Latest news with #appeasement
Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Chamberlain hoped to ‘avoid worst' as Second World War loomed
Neville Chamberlain wrote 'I still hope we may avoid the worst' six days before the start of the Second World War, a letter has revealed. The former prime minister is infamous for his failed appeasement policy, which saw him offer Adolf Hitler numerous concessions to try to avoid war. Now a newly discovered letter suggests he clung on to the hope his strategy would pay off up until the moment Germany invaded Poland on Sept 1 1939. Writing to Captain William Brass, the Conservative MP, on Aug 26 1939, he said: 'I still hope we may avoid the worst, but if it comes we are thank God prepared for it.' Chamberlain's confidence in Britain's readiness for war would prove to be misplaced as within nine months the Nazis had captured swathes of Europe. More than 330,000 British Expeditionary Force troops had to be hastily evacuated at Dunkirk between May 26 and June 4 1940, to enable Britain to 'fight another day'. The day before Chamberlain 's hopeful note, however, Britain had signed the Anglo-Polish military alliance, promising to support Poland if its independence was threatened. Hitler had originally scheduled his invasion of Poland for Aug 26, but when news of the Anglo-Polish pact reached Berlin, he temporarily postponed the attack by six days. Chamberlain's policy of appeasement saw Britain make no response to Hitler's annexation of Austria in March 1938, a move Winston Churchill warned at the time was a mistake. During a speech in the House of Commons, Churchill said: 'The gravity of the annexation of Austria cannot be exaggerated.' 'Total and unmitigated defeat' Hitler quickly moved on to trying to control the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, and by Sept 1928 Chamberlain had flown to Hitler's holiday home to negotiate in person, to no avail. Chamberlain said at the time: 'How horrible, fantastic, incredible it is that we should be digging trenches and trying on gas-masks here because of a quarrel in a far away country between people of whom we know nothing.' The Munich agreement saw Chamberlain sign over the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia to Germany from Oct 1 1938, in exchange for Hitler giving up on plans for further expansion across Europe. Churchill called it a 'total and unmitigated defeat' and it failed to stop Nazi Germany annexing more Czech land, including Prague, and launching an invasion of Poland – which finally sparked war. Chamberlain lost the confidence of Parliament and resigned as prime minister in May 1940, when Churchill stepped up to lead the nation. The one-page letter, on 10 Downing Street letterhead and dated Aug 26 1939, has emerged for sale at RR Auction in Boston, US. It is tipped to fetch $20,000 (£15,000) because of its historical significance. An RR Auction spokesman said: 'Behind the scenes, British diplomats were still scrambling to avert war. Chamberlain hoped that deterrence, through strong alliances and military mobilisation, might still dissuade Hitler. 'At the same time, Britain was accelerating preparations – air raid precautions were being implemented across cities, reservists were being called up, and public morale was being steeled for the possibility of conflict. 'Thus Britain found itself in a state of grim resolve: committed to defending Poland, preparing for war, yet still clinging to fragile hopes that Hitler might yet be deterred. 'Within a week, however, those hopes would be extinguished as Germany launched its invasion of Poland on September 1.' The sale takes place on Wednesday.
