Who was the prime minister of Great Britain when the nation stood alone against the Axis Powers in the war?
2 Answers
Winston Churchill
Explanation:
At the start of WW2, Neville Chamberlain was the Prime Minister of Great Britain. However, it was Winston Churchill who stood against the Axis powers.
As Hitler and the Nazis rose to power in Germany and began to militarize, the world held its collective breath - WW1 had ended in 1918 and left Europe in particular in no mood to fight another war. The amount of death and destruction was unfathomable and it was hoped that the reparations that were placed on Germany would "teach it a lesson" and ensure it never rose up again.
The reparations did indeed hurt Germany deeply, but it was the poverty and deprivation that Hitler seized on to take power and begin to invade territory he felt was German - first the Rhineland (annexed by France after WW1), then a part of Czechoslovakia (and eventually all of it), then Poland.
Chamberlin, hoping that by appeasing Hitler's desire for "German territory" war could be avoided, negotiated again and again with Hitler - giving him what he wanted in exchange for preventing war. It was after Germany invaded Poland that war was finally declared by Great Britain.
It was after Norway fell to the Nazis that Chamberlin resigned as Prime Minister, realizing that he was an uninspiring wartime leader. Winston Churchill replaced him and it is to him that most of the credit is given for helping to maintain England's will to fight during, even during the darkest hours of the war.
It could be one of two depending on what period of time we are talking about.
Explanation:
At the outbreak of war, Neville Chamberlain was PM. However he was replaced in May 1940 by Winston Churchill and it is he who is generally seen as PM when Britain stood alone. Much of Chamberlain's tenure in office during the early stages of WW2 were dominated by the Phony War.
