Let it be known that during the illness that eventually took his life, he was regularly briefed. Churchill specifically saw to that. Yes, most of it was grim. But he lived long enough to know that Britain survived the Luftwaffe's onslaught and had dug in during the Blitz. Before his passing Chamberlain knew that defeat for his country was NOT a forgone conclusion. Many will find this a great comfort to know. I do. ..
Very well said. I hadn't realised that he died knowing, we had won the Battle for Britain, at least, some very good and comforting news. Although he was critisized for his lenient attitude to Hitler, that generation had whitnessed and even took part in some cases, 'the war to end all Wars'' of only 20 years before. So horiffic was that war, that He, as Prime Minister, was duty bound, to do all he could, to prevent a repeat of it. But it must be said, that the delaying tactics of the peace talks, allowed Britain, to build up our lagging armaments, and all our important and VITAL Fighter aircraft, that eventually, led to Victory. Make no mistake, we were NOT ready for War, in 1938.
People who criticise Chamberlain must remember this he lived through the horrors of the Great War and he didn't want another generation of young men to suffer.
Furthermore, those who say that there should have been a war in 1938, are simply ignoring the reality of the times. The Spanish Civil War was still going on, with the Legion Condor operating here in strength (until March 1939). If there had been a war in 1938, Czechoslovakia would have been lost, and GB might just have lost Gibraltar as well...
@@martinputt6421 Correct. Shadow aircraft factories, ordering of escorts vessels, Chain Home, the 4-engine "heavies", Spitfire, etc., etc., etc. All those weapons which arrived "just in time" in 1940, were all ordered before WW2. GB should honor him more.
@@ralphbernhard1757 I agree, I feel sorry for him especially since he died just as the war got really serious and would have had no idea how things would turn out.
And he was dead just a mere six months later in November. And he knew the great defeat at Dunkirk. He saw the full assault of the Luftwaffe on the cities of England. And he died knowing an invasion of England was imminent. It must have been devastating for him.
delavalmilker it wasnt just England that got bombed, parts of Scotland got it full on as well. My mothers family was bombed out of house and home and my mother got trapped all alone in a bomb shelter as a pre-teen child something that scarred her for the rest of her days.
He was a very happy man when told of the repulse of the German airforce, for he was the architect of airforce priority and the fighter plane programme that left the army sore when it returned from Dunkirk.
This was a surprise to listen to because in every other speech I've heard his voice he sounds tired and defeated. But in the last few minutes of this one the fury in his voice sounds like someone else entirely.
Ironic that his final speech as PM was also his best. You can totally feel the simmering rage he has for Hitler and all of his evil deeds and shameless lies.
I can’t accept his notion that he strived for peace with honour. Where was the honour in giving away the Sudetenland - part of Czechoslovakia- at negotiations to which the Czechs were not party? Where was the honour of signing up to assist the Poles and doing nothing when they were attacked? The only more disreputable entity there is Stalin who stabbed Poland in the back. Same old Russia
It's easy to criticise Chamberlain in retrospect, but what would you have done in his position, having suffered the ravages of the Great War? This was the resignation speech of a statesman.
Not to mention, Chamerlain already knew the war was coming and determined he needed to buy time with the sacrifice of Czechoslovakia. He did not chose appeasement for the peace, Great War and time to rearmament was needed.
Hitler also experienced the gore of war, not mentioning Austrians and Germans lost it, so they should be even less likely to start another one. The Great War wasn't the first great war in Europe (Napoleonic wars, 30-years war,...) and only the fool would expect it to never repeat.
@@vincenzo7597 I'm just blaiming Chamberlain for not being an intelligent and foreseeing politician. Argument that he suffered the ravages of the Great War is just pointless, and it wasn't the first time in history when after one dramatic war came another one. All he had to do was to say "no" at least once or just shut up when his voice let the Hitler's war machine flourish. No need to know about the holocaust or other crimes. He only had to listen what Hitler said. Have you ever read his interview in the newspaper? Or what he said about Czechs after Chamberlain suggested monetary reparations in exchange of the Sudetenlands? Hitler was like a mad child that was yeling at people and biting his own shirt after he didn't get a lollipop. Once he talks about peace, and then, when he's taking the sudetes, he shouts that it is too late for peace. Seriously, if you would see someone behaving like him you would call the police or rather mental hospital. He was embarassing himself and his nation as a diplomat, constantly letting you know that he won't run back from the most cruel solution, or even do everyting he could to use that solution to get what he wants.
