Editing Neville Chamberlain (section)

=== War leader (1939–1940) ===
==== Declaration of war ====
Germany [[invaded Poland]] in the early morning of 1 September 1939. The British Cabinet met late that morning and issued a warning to Germany that unless it withdrew from Polish territory the UK would carry out its obligations to Poland. When the House of Commons met at 6:00&nbsp;pm, Chamberlain and Labour deputy leader Arthur Greenwood (deputising for the sick Clement Attlee) entered the chamber to loud cheers. Chamberlain spoke emotionally, laying the blame for the conflict on Hitler.{{sfn|Self|2006|p=378}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1939/sep/01/british-note-to-germany|title=BRITISH NOTE TO GERMANY. (Hansard, 1 September 1939)|website=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|access-date=19 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130175057/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1939/sep/01/british-note-to-germany|archive-date=30 November 2016|date=1 September 1939|url-status=live}}</ref>

No formal declaration of war was immediately made. French foreign minister [[Georges Bonnet]] stated that France could do nothing until its parliament met on the evening of 2 September. Bonnet was trying to rally support for a Munich-style summit proposed by the Italians to be held on 5 September. The British Cabinet demanded that Hitler be given an ultimatum at once and if troops were not withdrawn by the end of 2 September, war would be declared forthwith. Chamberlain and Halifax were convinced by Bonnet's pleas, from Paris, that France needed more time for mobilisation and evacuation. Chamberlain postponed the expiry of the ultimatum which had, in fact, not yet been served.{{sfn|Self|2006|pp=378–79}} Chamberlain's lengthy statement to the House of Commons made no mention of an ultimatum and was consequently poorly received by the House. When Greenwood rose to "speak for the working classes," Conservative backbencher and former First Lord of the Admiralty [[Leo Amery]] shouted, "Speak for England, Arthur!" implying that the Prime Minister was not doing so.{{sfn|Smart|2010|p=263}} Chamberlain replied that telephone difficulties were making it hard to communicate with Paris and tried to dispel fears that the French were weakening. He had little success; too many members knew of Bonnet's efforts. National Labour MP and diarist [[Harold Nicolson]] later wrote, "In those few minutes he flung away his reputation."{{sfn|Self|2006|p=380}} The seeming delay gave rise to fears that Chamberlain would again seek a settlement with Hitler.{{sfn|Dutton|2001|p=59}} Chamberlain's last peacetime Cabinet met at 11:30 that night, with a thunderstorm raging outside, and determined that the ultimatum would be presented in Berlin at nine o'clock the following morning—to expire two hours later, before the House of Commons convened at noon.{{sfn|Self|2006|p=380}} At 11:15&nbsp;am, 3 September 1939, Chamberlain addressed the nation by radio, stating that the United Kingdom was at war with Germany:

{{blockquote
| I am speaking to you from the Cabinet Room at 10, Downing Street. This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a final Note stating that unless we heard from them by 11 0'clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland a state of war would exist between us. I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.
You can imagine what a bitter blow it is to me that all my long struggle to win peace has failed. Yet I cannot believe that there is anything more or anything different that I could have done and that would have been more successful.
Up to the very last it would have been quite possible to have arranged a peaceful and honourable settlement between Germany and Poland. But Hitler would not have it. He had evidently made up his mind to attack Poland whatever happened, and although he now says he put forward reasonable proposals which were rejected by the Poles, that is not a true statement.
The proposals were never shown to the Poles, nor to us, and, though they were announced in a German broadcast on Thursday night, Hitler did not wait to hear comments on them, but ordered his troops to cross the Polish frontier. '''His action shows convincingly that there is no chance of expecting that this man will ever give up his practice of using force to gain his will. He can only be stopped by force'''.
We and France are to-day, in fulfillment of our obligations, going to the aid of Poland, who is so bravely resisting this wicked and unprovoked attack upon her people. We have a clear conscience. We have done all that any country could do to establish peace, but a situation in which no word given by Germany's ruler could be trusted and no people or country could feel themselves safe had become intolerable. And now that we have resolved to finish it, I know that you will all play your part with calmness and courage.{{sfn|Feiling|1970|p=416}}
}}

