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"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never, never - in nothing great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense." (Churchill at Harrow, 1941)
The Navy went into action without hesitation, and within a few months the Navy was responsible for decline of the German battleship.
The German Army soon became active. Churchill felt that there was a danger to Norway. He wanted the Norwegian coast. Other ministers did not share his concern, and were afraid to break Norwegian neutrality. Churchill followed his plan and in April 1940 the plan was pushed trough. It was too late, in April 1940 Germany occupied Norway and Denmark.
The combined forces of the British Royal Navy and Royal Air Force made a try to help the Norwegians in a struggle to beat the German invader. Like the Dardanelles Campaign in World War I, the operation was a failure. With the collapse of Norway, the statesmen of the British government finally lost all their confidence in the Prime Minister Chamberlain. The Members of Parliament felt that he was not taking enough action to limit Hitler´s attack. And so Chamberlain was asked to give up his post as Prime Minister, and his Government forced him to resign. On 10 May, 1940, Winston Churchill had to come to King Gerorge VI.
King said: "I suppose you don´t know why I have sent for you." "Sir I simply couldn´t imagine why." The King laughed and relaxed "I want to ask you to form a new Government."
This was the beginning of the most important phase of Churchill´s career, that of war-time Prime Minister. When he got the post as Prime Minister he told:
\"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat; You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory.\"
In 1915 the same action cost Churchill his political career, but almost 25 years later it was his political break trough. Excessive and unfair punishment the first time and almost 25 years later, excessive and unfair reward - for the same thing. This you can only explain with the words : Churchill was no man of reconciliation, he was a man of war. And at this time was war!Of course, Chamberlain and the King may have had their doubts about Churchill. But Chuchill: "I felt as if I were walking with Destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preperation for this hour and for this trial."
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