Peace for our time: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Latest revision as of 02:36, 10 December 2024

Neville Chamberlain showing the Anglo-German Declaration (the resolution) to commit to peaceful methods signed by both Hitler and himself, at Heston Aerodrome, on his return from Munich on 30 September 1938

Chamberlain's return to the UK after Munich

Neville Chamberlain speaks to the crowd upon arrival at Heston Aerodrome, 30 September 1938.

Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Peace for our time" was a declaration made by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in his 30 September 1938 remarks in London concerning the Munich Agreement and the subsequent Anglo-German Declaration.^[1] The phrase echoed Benjamin Disraeli, who, upon returning from the Congress of Berlin in 1878, had stated, "Lord Salisbury and myself have brought you back peace — but a peace I hope with honour." The phrase is primarily remembered for its bitter ironic value since less than a year after the agreement, Germany's invasion of Poland began World War II.

It is often misquoted as "peace in our time", a phrase already familiar to the British public by its longstanding appearance in the Book of Common Prayer. A passage in that book translated from the 7th-century hymn "Da pacem Domine" reads, "Give peace in our time, O Lord; because there is none other that fighteth for us, but only thou, O God."^[2] The phrase also appears in the English hymn "God the Omnipotent!" at the end of the refrain: "...give to us peace in our time, O Lord!" It is not known how deliberate Chamberlain's use of such a similar phrase was.

Speeches

Chamberlain's aeroplane landed at Heston Aerodrome on 30 September 1938 and he spoke to the spectators there:

The settlement of the Czechoslovakian problem, which has now been achieved is, in my view, only the prelude to a larger settlement in which all Europe may find peace. This morning I had another talk with the German Chancellor, Herr Hitler, and here is the paper which bears his name upon it as well as mine [shows paper to crowd]. Some of you, perhaps, have already heard what it contains but I would just like to read it to you: " ... We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again".^[3]^[4]

Later that day, he stood outside 10 Downing Street, again read from the document and concluded:

My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.^[3]

Chamberlain's return was not universally well-received, and 15,000 people protested against the Munich Agreement the same day in Trafalgar Square, three times more than the number welcoming him at 10 Downing Street. Chamberlain's ongoing manipulation of the BBC caused that news to be largely suppressed.^[5] The Labour spokesman Hugh Dalton publicly suggested that the piece of paper that Chamberlain was waving was "torn from the pages of Mein Kampf."^[6]

Disbelieving Chamberlain, Isaac Asimov published in July 1939 "Trends", which mentions a World War in 1940. He later wrote "I was too conservative" (about when war would begin).^[7]

Cultural references

Peace in Our Time is the title of a 1947 stage play by Noël Coward. Set in an alternative 1940, the Battle of Britain has been lost, the Germans have supremacy in the air and the United Kingdom is under Nazi occupation. Inspired to write this play in 1946 after seeing the effects of the occupation of France Coward wrote: "I began to suspect the physical effect of four years' intermittent bombing is far less damaging to the intrinsic character of a nation than the spiritual effect of four years of enemy occupation".^{[citation needed]}

"Peace in Our Time" is a 1984 satirical song by Elvis Costello which references Chamberlain. It is featured on the album Goodbye Cruel World.^[8]

"Hold On to What?" a 1994 song by the Beautiful South from their album Miaow^[9] includes the lyrics, "Chamberlain had his paper/Jesus had his cross/They held on/We held on to what?".

U.S. President John F. Kennedy alluded to the speech in his 1963 American University commencement address in which he stated that he sought "not merely peace in our time, but peace in all time."^[10]

Monty Python's 1969 The Funniest Joke in the World sketch references "Britain's pre-war joke" and shows an image of Chamberlain holding up the Munich Agreement paper.

