Biography chamberlain neville

Prime Minister of the Combined Kingdom from to

For other people named Neville Chamberlain, watch Neville Chamberlain (disambiguation).

Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March &#;&#; 9 November ) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May to May and Head of the Conservative Party from May to October He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasement, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement on 30 September , ceding the German-speaking Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany led by Adolf Hitler.

Following the invasion of Poland on 1 September , which marked the beginning of the Second World War, Chamberlain announced the declaration of war on Germany two days later and led the United Kingdom through the first eight months of the war until his resignation as prime minister on 10 May

After working in business and local government, and after a short spell as Director of National Service in and , Chamberlain followed his father Joseph Chamberlain and elder half-brother Austen Chamberlain in becoming a Member of Parliament in the general election for the new Birmingham Ladywood division at the age of He declined a junior ministerial position, remaining a backbencher until He was rapidly promoted in to Minister of Health and then Chancellor of the Exchequer.

After a short-lived Labour-led government, he returned as Minister of Health, introducing a range of reform measures from to He was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in the National Government in

Chamberlain succeeded Stanley Baldwin as prime minister on 28 May His premiership was dominated by the question of policy towards an increasingly aggressive Germany, and his actions at Munich were widely popular among the British at the time.

In response to Hitler's continued aggression, Chamberlain pledged the United Kingdom to defend Poland's independence if the latter were attacked, an alliance that brought his country into war after the German invasion of Poland. The failure of Allied forces to prevent the German invasion of Norway caused the House of Commons to keep the historic Norway Debate in May Chamberlain's conduct of the war was heavily criticised by members of all parties and, in a vote of confidence, his government's majority was greatly reduced.

Accepting that a national government supported by all the main parties was essential, Chamberlain resigned the premiership because the Labour and Liberal parties would not serve under his direction. Although he still led the Conservative Party, he was succeeded as prime minister by his colleague Winston Churchill.

Until ill health forced him to resign on 22 September , Chamberlain was an important member of the war cabinet as Lord President of the Council, heading the government in Churchill's absence. His support for Churchill proved vital during the May war cabinet crisis.

Chamberlain died aged 71 on 9 November of cancer, six months after vanishing the premiership.

Chamberlain's reputation remains controversial among historians, the initial high regard for him entity entirely eroded by books such as Guilty Men, published in July , which blamed Chamberlain and his associates for the Munich accord and for allegedly failing to prepare the nation for war.

Most historians in the generation following Chamberlain's death held similar views, led by Churchill in The Gathering Storm. Some later historians have taken a more favourable perspective of Chamberlain and his policies, citing government papers released under the thirty-year rule and arguing that going to war with Germany in would have been disastrous as the UK was unprepared.

Nonetheless, Chamberlain is still unfavourably ranked amongst British prime ministers.^[1]

Early life and political career (–)

Main article: Rise of Neville Chamberlain

Childhood and businessman

Chamberlain was born on 18 March in a property called Southbourne in the Edgbaston district of Birmingham.

He was the only son of the second marriage of Joseph Chamberlain, who later became Mayor of Birmingham and a Cabinet minister. His mother was Florence Kenrick, a cousin of William Kenrick MP; she died when he was a small boy. Joseph Chamberlain had had another son, Austen Chamberlain, by his first marriage.

The Chamberlain family were Unitarian, though Joseph lost personal religious faith by the moment Neville was six years ancient and never required religious adherence of his children.^[4] Neville, who disliked attending worship services of any kind and showed no interest in organised religion, described himself as a Unitarian with no stated faith and also a "reverent agnostic".^[4]

Neville Chamberlain was educated at home by his elder sister Beatrice Chamberlain and later at Rugby School.

Joseph Chamberlain then sent Neville to Mason College, now the University of Birmingham. Neville Chamberlain had little interest in his studies there, and in his father apprenticed him to a strong of accountants. Within six months he became a salaried employee.

In an effort to recoup diminished family fortunes, Joseph Chamberlain sent his younger son to establish a sisal plantation on Andros Island in the Bahamas. Neville Chamberlain spent six years there but the plantation was a failure, and Joseph Chamberlain lost £50,^[a] (equivalent to £7,, in ).^[11]

On his return to England, Neville Chamberlain entered business, purchasing (with assistance from his family) Hoskins & Company, a manufacturer of metal ship berths.