The great war was in his soul and memories. Nobody that lives today can grasp that darkness! And like my mother always said: Nobody knows the day before the pubs close.., no one knew 1941 in 1940.
Churchill's brilliant speech to the House of Commons on Nov 12th 1940 on the passing of Neville Chamberlain is certainly one of his best. An immense Epitaph, to a very important British leader from another very important British leader. Very gallant gentlemen....
Churchill was disgusting warmongering alcoholic with a murderous genocidal past. A pathetic coward of a man, deserting London without telling his staff or the people of London, of the incoming air attack which he had personal knowledge of.
Abi Dabi don’t forget to mention Gallipoli Campaign, where he used young men of England as his cannon fodder to throw at the Turks. Got him effectively sacked.
Chamberlain, A wonderful statesman, A tremendous proponent of reason, decency, and old world values he could never understand the warmonger Hitler, But we must recognise he did in his eyes his duty.
Oh please, it's his policy of appeasement, that caused the war, if he didn't have the policy of appeasement, the war could've been avoided, well war on the scale that it was. Appeasement never works. And Neville Chamberlain had to learn that the hard way.
@@maddogoz08 To lay the whole responsibility on Chamberlain's shoulders isn't fair in my view. By the time he came to power, Germany had been engaged in an intense rearmament campaign for years and attempts by previous PMs to do the same had been criticized across party lines as unnecessary expenses in a period of awful economic downturn and WW1 hangover. Even if from day one he'd thrown what little Britain had at Germany, it still would have been a disaster and history would remember him as a warmongering idiot who ought to have tried diplomacy. He was doomed either way.
@@maddogoz08 he needed buy up time for UK to fully mobilise. The effects of Great War still lingered on British society and by giving up Czechoslovakia, he knew he will be given some time to catch up with military. UK was not ready for war.
And we should remember that as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Baldwin he introduced the first serious budget for rearmament in 1936. There is a recording of his speech explaining why, despite the improvement in national finances he had to spend less on social improvements and more on military strength. Baldwin was no supporter of rearmament and Chamberlain had to push for it in Cabinet. He was less shortsighted on these issues than a lot of people still believe.
Glad to see that more recent historians are rehabilitating Chamberlain as a force for good. Somebody who actually made the RIGHT decisions for the long term. He served honourably in Churchill's war cabinet. People forget that without Chamberlain's support for Churchill - and his newly found implacable opposition to any compromise with Hitler, Lord Halifax's peace plan might well have carried the day. Chamberlain was hopping mad that he'd been duped at Munich. Had Chamberlain not died (from cancer) in 1940, he'd have had a chance to redeem his reputation.
@@answerman9933 Ah.... 1960's man putting in his usual, infantile claim to be some sort of historian! Hey, Mr, er 'Answer Man' (is that like some sort of joke, BTW?). Try actually reading as much of 'Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War", Tim Bouverie (2019) as ypu can .If you miss out all the big words - ones over say, 10 letters, you' ll probabaly manage twenty or so pages then, real historians might even listen to your'answers'. Reading YT history teaches you pretty quickly who's a waste of space. You took me about half a second, oxygen thief.
@@MarkHarrison733 Not saying you're wrong but that's a fringe counterfactual which needs very careful working up. Does Britain's "imperial war" represent a continuation of WW1 or a response to later events: the Japanese occupation of Manchuria or Mussolini's 1935 invasion of Abyssinia, for example?
