Overview

"The Munich Agreement was anything but ""Peace for Our Time."" Neville Chamberlain's famous quote gained considerable ignominy in its naive acceptance of Adolf Hitler's promise to maintain peace. World War II may still have broken out if Britain had pushed back over Hitler's grab for Czechoslovakia, but a push back would have possibly given the Allied nations more time to prepare for war. As it was, Poland was bound to occur as Hitler's appetite for power after Munich was now unbridled, especially in light of his willingness to work with a sworn Nazi Party enemy, Stalin and the Soviets, to partition Poland. Helen Paull Kirkpatrick (1909-1997) was an American correspondent whose insights were unerringly accurate about both sides in this scary time in human history. Living and working in Britain as a free-lance reporter for multiple high profile newspapers in the late 1930s, Kirkpatrick with a couple of other anti-appeasement correspondents started the weekly political paper, Whitehall News, which was read by Anthony Eden and Winston Churchill, the latter with whom she developed a friendship. She vividly reflects the reasons for her views in Under the British Umbrella: What the English Are and How They Go to War , a thorough address of the conditions and people that enabled Hitler and the start of World War II. She is also the author of This Terrible Peace."

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9781938667558

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Reviews

KIRKUS Nov. 1, 1939: An exceedingly interesting picture of the struggle within the English family of diplomats, of wire pulling, face saving in France, of the bungling of the past ten years. She makes one realize why, even today, there can still be doubt as to which way England will move. She gives clear insight into leading diplomatic personalities that are responsible for today's crisis. A good running story of the crises of the last five years, under the shadow of the League of Nations. The author is an American newspaper-woman, who has covered foreign news for both American and British newspapers. Foreign Affairs Magazine (April 1940) by Robert Gale Woolbert: A friendly yet critical animadversions on British life and politics by an American journalist, formerly director of the Geneva office of the Foreign Policy Association.

Author Information

FROM WIKIPEDIA: HELEN PAULL KIRKPATRICK (October 18, 1909 - December 29, 1997) was an American war correspondent during the Second World War. Early life and career pre-World War II Born in Rochester, New York, she graduated from The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, NY and Smith College in 1931 and also obtained a degree in International Law from the University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International Studies. Returning to New York she worked at Macy's where she met her first husband, Victor H. Polacheck, Jr. In 1935 she returned to Europe working as a reporter for New York Herald Tribune in France; and after moving, in 1937, to the United Kingdom worked as a freelance reporter for a number of newspapers including The Manchester Guardian, The Daily Telegraph as well as The New York Herald Tribune. During the Munich Crisis she was temporarily a diplomatic correspondent for the Sunday Times. During her period in London, Kirkpatrick, along with two other journalists - Victor Gordon-Lennox and Graham Hutton - published a weekly newspaper The Whitehall News which was staunchly anti-appeasement and in opposition to the dictatorships in Germany and Italy. Among the politicians who read The Whitehall News were the then British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden (later to resign over the British government's attitude to appeasement) and Winston Churchill. Kirkpatrick expanded upon her anti-appeasement views in two books published in 1938 and 1939 - This Terrible Peace and Under the British Umbrella: What the English Are and How They Go to War. Second World War Kirkpatrick's first assignment for the Chicago Daily News was to interview the Duke of Windsor, well known for not giving interviews. Kirkpatrick managed to arrange a meeting with the Duke who explained to her that he did not give interviews but had no objection to him interviewing her. This resulted in the first piece under her byline being an interview of her by the Duke of Windsor. Kirkpatrick remained with the Chicago Daily News throughout the war. She was based in London and reported on the London Blitz and in 1943 accompanied the US Army to Algeria and the Mediterranean theater. Returning to England she accompanied the American forces during the Invasion of Normandy in June 1944 before becoming attached to the Free French Forces, the first war correspondent to be so assigned. In August 1944 she rode with the tanks of General Leclerc's 2nd Armored Division as the division liberated Paris. Her final wartime assignment was to visit Berchtesgaden - Hitler's mountain retreat in Bavaria where it is reported that she stole a frying pan from the kitchen. Postwar career By 1946 Kirkpatrick had left the Chicago Daily News and joined the New York Post for which paper she covered the Nuremberg Trials and secured one of the first interviews with Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India. Leaving journalism to work as an information officer for the Marshall Plan before returning to Washington, D.C. to work for the State Department between 1949 and 1953, Kirkpatrick finally became secretary to the President of Smith College, her alma mater. After retirement she was engaged in a number of civic activities, many of which were on behalf of the Democratic Party. Personal life and death Kirkpatrick divorced her first husband, Victor Polacheck, in 1936 and in 1954 married Robbins Milbank, a trustee of Smith College. She remained married to Milbank until his death in 1985. After retirement to Williamsburg, Virginia, Kirkpatrick died on December 29, 1997. Honors For her wartime services Kirkpatrick was awarded the Medal of Freedom, the French Legion of Honor and the Médaille de la Reconnaissance française and in later life the Rockefeller Public Service Award for her work for the US Government.

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