Hammond History- WW11 outbreak, Neville Chamberlain

At 11.15 a.m. Mr.Chamberlain had broadcast to the nation the following statement 
announcing that a state of war existed between Britain and Germany: 3rd September, 
1939.

"This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a 
final Note stating that, unless we heard from them by 11 o'clock that they were 
prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would 
exist between us.

I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that 
consequently this country is at war with Germany.

You can imagine what a bitter blow it is to me that all my long struggle to win 
peace has failed. Yet I cannot believe that there is anything more or anything 
different that I could have done and that would have been more successful.

Up to the very last it would have been quite possible to have arranged a peaceful 
and honourable settlement between Germany and Poland, but Hitler would not have it. 
He had evidently made up his mind to attack Poland whatever happened, and 
although He now says he put forward reasonable proposals which were rejected by 
the Poles, that is not a true statement. The proposals were never shown to the 
Poles, nor to us, and, although they were announced in a German broadcast on 
Thursday night, Hitler…