Cham·ber·lain  (chām'bər-lĭn)  British politician and prime minister (1937-1940) who advocated a policy of appeasement toward the fascist regimes of Europe. He was forced to declare war on Germany after its invasion of Poland in 1939. |
A British prime minister who tried to avoid war between Britain and Germany by negotiating the Munich Pact in 1938, under which Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, was allowed to extend its territory into parts of Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain proclaimed that the pact had secured “peace in our time,” but his political foes called the pact appeasement. World War II broke out less than a year later.