Chapter 42 Volume 1, Chapter 38, Government Fall

Debate on May 7th resulting resolution of no confidence Lloyd George's final blow in Parliament I try to turn the tide in the House of Commons My advice to the Prime Minister Meeting on May 9th German attack May 10th Conversation with the Prime Minister on the day of Holland's misery Mr. Chamberlain offered to resign The Emperor invited me to organize a cabinet with the Labor Party and the Liberal Party to join the Cabinet Facts and Dreams. The many disappointing and unfortunate events of the short Norwegian campaign caused deep agitation at home, and the emotions of some of the most inactive and insensitive become more and more agitated.The opposition parties demanded a debate on the situation of the war, which was arranged for May 7th.The House of Commons was packed with MPs looking very emotional and mournful.Mr. Chamberlain's opening statement could not stem the tide of hostility.

His speech was interrupted amidst laughter.He was asked to recall his April 5 speech when, on another occasion, he had said flippantly that Hitler had missed his time.The Prime Minister explained my new position, and my relationship with the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces; and, in reply to Mr. Herbert Morrison's questioning, made it clear that I had not acquired such powers during the Norwegian campaign.Members of both the ruling party and the opposition party in the House of Commons spoke one after another, attacking the government, especially the head of government, in a very harsh and angry manner.The speakers found that they had the support of the whole House of Commons, and the applause grew louder and louder on all sides.Sir Roger Keyes, who was keen to build meritorious service in a new war, sharply criticized the failure of the Naval Staff's plan to occupy Trondheim.He said: When I saw how badly the situation was turning, I kept asking the Admiralty and the War Cabinet to let me take full responsibility and lead the fleet attack.

Dressed in the uniform of an admiral, he presented technical details and, with the authority of an expert, bolstered the opposition's accusations in a manner very much in tune with the mood of the House of Commons at the time.Mr. Amory, seated in the back seat of the Government Bench, quoted a few imperious words from Cromwell to the Long Parliament, amidst the cheers that resounded through the House of Commons: You've sat here too long, and you're never going to do any good anymore.I said, go away!Let us make a clean break with you from now on.For God's sake, let's go!Such a sad remark came from the lips of a friend and colleague for many years, a MP who also represented Birmingham District, and a well-known and experienced Privy Councilor.

The next day, 8th May, although the debate in Parliament continued with a motion to adjourn, it was of the nature of a resolution of no confidence, and Mr Herbert Morrison, speaking in the name of the Opposition, declared They called for a vote of confidence.Once again the prime minister stood up, accepted the challenge and, in an unfortunate speech, appealed to his friends for their support.He has a right to make this appeal, since these friends of his have supported his actions or inactions in the past, and should therefore share his responsibility in those pre-war years eaten up by locusts.But today they are ashamed and silent, and some of them have joined the opposition in hostile demonstrations.On this day Mr. Lloyd George was seen making his last decisive intervention in the House of Commons.In a speech that lasted no more than twenty minutes, he delivered a vicious attack on the head of government.He tried to excuse me by saying: I don't think the Admiralty is entirely responsible for what happened in Norway.I immediately intervened to declare that I am fully responsible for everything that the Admiralty has done; and I am willing to accept all the responsibility that I should bear.Mr. Lloyd George warned me not to turn myself into a bomb shelter in order to shield my colleagues from stray bullets, and then he turned his target on Mr. Chamberlain and said: It is not a question of who is the Prime Minister's friend now.The current problem is much bigger.The Prime Minister has called on everyone to make sacrifices.The nation is ready to make all kinds of sacrifices, but only on one condition, that is, the nation must have leaders, the government must clearly state what it wants to achieve, and the nation must be able to believe that those who lead them are doing their best .He concluded by saying: I solemnly declare that the prime minister should lead by example and make sacrifices first, because in this war, no one can contribute more to victory than the prime minister who sacrifices his position.

