Editing Neville Chamberlain (section)

==== 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 The British Cabinet demanded that Hitler be given an ultimatum at once and if troops were not withdrawn by the end of 2 September, war would be declared forthwith.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}}}}