Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain was a Conservative politician, member of the Parliament, and prime minister of the United Kingdom.
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History
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Chamberlain controversially extended diplomacy to Germany and Italy. The latter was especially controversial, as Italy had been isolated since their invasion of Ethiopia. He believed that allowing remilitarization and restoration of colonies would satisfy the popular fascist agendas. He also believed that Italy could be the check against German expansionism. This foreign policy was also controversial among the Conservatives in part because he circumvented Eden and the foreign office to execute it. Eden finally resigned as foreign secretary in protest of Chamberlain's decision to recognize the Anschluss. Chamberlain and Wood then were heavily involved in brokering the Munich Agreement, over which Duff Cooper resigned from the admiralty in similar protest.
After Germany invaded Poland in September, Chamberlain hesitated to follow through on security guarantees and ultimatums. He nonetheless declared war two days later, and appointed Churchill to the admiralty and his war cabinet. He blocked plans for aggressive mobilization in the Baltic Sea, leading to the first few months of the war being known as the 'Phoney War'. This culminated in the disastrous Narvik campaign.
The Norway Debate, also known as the Norvik Debate, began on May 7th. A vote of no confidence was held, and failed, but it spurred several party defections and demonstrated that Chamberlain had no standing among the other parties and no control over his own party. Then Germany invaded Belgium on the 10th, making the formation of a national government imperative. Labour made ousting Chamberlain a precondition on any coalition, and Churchill immediately emerged as the best candidate to replace him in leadership. So, all on May 10th, Chamberlain resigned as PM and Churchill was sworn in.
Chamberlain remained in government and the war cabinet, and also as party leader. His health rapidly failed though and he resigned in September. He died shortly after in November.