Title: Appeasement
Headings: Appeasement: 1935-1939
Appeasement: 1935-1939
Labour Party and Rearmament
Hitler's Rhineland Coup
Spanish Civil War
Neville Chamberlain and Appeasement
Major Ball, the Media and Appeasement
Negotiations with Benito Mussolini
Resignation of Anthony Eden
Czechoslovakia
The Munich Agreement
The Myth of Appeasement and Rearmament
Doubts about Appeasement
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
Soviet Union and Nazi Germany
Outbreak of War
Primary Sources
(1) Henry (Chips) Channon, diary entry (5th December, 1936)
(2) Anthony Eden, speech in the House of Commons explaining why he had resigned from the government as Foreign Secretary (21st February, 1938)
(3) Winston Churchill, speech in the House of Commons on the resignation of Anthony Eden (22nd February, 1938)
(4) Lord Halifax, Fulness of Days (1957)
(5) William Gallacher, a member of the Communist Party, was a strong advocate of a military alliance with the Soviet Union. He was also opposed to the appeasement policy of the Conservative government. He wrote about these views in The Chosen Few (1940).
(6) Robert Boothby, Boothby: Recollections of a Rebel (1978)
(7) Hugh Christie, report to MI6 on a meeting he had with Hermann Goering on 3rd February, 1937.
(8) Hugh Christie, report to MI6 in March, 1938.
(9) Henry (Chips) Channon, diary entry (11th March, 1938)
(10) Henry (Chips) Channon, diary entry on the opponents of appeasement in the Conservative Party (22nd March, 1938)
(11) Henry (Chips) Channon, diary entry (12th May, 1938)
(12) Neville Chamberlain, letter to George VI (13th September, 1938)
(13) Henry (Chips) Channon, diary entry (14th September, 1938)
(14) George VI, letter to Neville Chamberlain (16th September, 1938)
(15) Henry (Chips) Channon, diary entry (16th September, 1938)
(16) Duff Cooper, First Lord of the Admiralty, diary entry (17th September, 1938)
(17) Neville Chamberlain held a Cabinet meeting on 24th September 1938. Duff Cooper, First Lord of the Admiralty, wrote about it in his autobiography, Old Men Forget (1953)
(18) Henry (Chips) Channon, diary entry (28th September, 1938)
(19) Eleanor Rathbone, letter to Winston Churchill (September, 1938)
(20) Duff Cooper, speech in the House of Commons (3rd October, 1938)
(20) Neville Chamberlain, speech in the House of Commons (3rd October, 1938)
(20) A. D. Lindsay, speech (18th October, 1938)
(21) A. D. Lindsay, a strong opponent of appeasement, he stood as the anti-Munich candidate in the by-election that took place in Oxford in October, 1938. Although defeated by the Conservative Party candidate, Quintin Hogg, he reduced the majority from 6,645 to 3,434. This article about the election appeared in the Picture Post on 5th November, 1938.
(22) Henry (Chips) Channon, diary entry (15th March, 1938)
(23) Clement Attlee, As It Happened (1954)
(24) Neville Chamberlain, radio broadcast (27th September, 1938)
(25) Statement issued by Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler after the signing of the Munich Agreement (30th September)
(26) R. V. Jones was one of those who was opposed to the appeasement policy of Neville Chamberlain and his government.
