Andreas Koureas šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§ Profile picture
Historian | Studying Political Economy BSc, KCL | Churchill & Empire | Cigar Aficionado | āœļø @spectator @hillsdale @TheNatlInterest | Publisher @barnthorn
ą¦Ŗą§ą¦°ą¦¦ą§€ą¦Ŗą§ą¦¤ ą¦®ą§ˆą¦¤ą§ą¦° (Pradipto Moitra) Profile picture Liz Profile picture Bichocanasta Profile picture Stu Profile picture Moritz Krusche Profile picture 8 subscribed
Apr 3 ā€¢ 139 tweets ā€¢ 23 min read
Sir Winston Churchill is known for his heroic leadership in leading the campaign of resistance against Nazism & fascism.

Unfortunately, he is under frequent attack by historically illiterate political activists.

šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§šŸ§µ Tearing apart the most common lies against the British Lion. Image Sources are cited at the end of this thread.

Below are the topics covered:

1) South Africa - Camps
2) Bombing of Coventry
3) Chemical Warfare.
4) Antisemitism
5) Dresden
6) India & the Bengal Famine
7) Welsh miners at Tonypandy, Wales.
Mar 20 ā€¢ 32 tweets ā€¢ 6 min read
Great Britain wielded her geopolitical & naval might into bullying much of the world to abolish slavery - at a time when this evil was the global norm.

A thread on how under the White Ensign, slavery was globally challenged for the first time. šŸ§µšŸ‡¬šŸ‡§

(Sources are cited.) Image (This thread is from December 2023; I'm reposting it for greater exposure.)

Sources are cited at the end of the thread. Let's begin.

By the 1700s, slavery and the slave trade was practised across all races, continents and many cultures.
Mar 17 ā€¢ 15 tweets ā€¢ 3 min read
10th May 1940 - one of the most important & dramatic days in history.

At 08:00 AM, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain chairs a meeting of the war cabinet.

Held unusually early as the war cabinet had been informed of some distressing news.

A thread šŸ§µšŸ‡¬šŸ‡§
Image
Image
(A thread I made a last August - reposting for greater exposure.)

The war cabinet were notified that earlier that day at 05:30 AM, Nazi Germany had invaded Holland.

Just off the Belgian coast, 8 destroyers & HMS Birmingham were engaged by German motor torpedo boats as well,
Jan 28 ā€¢ 4 tweets ā€¢ 2 min read
"More recently, his failure to prevent the Bengal Famine of 1943 has been highlighted."

How was Winston Churchill supposed to stop the cyclone that hit Bengal & Orissa, wiping out the rice crop harvest in the process?

How was it Churchill's fault that the Japanese maintained a presence in the Bay of Bengal, from April 1942 onwards, which sank merchant shipping?

Are we saying it was Churchill's fault that all of the surrounding areas that would have been previously used to alleviate food shortages - Burma, Malaya, the Philippines & Thailand - had fallen to Japan?

It was Churchill's fault that the local administration failed to deal with the famine?

How did Churchill cause the local Hindu merchants to hoard grain?

Also, how did Churchill cause the Japanese to bomb Indian docks, destroying grain shipments & causing backlogs, and the fact that Japan had invaded Imphal & Kohima?

Generally, I like McDonough's work and insight.

However, and I mean this respectfully, his comment on the Famine is based upon ahistorical 'research'. (For example, the disproven works of Mukerjee and Tharoor.)

What Churchill and his administration did do, upon finding out the severity of the famine, is send over 900,000 tons of grain to India between August 1943- December 1944.

This was despite the Japanese threat and the Allied shipping crisis... I explain further, with a plethora of primary sources referenced, below:
Jan 18 ā€¢ 67 tweets ā€¢ 11 min read
The most grievous accusation made against Winston Churchill is that he engineered the Bengal Famine & had a genocidal hatred of Indians.

After reading through the 1000s of pages of relevant primary sources, I can tell you these are complete lies.

Sources cited at the end šŸ§µ Image This is taken from a much larger thread I made a few months ago, where I explored this topic and a number of other ahistorical lies made against Churchill.

Feel free to read that thread afterwards (all relevant sources for this thread are also cited there):

Dec 27, 2023 ā€¢ 32 tweets ā€¢ 6 min read
Great Britain wielded her geopolitical & naval might into bullying much of the world to abolish slavery - at a time when this evil was the global norm.