Daily Mail
13 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Neville Chamberlain's naive words of optimism six days before WWII began - revealed in unseen letter
A candid letter by Neville Chamberlain saying 'I still hope we may avoid the worst' six days before the start of the Second World War has emerged. The beleaguered British prime minister pursued an appeasement policy with Nazi Germany in a bid to prevent an escalation into a global conflict. After signing the derided Munich Agreement with Adolf Hitler in September 1938, he infamously declared that it was 'peace in our time'. Now a newly discovered letter shows how he clung on to the hope that his strategy would pay off right up until Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Writing to Conservative MP Captain William Brass on August 26, 1939, he stated: 'I still hope we may avoid the worst, but if it comes we are thank God prepared for it.' However, within nine months the Nazis had captured large swathes of Europe. More than 330,000 British Expeditionary Force troops were hastily evacuated at Dunkirk to enable Britain to 'fight another day'. Chamberlain lost the confidence of Parliament and resigned as Prime Minister in May 1940, with Winston Churchill stepping up to lead the nation. The one-page letter, on 10 Downing Street letterhead and dated August 26, 1939, has emerged for sale at RR Auction, of Boston, US. It is tipped to fetch £15,000 ($20,000) due to its historical significance. An RR Auction spokesperson said: 'On August 26, 1939, Great Britain stood on the precipice of war, with tensions between Germany and Poland escalating to a breaking point. 'For months, Europe had watched Adolf Hitler's aggressive expansion with growing alarm. 'Britain, having learned hard lessons from appeasement, had made a guarantee to come to Poland's aid if its independence was threatened, solidified in the Anglo-Polish military alliance signed one day earlier on August 25. 'Hitler had originally scheduled his invasion of Poland for August 26, but when news of the Anglo-Polish pact reached Berlin, he temporarily postponed the attack. 'Behind the scenes, British diplomats were still scrambling to avert war. 'Chamberlain hoped that deterrence, through strong alliances and military mobilisation, might still dissuade Hitler. 'At the same time, Britain was accelerating preparations - air raid precautions were being implemented across cities, reservists were being called up, and public morale was being steeled for the possibility of conflict. 'Thus Britain found itself in a state of grim resolve: committed to defending Poland, preparing for war, yet still clinging to fragile hopes that Hitler might yet be deterred. 'Within a week, however, those hopes would be extinguished as Germany launched its invasion of Poland on September 1.'
Free Malaysia Today
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Biden accuses Trump of appeasement of Russia
The former president said anyone who thinks President Vladimir Putin is going to stop taking land is 'just foolish'. (EPA Images pic) LONDON : Former US president Joe Biden said his successor Donald Trump's pressure on Ukraine to give up territory to Russia is a form of 'modern-day appeasement' that will never satisfy Moscow. Speaking to the BBC in what the broadcaster said was his first interview since leaving the White House, Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin believes Ukraine is part of 'mother Russia' and 'anybody who thinks he's going to stop is just foolish'. 'I just don't understand how people think that if we allow a dictator, a thug, to decide he's going to take significant portions of land that aren't his, that that's going to satisfy him,' Biden said in the interview, which was broadcast on Wednesday and the BBC said was recorded on Monday. Trump has changed US policy toward the war in Ukraine, pressing Kyiv to agree to a ceasefire while easing pressure on Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in 2022. Trump has said he wants to stop the killing. In the interview, Biden expressed concern that 'Europe is going to lose confidence in the certainty of America and the leadership of America'. Europe's leaders were 'wondering, well, what do I do now?… Can I rely on the US? Are they going to be there?' he said. The former president said he was dismayed by the explosive meeting in February in the White House between Trump, his top officials and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 'I found it sort of beneath America in the way that took place,' Biden said.
