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Sir William Tyrrell: The Éminence Grise of the British Foreign Office, 1912–1915

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

Edward T. Corp
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Type
Communications
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The Historical Journal , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , September 1982 , pp. 697 - 708
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

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References

1 See particularly Steiner, Z. S., The Foreign Office and foreign policy, 1898–1914 (Cambridge, 1969), pp. 118–20, 147–52, for the best account.Google Scholar

2 Tyrrell was an assistant under-secretary at the Foreign Office (1918–25), permanent under-secretary (1925–8), ambassador at Paris (1928–34), and president of the British Board of Film Censors (1935–47).

3 (Cambridge, 1977), p. 38.

4 Lichnowsky, Prince, Heading for the abyss (London, 1928), p. 70.Google Scholar

5 Namier, L. B., Vanished supremacies (London, 1958), pp. 106 –7.Google Scholar

6 See, e.g., Sir Oppenheimer, F., Stranger within (London, 1960), p. 206.Google Scholar

7 Hardinge, Lord of Penshurst, Old diplomacy (London, 1947), p. 12.Google Scholar

8 Lister to Bertie, 12 Dec. 1905, Bertie papers, Public Record Office, FO 800/163/p. 147; King Edward VII to Campbell-Bannerman, 23 Nov. 1906, Campbell-Bannerman papers, British Library, Add. MSS 52513, p. 72.

9 Sanderson to Lansdowne, 11 Nov. 1903, P.R.O. FO 366/760/p. 521; minute by Norton, 19 Dec. 1904, P.R.O. FO 366/761/p. 32.

10 Mallet to Bertie, 25 April 1907, Bertie papers, FO 800/185/p. 88.

11 O’Beirne to Nicolson, 2 May 1907, Nicolson papers, Public Record Office, FO 800/339/p. 135; memorandum by Bertie, 16 Aug. 1916, Bertie papers, FO 800/175/p. 62.

12 Sir Rice, C. Spring, Letters and friendships (London, 1929), chapter 16; Lady Spring Rice to Cranley, 4 Jan. 1907, Onslow papers, Guildford Muniment Room, 173/24/43.Google Scholar

13 Tyrrell to Spring Rice, 12 June 1907, Spring Rice papers, Public Record Office, FO 800/241/p. 104; memorandum by Bertie, 28 Sept. 1913, Bertie papers, FO 800/187/p. 321.

14 Hardinge to Nicolson, 20 Jan. 1909, Hardinge papers, Cambridge University Library, 17/p. 323; Hardinge to Nicolson, 11 April 1910, Nicolson papers FO 800/343/p. 91.

15 Grey to Hardinge, 31 Oct. 1910, Hardinge papers, Kent County Record Office, U927/Vp 1/1/70.

16 Tyrrell to Eliot, 21 Mar. 1908, P.R.O. FO 794/1; Tyrrell to Spring Rice, 19 Sept. 1910, Spring Rice papers, FO 800/241/p. 301.

17 Kühlmann to Bethmann Hollweg, no. 54, 16 Jan. 1912, Politischen Archiv des Auswärtiges Amts, Bonn, England 85, Band 7; Chirol to Hardinge, 15 Feb. 1912, Hardinge papers, 70/p. 55.

18 Lady Ferguson to Hardinge, 12 July 1911, Hardinge papers, 69/p. 319; Mallet to Hardinge, 27 July 1912, Hardinge papers, 70/p. 231.

19 Nicolson, H., Lord Carnock (London, 1930), pp. 361–2.Google Scholar

20 Nicolson to Grey, 14 Aug. 1912, Grey papers, Public Record Office, FO 800/94/p. 142; Bertie to Hardinge, 19 Feb. 1914, Hardinge papers, 71/p. 383.

21 Nicolson, Camock, p. 401; Nicolson to Hardinge, 10 April 1913, Hardinge papers, 71/p. 5.

22 Sanderson to Hardinge, 12 Jan. 1912, Hardinge papers, 70/p. 8.

23 Nicolson to Hardinge, 10 April 1913, Hardinge papers, 71/p. 5; Nicolson to Goschen, 30 April 1913, Nicolson papers, FO 800/366/p. 201.

24 Nicolson to Hardinge, 21 May 1913, with postscript dated 23 May, Hardinge papers, 71/p. 84; Nicolson to Onslow, undated but probably 8 June 1913, Onslow papers, 173/21/60.

25 For a full discussion of the rise of ‘anti-German’ feeling in the Foreign Office, from its origins to the reception of the Crowe memorandum, see Corp, E. T., ‘The transformation of the Foreign Office, 1900–1907’ (University of Kent at Canterbury Ph.D. thesis, 1976), pp. 276–422.Google Scholar

26 Corp, ‘Transformation of Foreign Office’, pp. 342–63; Spring Rice, Letters, chapter 16; British documents on the origins of the war, 1898–1914 (ed. Gooch, G. P. and Temperley, H. W. V.) (London, 1926–38) (hereafter cited as B.D.), IV, 409.Google Scholar

27 Tyrrell's criticisms of German foreign policy can be followed in his letters to Spring Rice, Spring Rice papers, FO 800/241; and, e.g., in Tyrrell to Grey, 27 Aug. 1909, Grey papers, FO 800/93/p. 142; Tyrrell to Hardinge, 13 July 1911, Hardinge papers, 69/p. 329.

28 Tyrrell to Hardinge, 21 July 1911, Hardinge papers, 69/p. 337.

29 Tyrrell to Bertie, 5 Feb. 1912, Bertie papers, FO 800/176/p. 83.

30 Tyrrell to Spring Rice, 28 Nov. 1906, Spring Rice papers, FO 800/241/p. 65; Tyrrell to Spring Rice, 12 June 1907, Spring Rice papers, FO 800/241/p. 104.

31 Tyrrell to Spring Rice, 15 May 1907, Spring Rice papers, FO 800/241/p. 97. My emphasis.

32 Tyrrell to Spring Rice, 4 Jan. 1912, Spring Rice papers, FO 800/241/p. 316.

33 Spring Rice to Tyrrell, 2 April 1912, Grey papers, FO 800/78/p. 134.

34 Chirol to Hardinge, 10 April 1913, Hardinge papers, 71/p. 9; Chirol to Hardinge, 18 April 1913, Hardinge papers, 71/p. 29; Chirol to Hardinge, 23 May 1913, Hardinge papers, 71/p. 187.

35 See above, notes 4 and 5.

36 Tyrrell to Spring Rice, 15 April 1908, Spring Rice papers, FO 800/241/p. 129; Tyrrell to Cranley, 16 April 1908, Onslow papers, 173/24/55.

37 See Tyrrell to Spring Rice, 25 Sept. 1912, Spring Rice papers, FO 800/241/p. 334: ‘Oh how I long for a good talk with you: it is so refreshing to talk to one like you.

38 Tyrrell to Spring Rice, 13 Nov. 1912, Spring Rice papers, FO 800/241/p. 344.

39 Nicolson, Carnock, pp. 384–6.

40 Tyrrell to Ponsonby, 10 Jan. 1913, Ponsonby papers, Bodleian Library, MS Eng. hist, c. 659, p. 117.

41 See above, note 34; and Chirol to Hardinge, 4 July 1913, Hardinge papers, 71/p. 157; Tyrrell to Spring Rice, 30 July 1913, Spring Rice papers, FO 800/241/p. 350.

42 Nicolson to Buchanan, 22 April 1913, Nicolson papers, FO 800/365/p. 179.

43 See above, note 34.

44 Hardinge to Chirol, 7 July 1913, Hardinge papers, 93/p. 49/no. 48; Hardinge to Sanderson, 23 Dec. 1913, Hardinge papers, 93/p. 107/no. 105.

45 Nicolson to Hardinge, 21 May 1913, Hardinge papers, 71/p. 84; Hardinge to Nicolson, 8 June 1913, Hardinge papers, 93/p. 37/no. 34.

46 Memorandum by Bertie, 28 Sept. 1913, Bertie papers, FO 800/187/p. 321. The only other possibility was that Hardinge should go to the St Petersburg embassy, as the ambassador there had been promised a transfer to Berlin in autumn 1915. Tyrrell knew perfectly well that it would be a very serious health risk to live at St Petersburg after five years in India, and anyway Hardinge had held that post from 1904 to 1906 and was unlikely to want to set the clock back by nearly ten years. The other embassies, at Vienna, Constantinople and Washington, had all been filled for five years in 1913.

47 The relevant correspondence is in P.R.O. FO 371/1845. See also memorandum by Bertie, 28 Sept. 1913, Bertie papers, FO 800/187/p. 321.

48 Bertie to Tyrrell, 20 Oct. 1913, Grey papers, FO 800/54/p. 304; Grey to Nicolson, 21 Oct. 1913, Grey papers, FO 800/94/p. 403; memorandum by Bertie, 2 Dec. 1913, Bertie papers, FO 800/180/p. 218.

