I can still remember when the news came over the radio. It was a Sunday
morning in late January 1965. Sir Winston Churchill had died.
His funeral was the following Saturday. He was only the second commoner
in the history of Great Britain to be given a state funeral, normally
reserved for royalty. The first had been for the duke of Wellington, the
military genius who thwarted Napoleon’s plans for world conquest at the
Battle of Waterloo in 1815, thereby ushering in a century of Pax
Britannica. Sir Winston had defeated an even greater evil, Hitler’s
Third Reich. He didn’t do it single-handedly, of course, but without him
the outcome could have been entirely different.
I also well remember the silence after the funeral. It was the only
time I can remember all the television and radio stations closing down
for a period of silence in honor of the great old man to whom Britons
owed so much.
People were truly thankful that Winston Churchill had led them to victory in World War
II—at a time when everybody else seemed inclined to compromise with Nazi Germany.
Churchill rejected the honor of a dukedom and turned down the
opportunity to be buried in Westminster Abbey along with many other
famous Britons.
Churchill’s funeral was, for Britain, the end of an age.
Ironically, his death came at the end of a 20-year period that had seen the nation reject just about everything he stood for.
Postwar Britain
It had started 20 years earlier, shortly after
VE
Day. With the European war ended, Churchill called an election. Almost
everyone thought his Conservative Party would win. People the world over
were shocked when the results came in: The Labour (socialist) Party won
by a landslide. Although grateful for Churchill’s role as a wartime
leader, people had decided they wanted change; they longed for a
different world. They didn’t want their young men fighting wars in
far-off places they had never heard of, nor did they want them coming
home to low-paying jobs or unemployment.
After being universally acclaimed as the British lion that roared in
defiance of Hitler and the man who had led Great Britain to victory,
Churchill appeared to be headed for victory. But, seemingly, it was time
for Britain’s rapid decline to begin. The prophet Daniel reminds us
that it is God who “removes kings and raises up kings” (
Daniel 2:21).
The same God who had given Britain its victory took away the empire He
had given to them, the multitude of nations promised to Joseph’s son
Ephraim (
Genesis 48:19).
The next few years saw massive changes, including the nationalization
of key industries (steel, railways, coal mines) and the institution of a
government-run medical system. To concentrate on these radical reforms,
the country turned its back on an empire that had been built up over
the course of 400 years. Britain granted India and Pakistan independence
in 1947. By the time of Churchill’s death, all the major colonies were
gone. Britain had, to quote American statesman Adlai Stevenson, “lost an
empire and not yet found a role.”
It might have been different if Churchill had won that pivotal
election. He was an empire loyalist. His love of history taught him that
Britain’s security lay with the multitude of nations it had built up
gradually since the time of Queen Elizabeth I. Later, after he won the
1951 election as prime minister at the time of the accession of Queen
Elizabeth
II, he talked of a “new Elizabethan age” that might surpass the first in greatness. But it was not to be.
Britain had embarked on a new course that continues to this day. With
the British Empire gone, it was Britain’s turn to be dismantled.
The abolition of Britain
A thought-provoking book on this subject by British writer Peter
Hitchens, The Abolition of Britain, contrasts the country at the time of
Churchill’s funeral with the nation 32 years later at the funeral of
Princess Diana. By his own account, it is as if he is looking at two
different countries.
Outside the British Isles many people get confused at exactly what
constitutes Great Britain and where England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland
fit into the equation. At one time all four nations were separate
entities. Their eventual union came about over a long period.
England conquered Wales during the time of Edward I in the 13th
century. Edward proclaimed his son the prince of Wales, emphasizing that
Wales is a separate principality, but was to be administered as a part
of England. For 700 years, the heirs to the British throne have been
given the title “prince of Wales.”
Scotland and England (with Wales) united later. When Elizabeth I died
in 1603, she left no heirs. Historically, Scotland had often allied
itself with France against England. It was time for the two countries to
unite so this would not happen again. Upon her death her cousin’s son,
James
VI of Scotland, became King James I of
England. James gave the country its new name, Great Britain (and was
instrumental in giving the world the King James Version of the Bible).
The new flag was nicknamed the Union Jack after him.
The two kingdoms were still administered separately, but they had the
same monarch. A century later (1707) they fully united under one
parliament, giving Scots a share in the benefits of the growing empire.
Another century later the Irish parliament was abolished, and the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland formed (1801).
Reversal of direction
The dismantling of the kingdom actually began 80 years ago when most of
Ireland was given its independence as the Irish Free State,
theoretically still subject to the crown. In 1949 the Free State became
the Irish Republic, severing its tie with the United Kingdom.
The six counties of Northern Ireland that have remained within the
United Kingdom have been strife-torn for more than three decades.
Although in recent years strenuous efforts have been made to negotiate a
permanent peace, the problem remains virtually insoluble. At some point
it is likely that another “reform” government in London will force a
change on the province, as British governments since Churchill’s time
have eventually given in to terrorists in every disputed territory.
