View source for Austen Chamberlain

{{nobelprize|Peace}}
[[File:Sir (Joseph) Austen Chamberlain.jpg|thumb|right|Austen Chamberlain]]
'''Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain,''' [[Order of the Garter|KG]] (16 October 1863 – 17 March 1937) was a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Politics|politician]].  He received the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1925.  His father was another important politician, [[Joseph Chamberlain]], and his half-brother (they had a different mother) was [[Neville Chamberlain]], [[Britain|British]] [[Prime Minister]] from 1937 to 1940.

== Early life ==
Austen was born in Birmingham on the 16 October 1863, but two days later his mother died.  His grandparents looked after him and his sister, Beatrice.  Austen went to [[Rugby school]], a famous private school, and then studied at the [[University of Cambridge]]. He then studied in a [[politics|political]] college in [[Paris]] and at a [[university]] in [[Berlin]]. He returned to Britain in 1888.

== Parliament ==
In 1892, Chamberlain became a [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Worcestershire]], as a member of his father's [[political party|party]], the Liberal Unionist Party.  The Liberal Unionists worked to keep [[Ireland]] as a part of the [[United Kingdom]].  Chamberlain worked hard for his father, and in 1895 the [[prime minister]] gave him a job helping to run the [[Royal Navy]].  Chamberlain became important very quickly. In 1903, the new prime minister, [[Arthur Balfour|Balfour]] gave him the job of controlling the [[Royal Mail|Post Office]]. Then in 1904 he became [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], responsible for the [[economy]].

In 1906, the government lost the [[general election]], and Chamberlain lost his job in the government.  When his father became ill because of a [[stroke (medicine)|stroke]], he helped his father by fighting against [[Home Rule]], the plan to make [[Ireland]] [[independence|independent]]. In the [[First World War]], Chamberlain got the job responsible for [[India]], and after the war he became Chancellor of the Exchequer again.  Here he helped Britain to [[wikt:recover|recover]] from the war.  He was leader of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] from 1921 to 1922.

== Foreign Secretary ==
In 1924, the Prime Minister [[Stanley Baldwin]] gave Chamberlain the job of [[Foreign Secretary]], working with important people from other countries. In 1925. At this time, France and Germany were arguing about [[war reparations]], money paid by the Germans to the countries that won the First World War. Many people were worried that war might start again.  Chamberlain met with [[Gustav Stresemann]], the German Foreign secretary. Together with [[Aristide Briand]], they signed the [[Locarno Pact]], an [[wict:agreement|agreement]] never to use the military to solve problems again. For this, all three men won the [[Nobel Peace Prize]], Chamberlain in 1925, Briand and Stresemann in 1926.

== Warnings about Hitler ==
After the 1929 general election, Chamberlain lost his job as Foreign Secretary. He stayed in parliament, and often argued with the government about their foreign [[wikt:policy|policy]] (plans). From 1934 until his death in 1937, Chamberlain warned the government about the [[Nazi Germany]], who were building a larger [[military]]. Together with [[Winston Churchill]], he argued that Britain should build its military too.

Austen Chamberlain died on 17 March 1937, shortly before his half-brother, [[Neville Chamberlain]] became Prime Minister.

== Books ==
* David Dutton, ''Austen Chamberlain – Gentleman in Politics'', Bolton: R. Anderson, 1985.

== Other websites ==
* [http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1925/chamberlain-bio.html Nobel biography]

{{Nobel Peace Prize}}

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[[Category:1863 births]]
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[[Category:Alumni of the Institut d'études politiques de Paris]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge]]
[[Category:British Nobel Prize winners]]
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[[Category:Chancellors of the Exchequer]]
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[[Category:Knights of the Garter]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Conservative Party (UK)]]
[[Category:Politicians from Birmingham]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
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[[Category:UK MPs 1892–1895]]
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