Chamberlain served as managing director of Hoskins for 17&#;years during which time the company prospered. He also involved himself in civic activities in Birmingham.

Neville Chamberlain served as British prime minister from to and is best known for his policy of "appeasement" toward Adolf Hitler 's Germany. He signed the Munich Agreement inrelinquishing a region of Czechoslovakia to the Nazis. InBritain declared war on Germany. Chamberlain, who had lost political support, resigned in and died a few months later.

In , as Governor of Birmingham General Hospital, and along with "no more than fifteen" other dignitaries, Chamberlain became a founding member of the national Combined Hospitals Committee of the British Medical Association.^[14]

At forty, Chamberlain was expecting to remain a bachelor, but in he fell in love with Anne Cole, a recent connection by marriage, and married her the following year.

They met through his Aunt Lilian, the Canadian-born widow of Joseph Chamberlain's brother Herbert, who in had married Anne Cole's uncle Alfred Clayton Cole, a director of the Bank of England.

She encouraged and supported his entry into local politics and was to be his unchanging companion, helper, and trusted colleague, fully sharing his interests in housing and other political and social activities after his election as an MP.

The couple had a son and a daughter.

Entry into politics

Chamberlain initially showed little interest in politics, though his father and half-brother were in Parliament. During the "Khaki election" of he made speeches in support of Joseph Chamberlain's Liberal Unionists.

The Liberal Unionists were allied with the Conservatives and later merged with them under the name "Unionist Party", which in became known as the "Conservative and Unionist Party". In , Neville Chamberlain successfully stood as a Liberal Unionist for Birmingham City Council for the All Saints' Ward, located within his father's parliamentary constituency.

Chamberlain was made chairman of the Town Planning Committee.

Under his direction, Birmingham soon adopted one of the first town planning schemes in Britain. The commence of the First World War in prevented implementation of his plans. In , Chamberlain became Lord Mayor of Birmingham. Apart from his father Joseph, five of Chamberlain's uncles had also attained the chief Birmingham civic dignity: they were Joseph's brother Richard Chamberlain, William and George Kenrick, Charles Beale, who had been four times Lord Mayor and Sir Thomas Martineau.

As a lord mayor in wartime, Chamberlain had a huge burden of work and he insisted that his councillors and officials work equally hard. He halved the lord mayor's expense allowance and cut back on the number of civic functions expected of the incumbent.

In , Chamberlain was appointed a member of the Central Control Board on liquor traffic.^[25]

In December , Prime Minister David Lloyd George offered Chamberlain the new position of Director of National Service, with responsibility for co-ordinating conscription and ensuring that essential war industries were able to function with sufficient workforces.

His tenure was marked by conflict with Lloyd George; in August , having received little support from the Prime Minister, Chamberlain resigned. The relationship between Chamberlain and Lloyd George would, thereafter, be one of mutual hatred.

Chamberlain decided to stand for the Home of Commons, and was adopted as Unionist candidate for Birmingham Ladywood.

After the war ended, a general election was called almost immediately. The campaign in this constituency was notable because his Liberal Party opponent was Margery Corbett Ashby, one of the seventeen women who stood for Parliament at the first election at which women were eligible to do so.

Chamberlain reacted to this intervention by being one of the not many male candidates to specifically objective women voters deploying his wife, issuing a special leaflet headed "A word to the Ladies" and holding two meetings in the afternoon.^[31] Chamberlain was elected with almost 70% of the vote and a majority of 6, He was 49 years old, which was at the time the greatest age at which any future prime minister had first been elected to the Commons.

MP and minister (–)

Rise from the backbench

Main article: Ascend of Neville Chamberlain

Chamberlain threw himself into parliamentary work, begrudging the times when he was unable to attend debates and spending much time on committee function.

He was chairman of the national Unhealthy Areas Committee (–21)^[34] and in that role, had visited the slums of London, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Cardiff.^[35] Consequently, in March , Bonar Law offered him a junior post at the Ministry of Health on behalf of the Prime Minister, but Chamberlain was unwilling to serve under Lloyd George and was offered no further posts during Lloyd George's premiership.

Neville Chamberlain was the British prime minister as Superb Britain entered World War II. He is known for his policy of "appeasement" toward Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany.

When Commandment resigned as party leader, Austen Chamberlain took his place as head of the Unionists in Parliament. Unionist leaders were willing to fight the election in coalition with the Lloyd George National Liberals, but on 19 October, Unionist MPs held a meeting at which they voted to fight the election as a single party.

