I know that Hitler came to power in 1933 and started re-arming virtually straight away. I know Churchill gave his “We Must Re-Arm” speech in 1938, but when did Churchill first start pressing everyone to take warning of Hitler’s wrath?
Churchill was always a hawk. Reading in the Naval Memoirs of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes, I noticed Keyes mentioning his and Churchill’s warnings and predictions of war as early as, I believe, 1932-34. Keyes notes that he was especially adamant at his speech when he retired as Admiral of the Fleet, which was about that time. Churchill, a friend and political ally of his, was expressing the same views at the same time, and perhaps even earlier.
Churchill was predicting a war with Germany even before Hitler came to power. He was one of the few British politicians who had read Mein Kampf in its entirety as soon as the English translation was available (in the mid 1920s, I think). Around 1930, Churchill gave a series of speaches and wrote a series of newspaper articles predicting that Germany (not necessarily under Hitler) would try to take over Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, which might draw England and France into war. At the same time he urged rearmament.
According to http://www.winstonchurchill.org , WSC warned the House of Commons about the political events in Germany on December 23, 1932. That was two weeks before Hitler became Chancellor. He had been very closely following events in Germany since at least October of 1930.
Generally speaking, Churchill’s prescience was the stuff of legend. Here’s a choice comment:
“May there not be methods of using explosive energy incomparably more intense than anything heretofore discovered? . . . Could not explosives even of the existing type be guided automatically in flying machines by wireless or other rays, without a human pilot?”
That was written in 1925!
from http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/churchill/lifespan.htm
A good reference for the period before WWII is The Last Lion Alone by William Manchester. In it he quotes Churchill as saying that if Hitler came to power in Germany than the response by England should be:** “If a dog makes a dash for my trousers, I shoot him down before he can bite.” **
This was in October of 1930
Of course just to keep the record straight, Churchill was also an early fan of Mussolini’s. So obviously, he wasn’t always 100% on his prescience. My guess Churchill’s reputation for prescience got a boost from his policy of speaking a great deal and then surviving long enough to participate in the editing process.