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beckyromero · 36-40, FVIP
@carpediem
For all of Neville Chamberlain's failings, weakening the British military was not one of them.
In 1937, his government made the decision for a buildup of fighter aircraft instead of bombers, a decision that ended up being the crucial difference that won the Battle of Britain in 1940.
As Chancellor of the Exchequer in October 1936 (he became PM in May 1937) Chamberlain told the Cabinet, "Air power was the most formidable deterrent to war that could be devised."
He then worked to greatly expand the Royal Air Force budget: from £16.78 million in 1933 to £105.702 million in 1939.
While Chamberlain may have been hopelessly naïve about Hitler initially, he also relied on anticipated casualty estimates prepared by the Committee of Imperial Defence that greatly over-estimated the potential civilian deaths from a German bombing campaign against Britain: 500,000 in the first three weeks of a war; 150,000 in the first week alone.
General Sir Edmund Ironside wrote in his diary in 1938: "We have not the means of defending ourselves and he [Chamberlain] knows it... We cannot expose ourselves to a German attack. We simply commit suicide if we do." (emphasis in the original).
In September 1938, one year before the invasion of Poland, General Sir Hastings Ismay of the CID told the Cabinet that time was on Britain's side.
"From the military point of view, time is in our favour...if war with Germany has to come, it would be better to fight her in say 6–12 months' time than to accept the present challenge."
So, please. Chamberlain has already been maligned enough for his part in history. No need to tarnish his reputation further by comparing his actions to Obama's bumbling, incompetent, ignorant lack of leadership.
I strongly believe history will expose Mr. Obama as the worst foreign policy president in our country's history. First with the unilateral removal of the missile shield a month after he took office with virtually nothing in return. Then with the failure to secure a status agreement in Iraq. All the way through from one bungled mess (Arab spring, Syria, Libya, and more) after another to the Iran nuke deal. Finesse of a surgeon you say? More like Neville Chamberlain.
For all of Neville Chamberlain's failings, weakening the British military was not one of them.
In 1937, his government made the decision for a buildup of fighter aircraft instead of bombers, a decision that ended up being the crucial difference that won the Battle of Britain in 1940.
As Chancellor of the Exchequer in October 1936 (he became PM in May 1937) Chamberlain told the Cabinet, "Air power was the most formidable deterrent to war that could be devised."
He then worked to greatly expand the Royal Air Force budget: from £16.78 million in 1933 to £105.702 million in 1939.
While Chamberlain may have been hopelessly naïve about Hitler initially, he also relied on anticipated casualty estimates prepared by the Committee of Imperial Defence that greatly over-estimated the potential civilian deaths from a German bombing campaign against Britain: 500,000 in the first three weeks of a war; 150,000 in the first week alone.
General Sir Edmund Ironside wrote in his diary in 1938: "We have not the means of defending ourselves and he [Chamberlain] knows it... We cannot expose ourselves to a German attack. We simply commit suicide if we do." (emphasis in the original).
In September 1938, one year before the invasion of Poland, General Sir Hastings Ismay of the CID told the Cabinet that time was on Britain's side.
"From the military point of view, time is in our favour...if war with Germany has to come, it would be better to fight her in say 6–12 months' time than to accept the present challenge."
So, please. Chamberlain has already been maligned enough for his part in history. No need to tarnish his reputation further by comparing his actions to Obama's bumbling, incompetent, ignorant lack of leadership.