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CANADA HISTORY - DOCUMENTS WAR

1939 Neville Chamberlain Peace in Our Time Speech


Document Discription

The "Peace in Our Time" speech was given by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain on September 30, 1938, after his meeting with Adolf Hitler in Munich. In the speech, Chamberlain declared that the agreement reached with Hitler would ensure "peace for our time" and prevent a potential war with Germany. However, within a year, Hitler had violated the agreement by invading Czechoslovakia, leading to the start of World War II. The speech is widely seen as a symbol of appeasement and a failure of diplomacy in the face of Nazi aggression.
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[The following is the wording of the statement that Neville Chamberlain waved when he stepped off the plane after the conference in Berlin had ended on 30 September, 1939.]

"We, the German Fuehrer and Chancellor, and the British Prime Minister, have had a further meeting today and are agreed in recognizing that the question of Anglo-German relations is of the first importance for two countries and for Europe. "We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again.

"We are resolved that the method of consultation shall be the method adopted to deal with any other questions that may concern our two countries, and we are determined to continue our efforts to remove possible sources of difference, and thus to contribute to assure the peace of Europe."

Chamberlain read this statement to a cheering crowd in front of 10 Downing St. and said; "My good friends this is the second time in our history that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honor. I believe it is peace in our time."


Cite Article : www.canadahistory.com/sections/documents/war/war.html

Source: from Schirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich



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