re: #147 Anymouse 🌹

Neville Chamberlain was intelligent. Contrast to Trump.

Chamberlain was trying to buy time for the United Kingdom when it needed to rearm. It was not in a position to take on the Nazis, and the US was infested with isolationists and America Firsters (sounds familiar). Chamberlain gets somewhat of a bad rap for his “peace in our time” line, but he was stuck with the reality of the situation.

Even when the UK declared war on Germany over the invasion of Poland, it wasn’t ready for war, but was in far better shape than it was over the Sudetenland.

Much of the “Chamberlain was a peacnik idiot” bullshit is post-war propaganda promoted by the man who wanted his chair and ultimately became known more for his bellicose speeches than being a remarkable leader: Winston Churchill. Much like Donny today, Winston felt that his legacy was dependent not simply on the successes under his leadership, but upon tearing down his political rivals to further elevate himself. Thus Chamberlain was portrayed as an idiot who pursued peace at any cost, feeling free to do so as Neville had died not long after stepping down and few in the peerage were prepared to risk their futures defending a dead man.