That afternoon Chamberlain addressed the House of Commons' first Sunday session in over 120 years. He spoke to a quiet House in a statement which even opponents termed "restrained and therefore effective":

{{blockquote| Everything that I have worked for, everything that I have hoped for, everything that I have believed in during my public life has crashed into ruins. There is only one thing left for me to do: that is devote what strength and power I have to forwarding the victory of the cause for which we have sacrificed so much.{{sfn|Self|2006|p=382}}}}

==== "Phoney War" ====
Chamberlain instituted a [[War cabinet#Chamberlain war ministry|War Cabinet]] and invited the Labour and Liberal parties to join his government, but they declined.{{sfn|Self|2006|p=382}} He restored Churchill to the Cabinet as First Lord of the Admiralty, with a seat in the War Cabinet. Chamberlain also gave Eden a government post ([[Secretary of State for the Dominions|dominions secretary]]) but not a seat in the small War Cabinet. The new First Lord deluged the Prime Minister with a sea of lengthy memos. Chamberlain castigated Churchill for sending so many memos, as the two met in War Cabinet every day.{{sfn|Self|2006|pp=386–87}} Chamberlain suspected, correctly as it proved after the war, that "these letters are for the purpose of quotation in the Book that he will write hereafter."{{sfn|Self|2006|pp=387–88}} Chamberlain also deterred some of Churchill's plans, such as [[Operation Catherine]], which would have sent three heavily armoured battleships into the [[Baltic Sea]] with an aircraft carrier and other support vessels as a means of stopping shipments of iron ore to Germany.{{sfn|Smart|2010|p=269}} With the naval war the only significant front involving the British in the early months of the conflict, the First Lord's obvious desire to wage a ruthless, victorious war established him as a leader-in-waiting in the public consciousness and among parliamentary colleagues.{{sfn|Smart|2010|p=265}}

With little land action in the west, the initial months of the war were dubbed the "Bore War", later renamed the "[[Phoney War]]" by journalists.{{sfn|Self|2006|p=383}} Chamberlain, in common with most Allied officials and generals, felt the war could be won relatively quickly by keeping economic pressure on Germany through a blockade while continuing rearmament.{{sfn|Smart|2010|p=268}} The Prime Minister was reluctant to go too far in altering the British economy. The government submitted an emergency war budget about which Chamberlain stated, "the only thing that matters is to win the war, though we may go bankrupt in the process."{{sfn|Self|2006|p=390}} Government expenditures rose by little more than the rate of inflation between September 1939 and March 1940.{{sfn|Self|2006|p=390}} Despite these difficulties, Chamberlain still enjoyed approval ratings as high as 68%{{sfn|Self|2006|p=391}} and almost 60% in April 1940.{{sfn|Dutton|2001|p=61}}

==== Downfall ====
In early 1940 the Allies approved [[Plan R 4|a naval campaign]] designed to seize the northern part of Norway, a neutral country, including the key port of [[Narvik]], and possibly also to seize the iron mines at [[Gällivare]] in northern Sweden, from which Germany obtained much of its iron ore.{{sfn|Smart|2010|p=273}} As the Baltic froze in winter, the iron ore was then sent south by ship from Narvik. The Allies planned to begin by [[Operation Wilfred|mining Norwegian waters]], thus provoking a German reaction in Norway, and then would occupy much of the country. Unforeseen by the Allies, Germany had also planned to occupy Norway, and on 9 April German troops occupied Denmark and began an [[Operation Weserübung|invasion of Norway]]. German forces quickly overran much of the country.{{sfn|Self|2006|pp=415–16}} The Allies sent troops to Norway, but they met with little success, and on 26 April the War Cabinet ordered a withdrawal.{{sfn|Self|2006|pp=415–16}} The Prime Minister's opponents decided to turn the [[adjournment debate]] for the [[Whitsun]] recess into a challenge to Chamberlain, who soon heard about the plan. After initial anger, Chamberlain determined to fight.{{sfn|Self|2006|pp=420–21}}<ref>Erin Redihan,  "Neville Chamberlain and Norway: The Trouble with 'A Man of Peace' in a Time of War." ''New England Journal of History'' (2013) 69#1/2 pp. 1–18.</ref>

