Arthur Neville Chamberlain
13 min read
Reading time
2,430
Words
Published
24
Film credits
1
Award
Neville Chamberlain, British Conservative Prime Minister from May 1937 to May 1940, signed the 1938 Munich Agreement and pursued appeasement toward Nazi Germany. Initially popular, his reputation declined after World War II. Revisionist historians later argued that going to war in 1938 would have been disastrous because the UK was unprepared.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Neville Chamberlain — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Neville Chamberlain by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Neville Chamberlain — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Florence Kenrick and Joseph Chamberlain, a prominent statesman, had a son, Arthur Neville Chamberlain, on 18 March 1869 in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, UK. Sir Austen Chamberlain was his older half-brother. He attended Rugby School and later studied at Mason Science College now the University of Birmingham and the University of London.
Chamberlain entered politics in middle age, first as Conservative Lord Mayor of Birmingham, then as a Member of Parliament. On 28 May 1937 he became Prime Minister. The rise of Nazi Germany defined his tenure. In 1938, he signed the Munich Agreement, ceding the Sudetenland to Germany. The decision was initially popular but later criticized. After the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, Chamberlain declared war on Germany. This action led Britain into World War II. He resigned as Prime Minister on 10 May 1940 amid the Norway debate. He remained in the War Cabinet as Lord Privy Seal until his death.
Chamberlain married Anne de Vere Cole on 5 January 1911. The couple had two children: Dorothy Chamberlain and Francis Chamberlain. Few details of his private life beyond his family survive. He maintained a reserved and businesslike manner.
Chamberlain’s legacy divides opinion. Many praised him in 1938 for keeping Britain out of war, but later criticized him for appeasement. Revisionist historians argue that his policies bought time for rearmament. His support for Winston Churchill in May 1940 helped Churchill survive the War Cabinet crisis. Chamberlain’s name remains tied to the Munich Agreement and appeasement, a term now synonymous with failed diplomacy.
Browse the complete filmography of Neville Chamberlain — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Could not load more credits.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Neville Chamberlain — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Neville Chamberlain — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
The Day May Come When My Much Cursed Visit to Munich Will Be Understood. Neither We nor the French Were Prepared for War. I Am Not Responsible for This Lack of Preparation … It Would Be Rash to Prophesy the Verdict of History, but If Full Access Is Obtained to All the Records It Will Be Seen That I Realized from the Beginning Our Military Weakness and Did My Best to Postpone If I Could Not Avert the War.
So Far as My Personal Reputation Is Concerned, I Am Not in the Least Disturbed About It. the Letters Which I Am Still Receiving in Such Vast Quantities so Unanimously Dwell on the Same Point, Namely Without Munich the War Would Have Been Lost and the Empire Destroyed in 1938 … I Do Not Feel the Opposite View … Has a Chance of Survival. Even If Nothing Further Were to Be Published Giving the True Inside Story of the Past Two Years I Should Not Fear the Historian’s Verdict.
The Only Thing That Matters Is to Win the War, Though We May Go Bankrupt in the Process.
Whatever May Prove to Be the Nature of the German Soviet Agreement, It Cannot Alter Great Britain’s Obligation to Poland Which His Majesty’s Government Have Stated in Public Repeatedly and Plainly and Which They Are Determined to Fulfill. It Has Been Alleged That, If His Majesty’s Government Had Made Their Position More Clear in 1914, the Great Catastrophe Would Have Been Avoided. Whether or Not There Is Any Force in That Allegation, His Majesty’s Government Are Resolved That on This Occasion There Shall Be No Such Tragic Misunderstanding. If the Case Should Arise, They Are Resolved, and Prepared, to Employ Without Delay All the Forces at Their Command, and It Is Impossible to Foresee the End of Hostilities Once Engaged. It Would Be a Dangerous Illusion to Think That, If War Once Starts, It Will Come to an Early End Even If a Success on Any One of the Several Fronts on Which It Will Be Engaged Should Have Been Secured.
No Greater Mistake Could Be Made Than to Suppose That Because It Believes War to Be a Senseless and Cruel Thing the Nation Has so Lost Its Fibre That It Will Not Take Part to the Utmost of Its Power in Resisting Such a Challenge If It Were Ever Made.
It Would Be Madness for the Country to Stop Rearming Until We Were Convinced That Other Countries Would Act in the Same Way. for the Time Being, Therefore, We Should Relax No Particle of Effort Until Our Deficiencies Had Been Made Good.
Of Course, the Difficulty Is with Hitler Himself. Until He Disappears and His System Collapses There Can Be No Peace.
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.
