Phony War: Encyclopedia II - Phony War - The Norway Debate

Phony War - The Norway Debate

The debacle of the British campaign in Norway, which actually was an offspring of the never-realised plans to aid Finland, forced a famous debate in the House of Commons during which the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was under constant attack. A nominal vote of confidence in his government was won by 281 to 200, but many of Chamberlain's supporters had voted against him whilst others had abstained. The humiliated Chamberlain found it impossible to continue to lead a National Government or to form a government of national unity (in Britain often called a "coalition government", to distinguish it from Chamberlain's existing national government) around him. On May 10 Chamberlain resigned his premiership whilst retaining his leadership of the Conservative Party. The King, George VI, appointed Winston Churchill, who had been a consistent opponent of Chamberlain's policy of appeasement, as his successor and Churchill formed a new coalition government that included members of the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal Party as well as several ministers from a non-political background.

Later that day, German troops marched into Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The Phony War was over.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Norway Debate", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki