Neville Chamberlain: ‘Peace for our time’ speech (1938)

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Op de Conferentie van München (september 1938) werd besloten dat het Tsjechoslowaakse Sudentenland aan Duitsland gegeven zou worden. Na terugkeer meende de Britse minister Neville Chamberlain dat hij de vrede had gered. Op 30 september 1938 sprak hij de historische woorden ‘Peace for our time’. Hieronder de volledigde Engelse tekst van zijn toespraak.

Toen Chamberlain op 30 september 1938 landde in Londen, sprak hij de pers toe met de volgende woorden:

We, the German Führer and Chancellor, and the British Prime Minister, have had a further meeting today and are agreed in recognizing that the question of Anglo-German relations is of the first importance for our two countries and for Europe. We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again. We are resolved that the method of consultation shall be the method adopted to deal with any other questions that may concern our two countries, and we are determined to continue our efforts to remove possible sources of difference, and thus to contribute to assure the peace of Europe.

Deze boodschap herhaalde hij toen hij aankwam op 10 Downing Street in Londen, aangevuld met deze woorden:

My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour.
I believe it is peace for our time… Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.

Bronnen:
-https://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Neville_Chamberlain%27s_%22Peace_For_Our_Time%22_speech
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_for_our_time