| United Kingdom Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (March 18, 1869 – November 9, 1940) arrives at Heston Aerodrome in London after signing the Munich Agreement. He waved the document aloft and read it to the cheering crowd gathered. Declaring “Peace for our time,” Chamberlain was hailed by the public as a hero. The Munich Agreement avoided war between Germany and Czechoslovakia, France, and the United Kingdom at the last minute. While the British public was thrilled, The pact is also known in some areas of the Czech and Slovak Republics as the Munich Betrayal (Czech: “Mnichovská zrada”; Slovak: “Mníchovská zrada”), Chamberlain, a Tory and a man of the 19th century, appeared technological and modern by using a Lockheed 14 Super Electra for travel to Germany at a time most people went by sea. The spectacle of his Electra landing at Heston and the Prime Minister stepping out to wave the agreement in front of the cameras, was, at the time, the highlight of his career. Within a year, the continent would be at war. Blamed for the failure of the Norwegian invasion in May 1940, his support in Parliament collapsed. Leo Amery, representing Birmingham South, “You have sat here too long for any good you are doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!” Chamberlain’s own party defected from his government as a result. Chamberlain has been derided for the Munich Agreement, but modern assessments revealed that Britain was not in a condition for war in September 1938. Chamberlain used the 11 months leading up to the invasion of Poland to rebuild Britain’s military, mitigating some of the criticism he faced for the Munich Agreement. But many Czechs and Slovaks, who faced the longest occupation of their territory by the Germans, never forgave Britain or Chamberlain. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0515.jpg |
| Image Size | 497.21 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1600 x 2068 |
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| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | September 30, 1938 |
| Location | |
| City | London |
| State or Province | London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
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| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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