A declaration of war by Canada against Germany was made by order-in-council signed by George VI, king of Canada, on 10 September 1939, seven days after the United Kingdom and France had also entered a state of war with the Nazi regime. The royal proclamation of the Canadian declaration was published in the Canada Gazette. Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King announced the recommendation for a declaration of war in a radio-broadcast speech, made from Ottawa, on 3 September 1939. The matter was then debated in Parliament, though declaration of war is a matter of the royal prerogative and does not require parliamentary approval. Background and procedure Canada did not declare war on Germany at the outset of the First World War, as it had no authority to do so at the time. Though the Canadian Parliament did debate the matter and an order-in-council was issued proclaiming Canada was at war, the country, being part of the British Empire, entered the war with the United Kingdom in consequence of the latter's declaration of war 4 August 1914. In the aftermath of the First World War, Adolf Hitler rose to power as the Führer of Nazi Germany. The Prime Minister of Canada, William Lyon Mackenzie King, paid a visit to Hitler on 29 June 1937, during which both indicated a desire to avoid war; though, Mackenzie King noted Canada and other nations were concerned by Germany's rapid armament, which Hitler blamed on the Treaty of Versailles, a pact he had violated by sending troops into the Rhineland on 7 March 1936. The Prime Minister told Hitler that, if a war broke out between Germany and Britain, Canada would be at Britain's side. Mackenzie King also met President of the Reichstag Hermann Göring, who, more ominously, asked Mackenzie King if Canada would support Britain if the latter initiated a conflict over a then-hypothetical unification of Germany and Austria. In response, Mackenzie King said it would depend on the circumstances. What the Prime Minister had told his British counterpart, Neville Chamberlain, when in London in May 1937 was more certain: Canada would be with Britain should an international conflict erupt. Though Mackenzie King still hoped for peace, Nazi Germany's continued armament and violation of treaties forced the Prime Minister to accept that Canada might once again have to fight alongside Britain if war broke out. Canadians, and the government, were thus relieved