How far do you agree that Chamberlain's behaviour during the Czech crisis of September 1938 reveals that Chamberlain was not the dupe of Hitler but a shrewd politician

In Source 9, Hurd states that Chamberlain was ‘driven by a determination to avoid war’, and as is now known this did not happen. It could then be said that Chamberlain had been duped by Hitler because he had aimed for one thing, but achieved another. However it is seen in Source 7 and also in Source 9, that Chamberlain’s secondary aim was to delay war for as long as possible, and then to win the war if there was one. Chamberlain also began a rearmament process in Britain suggesting he knew war was almost inevitable, and therefore had been planning for it. Britain introduced conscription in April 1939 and had begun rearmament in 1934. Britain had also abandoned a major part of its foreign policy, The 10 Year Rule. All of this evidence suggests that Chamberlain was shrewd in his actions, and not duped by Hitler.

Source 8 says that Hitler ‘gave up very little of his proclaimed demands’ which suggests that if Chamberlain thought he had achieved lasting peace at Munich then he was indeed duped by Hitler’s false assurances. Chamberlain also is quoted to have stated that there would be ‘peace in our time’, suggesting he believed he had secured lasting peace with his actions. However it is well known that Chamberlain privately regretted speaking these words, and that he knew he had not achieved lasting peace. Chamberlain also did not slow down Britain’s rearmament process, suggesting that he still expected war. This makes him a shrewd politician. Also source 8 says that ‘Hitler resented his own failure…to eliminate and take Czechoslavakia…’ This is an area in which Chamberlain was successful, because the Nazi party was facist, believing that violence is good. As Hitler did not achieve his desired violence, Chamberlain has achieved that aim of preventing Czechoslovakia entering Hitler’s control, meaning he achieved what he wanted and was shrewd. Chamberlain wasn't duped into thinking he had won lasting peace at all. He had achieved what he wanted.

However the quote from source 8 about Hitler giving ‘up very little of his proclaimed demands’ is still relevant because Chamberlain did not manage to change any of Hitler’s demands in anyway, suggesting that he was duped to an extent. Despite this, Hitler still viewed it as a failure as seen when he said that ‘Chamberlain had spoiled his entry to Prague’, because he had been denied war, meaning Chamberlain could regard it as success, even though he had been duped slightly. However Ribbentrop then pointed out to him that Hitler had lost very little, suggesting that Chamberlain had been duped into leaving Hitler’s demands unchanged.

Source 9 also largely contradicts Source 7 by implying that Chamberlain was not actually doing a deal to buy time or because of the moral merits of the case for his benefit, but because he wanted peace almost at any price and he had fooled himself into believing that it was possible.  This is seen when Chamberlain got Hitler to sign the declaration of peaceful intent on 30th September, and Chamberlain came away believing war had been avoided, when just a year later Germany invaded Poland. Chamberlain can be seen here to have been duped, although it can still be argued that Chamberlain did not stop rearmament, or prevent conscription, suggesting there was an element of shrewdness.

Therefore, in conclusion, Chamberlain was shrewd, as he managed to achieve his aim of postponing war and denying Hitler his war. However the extent to which he was shrewd is limited because he left Hitler’s demands unchanged, and ultimately he believed many lies that Hitler told him.