Chamberlain and the lost peace

280 Pages·1989·17.286 MB·English

by  John Charmley

CHAMBERLAIN AND»
THE LOST PEACE
“I believe it is peace for our time.”
These were the words of Neville
Chamberlain, the British prime minis-
ter, as he flourished the “piece of
paper”—the diplomatic agreement— -
upon his return from the Munich Con-
ference in October 1938. His speech
and action have since been regarded by
historians and observers as infamous
symbols of appeasement of Hitler, and
Chamberlain himself as weak and inef-
fectual.
Most studies of World War II go on
to assume that it was, in some way, a
triumph for Britain, a triumph for
which Winston Churchill can take
great credit.
Now John Charmley’s important
new reappraisal of the immediate ori-
gins of the war challenges these com-
mon assumptions. Based on extensive
new research in the Chamberlain
papers, the book starts from Chamber-
lain’s belief that even a victorious war
would be a disaster—it would destroy
the foundations of British power and
hand over Europe to Russian domina- |
tion. Reconstructing Chamberlain’s
policy assumptions, Mr. Charmley
argues that they were neither naive nor
foolish.
While examining the prime minister’s
personality, he also shows that Cham-
berlain’s views were shared by many
other leading politicians and diplomats.
Mr. Charmley thus resurrects a whole
_ school of thought on British foreign
policy which was forgotten in the wake
of Churchill’s triumph. That Britain
survived and came out on the winning
side owed much to sheer good for-
tune—something on which Chamber-
lain was not prepared to gamble an
empire. The end result was, as he
feared, a bankrupt Britain and an
expansion of Russian power.
John Charmley studied at Oxford and
now lectures in English history at the
University of East Anglia. His earlier
books include Duff Cooper, Descent to
Suez, and Lord Lloyd and the Decline of
the British Empire. He is at work on a
reevaluation of the career of Winston
Churchill.

Chamberlain and the Lost Peace
Me
S
a
“

_
—
—
—
=
i! = ais}
RC
My
A GREAT MEDIATOR
John Bull: ve known many Prime Ministers in my time, Sir, but never one who
worked so hard for security in the face of such terrible odds.’
5 October 1938.
DTT
505
ie
4
cug WITH! \RATART
1989
Chamberlain
and the Lost Peace
JOHN CHARMLEY
SA
Ivan R. Dee, Publisher
CHICAGO
eeeetod nn
CHAMBERLAIN AND THE LOST PEACE. Copyright © 1989
by John Charmley. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce
this book or portions thereof in any form. For information, address:
Ivan R. Dee, Inc., 1332 North Halsted Street, Chicago 60622. First
American edition 1990. Manufactured in the United States of America
and printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Charmley, John, 195 5-
Chamberlain and the lost peace / John Charmley
p- cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. _ ).
ISBN 0-92.95 87-33-2 (alk. paper)
1. Chamberlain, Neville, 1869-1940. 2. Great Britain—Politics
and government—1936-1945. 3. Great Britain—Foreign rela-
tions—1936-1945. 4. Great Britain—Foreign Relations—Germany.
5. Germany—Foreign relations—Great Britain. 6. World War,
1939-1945—Causes. I. Title.
DA565.C4C48 1990
941.084—dc20 90-32618
CONTENTS
List of illustrations and maps page vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Prologue
I
The Prime Minister and the Ambassador
&
May — November 1937
Holy Fox and the Gamekeeper
Nv
November 1937 15
Eden and Chamberlain
Ow
May — November 1937 22
Chamberlain and Co.
>
November — December 1937 32
The Extrusion of Eden
mn
January — February 1938 40
The Cave of Adullam
nN
February 1938 52
The Traditions of British Foreign Policy
J
February — March 1938 60
Towards a Commitment
co
March — May 1938 a3
Chamberlain and Halifax
©
May — August 1938 82
The Dove of Peace
I 0
August— 15 September 1938 93
I FA Dealing with Hitler
15-20 September 1938 105
I Nv Exercises in Cartography
21-28 September 1938 119
Light After Darkness?
I
Ow
October 1938 133
14 ‘Morbid Anatomy’
October 193—M 8arc h 1939 143
15 The Persistence of Appeasement
November 1938 — March 1939 154
16 The End of Appeasement?
March 1939
17 Facilis Descensus Averni
March — May 1939 176
18 ‘Die for Danzig?’
May — July 1939 186
19 Chamberlain’s War
July — September 1939 197
Epilogue 210
Notes 213
Bibliography 238
List of Main Characters 243
Index 249