In the 2015 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Avengers: Age of Ultron, Tony Stark uses the phrase "Peace in our time" after creating the eponymous and seemingly benevolent artificial intelligence. Since this backfires, the phrase bears similar ironic value to Chamberlain’s utterance.^[11]

Robyn Hitchcock’s 1990 song “Cynthia Mask” references the incident in the lyrics of its second verse.^[12]

References

^ "Neville Chamberlain". Number 10. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
^ "The Order for Morning Prayer". Book of Common Prayer. Church of England. 1662.
^ ^a ^b "Neville Chamberlain's "Peace For Our Time" speech". eudocs.lib.byu.edu. 30 September 1938. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
^ Faber, David (2008). Munich, 1938: Appeasement and World War II. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. pp. 4–5. ISBN 978-1-4391-4992-8.
^ McDonough, Frank (1998). Neville Chamberlain, appeasement and the British road to war. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. pp. 124–133. ISBN 0-7190-4831-1. OCLC 36876037.
^ McDonough 1998, pp. 106–107.
^ Asimov, Isaac (1972). The early Asimov; or, Eleven years of trying. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. pp. 79–82. ISBN 0-385-03979-4.
^ Pilgrim, David; Ormrod, Richard (2016). Elvis Costello and Thatcherism A Psycho-Social Exploration. Taylor & Francis. p. 110.
^ Letter Arts Review. 22 (1–4): 43. 2007. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ Sachs, Jeffrey D. (2013). To Move the World: JFK's Quest for Peace. New York: Random House. p. 74. ISBN 978-0812994926.
^ Ingle, Zachary; Sutera, David M. (2022). The 100 Greatest Superhero Films and TV Shows. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 40.
^ "Robyn Hitchcock - Cynthia mask". YouTube.

External links

Peace in our Time. Speech given in Defense of the Munich Agreement, 1938 – online text of the speech
The Anglo-German Declaration

[1] "Neville Chamberlain". Number 10. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2020.

[2] "The Order for Morning Prayer". Book of Common Prayer. Church of England. 1662.

[:0-3] "Neville Chamberlain's "Peace For Our Time" speech". eudocs.lib.byu.edu. 30 September 1938. Retrieved 9 March 2020.

[4] Faber, David (2008). Munich, 1938: Appeasement and World War II. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. pp. 4–5. ISBN 978-1-4391-4992-8.

[5] McDonough, Frank (1998). Neville Chamberlain, appeasement and the British road to war. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. pp. 124–133. ISBN 0-7190-4831-1. OCLC 36876037.

[FOOTNOTEMcDonough1998106–107-6] McDonough 1998, pp. 106–107.

[earlyyears79_82-7] Asimov, Isaac (1972). The early Asimov; or, Eleven years of trying. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. pp. 79–82. ISBN 0-385-03979-4.

[8] Pilgrim, David; Ormrod, Richard (2016). Elvis Costello and Thatcherism A Psycho-Social Exploration. Taylor & Francis. p. 110.

[9] Letter Arts Review. 22 (1–4): 43. 2007. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

[10] Sachs, Jeffrey D. (2013). To Move the World: JFK's Quest for Peace. New York: Random House. p. 74. ISBN 978-0812994926.

[11] Ingle, Zachary; Sutera, David M. (2022). The 100 Greatest Superhero Films and TV Shows. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 40.

