Peace in our time - Chamberlain's speech to the British - World War 1 and 2 - Year 6

The phrase "Peace in our time" is famously associated with Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister during the lead-up to World War II. Upon returning from the Munich Conference in 1938, where he met with Adolf Hitler, Chamberlain believed he had achieved a significant diplomatic victory by averting war. His speech to the British people encapsulated a sense of relief and hope that conflict had been avoided. Chamberlain's declaration that the Munich Agreement and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement were signs of a mutual desire between Germany and Britain to avoid war, and his commitment to resolving future disputes through consultation, were received with a mixture of relief and scepticism by the public.

The impact of the two world wars on Britain was profound, influencing the political, social, and economic fabric of the nation. As for the policy of appeasement, it was a strategy adopted by Britain in the early stages of World War II under Chamberlain's leadership, aimed at preventing war through diplomatic negotiations and concessions to Germany. This policy has been widely debated, with some viewing it as a necessary measure to avoid conflict and buy time for military preparation, while others criticise it as a naïve or cowardly approach that ultimately emboldened Hitler's aggression and failed to prevent the outbreak of the Second World War.