The Independent
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Biden accuses Trump of ‘modern day appeasement' as Putin prepares for Victory Day parade
Joe Biden said Donald Trump's pressure on Ukraine to give up territory to Russia amounted to 'modern-day appeasement' as Vladimir Putin prepared to welcome China's president and other leaders for his annual Victory Day military parade in Red Square. The former president told the BBC his successor risked losing transatlantic confidence in the United States. 'Europe's leaders are asking: 'Can I rely on the United States? Are they going to be there?'' he said. Of special concern, Mr Biden said, was the White House proposal to let Russia keep some Ukrainian territory in an effort to strike a peace deal. 'It is modern-day appeasement,' Mr Biden said, referring to territorial concessions to Adolf Hitler by prime minister Neville Chamberlain that failed to prevent the Second World War. Mr Biden said Mr Trump's treatment of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office in February was 'beneath America.' Mr Trump has long dismissed the war in Ukraine as a waste of lives and American taxpayers' money. Kyiv and Washington last week signed an agreement granting American access to Ukraine's vast mineral resources - a return on investment, Mr Trump suggested, that could pave the way for more US aid. He has also said that Crimea, a strategic peninsula along the Black Sea in southern Ukraine that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, 'will stay with Russia.' Mr Biden's comments came as attacks by Ukrainian long-range drones caused flight disruption at Moscow's main airports for a third consecutive day. Aeroflot cancelled more than 100 flights to and from Moscow, while more than 140 flights were delayed as planes were repeatedly grounded, flight data suggested, amid heightened security measures around Friday's 80th anniversary celebrations in Moscow marking victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War - Russia's biggest secular holiday of the year. Air traffic control restrictions across Russia affected at least 350 flights and disrupted at least 60,000 passengers, the Russian Tour Operators Association said. Russian air defences repelled an attack by nine drones close to Moscow, mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. Foreign leaders attending the parade, including Chinese president Xi Jinping, Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, were due to arrive on Wednesday. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said his country cannot provide security assurances over the Moscow events. Russia could stage provocations and later attempt to blame Ukraine, he said. Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which border Russia and its Kaliningrad exclave, plan to close their airspace to the planes carrying Serbia's and Slovakia's leaders to Moscow later this week for the celebrations out of safety concerns, officials there said. 'Who could deny that in such a quite active cyber background ... that somebody will not use this as a possible provocation to create problems and risks for the flight of these people through the Republic of Lithuania,' Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda said. Mr Xi's visit to Russia will be his third since the Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24 2022. Mr Xi last visited Moscow in March 2023 on a trip that offered an important political boost to Mr Putin just days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader on charges of alleged involvement in abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine. The Kremlin announced on Tuesday that Mr Putin would travel to China at the end of August and beginning of September. Since Russia's all-out invasion of its neighbour, Moscow has drawn closer to China as western countries have sought to isolate Mr Putin diplomatically. Russia has become increasingly dependent economically on China because of western sanctions. Meanwhile, Russia launched a ballistic missile and a barrage of drones at Ukraine's capital before dawn on Wednesday, killing at least two people in apartment buildings, Ukrainian officials said.
The National
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Biden calls Trump's pressure on Ukraine 'modern-day appeasement'
Former US president Joe Biden has said the Trump administration is appeasing Russia's President Vladimir Putin by pressuring Ukraine to give up territory as part of a potential peace deal to end Russia's invasion. In his first interview since leaving the White House in January, a frail-sounding Mr Biden, 82, told the BBC that Mr Putin believes Ukraine is part of Russia and that "anybody that thinks he's going to stop" if Ukrainian territory is conceded as part of a peace deal "is just foolish". 'It is modern-day appeasement,' Mr Biden said, a comparison to former British prime minister Neville Chamberlain's 1930s policy of conceding to Nazi Germany's territorial demands in an effort to avert the Second World War. 'I just don't understand how people think that if we allow a dictator, a thug, to decide he's going to take significant portions of land that aren't his, that that's going to satisfy him.' He also voiced dismay over how the Trump administration has often sounded a friendlier tone towards Russia than Ukraine, including the Oval Office upbraiding President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was given by President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. 'I found it beneath America, the way that took place,' he said. Mr Trump's failure to end the war in Ukraine within his first 100 days in office, as promised during his election campaign, has led to mounting frustration in the White House. Mr Biden's interview came just over 100 days into Mr Trump's second term, during which the Republican leader has reshaped US domestic and foreign policy. Mr Biden, who abandoned his re-election bid last year following a disastrous debate performance, said he was worried Europe would lose confidence in the 'certainty of America and the leadership of America and the world'. Mr Biden said it was a 'difficult decision' to leave the presidential race four months from Election Day to allow former vice president Kamala Harris to challenge Mr Trump. But, he added, making that move earlier, as some critics had suggested, 'wouldn't have mattered'. His interview also coincided with allied nations this week marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. 'I fear our allies around the world are going to begin to doubt whether we're going to stay where we've always been in the last 80 years,' Mr Biden said.
