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Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS (/ˈtʃeɪmbərlɪn/; 18 March 1869 – 9 November 1940) was a British Conservative Party statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his foreign policy of appeasement, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the German-speaking Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Germany. When Adolf Hitler invaded Poland, the UK declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, and Chamberlain led Britain through the first eight months of the Second World War.
After working in business and local government, and after a short spell as Director of National Service in 1916 and 1917, Chamberlain followed his father, Joseph Chamberlain, and older half-brother, Austen Chamberlain, in becoming a Member of Parliament in the 1918 general election at the age of 49. He declined a junior ministerial position, remaining a backbencher until 1922. He was rapidly promoted in 1923 to Minister of Health and then Chancellor of the Exchequer. After a short-lived Labour-led government, he returned as Minister of Health, introducing a range of reform measures from 1924 to 1929. He was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in the National Government in 1931.
When Stanley Baldwin retired in May 1937, Chamberlain took his place as Prime Minister. His premiership was dominated by the question of policy towards an increasingly aggressive Germany, and his actions at Munich were widely popular among the British at the time. When Hitler continued his aggression, Chamberlain pledged Britain to defend Poland's independence if the latter were attacked, an alliance that brought his country into war when Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland in 1939. Chamberlain resigned the premiership on 10 May 1940 as the Allies were being forced to retreat from Norway, as he believed that a government supported by all parties was essential, and the Labour and Liberal parties would not join a government he headed. He was succeeded by Winston Churchill but remained very well regarded in Parliament, especially among Conservatives. Before ill health forced him to resign, he was an important member of Churchill's War Cabinet as Lord President of the Council, heading the Cabinet in the new premier's absence. Chamberlain died of cancer six months after leaving the premiership.
Chamberlain's reputation remains controversial among historians, the initial high regard for him being entirely eroded by books such as Guilty Men, published in July 1940, which blamed Chamberlain and his associates for the Munich accord and for allegedly failing to prepare the country for war. Most historians in the generation following Chamberlain's death held similar views, led by Churchill in The Gathering Storm. Some later historians have taken a more favourable perspective of Chamberlain and his policies, citing government papers released under the Thirty Year Rule and arguing that going to war with Germany in 1938 would have been disastrous as the UK was unprepared. Nonetheless, Chamberlain is still unfavourably ranked amongst British Prime Ministers.[1]
After working in business and local government, and after a short spell as Director of National Service in 1916 and 1917, Chamberlain followed his father, Joseph Chamberlain, and older half-brother, Austen Chamberlain, in becoming a Member of Parliament in the 1918 general election at the age of 49. He declined a junior ministerial position, remaining a backbencher until 1922. He was rapidly promoted in 1923 to Minister of Health and then Chancellor of the Exchequer. After a short-lived Labour-led government, he returned as Minister of Health, introducing a range of reform measures from 1924 to 1929. He was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in the National Government in 1931.
When Stanley Baldwin retired in May 1937, Chamberlain took his place as Prime Minister. His premiership was dominated by the question of policy towards an increasingly aggressive Germany, and his actions at Munich were widely popular among the British at the time. When Hitler continued his aggression, Chamberlain pledged Britain to defend Poland's independence if the latter were attacked, an alliance that brought his country into war when Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland in 1939. Chamberlain resigned the premiership on 10 May 1940 as the Allies were being forced to retreat from Norway, as he believed that a government supported by all parties was essential, and the Labour and Liberal parties would not join a government he headed. He was succeeded by Winston Churchill but remained very well regarded in Parliament, especially among Conservatives. Before ill health forced him to resign, he was an important member of Churchill's War Cabinet as Lord President of the Council, heading the Cabinet in the new premier's absence. Chamberlain died of cancer six months after leaving the premiership.
Chamberlain's reputation remains controversial among historians, the initial high regard for him being entirely eroded by books such as Guilty Men, published in July 1940, which blamed Chamberlain and his associates for the Munich accord and for allegedly failing to prepare the country for war. Most historians in the generation following Chamberlain's death held similar views, led by Churchill in The Gathering Storm. Some later historians have taken a more favourable perspective of Chamberlain and his policies, citing government papers released under the Thirty Year Rule and arguing that going to war with Germany in 1938 would have been disastrous as the UK was unprepared. Nonetheless, Chamberlain is still unfavourably ranked amongst British Prime Ministers.[1]
Neville Chamberlain - Wikipedia
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Neville Chamberlain returns from Germany with the Munich Agreement
Neville Chamberlain returns from Germany with the Munich Agreement.
Thank you, my friend Maj Marty Hogan for making us aware that March 18 is the anniversary of the birth of British statesman of the Conservative Party Arthur Neville Chamberlain who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940 is best known for his foreign policy of appeasement, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the German-speaking Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Germany.
Benightedly he claimed peace for our time.
Neville Chamberlain returns from Germany with the Munich Agreement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SetNFqcayeA
Background from gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/neville-chamberlain
"Neville Chamberlain
Conservative 1937 to 1940
Neville Chamberlain
Born 18 March 1869, Birmingham
Died 9 November 1940, Heckfield, Hampshire
Dates in office as prime Minister 1937 to 1940
Political party Conservative
Major acts
Factories Act 1937: limited hours worked by women and children.
Holiday with Pay Act 1938: recommendation of week’s paid holiday which led to expansion of holiday camps.
Housing Act 1938: aimed to encourage slum clearance and maintain rent controls.
“This is the second time in our history that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time.”
Neville Chamberlain was born to a political family, being the youngest son of Joseph Chamberlain, a Victorian Cabinet minister, and the half-brother of Austen, a Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was educated at Rugby and Mason College, Birmingham.
