The guest speaker at our January 26th programme was Terry Reardon. He spoke about his book “Winston Churchill and Mackenzie King – So Similar, So Different”. Churchill was a strong voice in Britain prior to the WWII and did not support British Prime Minister Chamberlain’s policy of “appeasement and containment” towards Nazi Germany. When Churchill became British Prime Minister in 1940 he became the world’s most important symbolic figure of resistance. Churchill had a charismatic personality and put in hours of work making his speeches flawless to encourage a desperate nation. King and many other world leaders supported Chamberlain’s policy. However, in 1936 he had Canada begin a program of rearmament. King lacked the oratorical skills of Churchill but in 1937 he made it known to British leaders that Canada would support the Empire in a war in Europe. Once the war began, King had Canada supply food, munitions and money to the hard-pressed British economy, train airmen and provide combat troops. He also applied pressure to bring the U.S. into the war. Political views in both countries had changed after the war. Churchill lost the 1945 election while King retired from politics in 1948. It was a good history lesson for all in attendance.
The Scarborough Historical Society hosts programmes on the 4th Tuesday of each month from January to April and from September to November. All programmes begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Bendale Public Library and are free and open to the public.
