What Everyone Forgets About Churchill

Even apart from the fact that after Munich and everything else it was quite rational to doubt Hitler's sincerity, there is a simpler and much more fundamental reason why neither Winston Churchill, nor any other prime minister of the United Kingdom, could have taken this offer: ever since it emerged as a coherent state, the overriding security imperative of the British government has been to prevent, at all costs, the appearance of a hegemonic power on the European continent. 

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Take it from a Frenchman. ...

Churchill would never have done it. Chamberlain would never have done it. No plausible occupant of Churchill's seat would have done it, and if he had, he would have immediately been overthrown by Parliament and replaced by, well, Churchill.

Ed Morrissey

That was one of the reasons that Churchill refused Hitler's offer, which I'd argue was not sincere at all but meant to make England a vassal state. Hitler still wanted lebensraum in 1940, and the conquering of France was to secure his rear for the eventual assault on the Soviet Union. 

In fact, we can measure Hitler's sincerity on this point with his betrayal of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in June 1941, as well as Hitler's conquest of the Slavic Baltic states that directly preceded it. Anyone arguing that Hitler had a peaceful intent short of world domination and could be trusted to abide by any treaty needs to have their head examined. 

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