This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a final Note stating that, unless we heard from them by 11 o’clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us. I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.
ATTRIBUTION:
Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940), British politician, prime minister. BBC Radio broadcast, Sept. 3, 1939, on the declaration of war. The Penguin Book of Twentieth Century Speeches, ed. Brian MacArthur (1992).
