Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-788cddb947-w95db Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-11T13:54:51.425Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

10 - The Test of War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2022

G. C. Peden
Affiliation:
University of Stirling
Get access

Summary

Some historians have seen continuity between appeasement and Chamberlain’s passive strategy in the Phoney War, but the evidence presented here is that he was not anxious to make peace. Churchill and Chamberlain initially agreed it was best to stand on the defensive while blockade weakened Germany, but their views diverged as Churchill looked for ways to take the offensive against Germany. Churchill was largely responsible for the Allied defeat in Norway but it was Chamberlain who paid the political price, his resignation being a necessary step to persuade the Labour Party to agree to enter a national government. However, Chamberlain loyally served Churchill when the latter became prime minister. In particular, Chamberlain supported Churchill’s policy of fighting on even when France looked for a way out of the war. The forces that the Chamberlain government had created, although deficient in a number of respects, stood the test of war reasonably well. However, pre-war concerns about the necessity of American economic support and British strategic overstretch proved to be well founded, as was demonstrated by the collapse of British power in the Far East. Moreover, even in victory Britain was unable to exercise effective influence in Central Europe.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • The Test of War
  • G. C. Peden, University of Stirling
  • Book: Churchill, Chamberlain and Appeasement
  • Online publication: 11 November 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009201995.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • The Test of War
  • G. C. Peden, University of Stirling
  • Book: Churchill, Chamberlain and Appeasement
  • Online publication: 11 November 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009201995.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Test of War
  • G. C. Peden, University of Stirling
  • Book: Churchill, Chamberlain and Appeasement
  • Online publication: 11 November 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009201995.011
Available formats
×