"Peace for our time" was a declaration made byBritish Prime MinisterNeville Chamberlain in his 30 September 1938 remarks in London concerning theMunich Agreement and the subsequent Anglo-German Declaration.[1] The phrase echoedBenjamin Disraeli, who, upon returning from theCongress of Berlin in 1878, had stated, "Lord Salisbury and myself have brought you back peace — but a peace I hope with honour." The phrase is primarily remembered for its bitter ironic value since less than a year after the agreement, Germany'sinvasion of Poland beganWorld War II.
It is often misquoted as "peacein our time", a phrase already familiar to the British public from its longstanding appearance in theBook of Common Prayer. A passage in that book translated from the 7th-century hymn "Da pacem Domine" reads, "Give peace in our time, O Lord; because there is none other that fighteth for us, but only thou, O God."[2]
Chamberlain's aeroplane landed atHeston Aerodrome on 30 September 1938 and he spoke to the spectators there:
The settlement of the Czechoslovak problem which has now been achieved is, in my view, only the prelude to a larger settlement in which all Europe may find peace. This morning I had another talk with the German Chancellor, HerrHitler, and here is a paper which bears his name upon it as well as mine. Some of you perhaps have already heard what it contains, but I would just like to read it to you. " ... We regard the agreement signed last night and theAnglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one anotheragain".[3]
Later that day, he stood outside10 Downing Street, again read from the document and concluded:
My good friends, this is the second time in our history that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honour.
I believe it is peace for our time...
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Now I recommend you go home and sleep quietly in your beds.[3]
Chamberlain's return was not universally well-received, and 15,000 people protested against the Munich Agreement the same day inTrafalgar Square, three times more than the number welcoming him at 10 Downing Street. Chamberlain's ongoing manipulation of the BBC caused that news to be largely suppressed.[4] The Labour spokesmanHugh Dalton publicly suggested that the piece of paper that Chamberlain was waving was "torn from the pages ofMein Kampf."[5]
Disbelieving Chamberlain,Isaac Asimov published in July 1939 "Trends", which mentions a world war in 1940. He later wrote "I was too conservative" (about when war would begin).[6]
Peace in Our Time is the title of a 1947 stage play byNoël Coward. Set inan alternative 1940, theBattle of Britain has been lost, the Germans havesupremacy in the air and theUnited Kingdom is under Nazi occupation. Inspired to write this play in 1946 after seeing the effects of theoccupation of France, Coward wrote: "I began to suspect the physical effect of four years' intermittent bombing is far less damaging to the intrinsic character of a nation than the spiritual effect of four years of enemy occupation".[citation needed]
"Peace in Our Time" is a 1984 satirical song byElvis Costello which references Chamberlain. It is featured on the albumGoodbye Cruel World.[7]
"Hold On to What?" a 1994 song bythe Beautiful South from their albumMiaow[8] includes the lyrics, "Chamberlain had his paper/Jesus had his cross/They held on/We held on to what?".
U.S. PresidentJohn F. Kennedy alluded to the speech in his 1963American University commencement address in which he stated that he sought "not merely peace in our time, but peace in all time."[9]
Monty Python's 1969The Funniest Joke in the World sketch references "Britain's great pre-war joke" and shows an image of Chamberlain holding up theMunich Agreement paper.
In the 2015Marvel Cinematic Universe filmAvengers: Age of Ultron,Tony Stark uses the phrase "Peace in our time" after creating theeponymous and seemingly benevolent artificial intelligence. Since this backfires, the phrase bears similar ironic value to Chamberlain's utterance.[10]
Robyn Hitchcock's 1990 song "Cynthia Mask" references the incident in the lyrics of its second verse.[11]
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