Arthur Neville Chamberlain was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasement, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement on 30 September 1938, conceding the German-speaking Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Germany. Following the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, which marked the beginning of World War II, Chamberlain announced the declaration of war on Germany two days later and led Great Britain through the first eight months of the war until his resignation as prime minister on 10 May 1940.
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, was a British Conservative statesman who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions.
The Munich Agreement or Munich Betrayal was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the French Third Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy. It provided "cession to Germany of the Sudeten German territory" of Czechoslovakia. Most of Europe celebrated the agreement, because it prevented the war threatened by Adolf Hitler by allowing Nazi Germany's annexation of the Sudetenland, a region of western Czechoslovakia inhabited by more than 3 million people, mainly German speakers. Hitler announced it was his last territorial claim in Europe, and the choice seemed to be between war and appeasement.
Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1963 to October 1964. He was the last Prime Minister to hold office while a member of the House of Lords, before disclaiming his peerage and taking up a seat in the House of Commons for the remainder of his premiership. His reputation, however, rests more on his two spells as Britain's foreign minister than on his brief premiership.
Appeasement in an international context is a diplomatic policy of making political or material concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the UK Governments of Prime Ministers Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin and most notably Neville Chamberlain towards Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy between 1935-39.
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax,, styled The 1st Baron Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and The 3rd Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a senior British Conservative politician of the 1930s. He held several senior ministerial posts during this time, most notably those of Viceroy of India from 1925 to 1931 and of Foreign Secretary between 1938 and 1940. He was one of the architects of the policy of appeasement of Adolf Hitler in 1936–38, working closely with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. However, after the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 he was one of those who pushed for a new policy of attempting to deter further German aggression by promising to go to war to defend Poland.
Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood,, known as Lord Robert Cecil from 1868 to 1923, was a British lawyer, politician and diplomat. He was one of the architects of the League of Nations and a defender of it, whose service to the organisation saw him awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1937.
The 1945 United Kingdom general election was a national election held on 5 July 1945, though polling in some constituencies was delayed by several days, while the counting of votes was delayed until 26 July to provide time for overseas votes to be brought to Britain. The governing Conservative Party sought to maintain their position within parliament, but faced challenges from public opinion about the future of the United Kingdom in the post-war period. Incumbent Prime Minister Winston Churchill proposed a call for a general election in parliament, which passed with a majority vote less than two months after the conclusion of World War II in Europe.
Édouard Daladier was a French Radical-Socialist (centre-left) politician and the Prime Minister of France at the outbreak of World War II.
Henry Brooke, Baron Brooke of Cumnor was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster-General from 1961–62 and — following the "Night of the Long Knives" — as Home Secretary from 1962–64.
"Peace for our time" was a declaration made by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Neville Chamberlain in his 30 September 1938 speech concerning the Munich Agreement and the subsequent Anglo-German Declaration. The phrase echoed Benjamin Disraeli, who, upon returning from the Congress of Berlin in 1878, stated, "I have returned from Germany with peace for our time". It is primarily remembered for its ironic value: less than a year after the agreement, continued pressure for return of the Polish corridor by Hitler, and subsequently the invasion of Poland was followed by declarations of war on Germany by France and the United Kingdom.
Arthur Massey Skeffington was a British Labour Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 23 years from 1945 until his death in 1971.
The Bridgwater by-election, 1938 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Bridgwater, Somerset held on 17 November 1938.
The Oxford by-election, 1938 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Oxford, held on 27 October 1938. The by-election was triggered when Robert Croft Bourne, the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament died on 7 August 1938. He had served as MP for the constituency since a 1924 by-election.
The Bodmin by-election, 1922 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons. The constituency of Bodmin in Cornwall polled on 24 February 1922. The by-election was notable for the opposition Liberal Party gaining a seat from the Coalition supporting Conservative Party.
The Walsall by-election, 1938 was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Walsall on 16 November 1938.
The European foreign policy of the Chamberlain ministry from 1937 to 1940 was based on Neville Chamberlain's commitment to "peace for our time", pursuing a policy of appeasement and containment towards Nazi Germany while increasing the strength of Britain's armed forces, until in September 1939 he delivered an ultimatum over the invasion of Poland followed by a declaration of war against Germany.
On Wednesday, 5 October 1938, Winston Churchill delivered a speech entitled A Total and Unmitigated Defeat to the House of Commons. The speech was given on the third day of the Munich Debate and lasted 45 minutes. Churchill, a Conservative back-bencher at the time, was critical of the Munich Agreement which had been signed six days earlier by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain under terms largely favourable to German dictator Adolf Hitler.
The following events occurred in September 1938:
Richard Austen Butler, generally known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative politician.