TLS signed “Winston S. Churchill,” three pages, 7.5 x 9.5, 10 Downing Street letterhead, February 1, 1952. Letter to MP Roger Fleetwood-Hesketh. In part: “The three bye-elections which take place next week give the electors their first opportunity to endorse the steps the Government are taking to save Britain from economic disaster and to strengthen the Free World against Communist aggression. The conversations that Mr. Eden and I have had with our friends in Paris and Washington have not only cleared away many misunderstandings and made it easier for us to work in harmony in the future, but have already secured results. At home we are applying the brakes to arrest the disastrous fall in the buying power of the £…we are determined to put a stop to the creeping inflation which is not only eating into our social services, pensions and savings, but destroying our capacity to import the food and raw materials by which we live. The remedies that must be applied are obvious, if painful. We must consume less and export more. Some people would have the nation believe that the Government is exaggerating the dangers which confront us. They say that the economic situation is not really critical and that the Tories are working up a scare for sinister purposes of their own…The people have heard from the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Government is doing and intends to do to avert national bankruptcy and to pave the way to a rapid recovery. This is no Party matter. The nation’s life and livelihood are at stake, and we must have the backing and energetic co-operation of the whole nation, if we are to succeed in the task which has been entrusted to us. With that backing the Government is confident that it can steer the country out of the economic whirlpool in which it has been helplessly drifting back to security and subsequent prosperity. Without it the future will be black indeed.” In fine condition, with central vertical and horizontal folds and a stray ink blot affecting the middle initial in Churchill’s signature. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope.
This exceptional letter addresses two of the most crucial topics of the era: the British economic crisis and the international spread of communism. Growing increasingly concerned about the communist threat—Soviet communism had recently spread to Czechoslovakia, and the outbreak of the Korean War was pitting free-market democracy against communist dictatorship in an intense ideological battle—Churchill would join his “friends in Paris and Washington” to address the issue at NATO’s Lisbon Conference later that month. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom's economy was suffering with a devastating devaluation of its currency in the aftermath of World War II; as his war-torn nation rebuilt, the US grew immensely powerful, having exported billions of dollars worth of aircraft, ships, and war supplies to the other Allied powers. As a result, the dollar replaced the pound sterling as the de facto world currency, leading to further economic troubles in England. After six years out of office, recently-reelected Prime Minister Churchill returned determined to resolve these crises. This is an absolutely spectacular letter rife with important content, with Churchill recognizing the significance of the task at hand and seeking the support of his people. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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