(27) Winston Churchill, The Second World War (1948)
(28) The Manchester Guardian (17th March, 1939)
(29) Vernon Bartlett was in Godesberg working for the Daily Chronicle when Neville Chamberlain met Adolf Hitler on 22nd September 1938. He wrote about it in his book And Now, Tomorrow (1960)
(30) A. J. P. Taylor, English History 1914-1945 (1965)
(31) Edward Heath, The Course of My Life (1988)
(32) Herbert Morrison, An Autobiography (1960)
(33) Bernard Knox, Premature Anti-Fascist (1998)
Student Activities
References
(1) Winston Churchill, speech in the House of Commons (24th October 1935)
(2) Winston Churchill, speech (17th February, 1933)
(3) Winston Churchill, The Sunday Chronicle (26th May, 1935)
(4) Trevor Burridge, British Labour & Hitler's War (1976) pages 17-18
(5) Michael Jago, Clement Attlee (2017) page 104
(6) Clement Attlee, speech (1st October, 1935)
(7) Sydney Silverman, Report of the 36th Labour Party Annual Conference (1935) page 196
(8) Ernest Bevin, Report of the 36th Labour Party Annual Conference (1935) page 204
(9) Clement Attlee, letter to Tom Attlee (26th October, 1936)
(10) Alan Bullock, Hitler: A Study in Tyranny (1962) page 345
(11) Frank McDonough, Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War (1998) page 27
(12) Winston Churchill, The Evening Standard (13th March, 1936)
(13) Winston Churchill, speech in the House of Commons (6th April, 1936)
(14) Clement Attlee, speech in the House of Commons (26th March, 1936)
(15) Patricia Knight, The Spanish Civil War (1998) page 67
(16) Antony Beevor, The Spanish Civil War (1982) page 110
(17) Clement Attlee, speech in the House of Commons (29th October, 1936)
(18) Francis Beckett, Clem Attlee (2000) page 134
(19) Clement Attlee, speech in the House of Commons (29th October, 1936)
(20) Frank McDonough, Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War (1998) page 40
(21) Andrew J. Crozier, Nevile Henderson : Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004-2014)
(22) Louis L. Snyder, Encyclopedia of the Third Reich (1998) page 296
(23) Christopher Andrew, Defence of the Realm: The Authorised History of MI5 (2010) page 199
(24) G. T. Waddington, Eric Phipps : Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004-2014)
(25) Keith Middlemas, Diplomacy of Illusion: British Government and Germany, 1937-39 (1972) page 53
(26) Neville Henderson, Failure of a Mission (1940) page 17
(27) Keith Middlemas, Diplomacy of Illusion: British Government and Germany, 1937-39 (1972) page 74
(28) Neville Henderson, Failure of a Mission (1940) page 14
(29) Neville Henderson, speech in Berlin (1st June, 1937)
(30) Alfred Knox, speech in House of Commons (9th June 1937)
(31) Richard Griffiths, Fellow Travellers of the Right (1979) page 283
(32) Jim Wilson, Nazi Princess: Hitler, Lord Rothermere and Princess Stephanie Von Hohenlohe (2011) page 82
(33) Henry (Chips) Channon, diary entry (5th December, 1936)
(34) Lord Halifax, Fullness of Days (1957) page 181
(35) Norman Rose, The Cliveden Set: Portrait of an Exclusive Fraternity (2000) pages 169-173
(36) Keith Middlemas, Diplomacy of Illusion: British Government and Germany, 1937-39 (1972) page 74
(37) Winston Churchill, The Evening Standard (17th September 1937)
(38) Winston Churchill, The Evening Standard (14th October, 1937)
(39) Winston Churchill, speech at the Conservative Party conference at Scarborough (14th October, 1937)
(40) Peter Neville, Nevile Henderson : Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004-2014)
(41) Neville Henderson, Failure of a Mission (1940) page 21
(42) Neville Henderson, Failure of a Mission (1940) page 23
(43) Keith Middlemas, Diplomacy of Illusion: British Government and Germany, 1937-39 (1972) page 138
(44) Lord Halifax, diary entry (19th November, 1937)
(45) The Evening Standard (13th November 1937)
(46) Claude Cockburn, The Week (17th November, 1937)
(47) Reynolds News (28th November, 1937)
(48) Frederick Smith, Life of Lord Halifax (1965) page 366
(49) Lord Halifax, letter to Neville Chamberlain (24th November, 1937)