Heaven Knows, I Don’t Want the Americans to Fight for Us We Should Have to Pay Too Dearly for That If They Had a Right to Be in on the Peace Process.
It Was the Hope of Doing Something to Improve the Conditions of Life for the Poorer People That Brought Me at Past Middle Life into Politics, and It Is Some Satisfaction to Me That I Was Able to Carry Out Some Part of My Ambition Even Though Its Permanency May Be Challenged by the Destruction of War. for the Rest I Regret Nothing That I Have Done & I Can See Nothing Undone That I Ought to Have Done. I Am Therefore Content to Accept the Fate That Has so Suddenly Overtaken Me.
Little-known facts about Neville Chamberlain — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
In 1938, many lauded Chamberlain for keeping Britain out of war. After World War II, critics vilified him for appeasement.
British Conservative Prime Minister from 28 May 1937 to 10 May 1940.
Historians view the Munich Agreement as a failure because it did not stop German aggression. After the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, Chamberlain realized the policy’s failure. He offered a military alliance to Poland on 25 August 1939, a decision that led to World War II.
His brother started the urban myth that the Chinese have a saying: May you live in interesting times.
He attempted to form an anti-fascist alliance with the Soviet Union in August 1939. Poland and Romania refused to allow the Red Army on their territory, making the alliance impossible.
His support for Churchill helped his successor survive the War Cabinet Crisis in late May 1940.
Even after warnings about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, he refused to dishonor the Anglo-Polish military alliance. On 2 September 1939, he considered accepting Mussolini’s offer of an international summit like the Munich Conference.
He was dismayed when Poland invaded Czechoslovakia on 1 October 1938 and annexed Zaolzie.
Some later historians have taken a more favorable perspective of Chamberlain and his policies, citing government papers released under the Thirty Year Rule.
In early 1940 Chamberlain approved a naval campaign designed to seize the northern part of Norway, including the key port of Narvik, and possibly also the iron mines at Gällivare in northern Sweden.
Many of the tanks Germany used to invade Poland in 1939 and France in 1940 were made in Czechoslovakia.
Since 1934, British policy aimed to avoid war with Germany, because officials believed Italy and Japan might join the conflict.
Revisionist historians have argued it was a mistake for Chamberlain to form a military pact with Poland in 1939 as it could not be enforced.
In 1938, military and political advisors told Chamberlain that war would be disastrous because Britain was too unprepared.
Chamberlain angrily denounced the German invasion of Poland in the House of Commons on 1 September 1939, to cheers from MPs.
The term appeasement generates controversy today, given that the UK and France occupied half the world by force in the 1930s.
He was a cousin of Alan Napier, half-brother of Sir Austen Chamberlain, and younger son of Joseph Chamberlain.
A Conservative Lord Mayor of Birmingham who entered Parliament in middle age.
Terrence Hardiman portrayed him in the original production of the play Never So Good by Howard Brenton, which premiered at the National Theatre in March 2008.
He spent his time after the Munich Agreement building up the military for war.
Even Winston Churchill, who completely disagreed with his decision, believed that Chamberlain was a good and intelligent leader.
He passed the Factories Act which improved working conditions and decreased child labor.
His approval rating increased to 68% after he made the deal with Hitler.
He authorised the bombing of German warships at Wilhelmshaven on 3 and 4 September 1939.
He returned the Treaty ports to Ireland in 1938, causing difficulties for the Royal Navy during the Battle of the Atlantic.
His military alliance with Poland ensured the Soviet invasion of the country in September 1939.
He was against going to war with Germany in 1938 as he knew another major war would destroy the British Empire.
He ordered the laying of mines in neutral Norwegian waters in April 1940.
Conspiracy theories persist on the far left that Chamberlain wanted Germany to invade the Soviet Union.
Following the German invasion of Poland, Chamberlain delayed committing to war until the French had also committed.
Historian Richard Toye said that, until May 1940, Chamberlain was widely seen as a successful and popular prime minister.
He recognized early that going to war with Germany or Italy would mean the United States supplanting the British Empire as a world power.
When doctors discovered he was terminally ill with liver cancer, Churchill offered him a life peerage, knighthood, and Companion of Honour. Chamberlain declined.
Although he stood down as Prime Minister in May 1940, he remained leader of the Conservative Party and served as Lord Privy Seal with the understanding he would resume as PM after the war, but he died in November 1940.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Neville Chamberlain.
Celebrities similar to Neville Chamberlain — same craft, ranked by reach.
🇦🇹 Austria
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇿🇦 South Africa
🌍 USA
🇺🇸 United States
🇫🇷 France
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇷🇺 Russia
🇩🇪 Germany
🇺🇸 United States