Lloyd George resigned, as did Austen Chamberlain, and Law was recalled from retirement to lead the Unionists as prime minister.

Many high-ranking Unionists refused to serve under Rule to the benefit of Chamberlain, who rose over the course of ten months from backbencher to Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Law initially appointed Chamberlain Postmaster General and Chamberlain was sworn of the Privy Council.^[41] When Sir Arthur Griffith-Boscawen, the Minister of Health, lost his seat in the election and was defeated in a by-election in March by future home secretaryJames Chuter Ede, Law offered the position to Chamberlain.

Two months later, Law was diagnosed with advanced, terminal throat cancer. He immediately resigned and was replaced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Stanley Baldwin. In August , Baldwin promoted Chamberlain to the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Chamberlain served only five months in the office before the Conservatives were defeated at the general election.

Ramsay MacDonald became the first-ever Labour prime minister, but his government fell within months, necessitating another general election. By a margin of only 77 votes, Chamberlain narrowly conquered the Labour candidate, Oswald Mosley, who later led the British Union of Fascists.

Believing he would lose if he stood again in Birmingham Ladywood, Chamberlain arranged to be adopted for Birmingham Edgbaston, the district of the city where he was born and which was a much safer seat, which he would hold for the unwind of his life.

The Unionists won the election, but Chamberlain declined to serve again as chancellor, preferring his former position as Minister of Health.

Within two weeks of his appointment as Minister of Health, Chamberlain presented the Cabinet with an agenda containing 25 pieces of legislation he hoped to see enacted.

Before he left office in , 21 of the 25 bills had passed into commandment. Chamberlain sought the abolition of the elected Poor LawBoards of Guardians which administered relief—and which in some areas were responsible for rates.

Many of the boards were controlled by Labour, and such boards had defied the government by distributing relief funds to the able-bodied unemployed. In , Chamberlain initiated the Local Government Act to abolish the Poor Law boards entirely.

British Broadcasting Corporation Home. Arthur Neville Chamberlain was born on 18 March in Birmingham into a political family. His father, Joseph, was an influential politician of the late 19th century and Neville's older half-brother Austen held many Conservative cabinet positions in the early 20th century and won the Nobel Tranquility Prize. Chamberlain was educated in Birmingham.

Chamberlain spoke in the Commons for two and a half hours on the second reading of the bill, and when he concluded he was applauded by all parties. The bill passed into law.

Though Chamberlain struck a conciliatory note during the General Strike, in general he had poor relations with the Labour opposition.

Future Labour prime minister Clement Attlee complained that Chamberlain "always treated us like dirt," and in April Chamberlain wrote: "More and more do I feel an utter contempt for their lamentable stupidity." His poor relations with the Labour Party later played a major part in his downfall as prime minister.

Chancellor of the Exchequer (–)

Baldwin called a general election for 30 May , resulting in a hung parliament with Labour holding the most seats.

Baldwin and his government resigned and Labour, under MacDonald, again took office. In , the MacDonald government faced a serious crisis as the May Report revealed that the budget was unbalanced, with an expected shortfall of £&#;million. The Labour government resigned on 24 August, and MacDonald formed a National Government supported by most Conservative MPs.

Chamberlain once again returned to the Ministry of Health.

After the general election, in which supporters of the National Government (mostly Conservatives) won an overwhelming victory, MacDonald designated Chamberlain as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Chamberlain proposed a 10% tariff on foreign goods and lower or no tariffs on goods from the colonies and the Dominions. Joseph Chamberlain had advocated a similar policy, "Imperial Preference"; Neville Chamberlain laid his bill before the House of Commons on 4 February , and concluded his address by noting the appropriateness of his seeking to enact his father's proposal.

At the end of the speech, Sir Austen Chamberlain walked down from the backbenches and shook his brother's hand. The Import Duties Act passed Parliament easily.

Chamberlain presented his first budget in April He maintained the grave budget cuts that had been agreed at the inception of the National Government.

Interest on the war debt was a major cost. Chamberlain reduced the annual interest rate on most of Britain's war debt from 5% to %. Between and , Chamberlain halved the percentage of the budget devoted to interest on the war debt.

War debt

Chamberlain hoped that a cancellation of the war debt owed to the United States could be negotiated.