(50) Chris Bryant, The Glamour Boys: The Secret Story of the Rebels who Fought for Britain to Defeat Hitler (2020) pages 133-134
(51) John Campbell Davidson, Memoirs of a Conservative (1969) page 272
(52) Chris Bryant, The Glamour Boys: The Secret Story of the Rebels who Fought for Britain to Defeat Hitler (2020) page 215
(53) Geoffrey Dawson, letter to H. G. Daniels (23rd May, 1937)
(54)
(55) Robert Sheppard, A Class Divided: Appeasement and the Road to Munich (1988) page 112
(56) Marista Leishman, My Father: Reith of the BBC (2008) page 208
(57) John Reith, diary entry (9th March 1933)
(58) Marista Leishman, My Father: Reith of the BBC (2008) page 150
(59) John Reith, diary entry (10th March 1938)
(60) Hastings Lees-Smith, House of Commons (17th December, 1936)
(61) Chris Bryant, The Glamour Boys: The Secret Story of the Rebels who Fought for Britain to Defeat Hitler (2020) page 217
(62) David Faber, Munich: The 1938 Appeasement Crisis (2008) page 86
(63) Giorgio Peresso, Times of Malta (30th September 2012)
(64) Tim Bouverie, Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War (2020) page 161
(65) David Faber, Munich: The 1938 Appeasement Crisis (2008) page 87
(66) Anthony Eden, letter to Neville Chamberlain (8th February, 1938)
(67) Christopher Andrew, Secret Service: The Making of the British Intelligence Community (1986) page 545
(68) William C. Mills, Sir Joseph Ball, Adrian Dingli and Neville Chamberlain's Secret Channel to Italy, 1937-1940 (2002) page 295
(69) The Daily Mail (9th February, 1938)
(70) Anthony Eden, Facing the Dictators (1962) page 574
(71)
(72) The Sunday Times (13th February, 1938)
(73) Neville Chamberlain, memorandum (26th November, 1937)
(74) William Strang, memorandum (November, 1937)
(75) Neville Henderson, report to the British government (January 1938)
(76) Keith Middlemas, Diplomacy of Illusion: British Government and Germany, 1937-39 (1972) page 151
(77) Anthony Eden, speech (21st February 1938)
(78) The Daily Mail (21st February, 1938)
(79) Chris Bryant, The Glamour Boys: The Secret Story of the Rebels who Fought for Britain to Defeat Hitler (2020) page 219
(80) The Times (22nd February, 1938)
(81) The Manchester Guardian (24th February, 1938)
(82) Chris Bryant, The Glamour Boys: The Secret Story of the Rebels who Fought for Britain to Defeat Hitler (2020) page 220
(83) Robert Sheppard, A Class Divided: Appeasement and the Road to Munich (1988) page 130
(84) Winston Churchill, The Gathering Storm (1950) page 257
(85) Robert Boothby, Boothby: Recollections of a Rebel (1978)
(86) Winston Churchill, speech in the House of Commons (22nd February, 1938)
(87) Ronald Cartland, speech in the House of Commons (22nd February, 1938)
(88) Chris Bryant, The Glamour Boys: The Secret Story of the Rebels who Fought for Britain to Defeat Hitler (2020) pages 222-224
(89) David Low, Autobiography (1956) page 312
(90) Frank McDonough, Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War (1998) page 58
(91) Winston Churchill, speech in the House of Commons (12th March, 1938)
(92) John Bew, Citizen Clem: A Biography of Attlee (2016) page 222
(93) Peter Neville, Nevile Henderson : Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004-2014)
(94) Robert A. Parker, Chamberlain and Appeasement (1993) page 147
(95) Hugh Christie, report to MI6 (March, 1938)
(96) Donald Cameron Watt, How War Came: Immediate Origins of the Second World War (1989) page 78
(97) Anthony Eden, letter to Stanley Baldwin (11th May, 1938)
(98) David Faber, Munich: The 1938 Appeasement Crisis (2008) pages 169-170
(99) Frank McDonough, Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War (1998) page 61
(100) Robert A. Parker, Chamberlain and Appeasement (1993) page 149
(101) Adolf Hitler, speech (30th May, 1938)
(102) Clive Ponting, Winston Churchill (1994) page 394
(103) Frank McDonough, Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War (1998) pages 61-62
(104) Richard Lamb, The Ghosts of Peace (1987) pages 2-5
(105) Robert A. Parker, Chamberlain and Appeasement (1993) pages 160-161