A truly honourable man. He did the right thing; trying to avoid a horrific world war, quitting when he knew Britain's best chance was with another PM. He left with dignity and helped put Britain in a better place to win the war
@@golfwesty Yes I am serious, moving the political narrative from attempting to avoid WW2 to realising against ADOLF HITLER this was useless (easy now to say but we had retrovision) was a correct course of diplomacy. Peace must be attempted first and a lot of conflicts have been avoided this way
I think Churchill was aware from this that he had better not miss any opportunity to show Chamberlain the highest respect. In any case, he was reported as showing him the highest deference. And he asked after his death, Are we beasts? He was watching footage of the bombing of German cities. Chamberlain warned what war was, warned that French policy was precipitating Hitler in Power, and warned of German ambitions once Hitler was in power. Perhaps we should ask ourselves what Chamberlain would warn people about today. Certainly the evil of generating division, and the evil of exploitation, is on the increase.
He certainly would have lived longer had he not been in a demanding position since 1934, but he lived long enough to see the battle of Britain and died before Coventry was bombed.
The Munich Agreement never failed. It was Chamberlain's decision to form an unworkable pact with Poland after it had invaded Czechoslovakia in 1938-39 that led to World War II. He should have pressured the anti-Semitic fascist regime in Warsaw more heavily to allow a referendum on Danzig.
Thank you , thank you , thank you to Roman Styran , for a collection of such fascinating and interesting videos. I’ve always held a notion that Neville Chamberlain was somewhat harshly judged at the time and that history , until recently , has treated him treated him most harshly . I am looking forward to reading a new account of Chamberlain and the run up to war - More Than Munich , Andrew Reekes , historian . I found this speech here , so kindly brought to us by Roman Styran , to be eloquent and elegant . Not that it’s relevant but I was a few years from being born but I can still recall the early years of my childhood , the aftermath and effects of the war and learning about it , with gratitude and respect for all those families, men , women all who kept the country going , through hard work and adversity together with our Services , as they all, together, fought for king and country , suffered and endured . And despite the passing decades , my respect never waivers.
In the past few days I have learned much about this man that I was oblivious to. He was crusader for social well being and for the avoidance of war which turned into his undoing. His attributes should be considered more. Instead history has relegated him as a nincompoop.
a brave and ferocious face in the last couple sentences--but really, they were tinged with the emotion of a man who stepped out of the way of a bloody fate that he could have fought to the death to avoid, but didn't.
I'm here because Eric Weinstein mentionned this speech! It's truly chilling! We miss leaders who would be willing to resign with dignity, and give their trust to another leader in times of crisis nowadays.
Sadly I don't think this is the complete speech. I have a full version of it as broadcast over shortwave, but it's almost unintelligible. However I'm pretty sure there is more of the thing, sure it's longer. Nevertheless thank you very much for posting this, much much better than the pitiful clips dear old auntie has dained to throw us.
For my generation, Chamberlain was the whipping boy and weak appeaser, but only after some study and passing years did I come to appreciate his accomplishments in the social work of the 30's. At the end, he supported Churchill and prevented the true appeaser, Lord Halifax from becoming Prime Minister which would have led to Britain accepting Hitler's rule.
@@MrDaiseymay I don't think Halifax was a traitor, but he was a short sighted man who thought that he could make a deal with Hitler and go about his life without ruffled feathers. Churchill knew and Chamberlain came to know that there comes a time when you must stand and fight. If you are looking for a traitor, look toward Oswald Mosley who would have followed Hitler lockstep into tyranny.
@@oldschool1993 but Lord Halifax was one of several toffs who admired ‘Herr Hitler’ and how he was transforming Germany and keeping the communists from power. There was defo a pro-fascist element in British high society at that time.
@@petergilbert72 Yes, that is true then much as today- in the labour party now there are folks who are pro communism and the socialist concepts of absolute government power run rampant through many young people around the world. However, as I replied to the other fellow, it did not rise to the level of treason with Halifax. After Hitler's incursion into Czechoslovakia and Austria, Halifax called for British rearmament and he began to disagree the appeasement policy of Chamberlain. Sadly in may of 1940 there were few who believed Britain could stand against Hitler and Halifax proposed making a settlement to stop the coming invasion and this put a stain on his name.
You do know about the Cabinet crisis involving Lord Halifax right? This was to do with his efforts to broker a mediation where Italy would act as a peace maker between Britain + Germany. This was proposed to Churchill and was rejected. Mussolini was trying to help resolve the impending disaster. Germany never wanted this war. 2 versions of World War 2 events : the "Official history" and the "Secret history".