[12] "Robyn Hitchcock - Cynthia mask". YouTube.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Short description|Phrase used by Neville Chamberlain}}
-{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
 {{Other uses|Peace in our time (disambiguation){{!}}Peace in Our Time}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
-[[File:MunichAgreement.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|[[Neville Chamberlain]] showing the Anglo-German Declaration (the resolution) to commit to peaceful methods signed by both Hitler and himself, on his return from Munich on 30 September 1938]]
+[[File:MunichAgreement.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|[[Neville Chamberlain]] showing the [[Munich Agreement|Anglo-German Declaration (the resolution)]] to commit to peaceful methods signed by both Hitler and himself, at [[Heston Aerodrome]], on his return from Munich on 30 September 1938]]
 {{listen
 | filename = Another talk with the German Chancellor, Herr Hitler.ogg
 | title = Chamberlain's return to the UK after Munich
-| description = Neville Chamberlain speaks to the crowd upon arrival at Heston Aerodrome, 30 September 1938.
+| description = Neville Chamberlain speaks to the crowd upon arrival at [[Heston Aerodrome]], 30 September 1938.
 }}
-"'''Peace for our time'''" was a declaration made by [[British Prime Minister]] [[Neville Chamberlain]] in his 30 September 1938 remarks in London concerning the [[Munich Agreement]] and the subsequent Anglo-German Declaration.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/neville-chamberlain|title=Neville Chamberlain|website=[[10 Downing Street|Number 10]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912022536/http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/neville-chamberlain|archive-date=12 September 2008|access-date=9 March 2020}}</ref> The phrase echoed [[Benjamin Disraeli]], who, upon returning from the [[Congress of Berlin]] in 1878, had stated, "I have returned from Germany with peace for our time."
+"'''Peace for our time'''" was a declaration made by [[British Prime Minister]] [[Neville Chamberlain]] in his 30 September 1938 remarks in London concerning the [[Munich Agreement]] and the subsequent Anglo-German Declaration.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/neville-chamberlain|title=Neville Chamberlain|website=[[10 Downing Street|Number 10]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912022536/http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/neville-chamberlain|archive-date=12 September 2008|access-date=9 March 2020}}</ref> The phrase echoed [[Benjamin Disraeli]], who, upon returning from the [[Congress of Berlin]] in 1878, had stated, "[[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Lord Salisbury]] and myself have brought you back peace — but a peace I hope with honour." The phrase is primarily remembered for its bitter ironic value since less than a year after the agreement, Germany's [[invasion of Poland]] began [[World War II]].
-The phrase is primarily remembered for its bitter ironic value since less than a year after the agreement, Hitler's [[invasion of Poland]] began [[World War II]].
 It is often misquoted as "peace ''in'' our time", a phrase already familiar to the British public by its longstanding appearance in the ''[[Book of Common Prayer]].'' A passage in that book translated from the 7th-century hymn "[[Da pacem Domine]]" reads, "Give peace in our time, O Lord; because there is none other that fighteth for us, but only thou, O God."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/order-morning-prayer|title=Book of Common Prayer|publisher=[[Church of England]]|year=1662|chapter=The Order for Morning Prayer}}</ref> The phrase also appears in the English hymn "God the Omnipotent!" at the end of the refrain: "...give to us peace in our time, O Lord!" It is not known how deliberate Chamberlain's use of such a similar phrase was.
 ==Speeches==
-Chamberlain's aeroplane landed at [[Heston Aerodrome]] on 30 September 1938 and he spoke to the crowds there:
+Chamberlain's aeroplane landed at [[Heston Aerodrome]] on 30 September 1938 and he spoke to the spectators there:
 <blockquote>
-[[German occupation of Czechoslovakia|The settlement]] of the [[Sudeten Germans|Czechoslovakian problem]], which has now been achieved is, in my view, only the prelude to a larger settlement in which all Europe may find peace. This morning I had another talk with the German Chancellor, Herr [[Hitler]], and here is the paper which bears his name upon it as well as mine [shows paper to crowd]. Some of you, perhaps, have already heard what it contains but I would just like to read it to you: "&nbsp;... We regard the agreement signed last night and the [[Anglo-German Naval Agreement]] as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Neville_Chamberlain%27s_%22Peace_For_Our_Time%22_speech|title=Neville Chamberlain's "Peace For Our Time" speech|date=30 September 1938|website=eudocs.lib.byu.edu|access-date=2020-03-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Faber|first=David|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OaRF5yLeuZoC&q=%22This+morning+I+had+another+talk+with+the+German+Chancellor%22&pg=PA4|title=Munich, 1938: Appeasement and World War II|publisher=[[Simon and Schuster]]|year=2008|isbn=978-1-4391-4992-8|location=New York, NY|pages=4–5|language=en}}</ref></blockquote>