(106) Frank McDonough, Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War (1998) page 63
(107) Telford Taylor, Munich: The Price of Peace (1979) page 740
(108) Neville Chamberlain, letter to Ida Chamberlain (19th September, 1938)
(109) Duff Cooper, First Lord of the Admiralty, diary entry (17th September, 1938)
(110) Thomas Inskip, Minister for Coordination of Defence, diary entry (17th September, 1938)
(111) David Faber, Munich: The 1938 Appeasement Crisis (2008) page 303
(112) Duff Cooper, First Lord of the Admiralty, diary entry (17th September, 1938)
(113) Cabinet minutes (17th September, 1938)
(114) Neville Chamberlain, letter to Ida Chamberlain (19th September, 1938)
(115) Ben Pimlott, Hugh Dalton: A Life (1985) page 256
(116) Hugh Dalton, diary entry (17th September, 1938)
(117) Sir John Simon, diary entry (29th September, 1938)
(118) Robert A. Parker, Chamberlain and Appeasement (1993) page 165
(119) Cabinet minutes (19th September, 1938)
(120) Thomas Inskip, Minister for Coordination of Defence, diary entry (19th September, 1938)
(121) Richard Crockett, Twillight of Truth: Chamberlain, Appeasement and the Manipulation of the Press (1989) page 79
(122) David Faber, Munich: The 1938 Appeasement Crisis (2008) page 303
(123) Adam Adamthwaite, Journal of Contemporary History (April, 1983) page 288
(124) National Council of Labour, statement (19th September, 1938)
(125) The Daily Herald (21st September, 1938)
(126) The News Chronicle (21st September, 1938)
(127) The Times (20th September, 1938)
(128) The News Chronicle (22nd September, 1938)
(129) Leo Amery, letter to Neville Chamberlain (17th September, 1938)
(130) Winston Churchill, statement (22nd September, 1938)
(131) Duke of Windsor, letter to Neville Chamberlain (18th September, 1938)
(132) William L. Shirer, Berlin Diary (1941) page 113
(133) David Faber, Munich: The 1938 Appeasement Crisis (2008) page 314
(134) Statement issued by the Czechoslovak government (20th September, 1938)
(135) J. W. Bruegel, Czechoslovakia Before Munich (1973) page 280
(136) Hubert Ripka, Munich: Before and After (1939) pages 106-108
(137) General Jan Syrový, statement (22nd September, 1938)
(138) Maxim Litvinov, speech at the United Nations (22nd September, 1938)
(139) Frank McDonough, Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War (1998) page 65
(140) David Faber, Munich: The 1938 Appeasement Crisis (2008) pages 326-332
(141) The Daily Herald (23rd September, 1938)
(142) Alexander Cadogan, diary entry (24th September, 1938)
(143) Neville Chamberlain, Cabinet minutes (24th September, 1938)
(144) Cabinet minutes (24th September, 1938)
(145) Duff Cooper, First Lord of the Admiralty, diary entry (24th September, 1938)
(146) Lord Halifax, letter to Neville Chamberlain (23rd September, 1938)
(147) Leo Amery, diary entry (24th September, 1938)
(148) Leo Amery, letter to Lord Halifax (24th September, 1938)
(149) Leo Amery, letter to Neville Chamberlain (25th September, 1938)
(150) Cabinet minutes (25th September, 1938)
(151) Duff Cooper, diary entry (25th September, 1938)
(152) Cabinet minutes (25th September, 1938)
(153) Peter Neville, Nevile Henderson : Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004-2014)
(154) Sir Eric Phipps, letter to Lord Halifax (27th September, 1938)
(155) Alexander Cadogan, letter to Sir Eric Phipps (25th September, 1938)
(156) David Faber, Munich: The 1938 Appeasement Crisis (2008) page 353
(157) Record of an Anglo-French Conversation held at 10 Downing Street (25th September, 1938)
(158) Leo Amery, The Times (26th September, 1938)
(159) Neville Chamberlain, speech (27th September, 1938)
(160) Harold Macmillan, Winds of Change (1966) page 560
(161) Graham Darby, Hitler, Appeasement and the Road to War (1999) page 56
(162) John Wheeler-Bennett, Munich: Prologue to Tragedy (1963) page 171
(163) Statement issued by Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler after the signing of the Munich Agreement (30th September, 1938)
(164) Frank McDonough, Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War (1998) page 69