What became known as the "[[Norway Debate]]" opened on 7 May, and lasted for two days. The initial speeches, including Chamberlain's, were nondescript, but Admiral of the Fleet [[Roger Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes|Roger Keyes]], member for [[Portsmouth North]], in full uniform, delivered a withering attack on the conduct of the Norway campaign, though he excluded Churchill from criticism. Leo Amery then delivered a speech which he concluded by echoing [[Oliver Cromwell]]'s words on dissolving the [[Long Parliament]]: "You have sat here too long for any good you are doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. [[In the name of God, go]]!"{{sfn|Self|2006|p=423}} When Labour announced that they would call for a division of the House of Commons, Chamberlain called upon his "friends—and I still have some friends in this House—to support the Government tonight."{{sfn|Self|2006|pp=424–25}} Because the use of the word "friends" was a conventional term to refer to party colleagues, and, according to biographer Robert Self, many MPs took it that way, it was an "error of judgment" for Chamberlain to refer to party loyalty "when the gravity of the war situation required national unity."{{sfn|Self|2006|p=425}} Lloyd George joined the attackers, and Churchill concluded the debate with a vigorous speech in support of the government.{{sfn|Self|2006|p=425}} When the division took place, the government, which had a normal majority of over 200, prevailed by only 81, with 38&nbsp;MPs in receipt of the government whip voting against it, with between 20 and 25 abstaining.{{sfn|Self|2006|p=426}}

Chamberlain spent much of 9 May in meetings with his Cabinet colleagues. Many Conservative MPs, even those who had voted against the government, indicated on 9 May and in the days following that they did not wish Chamberlain to depart but rather would seek to reconstruct his government.{{sfn|Dutton|2001|pp=63–64}} Chamberlain decided that he would resign unless the Labour Party was willing to join his government, and so he met with Attlee later that day. Attlee was unwilling, but agreed to consult his National Executive then meeting in [[Bournemouth]]. Chamberlain favoured Halifax as the next prime minister, but Halifax proved reluctant to press his own claims thinking that his position in the House of Lords would limit his effectiveness in the House of Commons, and Churchill emerged as the choice. The following day, Germany [[Battle of France|invaded]] the [[Low Countries]] and Chamberlain considered remaining in office. Attlee confirmed that Labour would not serve under Chamberlain, though they were willing to serve under someone else. Accordingly, Chamberlain went to Buckingham Palace to resign and advise the King to send for Churchill.{{sfn|Self|2006|pp=428–30}} Churchill later expressed gratitude to Chamberlain for not advising the King to send for Halifax, who would have commanded the support of most government MPs.{{sfn|Dutton|2001|p=118}} In a resignation broadcast that evening, Chamberlain told the nation,

{{listen
| filename = Chamberlain resignation.ogg
| title = Neville Chamberlain resigns
| description = Neville Chamberlain speaks to the nation following his resignation as prime minister, 10 May 1940.
}}

{{blockquote| For the hour has now come when we are to be put to the test, as the innocent people of Holland, Belgium, and France are being tested already. And you and I must rally behind our new leader, and with our united strength, and with unshakable courage fight, and work until this wild beast, which has sprung out of his lair upon us, has been finally disarmed and overthrown.{{sfn|Feiling|1970|p=441}}}}

[[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]] told Chamberlain that her daughter, [[Elizabeth II|Princess Elizabeth]], wept as she heard the broadcast.{{sfn|Self|2006|pp=428–30}} Churchill wrote to express his gratitude for Chamberlain's willingness to stand by him in the nation's hour of need, and Baldwin, the only living former prime minister besides Chamberlain and Lloyd George, wrote, "You have passed through fire since we were talking together only a fortnight ago, and you have come out pure gold."{{sfn|Feiling|1970|p=442}}