In early 20th Century British politics, the Liberal Party had given way to the socialist Labour party, leaving the Conservatives a coalition between non-socialists, moderates, and conservatives. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain domestically supported establishing the basis of a welfare state; in other words, he was very liberal for his party. He famously emboldened Hitler at the Munich Conference, letting him have Czechoslovakia without a fight in 1938 and naively claimed he achieved “peace in our time.”
World War II in Europe broke out 11 months later.