(165) David Faber, Munich: The 1938 Appeasement Crisis (2008) page 413
(166) Hubert Ripka, Munich: Before and After (1939) pages 231-232
(167) Neville Henderson, Failure of a Mission (1940) page 167
(168) John Wheeler-Bennett, Munich: Prologue to Tragedy (1963) page 478
(169) The Times (24th October 1962)
(170) David Dutton, Neville Chamberlain (2001) page 55
(171) The Times (2nd October, 1938)
(172) The Daily Telegraph (2nd October, 1938)
(173) The Daily Express (30th September, 1938)
(174) Adolf Hitler, letter to Harold Harmsworth, 1st Lord Rothermere (20th May 1937)
(175) Robert Philpot, The Times of Israel (5th August 2018)
(176) Lord Rothermere, telegram to Neville Henderson (1st October, 1938)
(177) Martha Schad, Hitler's Spy Princess (2002) page 103
(178) Anthony Eden, The Eden Memoirs: The Reckoning (1965) page 36
(179) Neville Henderson, Failure of a Mission (1940) page 168
(180) Adolf Hitler, speech (22nd August 1939)
(181) Ivone Kirkpatrick, The Inner Circle Memoirs (1959) page 135
(182) The Manchester Guardian (1st October, 1938)
(183) The Daily Herald (1st October, 1938)
(184) Duff Cooper, speech in the House of Commons (3rd October, 1938)
(185) Duff Cooper, diary entry (3rd October, 1938)
(186) King George VI, statement (3rd October, 1938)
(187) Duff Cooper, speech in the House of Commons (3rd October, 1938)
(188) Neville Chamberlain, speech in the House of Commons (3rd October, 1938)
(189) Clement Attlee, speech in the House of Commons (3rd October, 1938)
(190) Winston Churchill, speech in the House of Commons (5th October, 1938)
(191) Clive Ponting, Winston Churchill (1994) page 177
(192) Robert Boothby, Recollections of a Rebel Hardcover (1978) page 130
(193) Andrew Roberts, The Holy Fox: A Biography of Lord Halifax (1991) page 132
(194) James P. Levy, Appeasement and Rearmament Britain (2006) page xiii
(195) Graham Macklin, Neville Chamberlain (2006) page 76
(196) Duff Cooper, speech in the House of Commons (3rd October, 1938)
(197) Herbrand Sackville, letter to Neville Chamberlain (4th October, 1938)
(198) Neville Chamberlain, letter to Herbrand Sackville (4th October, 1938)
(199) Robert Sheppard, A Class Divided: Appeasement and the Road to Munich (1988) page 115
(200) Cabinet minutes (3rd October, 1938)
(201) Frank McDonough, Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War (1998) page 69
(202) Cabinet minutes (3rd October, 1938)
(203) Anthony Eden, speech in the House of Commons (3rd October, 1938)
(204) Robert A. Parker, Chamberlain and Appeasement (1993) page 185
(205) Peter Neville, Neville Chamberlain (1992) page 72
(206) Graham Macklin, Neville Chamberlain (2006) page 75
(207) Lord Halifax, letter to Neville Chamberlain 15th October, 1938)
(208) Winston Churchill, letter to Paul Reynaud (10th October, 1938)
(209) Neville Chamberlain, Cabinet minutes (31st October, 1938)
(210) David Faber, Munich: The 1938 Appeasement Crisis (2008) page 430
(211) A. D. Lindsay, speech (18th October, 1938)
(212) The Picture Post (5th November, 1938)
(213) Ben Pimlott, Labour and the Left in the 1930's (1977) pages 157-158
(214) Henry (Chips) Channon, diary entry (18th November, 1938)
(215) Robert A. Parker, Chamberlain and Appeasement (1993) page 189
(216) Clive Ponting, Winston Churchill (1994) page 407
(217) The Manchester Guardian (5th November, 1938)
(218) Aneurin Bevan, speech in London (25th January, 1939)
(219) Aneurin Bevan, The Tribune (10th March, 1939)
(220) John Campbell, Nye Bevan and the Mirage of British Socialism (1987) page 84
(221) Winston Churchill, speech in Epping, Essex (14th March, 1939)
(222) Chris Bryant, The Glamour Boys: The Secret Story of the Rebels who Fought for Britain to Defeat Hitler (2020) page 288
(223) Kate Whannel, BBC News (15th October, 2020)
(224) Frank McDonough, Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War (1998) page 76
(225) John Charmley, Chamberlain and the Lost Peace (1989) page 187
(226) The Times (16th March, 1939)
(227) The Manchester Guardian (17th March, 1939)
(228) Neville Henderson, Failure of a Mission (1940) page 209
