Source: Cracked.com
Probably the most hilarious thing to come out of recent politics is an MSNBC news clip of a clearly crazy right-wing commentator screaming that Obama as president would likely be "an appeaser" just like that filthy Neville Chamberlain was in World War II... until he was asked what specifically Chamberlain did, then the man had to admit he had no idea.
The point is, the association of Chamberlain with spineless foreign policy is so strong that it's quoted by people who don't remember elementary school history classes well enough to know who he was. All because during the rise of the Third Reich, Prime Minister Chamberlain was sent to meet with the most sinister, evil man in all of history. Instead of returning shaken from coming so close to the true depth of mankind's depravity and demanding all of Germany be razed, he came back and declared that, in exchange for giving Hitler small chunks of Europe, there would surely be "peace in our time."
That's right: He met Hitler and came out of it thinking that, if anything, the man should have more control.
History would eventually prove Chamberlain to be "hilariously wrong" (or would have if there wasn't so much genocide involved), and his name is now invoked as a curse any time anyone ever suggests negotiating with an enemy rather than immediately bombing them off the map.
Not Remembered For: Everything Else He Did.
Before winning the Prime Minister position, Chamberlain was a successful MP, Postmaster General and Minister of Health. He was even Chancellor of the Exchequer twice (the second most important guy in British politics--like the American Vice President, except he does a bit more than just nod solemnly and give the occasional comforting neck-rub). He later passed the Factories Act, which improved the horrifying work conditions in factories and cut back on child labor. He was extremely popular and even made the cover of TIME in America.
If you're saying, "Sure, he was popular until he sold out to fucking Hitler!" you're wrong. After he made the deal in Munich his popularity shot up to 68 percent - 20 points higher than what Barack Obama gets right now in the USA. Above all else, the people did not want to get into another freaking war.
That's one thing some historians are trying to remind everyone about Chamberlain these days. Making the deal with Hitler looks bad now, because we know how the movie ends. Not so easy at the time, when Chamberlain was at the head of a country whose military was in no shape to fight, and the only ones who had offered to stand with him if he threw down against the Nazis were the freaking French. There were no good options on the table.
So instead, he came back home from making the deal with Hitler having bought a period of peace that he spent rapidly building the military that would eventually be strong enough to repel the Nazis. And by the way, the main reason they were able to mobilize so quickly was because of an earlier national program to modernize the nation's factories. A program put in place by... Neville Chamberlain.
The debate rages among historians (and will probably rage in the comments) but the guy probably deserves better than to have his name thrown around as the political equivalent of "pussy."
Source: Cracked.com
