive engines, any one of which might destroy them at a touch; the target of guns and torpedoes if they rose for an instant to the light of day; harried by depth charges, hunted by gunboats and destroyers, stalked by the German U-boat; expecting every moment to be shattered, stifled, or hopelessly starved at the bottom of the sea; and yet in spite of all, enduring cheerfully such ordeals for weeks at a time; returning unflinchingly again and again through the Jaws of Death—it is bitter indeed to remember that their prowess and devotion were uncrowned by victory.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“We are now somewhat readily accepting the proposition that high-explosive shells used in unprecedented and extraordinary quantities will achieve decisive results.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“Time was the dominating factor. The extraordinary mobility and unexpectedness of amphibious power can, as has been shown, only be exerted in strict relation to limited periods of time. The surprise, the rapidity, and the intensity of the attack are all dependent on the state of the enemy’s preparations at a given moment.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“It’s ridiculous what little the French do!”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“the one most awful thing in war is ‘the careful man’!”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“The submarine is the only vessel of war which does not fight its like.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“he would in any case have saved the British Army in France from the futile slaughter of May, and possibly even discouraged the French from the long and frightful follies of their Spring offensive in Artois in which they squandered nearly a quarter of a million men.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“No’ had settled down for ever on our councils, crushing with its deadening weight what I shall ever believe was the hope of the world.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“A wall of crystal, utterly immovable, began to tower up in the Narrows, and against this wall of inhibition no weapon could be employed. The ‘No’ principle had become established in men’s minds, and nothing could ever eradicate it.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“It proved conclusively the great accuracy of naval fire, provided good observation could be obtained.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“During the period of choice, a man must fight for his opinion with the utmost tenacity. But once the choice has been made, then the business must be carried through in loyal comradeship.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“War is a business of terrible pressures, and persons who take part in it must fail if they are not strong enough to withstand them.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“Once the sea battle is joined the whole event is in the hand of the Admiral or his successor as long as he can signal; whereas on land, after zero hour has struck, it escapes for the time being almost entirely from the control of the General.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“If you are a great general,’ said Pompaedius Silo to Marius, ‘come down and fight.’ ‘If you are a great general,’ was the famous answer, ‘make me fight against my will.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915

“Nothing could ever be thrashed out by correspondence. Principals must be brought together, and plans concerted in common.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis Vol 2: 1915