Chamberlain was a great PM. He knew how devastating would be a war against Nazi Germany and he tried everything to avoid it. He was a dove in a time of hawks.
Really good honest heartfelt reignation speech. I wonder if Churchill modelled his speeches on Chaimberlains. He would never admit that even if it was true
And indeed died in Nov 1940 at a time when it appeared to many that the British empire might fall to nazi tyranny, and never lived to see its final destruction in May 1945... He has ALWAYS had my sympathy.
Spinning Spin He continued to serve in the coalition government for several months. Churchill noticing how ill he looked suggested he take a break from the stresses of everyday work. 2 weeks later he died.
A terrible hand he was dealt, one of the worst hands in history. Stanley Baldwin was PM when German troops marched back into Rhineland, imo Stanley and his inaction was the catalyst for the tragedy that was to come.
If Britain had attacked Germany in the mid 1930s, or even in 1938, would it have been united in its endeavour? Would the Empire have supported Britain militarily? Almost certainly not. It’s very unfortunate for the Czechs for sure, but Chamberlain prioritised survival of the British Empire, rearmament, and leaving no stone unturned for peace. From March 1939 onwards when Hitler reneged on the Munich agreement it was apparent to all that a reckoning with Hitler would only be a matter of time - though Britain had few levers to deploy as our army was small and the large ocean going Navy vulnerable in a place like the Baltic Sea.
When you see other earlier pictures of Mr Chamberlain, you can see that his face is much fuller and brighter than this one. He definitely lost quite a lot of weight in this picture, and he looks quite frail.
The stubborn resistance to the facts of Germany's increasing armaments in the Stanley Baldwin years meant that by the time Chamberlin took over, those policies (which Chamberlin and nearly everyone else had supported) meant he was operating from a position of great weakness. Wishful thinking can do great harm.
In 1938, he was operating from strength. Little shop of Horrors... Feeding germany oil/industrial rich Czechovakia, undermined the level headed german generals who were planning to remove the madman. In 1938, before the damage that Chamberlain did, even France alone was able to overtake germany.
Chamberlain does not deserve the criticism he gets, he did not have much options, either look weak and resign and be criticized for your policies or try too hard and fail and just be more unliked by his nation, he chose the first option because he knew he could not choose the second for his people, so he resigned to give his place to a better and stronger ruler.
Chamberlain was unfairly branded as an "Appeaser" but that word I dislike intensley, because it's a red herring. The fact of the matter is that he ultimately went over and completed the Munich Peace agreement in Nov 1938. He took that risk. He didn't want war with Germany and he wasn't going to be manipulated any longer. The drunken, cigar chomping Winston Churchill actually belittled Neville Chamberlain by saying about him - "You had two choices : War + Dishonour, you chose dishonour". Imagine that huh?
The horrors of World War I or some refer still as The Great War. Ask any US Vietnam vet how quickly they want to see the US enter another war and you will understand.
In Conservative Received Pronunciation, the "ah" sound is pronounced as if it were a combination of "e" and "a". So instead of "hat", you get "het". Instead of "cat", you get "cet"
He was tooo old to serve in WW1, but as a Birmingham council member would have had daily exposure to the tragic lives of his constiuents who had lost their husbands sons and fathers during the bloodletting.
Statesmen like Nevilles Chamberlain are a rare breed. Compared to the noble honesty displayed in this speech today's pathetic shower look like minnows.
This guy as you call him was a great statesman. He witnessed the horrors of the great war first hand and would do anything in his power to avoid another blood bath. He also knew Britain was not ready and playing for time was indeed a shrewd move. It's easy for us sitting here knowing what panned out, try putting yourself in his position , a very scary proposition.
