Peace in Our Time

Peace in Our Time is a phrase used to describe a temporary peace or suspect treaty, and is often associated with appeasement or policies that are considered weak. The phrase itself is a misquote of Neville Chamberlain's famous "Peace for our time" declaration.

Origin

Following the September 1938 signing of the Munich Agreement, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned to Great Britain having temporarily diffused the situation in Europe. The Munich Agreement had resulted in the annexation of the Sudetenland by Nazi Germany and the dissolution of the Czechoslovakian-French-Anglo alliance. In exchange, German Führer Adolf Hitler declared that he "Had no further territorial claims in Europe." Upon landing at Heston Aerodrome on September 30, Chamberlain raised the signed agreement aloft and declared,

"My good friends, this is the second time there has come back from Germany to Downing Street, peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time."

On March 15, 1939 the German Wehrmacht annexed the remainder of Czechoslovakia, six months after the treaty had been signed. On the 1st of September Nazi Germany Invaded Poland, pulling Great Britain and France into the war, officially opening the European Theater of World War II. Due to these events, the commonly mistaken phrase "Peace in our time" became associated with appeasement and weak foreign policy.

Books

• Peace in Our Time, a 1923 novel by Oliver Onions
• Peace in Our Time, a 1985 non-fiction book by David Atkinson
• Peace in Our Time?, a 1991 non-fiction book by June Goodfield and Mary Fitzgerald

Films

• The Silent Battle or Peace in Our Time, a 1939 British film

Television

The World at War makes frequent mention of this term in episode 1: "A New Germany"

Games

• Peace in Our Time, an expansion set to the wargame Europa
• "There will be peace in our time," opening diplomatic option in Civilization IV
• Peace in our time is signed on a temporary ceasefire treaty in the flash game Hex Empires

Music

Albums

• Peace in Our Time (Big Country album), 1988 (also the name of the album's title track)
• Peace in Our Time (Good Riddance album), 2015
• No Peace in Our Time, a 1995 album by Toxic Reasons

Songs

• "Peace in Our Time", a Christian hymn written in 1938
• "Peace in Our Time" (Eddie Money song), 1989
• "Peace in Our Time", a 1984 song by Elvis Costello from the album Goodbye Cruel World
• "Peace in Our Time", a 1989 song by Gorky Park from the album Gorky Park
• "Peace in Our Time", a 1993 song by Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine from the album Peace Together
• "Peace in Our Time", a 1993 composition by Andy Hill
• "Peace in Our Time", a 1993 song by Cliff Richard from the album The Album
• "Peace in Our Time", a 1995 song by 10cc from the album Mirror Mirror
• "Peace in Our Time", a 2007 song by Ray Davies from the album Working Man's Café
• "Peace in Our Time", a 2009 song by John Wetton and Geoffrey Downes from the album Icon 3

Politics

• "Peace for our time", a phrase spoken by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, frequently misquoted as "Peace in our time"
• Munich Agreement, the treaty that prompted Chamberlain's quotation
• Iran nuclear deal, often criticized with with this phrase
• The Paris Peace Accords were labeled a new Munich Agreement by pro-vietnam war organizations who subscribed to the domino theory. This was compounded by the Nixon campaign slogan of "Peace with Honor," which was coincidentally spoken by Chamberlain in 1938.

Television

• "Peace in Our Time/And Everyone Came Too", a 1970 Christmas episode of Please Sir!
• Monty Python's Flying Circus's skit The Funniest Joke in the World referenced the phrase as Britain's pre-war joke.
• True Stories: Peace in our Time?, a 1988 British television film by Jan Němec, with John Cleese as Neville Chamberlain

Theater

• Peace in Our Time (play), a 1946 play by Noël Coward

See also

• In Our Time (disambiguation)