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TLS signed "Neville Chamberlain," one page, 7.5 x 9.5, 10 Downing Street letterhead, August 26, 1939. Letter to Captain Sir William Brass, M.P., in full: "Many thanks for your letter. It was good to have a word from you. I will certainly not forget you if there is an opportunity of taking advantage of your offer of help." Chamberlain adds a handwritten postscript: "I still hope we may avoid the worst, but if it comes we are thank God prepared for it." In very good to fine condition, with a few small stains, and some light rippling to the left edge.
On August 26, 1939, Great Britain stood on the precipice of war, with tensions between Germany and Poland escalating to a breaking point. For months, Europe had watched Adolf Hitler's aggressive expansion with growing alarm. In March, Germany had annexed Czechoslovakia in violation of the infamous Chamberlain-negotiated Munich Agreement, and now Hitler's demands were fixed on Danzig (Gdańsk) and the Polish Corridor—territories awarded to Poland after World War I.
The sudden signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union on August 23rd had deeply shocked London and Warsaw. This non-aggression treaty included secret protocols for the partition of Poland, sealing Poland’s grim fate and isolating it diplomatically.
Britain, having learned hard lessons from appeasement, had made a guarantee to come to Poland's aid if its independence was threatened, solidified in the Anglo-Polish military alliance signed one day earlier on August 25th. Hitler had originally scheduled his invasion of Poland for August 26th, but when news of the Anglo-Polish pact reached Berlin, he temporarily postponed the attack.
Behind the scenes, British diplomats were still scrambling to avert war. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain hoped that deterrence, through strong alliances and military mobilization, might still dissuade Hitler. At the same time, Britain was accelerating preparations: air raid precautions were being implemented across cities, reservists were being called up, and public morale was being steeled for the possibility of conflict.
Thus Britain found itself in a state of grim resolve: committed to defending Poland, preparing for war, yet still clinging to fragile hopes that Hitler might yet be deterred. Within a week, however, those hopes would be extinguished as Germany launched its invasion of Poland on September 1st.
On September 3rd, Chamberlain announced Britain's declaration of war on Germany from the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street: '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…We have done all that any country could do to establish peace, but a situation in which no word given by Germany's ruler could be trusted and no people or country could feel themselves safe had become intolerable. And now that we have resolved to finish it, I know that you will all play your part with calmness and courage…It is evil things that we shall be fighting against, brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution. And against them I am certain that the right will prevail.'
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