With increasing support for Scottish and Welsh nationalists, the
present British government, led by Prime Minister Tony Blair, came to
power in 1997 promising “devolution.” The two ancient Celtic peoples
would acquire their own parliaments and be responsible for their own
internal affairs. London would still conduct foreign policy. Both
Scotland and Wales now have their own assemblies with increased calls
for full independence.
Some of the English, meanwhile, are resentful of the fact that they do
not have their own parliament. Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish members
still sit in the House of Commons in London and can vote on legislation
that affects the English people, while the English people do not have a
say in the internal affairs of the Celtic nations around them.
Meanwhile, the European Union (
EU) has been fulfilling its dream of an ever-closer union. The Irish Republic has benefited from its membership in the
EU, ironically partly subsidized through Brussels by
U.K.
taxpayers. This has reduced some fears of Irish unity in the North. The
South had always been poor, the North far wealthier, so even Catholics
had been somewhat apprehensive of unity with the South. Not any more.
Polls show the English to be increasingly weary of the
EU. Scottish nationalists, however, see the
EU
as increasing the likelihood of Scottish independence. No longer would
the five million people of an independent Scotland be unable to make it
economically on their own. Within the
EU they would prosper, just like Ireland and other small countries. Similar feelings are evident in Wales.
In coming years the English could find themselves outside of a politically unified
EU,
with the Scots, Welsh and Irish inside. Queen Elizabeth I’s worst
nightmare would have come true, four centuries later, of an England
surrounded by hostile nations in alliance with the continental powers.
Historians such as Norman Davies think that none of this matters. In
his recent book The Isles he reminds readers that England at one time
was physically a part of the European landmass. At other times it was a
part of Europe. It was the westernmost province of the Roman Empire from
A.D. 43 to 410, a span of almost four
centuries. The English church was a part of the Roman church for almost
1,000 years. The Plantagenets in the Middle Ages ruled England as well
as parts of France, spending most of their time in the bigger and warmer
part of their territories.
But Paul Johnson, another British historian, sounded a warning in the
pivotal year 1972 (between the British Parliament’s vote to join Europe
and Britain’s accession the next January): “Disunity has always proved
fatal to the offshore islanders.” (The Offshore Islanders was the title
of his book dealing with Britain’s relationship with Europe throughout
history.) In other words, the disuniting of the United Kingdom has
always proved fatal, enabling hostile powers to invade the country. Why
should it be different this time?
Biblical wisdom holds true: “Every kingdom divided against itself is
brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself
will not stand” (
Matthew 12:25).
New generation, new outlook
A new generation is in power now.
Mr. Blair, British prime minister, prefers to identify with a new age.
He is the first British prime minister who does not remember Winston
Churchill. In a speech just before the election that brought him to
power, he described himself this way: “I am a modern man. I am a part of
the rock and roll generation—the Beatles, colour
TV, that’s the generation I come from” (The Abolition of Britain, paperback edition, p. xix).
The current generation is a victim of revisionist history. It’s a
history with an emphasis on multiculturalism, which downplays Britain’s
role in frequently leading its empire into conflict against despotic
European powers that wanted to conquer the world. At the same time, the
revised version of history emphasizes the mistakes Britain made,
negatively presenting the empire as a shameful era.
It’s also a generation that, as in the United States and other Western
countries, has grown up with an emphasis on material values, with little
concept of morality and often lacking any knowledge of God.
Writing of “the end of Britain” in Newsweek magazine (July 10, 2000),
columnist George Will reminded readers of the late English writer George
Orwell’s dismissive comment on English intellectuals: “England is
perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their
nationality.” (Orwell died in 1950 before this disease spread to the
United States.)
Mr. Will added, “Many Europhiles are English intellectuals of the sort
George Orwell despised because they despised their nation.” It’s hard to
understand the hatred so many people have for the old values Sir
Winston Churchill symbolized. “God, king and country” have no place in
the minds of many, including many English intellectuals.
Does this matter to Americans and the rest of the world?
Let George Will have the final say: “What is vanishing, and not slowly,
is the nation to which the United States traces much of its political
and cultural
DNA. Unless this disappearance is
resisted, and reversed, soon all that will linger… will be a mocking
memory of the nationhood that was the political incarnation of a people
who (as has been said), relative to their numbers, contributed more to
civilization than any other people since the ancient Greeks and
Romans” (ibid.).
Recommended reading
What’s behind the remarkably rapid dissolution of the British Empire?
How—and why—did the world’s greatest empire disappear in only a few
short decades? Does Bible prophecy give us any indication?
Strange as it may sound, this remarkable turnaround was written well
before it happened—in the pages of the Bible almost 3,500 years ago.
The publishers of Virtual Christian Magazine have produced an
astounding, eye-opening booklet, The United States and Britain in Bible
Prophecy. You’ll be amazed to learn the truth about where these nations
appear in Bible prophecy—and what Scripture says will happen to them in
the end time.
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