+[[Reichsgau Sudetenland|The settlement]] of the [[Sudeten Germans|Czechoslovakian problem]], which has now been achieved is, in my view, only the prelude to a larger settlement in which all Europe may find peace. This morning I had another talk with the German Chancellor, Herr [[Hitler]], and here is the paper which bears his name upon it as well as mine [shows paper to crowd]. Some of you, perhaps, have already heard what it contains but I would just like to read it to you: "&nbsp;... We regard the agreement signed last night and the [[Anglo-German Naval Agreement]] as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another [[British declaration of war on Germany (1914)|again]]".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Neville_Chamberlain%27s_%22Peace_For_Our_Time%22_speech|title=Neville Chamberlain's "Peace For Our Time" speech|date=30 September 1938|website=eudocs.lib.byu.edu|access-date=2020-03-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Faber|first=David|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OaRF5yLeuZoC&q=%22This+morning+I+had+another+talk+with+the+German+Chancellor%22&pg=PA4|title=Munich, 1938: Appeasement and World War II|publisher=[[Simon and Schuster]]|year=2008|isbn=978-1-4391-4992-8|location=New York, NY|pages=4–5|language=en}}</ref></blockquote>
 Later that day, he stood outside [[10 Downing Street]], again read from the document and concluded:
@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 ''[[Peace in Our Time (play)|Peace in Our Time]]'' is the title of a 1947 stage play by [[Noël Coward]]. Set in [[alternative history|an alternative 1940]], the [[Battle of Britain]] has been lost, the Germans have [[air supremacy|supremacy in the air]] and the [[United Kingdom]] is under Nazi occupation. Inspired to write this play in 1946 after seeing the effects of the [[occupation of France]] Coward wrote: "I began to suspect the physical effect of four years' intermittent bombing is far less damaging to the intrinsic character of a nation than the spiritual effect of four years of enemy occupation".{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}
-"Peace in Our Time" is a 1984 satirical song by [[Elvis Costello]] which references Chamberlain. It is featured on the album [[Goodbye Cruel World (Elvis Costello album)|Goodbye Cruel World]].
+"Peace in Our Time" is a 1984 satirical song by [[Elvis Costello]] which references Chamberlain. It is featured on the album [[Goodbye Cruel World (Elvis Costello album)|Goodbye Cruel World]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pilgrim |first1=David |last2=Ormrod |first2=Richard |title=Elvis Costello and Thatcherism A Psycho-Social Exploration |date=2016 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=110}}</ref>
-"Hold On to What?" a 1994 song by [[The Beautiful South]] includes the lyrics, "Chamberlain had his paper/Jesus had his cross/They held on/We held on to what?" It's on their album ''[[Miaow (album)|Miaow]]''.
+"Hold On to What?" a 1994 song by [[the Beautiful South]] from their album ''[[Miaow (album)|Miaow]]''<ref>{{cite journal |journal=[[Letter Arts Review]] |date=2007 |volume=22 |issue=1–4 |page=43}}</ref> includes the lyrics, "Chamberlain had his paper/Jesus had his cross/They held on/We held on to what?".
-U.S. President [[John F. Kennedy]] alluded to the speech in his 1963 [[American University speech|American University commencement address]] in which he sought "not merely peace in our time, but peace in all time."<ref>{{cite book|last=Sachs|first=Jeffrey D.|url=https://archive.org/details/tomoveworldjfkss0000sach|url-access=registration|title=To Move the World: JFK's Quest for Peace|publisher=[[Random House]]|year=2013|isbn=978-0812994926|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/tomoveworldjfkss0000sach/page/74 74]|author-link=Jeffrey Sachs}}</ref>
+U.S. President [[John F. Kennedy]] alluded to the speech in his 1963 [[American University speech|American University commencement address]] in which he stated that he sought "not merely peace in our time, but peace in all time."<ref>{{cite book|last=Sachs|first=Jeffrey D.|url=https://archive.org/details/tomoveworldjfkss0000sach|url-access=registration|title=To Move the World: JFK's Quest for Peace|publisher=[[Random House]]|year=2013|isbn=978-0812994926|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/tomoveworldjfkss0000sach/page/74 74]|author-link=Jeffrey Sachs}}</ref>
 Monty Python's 1969 [[The Funniest Joke in the World]] sketch references "Britain's pre-war joke" and shows an image of Chamberlain holding up the [[Munich Agreement]] paper.
-In the 2015 [[Marvel Cinematic Universe]] film ''[[Avengers: Age of Ultron]]'', [[Tony Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Tony Stark]] uses the phrase "Peace in our time" after creating the [[Ultron (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|eponymous and seemingly benevolent artificial intelligence]]. Since this backfires, the phrase bears similar ironic value to Chamberlain’s utterance.
+In the 2015 [[Marvel Cinematic Universe]] film ''[[Avengers: Age of Ultron]]'', [[Tony Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Tony Stark]] uses the phrase "Peace in our time" after creating the [[Ultron (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|eponymous and seemingly benevolent artificial intelligence]]. Since this backfires, the phrase bears similar ironic value to Chamberlain’s utterance.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ingle |first1=Zachary |last2=Sutera |first2=David M. |title=The 100 Greatest Superhero Films and TV Shows |date=2022 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |page=40}}</ref>
 [[Robyn Hitchcock]]’s 1990 song “Cynthia Mask” references the incident in the lyrics of its second verse.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcy5-0OemsI&ab_channel=martinvenator|title = Robyn Hitchcock - Cynthia mask|website = [[YouTube]]}}</ref>
@@ Line 58: / Line 58: @@
 {{reflist
 | refs =
+}}
-}} Henry F. Chorley, “God, the Omnipotent!” (English hymn), 1842, Melody: “Russian Hymn” (“God Save the Tsar!”) by Alexei Lvov, 1833
 ==External links==
@@ Line 71: / Line 71: @@
 [[Category:1938 in the United Kingdom]]
 [[Category:1938 in London]]
-[[Category:British political phrases (Pre 1950)]]
+[[Category:British political phrases (pre-1950)]]
 [[Category:English phrases]]
 [[Category:History of the foreign relations of the United Kingdom]]
 [[Category:Neville Chamberlain]]
 [[Category:Munich Agreement]]
-[[Category:1930s neologisms]]
+[[Category:1938 quotations]]
 [[Category:History of Middlesex]]
 [[Category:History of the London Borough of Hounslow]]