A thread on how under the White Ensign, slavery was globally challenged for the first time. šŸ§µšŸ‡¬šŸ‡§

(Sources are cited.) Image (This thread is largely based from a thread I made a few months ago. I'm reposting it for greater exposure.)

Sources are cited at the end of the thread. Let's begin.

By the 1700s, slavery and the slave trade was practised across all races, continents and many cultures.
Nov 12, 2023 ā€¢ 22 tweets ā€¢ 5 min read
When the old lion gave his last roar.

The saddest thing I've found in my research on Sir Winston Churchill was that not only was he deeply unwell at the end of his life, he saw his life as a failure.

A thread on the titan's final years. šŸ§µ Image (This thread is largely based on a previous one I made back in August. Reposting for greater exposure.)

For his 80th birthday, in November 1954, Sir Winston Churchill was gifted a painting by Parliament - under direction from a committee set up in June 1954: Image
Nov 9, 2023 ā€¢ 33 tweets ā€¢ 6 min read
Great Britain yielded her geopolitical & military might into bullying much of the world to abolish slavery - despite this evil being the global norm, at the time.

A thread on how under the White Ensign, slavery was globally challenged for the first time. šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§šŸ§µ

Sources are cited. Image (This thread is largely based from a thread I made in March. I'm reposting such for greater exposure.)

Sources are cited at the end of the thread. Let's begin.

By the 1700s, slavery and the slave trade was practised across all races, continents and many cultures.
Nov 5, 2023 ā€¢ 126 tweets ā€¢ 21 min read
Sir Winston Churchill is under frequent attack by political activists.

From accusations of antisemitism to engineering the Bengal Famine.

After reading through 10,000s of pages of primary sources, I'm now going to tear apart these ahistorical conspiracies.

(Sources are cited.) Image Please do share this - it took many hours to gather the sources and make this thread.

(Also, some of these topics I've discussed before, so I've copied in parts of some of my previous threads as it makes no sense to rewrite it.)

The thread is split into these five topics:
Aug 18, 2023 ā€¢ 21 tweets ā€¢ 5 min read
When the old lion gave his last roar.

Perhaps the saddest thing about Sir Winston Churchill is that not only was he deeply unwell at the end of his life, he saw his life as a failure.

A thread on the titan's final years. šŸ§µ Image For his 80th birthday, in November 1954, Sir Winston Churchill was gifted a painting by Parliament - under direction from a committee set up in June 1954: the 'Churchill Joint Houses of Parliament Gift Committee'.

Churchill, who had seen the portrait privately a week before, Image
Aug 10, 2023 ā€¢ 77 tweets ā€¢ 13 min read
The most misunderstood part of Sir Winston Churchill's life is his relationship with India.

He neither hated Indians nor did he cause/contribute to the Bengal Famine.

After reading through thousands of pages of primary sources, here's what really happened.

A thread šŸ§µ Image I've covered this topic before, but in a recent poll my followers wanted a more in-depth thread.

Sources are cited at the end.

I'm also currently co-authoring a paper for a peer reviewed journal on the subject of the Bengal Famine, which should hopefully be out later this year.
Aug 10, 2023 ā€¢ 77 tweets ā€¢ 13 min read
The most misunderstood part of Sir Winston Churchill's life is his relationship with India.

After reading through of pages of primary sources, here's the actual relationship between Churchill, India & Bengal Famine.

A thread šŸ§µ

(Sources cited at the end.) Image I've covered this topic before, but in a recent poll my followers wanted a more in-depth thread.

(I'm also currently co-authoring a paper for a peer reviewed journal on the subject of the Bengal Famine, which should hopefully be out later this year.)

I'll first address,
Aug 9, 2023 ā€¢ 15 tweets ā€¢ 3 min read
10th May 1940 - one of the most important & dramatic days in history.

At 08:00 AM, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain chairs a meeting of the war cabinet.

Held unusually early as the war cabinet had been informed of some distressing news.

A thread šŸ§µšŸ‡¬šŸ‡§
Image
Image
(A thread I made a few months ago - reposting for greater exposure.)

The war cabinet were notified that earlier that day at 05:30 AM, Nazi Germany had invaded Holland.

Just off the Belgian coast, 8 destroyers & HMS Birmingham were engaged by German motor torpedo boats as well,
Jul 19, 2023 ā€¢ 32 tweets ā€¢ 6 min read
Sir Winston Churchill with David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, in 1961; London.

