{"id":8407,"date":"2022-01-06T12:39:58","date_gmt":"2022-01-06T11:39:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=30158"},"modified":"2022-01-06T14:19:31","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T13:19:31","slug":"peace-for-our-time-what-was-written-on-neville-chamberlains-piece-of-paper","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/peace-for-our-time-what-was-written-on-neville-chamberlains-piece-of-paper\/","title":{"rendered":"Peace for our time: what was written on Neville Chamberlain\u2019s piece of paper?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Roger Moorhouse\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 06 January 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

The deeper story of Neville Chamberlain\u2019s piece of paper is an intriguing one.<\/p>\n

The piece of paper itself has aroused some speculation over the years. It was not \u2013 as some wits suggested at the time \u2013 the prime minister\u2019s laundry list, pressed into service as a prop; neither was it a copy of the broader Munich Agreement<\/a>, by which Czechoslovakia was dismembered by the western Allies to appease Nazi Germany<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more | Did appeasement cause the Second World War?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
It was, in fact, a private accord, signed earlier that day in Munich by Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler<\/a>. Its three short paragraphs stressed the importance of Anglo-German relations, expressed the \u201cdesire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again\u201d and stated the common resolve to use negotiation in all future disagreements.<\/p>\n
As such, the accord can be seen as central to Chamberlain\u2019s noble but doomed attempt to exert a moderating influence on Hitler, by fostering a working relationship with him.<\/p>\n
Unlike most other government documents \u2013 which are consigned to the National Archive in Kew \u2013 the piece of paper was sent direct to the Imperial War Museum, in January 1940, less than 18\u00a0months after being brandished in triumph by its author at Heston. Britain was already at war with Germany by that time, of course, so the accord was very much a dead letter.<\/p>\n
Read more | Making friends with Hitler: Britain\u2019s pre-war admiration for the Nazi dictator<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
Fittingly, the note, which accompanied it to the museum, stated that while the document \u201cseemed of the highest significance then\u2026 its implications are now ironical\u201d.<\/p>\n
The piece of paper was kept on display at the Imperial War Museum until being replaced by a facsimile copy in the early 1990s. The original \u2013 still remarkably well-preserved \u2013 is now kept in a temperature-controlled strong room in the museum\u2019s archive.<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n
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