When he was 21 Chamberlain left for the Bahamas to manage a 20,000 acre estate. The venture eventually failed, but he gained a reputation for being a hands-on manager, taking a strong interest in the day-to-day running of affairs. On his return he became a leading manufacturer in Birmingham, where he was elected a councillor in 1911 and Lord Mayor in 1915. Then, in 1916, David Lloyd George appointed him Director General of the Department of National Service, but personal bitterness between them led to his resignation within a year.
In 1918 Chamberlain was elected Conservative MP for Ladywood, but refused to serve under Lloyd George in coalition government. In 1922 he became Postmaster General under Andrew Bonar Law, where he proved his judgement and ability. He was made Minister of Health within months and, under Baldwin, Chancellor of the Exchequer all in little more than a year, and within 5 years of entering Parliament.
His Local Government Act of 1929 reformed the Poor Law, effectively laying the foundations of the welfare state, and reorganised local government finance.
In 1931 Ramsay MacDonald made him Chancellor in his national government, and Stanley Baldwin retained him in turn. During the economic crisis, he achieved his father’s protectionist ambitions by passing the Import Duties Bill in 1932.
In May 1937 he succeeded Baldwin as Prime Minister, and was elected Conservative leader.
War was brewing in Europe and had already exploded in Spain. Chamberlain was unwilling to go down in history as responsible for an inevitably destructive war, without doing everything possible to prevent it. Chamberlain, as with many in Europe who had witnessed the horrors of the First World War and its aftermath, was dedicated to restoring peace at almost any price.
He met German chancellor Adolf Hitler in Munich 1938, the result of which was an agreement that Britain and Germany would never again go to war. He declared on his return to the UK “I believe it is peace for our time”. However, the success of ‘appeasement’ was short-lived, as Hitler occupied Prague the following year.
The invasion of Poland forced Chamberlain’s hand, and he declared war on 3 September, 1939. He soon came under attack from all political sides after the disastrous first months of war, when Germany looked set for a rapid victory. Unable to form a national government himself, he resigned in May 1940 after the failure of the British efforts to liberate Norway.
Bowel cancer struck soon after his resignation, forcing him to leave Winston Churchill’s coalition government. On his death bed he gathered the strength to whisper “approaching dissolution brings relief”.
FYI LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SFC William Farrell SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson SPC Margaret Higgins SSgt Brian Brakke 1stSgt Eugene Harless SSG William Jones SSG Diane R.
Benightedly he claimed peace for our time.
Neville Chamberlain returns from Germany with the Munich Agreement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SetNFqcayeA
Background from gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/neville-chamberlain
"Neville Chamberlain
Conservative 1937 to 1940
Neville Chamberlain
Born 18 March 1869, Birmingham
Died 9 November 1940, Heckfield, Hampshire
Dates in office as prime Minister 1937 to 1940
Political party Conservative
Major acts
Factories Act 1937: limited hours worked by women and children.
Holiday with Pay Act 1938: recommendation of week’s paid holiday which led to expansion of holiday camps.
Housing Act 1938: aimed to encourage slum clearance and maintain rent controls.
“This is the second time in our history that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time.”
Neville Chamberlain was born to a political family, being the youngest son of Joseph Chamberlain, a Victorian Cabinet minister, and the half-brother of Austen, a Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was educated at Rugby and Mason College, Birmingham.
When he was 21 Chamberlain left for the Bahamas to manage a 20,000 acre estate. The venture eventually failed, but he gained a reputation for being a hands-on manager, taking a strong interest in the day-to-day running of affairs. On his return he became a leading manufacturer in Birmingham, where he was elected a councillor in 1911 and Lord Mayor in 1915. Then, in 1916, David Lloyd George appointed him Director General of the Department of National Service, but personal bitterness between them led to his resignation within a year.
In 1918 Chamberlain was elected Conservative MP for Ladywood, but refused to serve under Lloyd George in coalition government. In 1922 he became Postmaster General under Andrew Bonar Law, where he proved his judgement and ability. He was made Minister of Health within months and, under Baldwin, Chancellor of the Exchequer all in little more than a year, and within 5 years of entering Parliament.
His Local Government Act of 1929 reformed the Poor Law, effectively laying the foundations of the welfare state, and reorganised local government finance.
In 1931 Ramsay MacDonald made him Chancellor in his national government, and Stanley Baldwin retained him in turn. During the economic crisis, he achieved his father’s protectionist ambitions by passing the Import Duties Bill in 1932.
In May 1937 he succeeded Baldwin as Prime Minister, and was elected Conservative leader.
War was brewing in Europe and had already exploded in Spain. Chamberlain was unwilling to go down in history as responsible for an inevitably destructive war, without doing everything possible to prevent it. Chamberlain, as with many in Europe who had witnessed the horrors of the First World War and its aftermath, was dedicated to restoring peace at almost any price.
He met German chancellor Adolf Hitler in Munich 1938, the result of which was an agreement that Britain and Germany would never again go to war. He declared on his return to the UK “I believe it is peace for our time”. However, the success of ‘appeasement’ was short-lived, as Hitler occupied Prague the following year.
The invasion of Poland forced Chamberlain’s hand, and he declared war on 3 September, 1939. He soon came under attack from all political sides after the disastrous first months of war, when Germany looked set for a rapid victory. Unable to form a national government himself, he resigned in May 1940 after the failure of the British efforts to liberate Norway.
Bowel cancer struck soon after his resignation, forcing him to leave Winston Churchill’s coalition government. On his death bed he gathered the strength to whisper “approaching dissolution brings relief”.
FYI LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SFC William Farrell SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson SPC Margaret Higgins SSgt Brian Brakke 1stSgt Eugene Harless SSG William Jones SSG Diane R.
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Individual who gave Hitler the opinion that the British would be a piece of cake IMO.
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