(229) David Low, Autobiography (1956) page 309
(230) The Times (19th March, 1939)
(231) The Daily Telegraph (1st March, 2005)
(232) Isaac Deutscher, Stalin (1949) page 422
(233) Neville Chamberlain, letter to Ida Chamberlain (26th March, 1939)
(234) Frank McDonough, Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War (1998) page 80
(235) John Charmley, Chamberlain and the Lost Peace (1989) page188
(236) David Lloyd George, speech in the House of Commons (3rd April, 1939)
(237) The Times (19th March, 1939)
(238) Frank McDonough, Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War (1998) page 80
(239) Robert A. Parker, Chamberlain and Appeasement (1993) page 228
(240) John Bew, Citizen Clem: A Biography of Attlee (2016) page 226
(241) Clement Attlee, speech in the House of Commons (19th May, 1939)
(242) Winston Churchill, speech in the House of Commons (19th May, 1939)
(243) Cabinet minutes (24th May, 1939)
(244) Frank McDonough, Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War (1998) page 84
(245) Robert A. Parker, Chamberlain and Appeasement (1993) page 236
(246) Edvard Radzinsky, Stalin (1996) pages 426-427
(247) Time Magazine (15th May, 1939)
(248) Walter Krivitsky, Baltimore Sun (5th May, 1939)
(249) Gary Kern, A Death in Washington: Walter G. Krivitsky and the Stalin Terror (2004) page 196
(250) A. J. P. Taylor, English History 1914-1945 (1965) page 546
(251) Joachim von Ribbentrop Memoirs (1953) page 109
(252) Time Magazine (28th August, 1939)
(253) Nikita Khrushchev, Khrushchev Remembers (1971) page 111
(254) David Low, Autobiography (1956) page 320
(255) Walter Krivitsky, The New Leader (26th August, 1939)
(256) Andrew Roberts, The Holy Fox: A Biography of Lord Halifax (1991) page 167
(257) Cabinet minutes (22nd August, 1939)
(258) Frank McDonough, Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the British Road to War (1998) page 86
(259) Herbert Morrison, An Autobiography (1960) pages 170-171
(260) Adolf Hitler, letter to Neville Chamberlain (25th August, 1939)
(261) John Charmley, Chamberlain and the Lost Peace (1989) page 202
(262) Neville Chamberlain, letter to Adolf Hitler (28th August, 1939)
(263) Adolf Hitler, letter to Neville Chamberlain (30th August, 1939)
(264) Neville Chamberlain, speech in the House of Commons (1st September, 1939)
(265) Neville Chamberlain, speech in the House of Commons (2nd September, 1939)
(266) Arthur Greenwood, speech in the House of Commons (2nd September, 1939)
(267) Robert A. Parker, Chamberlain and Appeasement (1993) page 341
(268) Cabinet minutes (2nd September, 1939)
(269) Neville Chamberlain, speech on BBC radio (3rd September, 1939)
(270) Richard Lamb, The Ghosts of Peace (1987) page 122
(271) A. J. P. Taylor, English History 1914-1945 (1965) page 553
(272) Neville Chamberlain, diary entry (10th September, 1939)
(273) Robert Service, Stalin (2004) page 402

Content: Despite the illegal methods employed by Mussolini, Churchill remained a loyal supporter. He told the Anti-Socialist Union that Mussolini was "the greatest lawgiver among living men". ( 2) Churchill also wrote in The Sunday Chronicle that Mussolini was "a really great man". ( 3)
Labour Party and Rearmament
In November, 1935, Clement Attlee was elected to replace George Lansbury as leader of the Labour Party. Over the next few months he attempted to persuade the Party to change its view on rearmament. As Trevor Burridge, the author of British Labour & Hitler's War (1976) has pointed out: " Though the Party never officially adopted an outright pacifist position, a dedicated pacifist, George Lansbury, was Leader of the Party from 1932-35. In addition, Socialist theory interpreted war in economic terms as a clash of rival imperialism - the last, most decadent stage of capitalism." ( 4)
The left of the Labour Party argued that its policy should be to oppose rearmament and stimulate international socialist co-operation to avoid a capitalist war. From the right came the proposition that the party must support rearmament to defend freedom and democracy. (