Everything about Minister For Coordination Of Defence totally explained
The position of
Minister for Coordination of Defence was a
British Cabinet position established in
1936 to oversee and co-ordinate the rearmament on Britain's defences.
The position was established by Prime Minister
Stanley Baldwin in response to criticism that Britain's armed forces were understrength compared to
Nazi Germany. This campaign had been led by
Winston Churchill and many expected him to be appointed as the new minister, though nearly every other senior figure in the
National Government was also speculated upon by politicians and commentators. Despite this, Baldwin's choice of the
Attorney General Sir Thomas Inskip provoked widespread astonishment. A famous remark was "This is the most cynical appointment since
Caligula made his horse a consul",
1 The appointment is now regarded as a sign of caution by Baldwin who didn't wish to appoint someone like Churchill who would have been interpreted by foreign powers as a sign of the United Kingdom preparing for war, as well as a desire to avoid taking onboard a controversial and radical minister.
In
1939 Inskip was succeeded by
First Sea Lord Lord Chatfield. When the
Second World War broke out, the new Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain formed a small
War Cabinet and it was expected that Chatfield would serve as a spokesperson for the three service ministers, the
Secretary of State for War, the
First Lord of the Admiralty and the
Secretary of State for Air; however political considerations resulted in all three posts being included in the Cabinet and Chatfield's role proved increasingly redundant. In April
1940 the position was formally wound up and the functions transferred to other Ministers.
The following month Chamberlain fell and was succeeded as Prime Minister by Churchill, who took the additional title of "
Minister of Defence", this was, however, a separate office from
Minister for Coordination of Defence though the two titles were frequently used interchangeably.
Minister for Coordination of Defence, 1936-1940
==
Further Information
Get more info on 'Minister For Coordination Of Defence'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://minister_for_coordination_of_defence.totallyexplained.com">Minister for Coordination of Defence Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