As Cabinet members, we are all united.Both the Army Secretary and the Air Secretary have spoken.I volunteered to make the closing speech.It was my duty, not only to show my loyalty to the chief I served, but also because I had played a very important role in our risky attempt to rescue Norway with insufficient military strength.My speech, although constantly interrupted by speeches mainly from the Labor opposition seats, did my best to manage to bring the government back into control of the House of Commons.I speak with great spirits as I reflect on the mistakes of the Labor Party in previous years and their dangerous pacifism, and their solidarity against conscription four months before the war broke out.I feel that it is I and a few like-minded friends who have the right to make such criticisms, and definitely not them.When they interrupted me, I immediately responded with sarcasm and contempt, and several times the uproar was so deafening that I could not make my speech clear.But all the while, it was clear that their anger was directed not at me, but at the Prime Minister.I defend the Prime Minister to the best of my ability and against all other considerations.By the time I sit down at eleven o'clock, Parliament will vote.The result was a majority of eighty-one votes for the government, but thirty Conservatives voted for Labor and the Liberal opposition, with another sixty Conservatives abstaining.This debate and vote undoubtedly strongly expressed, if not in form, at least in practice, the distrust of Mr. Chamberlain and his government in the House of Commons.

After the debate, the Prime Minister invited me to his room.I saw at once that he had the most serious opinion of the sentiments of the House of Commons towards him.He felt he could no longer remain in power.It is time to form a coalition government, a task that one party alone cannot afford.Someone has to come out now and form a government of all parties, or we won't get through this.Excited by the hostile statements in the debate, and feeling so sure of my past positions on the dispute, I am strongly inclined to continue the fight.It's a debate that hurts us, but you still have a solid majority.

Don't feel bad about it.Besides, the situation in Norway is actually better than can be reported to the House of Commons.You should strengthen your government on every side, and let us fight on till the majority we have turns against us. Mr. Chamberlain was not convinced or consoled by what I said, and so it was, and when I left him about midnight I felt that, if there was no other way out, he would have persisted in his resolution of sacrificing himself instead of Willing to try a one-party government to lead the fight. I cannot remember exactly what happened on the morning of May 9th, but the following happened.Sir Kingsley Wood, as a colleague and friend of the Prime Minister, has an extremely close relationship with the Prime Minister.The two have worked together for a long time and fully trust each other.

From Sir Wood, I know that Mr. Chamberlain has resolved to form a coalition government, and that if he cannot be the head of the government, he is willing to leave it to any person in his confidence who can do it.So by the afternoon I felt that I might well be called upon to lead.The prospect neither thrilled nor panicked me.I think in the current situation, this is the best way.I let the situation develop with peace of mind.In the afternoon the Prime Minister summoned me to Downing Street, where I received Lord Halifax.After talking about the general situation, I heard that Mr. Attlee and Mr. Greenwood would be visiting in a few minutes to confer together.

When they arrived, we sat around a table, the three of us in the cabinet on one side and the two leaders of the opposition on the other.Mr. Chamberlain stated the vital importance of forming a coalition government and wanted to inquire whether the Labor Party would serve under him.At this time their party was meeting at Burnmouth.The conversation was very polite, but Labor leaders were clearly unwilling to make any commitments without consulting their own party figures, although they made it clear that they thought there would be an adverse reaction from Labor.Then, they quit.It was a fine, sunny afternoon, and Lord Halifax and I sat for a while in the garden of Number Ten Downing Street, chatting aimlessly and casually.Then I went back to the Admiralty, where I was busy with business until midnight that night.

Immediately after dawn on May 10, great news came.Letter boxes containing telegrams came to me in a steady stream from the Admiralty, the War Office, and the Foreign Office. The Germans launched their long-awaited attack.Holland and Belgium were simultaneously violated, and many points of the border between the two countries had been breached.The whole campaign of German troops to invade the Low Countries and France had already begun. At about ten o'clock I was visited by Sir Kingsley Wood, who had just received the Prime Minister.Mr. Chamberlain, he told me, felt it seemed necessary to remain in office in view of the war now looming.Kingsley Wood told him that, on the contrary, a coalition government was all the more necessary because of the new crisis, which could only be dealt with by a unified government.He added that Mr. Chamberlain had accepted this view.At eleven o'clock, I was once again called by the Prime Minister to Downing Street.There I again met Lord Halifax.We sat across the table from Mr. Chamberlain.He told us that he knew that organizing a coalition government was beyond his power.The repercussions he has received from the Labor leadership have left him in no doubt of that.Therefore, the question now is, after he himself resigns and is approved, who should be recommended to the king to form a cabinet.His attitude remained calm, unhurried, and matter-of-fact, seemingly disregarding personal considerations at all.He looked at us across the table.