I think it should be investigated if the state now and then is legislated with the Bible written as a story. The word immunity (Latin immunitas, freedom from obligations to the state) comes from a religious revelation from the middle ages, most likely from a pope to become lawless, and which has since been rewritten into full immunity to the queen, personal and functional immunity (legally, cannot be prosecuted for criminal act) to the prime minister, government, parliament, cabinet, and Supreme Court for law decisions and actions. I also think it should be investigated if millions of fallen soldiers in the world wars were elected by the people or not. The political exploitation of the vital ecosystem has now led to forest death (force majeure) how will it affect people's economy, etc? I think the Democrat Party can be a consciously misleading party name with all parties belonging to the Conservative Party, as current political democracy and socialism can only be about going more toward the middle, eg. social democrats. The reason may be that the queen (head of state) wants to govern the people with full immunity together with the prime minister, government, parliament, cabinet, and Supreme Court with functional immunity, personal immunity for law decisions and actions, even with the misleading word professional politician. I think the people should consider voting for a real democratic party with an independent state formation to investigate if the queen, prime minister, government, parliament, cabinet, and Supreme Court overall may be guilty of a violation of democratic rights with misleading elections, economic crimes, violation of human rights with class society for adults and children, serious environmental crime (force majeure).
"You have sat too long for any good you have been doing... Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!" ------------MP Leo Amery quoting Oliver Cromwell
That, was amazing !!!! I've just turned 65 years old.. That is the first time I've ever heard this speech.. It was suggested to me, by Eric Weinstein 😊
People don't know what they have, until its gone... As for 1938, and "we should've just let it come to war", or the Churchill stand as some would say. Well, Churchill was a terrible strategist. A shoot first and think later type of person one wouldn't want as a leader in times of peace. Because there was this thing called the Legion Condor, operating in this thing known as the Spanish Civil War, which happened to be next to....Gibraltar. Ouch...
his actions of appeasement led to a Germany already the behemoth of central Europe when we were forced to fight. I don't doubt he had good intentions. I'm certainly not a fan of his though
You think any other English politician at the time would have stood up to Hitler? The U.K.'s economy was reeling in 1937 and it absolutely could NOT afford to come down hard on Germany militarily. What the hell do you expect Neville to do when Hitler demands the Sudetenland, invade Germany? LOL
? It's his first name, not a family name. And it's a very common first name in England (less so in America and some other English speaking countries). I'm related to some Johns, but I'm not going to assume I'm related to someone because their name is John...
One might have some understanding for Chamberlain's desperate though naive efforts to preserve peace, after the horrors of the WW1. However, it is difficult to find any reasonable apology for him that he was willing to cynically sell the only working democracy in Central Europe (Czechoslovakia) to Hitler's dictatorship, yet based on a number of lies. God bless Sir Winston Churchill...
@@colinfitz89 Not being attached to the continent of Europe Britain at that time never kept a big standing army it wasn’t viable there was nowhere to put it Britain had the largest navy in the world to keep the trading routes open that was it’s emphasis and of the land war why should Britain have to keep going over to Europe to help sort out their self inflicted problems.
@@answerman9933 British Congress aproved Munich Agreement with just ond evote against. And thsi vote didn't came form Winston Churchill. I live in Brazil.
@@daltonagre The Munich Agreement never failed. It was Chamberlain's decision to form an unworkable pact with Poland after it had invaded Czechoslovakia in 1938-39 that led to World War II. He should have pressured the anti-Semitic fascist regime in Warsaw more heavily to allow a referendum on Danzig. Brazil should have resisted the bribes from the United States and remained neutral.
Chamberlain's only mistake was in forming an unworkable pact with fascist Poland after it had invaded Czechoslovakia in 1938-39. He should have pressured the anti-Semitic regime in Warsaw more heavily to allow a referendum on Danzig.
He thought the French alliance would be jeopardized if he did not take a strong line. Danzig was a League of Nations 'free city'. Letting the Nazis have it would throw the lingering dream of collective security into the trash. It would also destroy hopes of an understanding with Stalin. He was content to leave Poland as a buffer state, but he could not tolerate it as a German puppet abutting the USSR's borders, together with the Corridor, East Prussia and Danzig on its doorstep and a revived Kriegsmarine threatening to turn the Baltic into a German lake. One thing Churchill and Chamberlain shared was an exaggerated faith in the intimidatory supremacy of French arms. They clung to an Anglo-French alliance like a security blanket. They could not infer from the Maginot Line how rotten and defeatist the Third Republic had become.
