Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon

The Viscount Grey of Fallodon
British Ambassador to the United States
In office
September 1919 – March 1920
Nominated byDavid Lloyd George
Appointed byGeorge V
Preceded byThe Marquess of Reading
Succeeded bySir Auckland Geddes
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office
10 December 1905 – 10 December 1916
Prime MinisterSir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
H. H. Asquith
Preceded byThe Marquess of Lansdowne
Succeeded byArthur Balfour
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office
18 August 1892 – 20 June 1895
Prime MinisterWilliam Ewart Gladstone
The Earl of Rosebery
Preceded byJames Lowther
Succeeded byGeorge Curzon
Member of the House of Lords
Hereditary peerage
27 July 1916 – 7 September 1933
Preceded byPeerage created
Succeeded byPeerage extinct
Member of Parliament
for Berwick-upon-Tweed
In office
November 1885 – July 1916
Preceded byHubert Jerningham
David Milne Home
Succeeded bySir Francis Blake
Personal details
Born(1862-04-25)25 April 1862
London, England
Died7 September 1933(1933-09-07) (aged 71)
Fallodon, England
Political partyLiberal
Spouses
Dorothy Widdrington
(m. 1885; died 1906)
(m. 1922; died 1928)
RelationsHouse of Grey
Alma materBalliol College, Oxford
ProfessionPolitician

Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, KG, PC, DL, FZS (25 April 1862 – 7 September 1933), better known as Sir Edward Grey, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who was the main force behind British foreign policy in the era of the First World War.

An adherent of the "New Liberalism",[1] he served as Foreign Secretary from 1905 to 1916, the longest continuous tenure of any holder of that office. He renewed the 1902 Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1911. The centrepiece of his policy was the defence of France against German aggression, while avoiding a binding alliance with Paris. He supported France in the Moroccan crises of 1905 and 1911. Another major achievement was the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. He resolved an outstanding conflict with Germany over the Baghdad railway in 1913. His most important action came in the July Crisis in 1914, when he led Britain into World War I against Germany. He convinced the Liberal cabinet that Britain had an obligation and was honour-bound to defend France, and prevent Germany from controlling Western Europe. Once the war began, there was little role for his diplomacy; he lost office in December 1916. By 1919 he was a leading British supporter of the League of Nations.

He is remembered for his "the lamps are going out" remark on 3 August 1914 on the outbreak of the First World War.[2] He signed the Sykes-Picot Agreement on 16 May 1916.[3] He was ennobled in 1916, prior to which he was the 3rd Baronet Grey of Fallodon, and was Ambassador to the United States between 1919 and 1920 and Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords between 1923 and 1924.

  1. ^ Finn, Margot C. "The Reform League, Union, and International". After Chartism: Class and Nation in English Radical Politics 1848–1874. Cambridge University Press. p. 259.
  2. ^ Viscount Grey of Fallodon: Twenty-Five Years 1892–1916 (New York, 1925) p. 20 books.google.
  3. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) p. 8.