Churchill’s Marlborough I: Genes Matter

Book number 18 of 2024

The older I get, the more I like nonfiction, especially history. One of my favorite historians is Winston Churchill. The first thing I read of his was A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, which I enjoyed so much that I next read his The Second World War, then The World Crisis - his account of the First World War. It's fascinating to read history that is written by a major actor in it. It doesn't hurt that Churchill is a terrific writer with a wicked sense of humor. I'm not the only one to recognize his talent - he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953.

Marlborough I is the first of a four-volume biography of Churchill's ancestor, John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough (1650 - 1722). Apparently, a big reason for his taking on this huge project was to "clear the name" of Marlborough. The historian Thomas Babington Macaulay had written a biography of Marlborough that was very popular and extremely critical of the British soldier and statesman. Macauley doesn't escape Winston Churchill's withering contempt:

It is beyond our hopes to overtake Lord Macaulay. The grandeur and sweep of his story-telling style carries him swiftly along, and with every generation he enters new fields. We can only hope that Truth will follow swiftly enough to fasten the label “Liar” to his genteel coat-tails.

WINSTON S. CHURCHILL. Marlborough I (Kindle Locations 2140-2142). Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.

The first third of Marlborough I is taken up with a lot of conjecture, because there simply isn't much documentation of John Churchill's early life. He is appointed as a page to one of King Charles II's dukes, and he quickly makes a name for himself as a dashing young man who has integrity, relatively speaking, given the time of Charles II's Bacchanalian court. He gets involved with Barbara Villiers, a mistress of the king, but once he meets Sarah Jennings, he woos her until they marry, and he remained devoted to her the rest of his life.

Marlborough manages to navigate the perilous political waters that were roiling England at this time. Here is where my ignorance of British history handicaps my full enjoyment of the book. Churchill assumes the reader is familiar with the various administrations, party politics, and machinations of the different factions that were competing during Charles II's and James II's reigns. I'm not, so I found myself turning to Wikipedia a lot. Who was Danby? Shrewsbury? Halifax? The Jacobites? I didn't know; and Churchill doesn't provide much background to these major figures and movements in British history. However, I still enjoyed learning about them on my own.

John Churchill slowly makes a name for himself as a military leader and strategist. He and Sarah become close friends with Princess Anne, who is the sister of Mary, the wife of William of Orange. When William becomes King of England in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, John Churchill finds favor with him after successfully tamping down James' potential rebellion in Ireland. Unfortunately, William doesn't think much of English generals, and he refuses to give Churchill any real command of forces out of fear that his Dutch generals might suffer in comparison.

William doesn't really care that much about the British; his main concern is to build an alliance to challenge France's Louis XIV. Winston Churchill is NOT a fan of the Sun King:

During the whole of his life Louis XIV was the curse and pest of Europe. No worse enemy of human freedom has ever appeared in the trappings of polite civilization. Insatiable appetite, cold, calculating ruthlessness, monumental conceit, presented themselves armed with fire and sword. The veneer of culture and good manners, of brilliant ceremonies and elaborate etiquette, only adds a heightening effect to the villainy of his life’s story.

WINSTON S. CHURCHILL. Marlborough I (Kindle Locations 3806-3809). Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.

It should be noted that Churchill wrote those words in 1933 - before Hitler tried to conquer Europe himself!

As William continued to award honors and positions to his fellow Dutchmen, alienating his British subjects, John Churchill (Lord Marlborough) began publicly speaking out against him. Meanwhile, Queen Mary insisted that her sister, Princess Anne, get rid of Sarah as her lady-in-waiting. Anne refused. In early 1692, things came to a head, and William stripped Marlborough of all his offices and commands.

Marlborough remained in limbo while William authorized a disastrous invasion of France at Brest. The British forces sustained very heavy losses. Later historians alleged that Marlborough and other British nobles deliberately delayed the preparation of the invasion forces, allowing Louis XIV time to prepare for it. Winston Churchill makes a strong case that the documents this accusation is based upon were forged or made up.

