My Early Days in Government

Being the appeasement advocate that I am, I tried to conciliate Nazi Germany and make it a partner in a new and stable Europe. I believed that Germany would be satisfied if she got back some of her colonies. Even during the Rhineland Crisisof March 1936, Germany said that, “if we were in sight of an all-round settlement the British government ought to consider the question [of restoration of colonies].” As a new Prime Minister, my attempts to secure such a settlement were disturbed due to the fact that Nazi Germany was in definitely in no hurry to converse with us. Even Germany’s Foreign Minister, Konstantin von Neurath, was supposed to visit our country, but ended up cancelling his visit. Instead, the Lord President of the Council of our country privately visited Germany in order to meet with Hitler and other German officials. I still remember the day when I, along with my esteemed colleague, said that the visit was a success. Later on I ended bypassing the Foreign Secretary, Eden, by directly speaking with Italy. At a Cabinet meeting in 1937, I saw "the lessening of the tension between this country and Italy as a very valuable contribution towards the pacification and appeasement of Europe" which I believed would weaken the Rome-Berlin axis. I ended setting up a private line of communication with Mussolini. In 1938, when Hitler began to press for a union between Germany and Austria, I believed that it was crucial to cement relations with Italy. I hoped that this Anglo-Italian alliance would prevent Hitler from imposing his rule over Austria. Eden, however, disagreed with my policy. Therefore, I told him to either accept the policy or resign. It was no surprise that the Cabinet unanimously decided for my idea. I mean, if you think about it logically, my idea makes perfect sense. After Eden resigned from office, he began to stand against appeasement; a way of asking for attention in my opinion. He just couldn’t get over the fact that my ideas were better than his!

 Look at how happy I am! :)