I've had many important conversations in my political career, and this truly is the most important one.Usually I talk at length, but this time I was silent.Mr. Chamberlain evidently had in mind the scene of the commotion in the House of Commons two nights ago, when I and the Labor Party were at loggerheads in what seemed to be a very violent dispute.While I did this to support and defend him, he felt it might prevent me from gaining the support of the Labor Party at this juncture.I don't remember what he said at the time, but that was the implication.His biographer, Mr Feiling, made it clear that he would have preferred Lord Halifax to form a cabinet.As I continued to be silent, our conversation was interrupted for a long time.The period did indeed appear to be longer than the two minutes of silence commemorating Armistice Day.After a while, Halifax finally spoke.He said he felt that, because of his membership in the House of Lords, he would not have a seat in the House of Commons, which would make it difficult for him to be Prime Minister during a war of this nature.If he were Prime Minister he would be responsible for everything, but he lacked the power to lead the House of Commons on which any government depends for its existence.He made such comments for several minutes.By the time he had finished speaking, it was clear that the responsibility would fall on me, and in fact, it did fall on me.So I spoke for the first time.I said that I was not prepared to converse with either of the two opposition parties until the king ordered me to form a ministry.This is the end of this important conversation.Then we reverted to our usual easy-going demeanor; our years of working together, both in government and in opposition, had been spent in the friendly atmosphere of the British political scene, which had been light-hearted and casual.Afterwards I returned to the Admiralty, where, it may not be difficult to imagine, much awaited me. The Dutch ministers are in my office.They just flew here from Amsterdam.They were haggard, exhausted, with a look of terror in their eyes.Their country was attacked suddenly, without any pretext or warning from the enemy.Cannons and tanks crossed the border like mountains and seas, and wars burned everywhere.Massive aerial attacks ensued as the enemy resisted and Dutch border guards fired back.The whole of Holland was in a state of confusion; the long-prepared defense plan was immediately put into effect, the embankments were broken, and the floods were everywhere.But the Germans had by this time passed the outer defenses, and were now swarming along the Rhine embankment, breaking through the inner Gravelin line, and threatening the causeway around the Zuiderzee.Is there any way we can stop it?Fortunately, we have a small fleet not far away.It was immediately ordered to bombard the causeway, inflicting maximum damage on the swarming invaders.The Queen of the Netherlands is still in the Netherlands, but it seems that she can no longer stay there for long. As a result of these discussions, the Admiralty issued numerous orders to all our ships in the vicinity, and established close links with the Royal Netherlands Navy.The ministers of Holland, although they had fresh memories of the recent conquest of Norway and Denmark, seemed incapable of comprehending that that great Germany, which until the night before had shown only friendship with Holland, should suddenly initiate such a terrible peace. Brutal attack.An hour or two passed by dealing with these and other issues.Telegrams poured in from every frontier affected by the German advance.The old German Schlieffen plan[1], extended to Holland in response to the new situation, seems to have been fully implemented.The weaving right flank of the German invasion army in 1914 broke through Belgium but halted on the Dutch frontier.It was known at the time that if the war was delayed by three or four years, Germany might have additional corps ready, and that railway terminals and lines of communication might be remodeled for mobile warfare across the Dutch frontier.Now this famous campaign of movement has begun.It has all these convenient conditions, and all the environments for surprise attacks and tricks.But other developments lie ahead.The enemy's decisive blow is not as a roundabout movement on the flank, but as a breakthrough in the main front.Neither we nor those in command in France foresee this.Earlier in the year, in a transcript of my published interview, I had warned these neutral nations, pointing out that they What fate is about to be met.But my words aroused the disgust of others.The quiet conversation we had in Downing Street faded or died out in my mind amidst the intense shock caused by this gigantic battle.I remember, however, that I was told that Mr. Chamberlain had, or was going, to see the King, which needless to say was to be expected.Soon, I received a notice asking me to enter the palace at six o'clock.It takes only two minutes by car from the Admiralty to the Royal Palace along the Park Avenue.Although I expected that the evening papers would be filled with thrilling news from the mainland, there was no mention of the cabinet crisis.The public has not yet had enough time to pay attention to all the situations that are happening at home and abroad, so there are no crowds waiting in front of the palace. 