In June , Britain hosted the World Monetary and Economic Conference, which came to nothing as US president Franklin D. Roosevelt sent pos that he would not regard any war debt cancellation. By , Chamberlain was able to declare a budget surplus and reverse many of the cuts in unemployment compensation and civil servant salaries he had made after taking office.

He told the Commons, "We have now finished the story of Bleak House and are sitting down this afternoon to enjoy the first chapter of Great Expectations."

Welfare spending

The Unemployed Assistance Board (UAB, established by the Unemployment Behave ) was largely Chamberlain's creation, and he wished to spot the issue of unemployment assistance removed from party political argument.^[62] Moreover, Chamberlain "saw the importance of 'providing some interest in life for the large numbers of men never likely to get work', and out of this realisation was to show up the responsibility of the UAB for the 'welfare', not merely the maintenance, of the unemployed."^[63]

Defence spending

Defence spending had been heavily cut in Chamberlain's early budgets.

History of Neville Chamberlain - GOV.UK: Neville Chamberlain, prime minister of the United Kingdom from May 28, , to May 10, , whose name is identified with the policy of ‘appeasement’ toward Adolf Hitler’s Germany in the period immediately preceding World War II.

By , faced with a resurgent Germany under Hitler's leadership, he was convinced of the need for rearmament. Chamberlain especially urged the strengthening of the Royal Breeze Force, realising that Britain's historical bulwark, the English Channel, was no defence against air power.

In , MacDonald stood down as prime minister, and Baldwin became prime minister for the third time.

In the general election, the Conservative-dominated National Government missing 90&#;seats from its massive majority, but still retained an overwhelming majority of in the Residence of Commons. During the campaign, deputy Labour leader Arthur Greenwood had attacked Chamberlain for spending money on rearmament, saying that the rearmament policy was "the merest scaremongering; disgraceful in a statesman of Mr Chamberlain's responsible position, to suggest that more millions of money needed to be spent on armaments."

Role in the abdication crisis

Chamberlain is believed to have had a significant role in the abdication crisis.

He wrote in his diary that Wallis Simpson, Edward VIII's intended wife, was "an entirely unscrupulous woman who is not in love with the King but is exploiting him for her own purposes. She has already ruined him in capital and jewels&#;"^[69] In common with the rest of the Cabinet, except Duff Cooper, he agreed with Baldwin that the King should abdicate if he married Simpson, and on 6 December he and Baldwin both stressed that the King should build his decision before Christmas; by one account, he believed that the uncertainty was "hurting the Christmas trade".^[70] The King abdicated on 10 December, four days after the meeting.

Neville was born in Edgbastona district of BirminghamEngland. His father was Joseph Chamberlainan important politician. His half-brother they had different mothersAusten Chamberlainalso became a politician. Neville went to Rugby School.

Soon after the abdication Baldwin announced that he would remain until shortly after the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. On 28 May, two weeks after the Coronation, Baldwin resigned, advising the King to dispatch for Chamberlain.

Austen did not live to see his brother's appointment as prime minister having died two months earlier.

Prime Minister (–)

Further information: National Government (–) and Chamberlain war ministry

Upon his appointment, Chamberlain considered calling a general election, but with three and a half years remaining in the current Parliament's word he decided to wait.

At 68 he was the second-oldest person in the 20th century (after Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman) to become prime minister for the first time, and was widely seen as a caretaker who would lead the Conservative Party until the next election and then step down in favour of a younger man, with Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden a likely candidate.

From the kickoff of Chamberlain's premiership a number of would-be successors were rumoured to be jockeying for position.

Chamberlain had disliked what he considered to be the overly soft attitude of both Baldwin and MacDonald on Cabinet appointments and reshuffles.

Although he had worked closely with the President of the Board of Trade, Walter Runciman, on the tariff issue, Chamberlain dismissed him from his post, instead offering him the token position of Lord Privy Seal, which an angry Runciman declined.

Chamberlain thought Runciman, a member of the Liberal National Party, to be lazy. Soon after taking office Chamberlain instructed his ministers to prepare two-year policy programmes. These reports were to be integrated with the intent of co-ordinating the alley of legislation through the current Parliament, the term of which was to expire in November

At the time of his appointment, Chamberlain's personality was not well known to the general, though he had made annual budget broadcasts for six years.

