The heart of the loyal elder is turbulent Is Chamberlain really as naïve and incompetent as rumored?
In my long political experience, I have held most important positions in the country, but I have no hesitation in admitting that the one I hold now is my favorite. It is contemptuous when power is used to dominate peers or increase personal vanity;But when the country is at stake, when people believe they know what decisions to make, it is a blessing to be in power. In any field of action, the position of the first person is not comparable to that of the second, third or fourth person"。
Just six months after British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned home from Munich, war broke out in Europe, and Adolf Hitler, the new Führer of Nazi Germany, was the first to lie when World War II broke out.
There are no new territorial claims", badly deceived the British Empire and France, and went down in history forever Chamberlain. In the eyes of some, Chamberlain was not a savior, but a **, a humble man deceived by his own morality;In the eyes of others, Chamberlain was a fool who turned a blind eye to the Nazi Germans, thereby encouraging the outbreak of World War II and ultimately turning a blind eye to the Nazi Germans.
But is that really the case?Was Chamberlain really as direct as he seemed?As we all know, diplomacy between major powers is never a polite conversation about a meal, it is never an interpersonal communication between friends, and it is not a moral discussion and rhetoric in colleges and classroomsMoral diplomacy is obviously unreliable, and there is no market, at least here in the British Empire:"There are no eternal friends, only eternal interests!"。There are no eternal friends, only eternal interests!"This is a diplomatic quote from the British Empire.
The diplomacy of the British Empire is very simple, and its internal logic is also very simple, that is, in the ethics and morality of this country, there are no eternal enemies and no eternal friends, only interests are eternal and unchanging, and the extreme realism of pursuing interests has always been the highest goal pursued by the British Empire. A few examples give us a glimpse of the British Empire's diplomatic tactics and strategies. For example, the British Empire carried out large-scale opium in the Far East to make up for its deficit. No one can say that opium is moral, but the British Empire prefers such a means. The British Empire also defeated the invincible Qing Empire twice in 20 years, completely uncovering China's centuries-old national humiliation.
In addition to the Far East, Britain in India can also be said to be bloodthirsty, because the British Empire's textile policy in India completely turned India into its own workshop, which is a completely immoral behavior, but it is in this immoral way that the British Empire completely swept away the obstacles to its own competitiveness and made the British Empire the world's largest and most powerful textile exporter! !It can be said that the British Empire became the hegemon in this market with its own cruelty and meanness, which is a historical fact full of black humor.
From these two simple examples, we can see that the term deontological diplomacy has nothing to do with the British Empire, and there is no point at all that is relevant to the interests of the British Empire. Therefore, those who say that they should evaluate or view Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain through the prism of morality have forgotten the basic fact that morality at the individual level is by no means the same as morality at the collective level, and that morality at the collective level was a concept in an era when the British Empire was still the absolute hegemon of the world. It's a very simple attempt at governance. Since Chamberlain was at the helm of the British Empire at that time, we must realize that the British Empire did not completely collapse at that time, it was still the absolute hegemon in the world, and Chamberlain controlled such an empire
Although Chamberlain was described in public as a loyal old statesman, and although in the eyes of the realist public, Chamberlain was always a loyal old man, a traditional British gentleman regardless of fame and fortune, it was his use of realism and diplomacy that was a key factor in Chamberlain's ascension to the imperial prime ministership.
Chamberlain's diaries, notes, letters, and meeting minutes were declassified one by one, and Chamberlain's image came to lifeChamberlain had his most trusted right-hand man, Foreign Secretary Halifax, who, in Churchill's words, was:
Holy fox"！Churchill's choice of a harmonious hound illustrates this to some extent;If they can work closely together, it can only show that they have a lot of similarities, Halifax is also a real master of diplomacy, Halifax is a special person, that is, Halifax is actually a waste person.
Many people know that Halifax, like many upper-class people in the British Empire, likes to hunt in the suburbs and enjoys it, but Halifax's left arm is congenitally atrophied, which adds great difficulties to his hobby, but Halifax overcame the difficulties and relied on his extraordinary arm strength to walk through the suburbs in a hundred steps, and his strong will can be seen.
During World War I, although Halifax performed well in the army, and finally received the rank of major when he retired, not only did he perform very well in the army, but after the demobilization of the army, Halifax was not disturbed on the **, after the end of World War I, he served as the Minister of Education of the British Empire, and served as the Governor of India, and even re-established contact with the army, it can be said that his ability to be a civil and military minister is there!It can be said that he is both civil and military, which sums up his personality well. In terms of appearance, Halifax has always been a humble gentleman who makes a very good impression.
These are the two pillars of the diplomatic circles of the British Empire at that time, one is Chamberlain and the other is Halifax, these two people seem to be sturdy and good people, humble and gentlemanly, their private life and work are very neatly separated, and their appearance is relatively elegant and gentle, but in the diplomatic arena, these two people are very realistic diplomatic veterans
Such two people obviously cannot be judged by ordinary people, such two people obviously cannot be judged by ordinary moral judgments, and the reality of the British Empire inherited by these two people is also very special, which we will analyze separately later.