One In Five Brits Think Churchill Never Existed?

Captain's Quarters ^ | Feb. 04, 2008 | Ed Morrissey

[jdm]

Every once in a while, some pollster comes up with a survey that shows what idiots Westerners can be. They especially like to pick on Americans and their rather insular attitude towards geography, being unable in large numbers to actually find Iraq on a globe or to identify the correct continent for Guyana (South America, in case anyone asks). Jay Leno has a running gag on the Tonight Show where he goes out in the street and asks people simple questions and films them getting the answers spectacularly wrong.

So I have some sympathy with our friends in Britain this morning, who have to be slapping their heads with the results of a poll taken by a television production company that found 23% of their fellow countrymen didn't believe that Winston Churchill actually existed:

Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.

The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.

And 23 percent thought World War II prime minister Churchill was made up. The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.

Even more laughable, the man who most exemplified peaceful protest in this century also got relegated to mythical status. Mohandas Gandhi appears in the Top Ten of Mythical Creatures in this poll. In contrast, a majority -- 58% -- believed that Sherlock Holmes was in fact a real person, and not a fictional character from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's excellent novels.

One might forgive those who consider Richard Lionheart and the Duke of Wellington mythical. Especially with the former, the myths may have overtaken the actual history, to some extent. The British can afford to have a mythical Wellington now, even if they should be grateful for having an actual Wellington when they needed him most against Napoleon.

But Churchill? Not only was Churchill the truly indispensable man of World War II, he was also captured on miles of film. He served a second term as prime minister just fifty years ago. His descendants still work in politics and speak on ceremonial occasions that celebrate his life. Most critically, Churchill produced some of the most important volumes of history during his long lifetime which grace libraries around the world.

I mean, what more does a man have to do to gain some measure of immortality?

At least 23% of Americans don't believe that FDR or Abraham Lincoln never existed. Or at least I hope they don't. Maybe we shouldn't ask questions for which we'd rather not hear the answers.

[RetiredArmy]

Right. I don't know anything about the UK. I only know what I see on TV. Read in the newspapers. See on the Internet. Read in magazines. All I see is Islamic murderers rioting in your streets. Your government further left than mine is, though we will be there shortly. Oh, by the way, next time the UK gets its ass in a crack somewhere in the world, like the Malvina's, don't ask for my assistance. I assisted the last time. I won't this time. And when the Jerries hit you again, don't cry for the yanks. My uncles and father came to your rescue last time. Right, know nothing about your country. All I know about your country is we kicked your sorry asses back across the Atlantic, founded our own Republic. Didn't bow down to the king whatever his name and number was this time around. Right. So much for the empire.

[the scotsman]

Winston Churchill didn’t really exist, say teens
By Aislinn Simpson
Last Updated: 1:53am GMT 04/02/2008

A fifth of British teenagers believe Sir Winston Churchill was a fictional character, while many think Sherlock Holmes, King Arthur and Eleanor Rigby were real, a survey shows.

Glory days of the Navy captured by a serving sailor
The canvass of 3,000 under-twenties uncovered an extraordinary paucity of basic historical knowledge that older generations take for granted.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/04/nhistory104.xml

[DMZFrank]

They can most likely tell you everything you need to know about Princess Di though!!!

[TChad]

Gee. I guess since I can remember Churchill being PM, it’ll be ‘off to the camps’ for me.

You need not worry. The British response to your statement would be, "Camps? What camps?"

[puroresu]

Southern and Northern Democrats, the most racist people on the planet who wouldn’t even vote for the 1964 Civil Rights Act, are their friends.

Actually, almost every Northern Democrat voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The opposition came from Southern Democrats and strict constitutionalist Republicans.

[puroresu]

They can most likely tell you everything you need to know about Princess Di though!!!

You are correct, sir!

[uksupport1]

Blimey mate, I don’t know where to start. You seem to see my desire to not have my country slandered as criticism of the US for some reason. I love the US and have never said anything to the contrary. Forgive me for trying to defend the UK!

To address your points:

1) Islamic murderers are not rioting in Britain’s streets. We have a Muslim population the same size as that of the US (as a proportion of the population). Radicals have been jailed like any other thugs/criminals.

2) Britain is under a Labour government (a left-leaning party) at the moment. That has still not stopped us from being the only US ally to be committing substantial combat forces to Iraq and Afghanistan.

3) Re: The Falklands. I know that the US helped the UK with intelligence and AIM-9L air-to-air capability, for which we were very grateful. I, however, fail to see how Britain having its territory invaded and then recapturing it with a numerically inferior force against a dug-in enemy amounts to ‘getting our asses in a crack’? I have every respect for your military service and would be very interested to hear what your involvement in that conflict was. However, given how stretched the UK military is actively helping its US friends on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan it seems a bit harsh to begrudge us the logistical and technical aid offered by the US in the Falklands.

4)I have great respect and thanks for all Americans, including your uncles and father, who fought in Europe in World War Two. However, given that Britain stood alone against the Nazi Juggernaut for two years, it is highly insulting to slander our WW2 generation in the way that you have.

5)”All I know about your country is we kicked your sorry asses back across the Atlantic, founded our own Republic.” Well, more specifically Brit and European settlers fought third-tier British reserves and German mercenaries (and each other). There was great sympathy for the Americans in Britain. To the UK, it was a rather insignificant skirmish whilst our main effort (and first and second tier military) was focussed on the fight against other world powers such as France. In 1812, the US tried to invade Canada and got whooped by outnumbered Brits and Canadians and ended the War hundreds of miles inside their own territory with the White House burned down.

4)’So much for the empire.’ Funnily enough, the British empire ended not with chaos but with the ordered transfer of power in UK colonies to locals. There was no real violence (where it did occur, the UK military successfully stamped it out-see Malaya). Many of these territories are friendly commonwealth countries. A key factor in the UK deciding to scale back its overseas possessions were the crippling economic debts of WW1 and 2 (the UK only managed to repay huge WW2 loans to the US last year).