biography
| name: |
Chamberlain, (Arthur) Neville
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1869–1940)
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| biography:
| British statesman and prime minister (1937–40), born in Birmingham, West Midlands, C England, UK, the son of Joseph Chamberlain. He studied at Rugby and Birmingham, was Mayor of Birmingham (1915–16), and a Conservative MP from 1918. He was a skilful Chancellor of the Exchequer (1923–4, 1931–7), steering the country back towards prosperity with a policy of low interest rates and easy credit. Three times minister for health (1923, 1924–9, 1931), he was responsible for the reform of the Poor Law, the promotion of council-house building, and the reorganization of local government. He played a leading part in the formation of the National Government (1931). As prime minister, he advocated ‘appeasement’ of the German and Italian dictators in order to avoid war, returning from Munich with a written undertaking by Hitler amounting to ‘peace for our time’ (1938). While giving orders for the immediate stepping up of the armaments programme, Chamberlain did not, in fact, prevent Hitler's invasion of the Czech Sudetenland in March 1939. When Germany invaded Poland later in the year, he offered Hitler an ultimatum to withdraw or force a war between Britain and Germany. Ignored by Hitler, Chamberlain announced to the nation that war between the two powers had broken out. Criticism of his war leadership and initial military reverses led to his resignation as prime minister (1940), followed by his death a few months later. |
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