Nicolson: Final Thoughts

World War II: Nicolson was in the "Churchill group" that met to decide how to make Chamberlain take a tougher line on Hitler, and how to prepare for war. He was also in a small group that was apparently all Tories except for him. (He was still National Labour at the time; a diminishing group that remained loyal to Ramsay MacDonald while Atlee led the "real" Labour Party). Famous members of the group were Anthony Eden and Harold Macmillan--both future Prime Ministers--and Duff Cooper. May 31, 1939:

[blockquote][the Whips] respect Eden, Duff Cooper, Amery and the big bugs. But they are terribly rattled by the existence and the secrecy of the group itself. They know that we meet, and what they do not like is that we do not attack them in the House[/blockquote].

I take this to mean: the "big bugs" would later be forgiven because of their stature, but Nicolson would not. When he first left the Foreign Office, Nicolson flirted with a political affiliation with Oswald Mosley--later a fascist. After the war he ran as a "pure Labour" candidate, still didn't get the peerage he was hoping for, alienated some friends and family, and said he was an "ass."

Sept. 2, 1939: Chamberlain still won't declare war. There is silence after his speech, then huge cheers for the Opposition leader--otherwise quite obscure--who says Britain should help Poland "at once." A Tory yells out that Greenwood speaks for Britain. "In those few minutes [Chamberlain] flung away his reputation."

Sept. 26, 1939: Chamberlain makes a speech, to very little applause. Churchill, obviously enjoying himself (let's face it--he liked war), gets the House cheering and laughing.

His delivery was amazing. One could feel the spirit of the House rising with every word. In those 20 minutes Churchill brought himself nearer the post of Prime Minister than he has ever been before.

Nicolson earlier refers to Churchill, still not in Cabinet, as "the old lion."

There is some moving stuff about how difficult it was to stay in London during the bombing, hearing terrible news for the first two years or more of war.

Something the Instapundit crowd might enjoy:

July 10, 1940:
[blockquote]I told the Queen [wife of George VI, later famous Queen Mother] today that I got homesick and she said, "But that is right. That is personal patriotism. That is what keeps us going. I should die if I had to leave." She also told me that she is being instructed every mornig how to fire a revolver. I expressed surprise. "Yes," she said, "I shall not go down like the others." I cannot tell you how superb she was. But I anticipated her charm. What astonished me is how the King has changed....He was so gay and she was so calm. They did me all the good in the world.[/blockquote]

Nicolson hates dirty books: something about a dog by Dylan Thomas, the letters of Virginia Woolf and Lytton Strachey, and Lolita. On the later, HN and Vita write jointly to the publisher, saying his reputation will suffer for publishing this. (Thus confirming that they were Edwardian, not Bloomsbury).

Fri Apr 1, 2005 6:26 pm MST by robertll | Email Article |

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Nicolson: Final Thoughts