Neville
Chamberlain was born in 1869, the son of Joseph Chamberlain. He is best
known for his Munich Pact treaty of peace with Adolph Hitler in 1938
and much criticised for placing his trust in this appeasement
policy.
After
the signing of the Munich Pact, he arrived in London announcing that he
had secured peace in our time. Whatever our thoughts on Neville
Chamberlain and his appeasement policy of the time it should be
considered in some ways fortunate that an ill-prepared Britain was
given more time to prepare for war which commenced in 1939 after
Germany's invasion of Czechoslovakia.
Military support for Poland led Britain into the war in September. The
military disaster in Norway forced Chamberlain to resign in May 1940
and he was succeeded by Winston Churchill. Neville Chamberlain died in
1940.
During
his lifetime he had spent much of his time in business before becoming
the Lord Mayor of Birmingham in 1915. In 1917 he was the director of
National Service for conscription and subsequently elected to
Parliament under the Conservatives. He served as chancellor of the
exchequer twice and as minister of health.