According to Chamberlain biographer Robert Self, these appeared relaxed and modern, showing an ability to speak directly to the camera. Chamberlain had few friends among his parliamentary colleagues; an strive by his parliamentary private secretary, Lord Dunglass (later prime minister himself as Alec Douglas-Home), to bring him to the Commons Smoking Room to socialise with colleagues ended in embarrassing silence.

Chamberlain compensated for these shortcomings by devising the most urbane press management system employed by a prime minister up to that time, with officials at Number 10, led by his chief of press George Steward, convincing members of the push that they were colleagues sharing power and insider knowledge, and should espouse the government line.

Domestic policy

Chamberlain saw his elevation to the premiership as the closing glory in a career as a domestic reformer, not realising that he would be remembered for foreign policy decisions.

One reason he sought the settlement of European issues was the hope it would allow him to concentrate on domestic affairs.

Soon after attaining the premiership, Chamberlain obtained passage of the Factories Act This Act was aimed at bettering working conditions in factories, and placed limits on the working hours of women and children.

In , Parliament enacted the Coal Act , which allowed for nationalisation of coal deposits. Another major regulation passed that year was the Holidays with Pay Act Though the Act only recommended that employers give workers a week off with pay, it led to a great expansion of holiday camps and other leisure accommodation for the working classes.

The Housing Act provided subsidies aimed at encouraging slum clearance and maintained rent control. Chamberlain's plans for the reform of local government were shelved because of the outbreak of war in Likewise, the raising of the school-leaving age to 15, scheduled for implementation on 1 September , did not depart into effect.

Relations with Ireland

Relations between the United Kingdom and the Irish Free State had been strained since the appointment of Éamon de Valera as President of the Executive Council.

The Anglo-Irish Trade War, sparked by the withholding of money that Ireland had agreed to disburse the United Kingdom, had caused economic losses on both sides, and the two nations were anxious for a settlement. The de Valera government also sought to sever the remaining ties between Ireland and the UK, such as ending the King's status as Irish Head of State.

As chancellor, Chamberlain had taken a hard-line stance against concessions to the Irish, but as premier sought a settlement with Ireland, being persuaded that the strained ties were affecting relations with other Dominions.

Talks had been suspended under Baldwin in but resumed in November De Valera sought not only to alter the constitutional status of Ireland, but to overturn other aspects of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, most notably the issue of partition, as well as obtaining full control of the three Treaty Ports which had remained in British control.

Britain, on the other hand, wished to retain the Treaty Ports, at least in time of war, and to obtain the funds that Ireland had agreed to pay.

The Irish proved very tough negotiators, so much so that Chamberlain complained that one of de Valera's offers had "presented United Kingdom ministers with a three-leafed shamrock, none of the leaves of which had any advantages for the UK." With the talks facing deadlock, Chamberlain made the Irish a terminal offer in March which acceded to many Irish positions, though he was confident that he had "only given up the small things", and the agreements were signed on 25 April The issue of partition was not resolved, but the Irish agreed to pay £10&#;million to the British.

There was no provision in the treaties for British access to the Treaty Ports in time of war, but Chamberlain accepted de Valera's oral assurance that in the event of war the British would have access.

British politician, served as prime minister from to Born on 18 MarchNeville Chamberlain was the second son of the prominent politician Joseph Chamberlain — His elder halfbrother, Austen —was groomed for a political career; Neville was intended to look after the family fortunes in commerce. After seven difficult years managing a plantation in the Bahamashe had a more successful business career in Birmingham.

Conservative backbencher Winston Churchill attacked the agreements in Parliament for surrendering the Treaty Ports, which he described as the "sentinel towers of the Western Approaches". When war came, de Valera denied Britain access to the Treaty Ports under Irish neutrality.

Churchill railed against these treaties in The Gathering Storm, stating that he "never saw the House of Commons more completely misled" and that "members were made to feel very differently about it when our existence hung in the even out during the Battle of the Atlantic." Chamberlain believed that the Treaty Ports were unusable if Ireland was hostile, and deemed their loss worthwhile to confirm friendly relations with Dublin.

Foreign policy

Main article: European foreign policy of the Chamberlain ministry

Early days (May – March )

Chamberlain sought to conciliate Germany and make the Nazi state a partner in a stable Europe.

He believed Germany could be satisfied by the restoration of some of its colonies, and during the Rhineland crisis of March he had stated that "if we were in sight of an all-round settlement the British government ought to consider the question" of restoration of colonies.