Uncommon for someone of his aristocratic class and background, Sir Winston Churchill was a philosemite.

šŸ§µA thread on Churchill's life-long support for the Jewish people. Image Throughout much of modern human history, the Jewish people have suffered persecution and systemic injustices.

From the Russian pogroms, to under Nazism to Hamas terrorism and so on and so forth.

Churchill had recognised and supported Jewish liberation throughout his life.
Jul 3, 2023 ā€¢ 11 tweets ā€¢ 2 min read
In January 1942, the plane Sir Winston Churchill was aboard was hunted by both the German Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force.

If the flight went awry, it would have changed the course of history.

A thread on the most dangerous flight of the Second World War. šŸ§µšŸ‡¬šŸ‡§

Shortly after the United States was thrust into the Second World War, in December 1941, Sir Winston Churchill travelled via ship across the Atlantic Ocean to visit President Roosevelt. Ā 

Such a gesture was important in cementing the partnership between the two Allied powers.
Jun 25, 2023 ā€¢ 30 tweets ā€¢ 5 min read
Great Britain yielded its geopolitical & military might into bullying much of the world to abolish slavery - at a time when this evil was the global norm.

A thread on how under the White Ensign, slavery was globally challenged for the first time ever. šŸ§µšŸ‡¬šŸ‡§

Sources cited at end. (This thread is largely based from a thread I made in March. I'm reposting such for greater exposure.)

By the 1700s, slavery and the slave trade was practised across all races, continents and many cultures.

Many Euro-Americans bought slaves from West Africa,
Jun 14, 2023 ā€¢ 16 tweets ā€¢ 4 min read
'The Empires of the future, are the Empires of the mind.'
- Sir Winston Churchill.

Perhaps the saddest thing about Churchill is that not only was he unwell at the end of his life, he saw his life as a failure.

A thread on Churchill's final years. šŸ§µ ImageImage A life packed with adventure, action, the weight of the world on his shoulders & an unhealthy lifestyle had finally caught up to the statesman in his later years.

Ill throughout much of the Second World War, suffering a heart attack in December 1941 and three bouts of pneumonia,
May 28, 2023 ā€¢ 21 tweets ā€¢ 4 min read
It's rather concerning that a current MP wants the Bengal Famine 1943-1944 declared as genocide.

Though a terrible tragedy in which 1.5-3 million died, the accusation that Churchill committed genocide is completely false.

Let's review what actually happened. A thread šŸ§µ This conspiratorial accusation that Churchill exacerbated the famine really stems from a book by Madhusree Mukerjee: Churchill's Secret War.

It has subsequently been debunked by many eminent historians (including Andrew Roberts, Tirthankar Roy, Zareer Masani etc.)
May 10, 2023 ā€¢ 14 tweets ā€¢ 3 min read
10th May 1940 - What happened. A thread. šŸ§µ

On this day in 1940, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain chaired a meeting of the war cabinet at 08:00 AM.

Held unusually early, this is because the war cabinet had been informed of some distressing news. Image The war cabinet were notified that earlier that day at 05:30 AM, Nazi Germany had invaded Holland.

Just off the Belgian coast, 8 destroyers & HMS Birmingham were engaged by German motor torpedo boats as well as German mines.

R.M.S Kelly had been torpedoed and thus towed home.
Apr 23, 2023 ā€¢ 23 tweets ā€¢ 5 min read
Sir Winston Churchill's legacy is under frequent attack by political activists who peddle ahistorical lies.

From accusations of genocide to 'crushing' Welsh miners, I'm going to take apart as many of these fallacies as I can in a single thread.

(Sources cited at the end.) Image This thread is based upon my reading of thousands of pages of primary sources. Let's begin.

1) Bengal Famine 1943

I've spoken about this on numerous occasions & have an academic paper on this subject coming out later this year.

So, I'll just briefly go over some key facts.
Mar 24, 2023 ā€¢ 34 tweets ā€¢ 6 min read
Sir Winston Churchill didn't cause nor contribute to the Bengal Famine and he didn't hate Indians either.

As someone who has read through thousands of pages of primary sources, here's the actual relationship between Churchill, India & Bengal Famine.

(Sources cited at the end.) We'll split this thread into two sections:

- First, we'll tackle the most serious accusation against him: the Bengal Famine.
- Second, we'll look at his general stance & views on India.

It goes without saying that there will be political activists who will completely ignore,