What was the purpose of Neville Chamberlain's speech "Peace in our Time ?
1 Answer
To avoid a war in Europe.
Explanation:
Chamberlain's speech Peace In Our Time reflected the policy of appeasement whereby concessions were made to Hitler to avoid another world war. By the 1930's many in the West felt that the Treaty of Versailles had been too harsh on Germany. Therefore Germany's re-occupation of the Rhineland was allowed.
This was also the case with respect to her re-arming in breach of the treaty, her annexation of Austria and finally the Munich agreement where the Sudetenland which was predominantly inhabited by ethnic Germans was handed over to Germany from Czechoslovakia.
The subsequent seizure of the rest of Czechoslovakia showed that the policy had not worked. Then the invasion of Poland sparked World War 2.
In retrospect Chamberlain was heavily criticised but there was little appetite for war at the time, and there was a lot of support for Hitler in the West, particularly amongst the British ruling class and aristocracy. He was seen as an important bulwark against bolshevism.
Opponents of appeasement such as Churchill were very much in the minority. However they were proved to be right in the long term.