Meanwhile, William's wife, Queen Mary, died of smallpox, making Princess Anne the next in line for the British throne. Suddenly, she became popular in high society again, and William and Marlborough made an uneasy reconciliation. James and his Jacobite supporters tried to assassinate William, but the plot was discovered and the men involved arrested and imprisoned. One of them, John Fenwick, accused Marlborough and a few men who were close advisors of William of being involved in the plot, but no one believed him. Marlborough's reputation and honor survived.

William III and Louis XIV made peace, and several other treaties gave Europe a ten-year breather. As Churchill notes, in 1699:

William was now at the height of his glory. He seemed about to outshine even the Sun King himself. In the east, in the north, and now in the south and west of Europe he seemed about to lay, after generations of religious, dynastic, and territorial wars, the foundations of a lasting peace for the whole world.

WINSTON S. CHURCHILL. Marlborough I (Kindle Locations 7294-7296). Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.

Now that William and Marlborough were reconciled, William appointed Marlborough the governor of Princess Anne's son, the very young Duke of Gloucester - keeping up with all these noble personages is something! By 1698, William was relying on Marlborough's counsel more and more. When William traveled to Holland, Marlborough was one of nine lords given sovereign power. However, he had to perform a tricky balancing act: remaining loyal to his Tory party which was in conflict with William's aims in Europe, while serving as a member of the royal court.

In 1700, the eleven-year-old Gloucester died of smallpox, throwing the British line of succession into confusion. Parliament passed the Act of Settlement, which made the House of Hanover the royal house. Meanwhile, Charles II of Spain died, and Louis XIV installed his grandson as king of Spain, destroying the balance of power. William realized he didn't have many years left to rule, and he made Marlborough Commander-In-Chief of English forces in Holland. As Churchill observed, "The formation of the Grand Alliance had begun."

Marlborough, authorized by William, concluded treaties with the states that remained opposed to France. In September, 1701, James II died, and Louis announced that he recognized James' son as the rightful king of England. This arrogant declaration galvanized parliament, and William soon had all the financial support he needed to oppose Louis. In 1702, William's horse threw him, he broke his collarbone, and not long after died. All the pieces were in place for the War of Spanish Succession - an even stronger France, with Spain on its side, was ready to overrun Holland. On Marlborough's shoulders rested the job of leading the Alliance against an incredibly powerful foe.

That is where Marlborough I ends. A couple of final thoughts: First, an unexpected benefit of reading Winston Churchill is that the reader receives a course in English vocabulary. For example, how often do you see the word inexpugnable (it means impregnable)? That word, phlegmatic, obdurate, and puerilities all appear in the span of a few paragraphs.

Second, I have often wondered how Churchill seemed to instinctively comprehend - before anyone else - Hitler's threat to European peace. After reading this first volume of his biography of Marlborough, it's clear that Churchill's understanding wasn't instinctive but rather the result of his immense knowledge of history. He already knew how William III and Louis XIV had vied for supremacy in Europe at the turn of the eighteenth century, and how delicate the balance of power always is. He also recognized Britain's inclination to turn inward as soon as peace is achieved:

The wars were over; their repressions were at an end. They rejoiced in peace and clamoured for freedom. The dangers were past; why should they ever return? Groaning under taxation, impatient of every restraint, the Commons plunged into a career of economy, disarmament, and constitutional assertiveness which was speedily followed by the greatest of the wars England had ever waged and the heaviest expenditure she had ever borne. This phase has often recurred in our history.

WINSTON S. CHURCHILL. Marlborough I (Kindle Locations 7301-7304). Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.

As our current geopolitical situation heats up faster and faster, I wonder if there is anyone on the world's stage with as much historical knowledge as Winston Churchill had in 1933. We certainly could use someone like him again.