v t e Munich Agreement
Prelude (Oct 1925 – Sep 1938)	Locarno Treaties Sudeten German Party Parliamentary election, 1935 Border fortifications Fall Grün Hossbach Memorandum Heim ins Reich Anschluss May Crisis Runciman Mission Bled Agreement Runciman Report Godesberg Memorandum Oster Conspiracy Sudeten German uprising
Consequences (Nov 1938 – Sep 1939)	First Vienna Award Second Czechoslovak Republic German invasion of Czechoslovakia Czechoslovak government-in-exile Slovak Republic Bohemia and Moravia Hungarian invasion of Carpatho-Ukraine Slovak–Hungarian War Slovak invasion of Poland Generalplan Ost
Nullification (Mar 1945 – Dec 1973)	Third Czechoslovak Republic German evacuation from Central and Eastern Europe German expulsion from Czechoslovakia Potsdam Agreement Beneš decrees Paris Peace Treaties (1947) Treaty of Prague (1973)
Related topics	Events preceding the war in Europe European foreign policy of the Chamberlain ministry: Appeasement "Peace for our time" Lesson of Munich History of Czechoslovakia (1918–1938): Germans in Czechoslovakia Western betrayal: Arms and the Covenant (1938) Why England Slept (1940)

v t e Neville Chamberlain
Premierships	1938–1939 1939–1940
Constituencies	Birmingham Ladywood Birmingham Edgbaston
Family	Joseph Chamberlain (father) Austen Chamberlain (half-brother) Beatrice Chamberlain (half-sister) Ida Chamberlain (sister) Hilda Chamberlain (sister) Anne Chamberlain (wife)
Career	Career before 1937 Conservative Research Department European foreign policy of the Chamberlain ministry Appeasement Munich Agreement Peace for our time Declaration of war on Germany Anglo-Polish alliance Phoney War Norway Debate
Cultural depictions	The Gathering Storm (TV, 1974) Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (TV, 1981) Countdown to War (Film, 1989) Heil Honey I'm Home! (TV, 1990) Dunkirk (TV, 2004) Into the Storm (TV, 2009) Darkest Hour (Film, 2017)

Latest revision as of 02:36, 10 December 2024

Speeches

Cultural references

See also

References

External links