【1】Schlieffen was Germany's chief of staff from 1891 to 1907.He advocated that in the event of a war between Germany and France, the main force of the German army should cross Belgium and Luxembourg to attack France.translator I was immediately presented to the king.His Majesty the King was very polite to me, and asked me to sit down.He looked at me for a moment with a sharp and wondrous look, and then said to me: I don't think you know why I'm looking for you?I followed his mood and replied: Your Majesty, I just can't think of why.He smiled and said: I want you to form a government.I said of course I was willing to obey. The king did not stipulate that the government must be of a national unanimous nature.I feel that my appointment has no formal connection with this.But, given everything that has happened, and the circumstances that led to Mr Chamberlain's resignation, a coalition government is clearly the order of the day.If I feel unable to compromise with the various parties in opposition, there is nothing constitutionally constraining me from trying to form a government of maximum stamina, enlisting all those who are willing to serve the country in times of crisis, provided that only Such a government can command the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons.I told the King that I would immediately invite the leaders of the Labor and Liberal parties; I proposed a war cabinet of five or six ministers; and I hoped to make him aware of at least five candidates before midnight.Then I took my leave and went back to the Admiralty. Mr. Attlee came to see me at my invitation between seven and eight o'clock that evening.He came with Mr. Greenwood.I told him I had been ordered to form a government and asked if Labor would take part.He said they would like to participate.I propose that they should occupy more than one-third of the government, and two in a war cabinet of five or possibly six; and I ask Mr. Attlee to give me a list so that we may Can discuss the arrangement of specific duties.I mentioned Mr. Bevin, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Morrison and Mr. Dalton.Their appointment to high positions is urgently needed by the present situation.Of course, I have known Attlee and Greenwood for a long time in the House of Commons.In the ten years before the war, I was more or less independent, and I had far more conflicts and frictions with the Conservative Party and the Coalition Government than I had with the Labor Party and the Liberal Party in opposition.At this point we had a short pleasant conversation, and then they took their leave, calling their friends and followers at Burnmouth.They had been in the closest contact with each other during the previous forty-eight hours. I invited Mr. Chamberlain to lead the House of Commons as Privy Councilor. He accepted on the phone and told me that arrangements had been made to broadcast to the nation at nine o'clock that evening announcing his resignation and appealing to the nation for support. and sponsor his successor.All of this, he later talked about in very open-minded terms on the radio.I invited Lord Halifax to join the War Cabinet and be re-elected Foreign Secretary.About ten o'clock I presented to the King the names of the five persons, as I had promised.The appointment of the ministers of land, sea and air force is a very important matter. Regarding the candidates for these three ministers, I have already decided in my heart.Mr Eden should run the War Office; Mr Alexander the Admiralty; Liberal leader Sir Archibald Sinclair the Air Ministry.At the same time, I also hold the position of Minister of Defense, but I do not intend to stipulate the scope and powers of the Ministry of Defense. Thus, on the evening of the tenth of May, at the beginning of this great battle, I took the presidency of the state.Thereafter, during the five years and three months of the world war, my powers increased, until at last, when all our enemies had either surrendered unconditionally or were preparing to surrender unconditionally, the voters of Great Britain immediately I was relieved of my duties, so that I could no longer attend to their affairs. In these last hectic days of this political crisis, I have never felt extra excited.I accept all developments.But for readers of this factual account, I can't hide it: I went to bed at about three o'clock with a strong sense of relief.I have finally gained command of the overall situation.It seemed to me that I was advancing with fate, and that all my past life had been a preparation for this moment, for this trial.For the past ten years I have been in the political opposition, which has freed me from the usual animosity between parties.The warnings I have given during the past six years have been so frequent, so detailed, and are now unfortunately on point, that no one can blame me, no one can accuse me of starting a war, or of being unprepared for it.I think I know a lot about the overall situation of the war, and I am convinced that I will not be defeated.Therefore, although I look forward to the morning with great eagerness, I sleep soundly, and do not seek comfort in dreams, for the truth is far more beautiful than dreams.