49 See, e.g., Hinsley (ed.), Foreign policy under Grey, p. 53.

50 Tyrrell to Spring Rice, 30 July 1913, Spring Rice papers, FO 800/241/p. 350; Hendrick, B. J., The life and letters of Walter H. Page (London, 1924), pp. 200–1.Google Scholar

51 Spring Rice, Letters, II, 194–6.

52 Hendrick, Walter H. Page, pp. 202–14; Seymour, C., The intimate papers of Colonel House (London, 1926–8), I, 198 ff.Google Scholar

53 Nicolson to Goschen, 30 Mar. 1914, Nicolson papers, FO 800/373/p. 128.

54 Nicolson to Goschen, 7 April 1914, Nicolson papers, FO 800/373/p. 135.

55 Nicolson, H., Helen's Tower (London, 1937), pp. 80 and 159;Google ScholarNicolson, H., The desire to please (London, 1943), pp. 1–18; memorandum by Bertie, 25 July 1914, Bertie papers, FO 800/188/p. 411.Google Scholar

56 Memorandum by Bertie, 25 July 1914, Bertie papers, FO 800/188/p. 411; memorandum by Bertie, 30 July 1914, Bertie papers, FO 800/188/p. 417.

57 Nicolson's appointment was announced, without authorization, by the Daily Mail on 24 July 1914.

58 Grey to Bertie, 22 Nov. 1914, Bertie papers, FO 800/166/p. 197; memorandum by Bertie, 19 Dec, Bertie papers, FO 800/163/p. 151.

59 Minute by Tyrrell, 20 July 1928, Foreign and Commonwealth Library, Correspondence and Memoranda 6/p. 849.

60 See, e.g., minute by Crowe, 26 Feb. 1914, on Townley to Grey, no. 30, 5 Feb. 1914, P.R.O. FO 371/2066/6896; minute by Crowe, 2 June 1914, on Townley to Grey, no. 143, 13 May 1914, P.R.O. FO 371/2059/24443; memorandum by Crowe, 3 June 1914, P.R.O. FO 371/2076/25918.

61 Memorandum by Bertie, 25 July 1914, Bertie papers, FO 800/188/p. 411.

62 Chirol to Hardinge, 15 April 1914, Hardinge papers, 71/p. 458; Graham to Hardinge, 7 Jan. 1915, Hardinge papers, 71/p. 832.

63 Die Deutschen Dokumente zum Kriegsausbruch (Berlin, 1919) (ed. Kautsky, K., Schücking, W. and Montgelas, M.) (hereafter cited as D.D.), 236.Google Scholar

64 See his minutes in D.D. XI, particularly 101, 170, 293, 318, 369.

65 Albertini, L., The origins of the war of 1914 (Oxford, 1952), II, 512; Tyrrell to Ponsonby, 31 July 1914, Ponsonby papers, MS Eng. hist. c. 660, p. 56; Chirol to Hardinge, 5 Nov. 1914, Hardinge papers, 71/p. 734.Google Scholar

66 D.D. 562 and 570.

67 For this episode see Albertini, Origins of the war, III, 380–6; Young, H. F., Prince Lichnowsky and the Great War (Athens, 1977), pp. 114–21.Google Scholar

68 Langley to Jordan, 13 Aug. 1914, Jordan papers, Public Record Office, FO 350/11/p. 80; Gilbert, M., Sir Horace Rumbold (London, 1973), p. 126.Google Scholar

69 Young, Lichnowsky, pp. 132–5.

70 Churchill to Grey, 17 Oct. 1914, Grey papers, FO 800/88/p. 191; Graham to Hardinge, 7 Jan. 1915, Hardinge papers, 71/p. 832.

71 Corp, E. T., ‘Sir Eyre Crowe and the administration of the Foreign Office, 1906–1914’, Historical Journal, XXII, 2 (1979), 451–3.Google Scholar

72 Nicolson had been due to succeed Bertie in August 1914, but would have left the Foreign Office and handed over to Crowe in June. Nicolson to Grey, 21 Oct. 1913, Grey papers, FO 800/94/p. 398.

73 Memorandum by Bertie, 19 Dec. 1914, Bertie paper, FO 800/163/p. 151; Hardinge to Tilley, 10 May 1919, P.R.O. FO 366/780/p. 217.

74 Chirol to Hardinge, 23 May 1913, Hardinge papers, 71/p. 187.

75 Minute by Grey, 20 May 1915, postdated to 15 June, P.R.O. FO 366/761/p. 518; Lee to Bertie, 31 May 1915, Bertie papers, FO 800/184/p. 251.

76 Gilbert, Rumbold, pp. 98–9; Graham to Hardinge, 6 May 1915, Hardinge papers, 72/p. 20; Lee to Bertie, 31 May 1915, Bertie papers, FO 800/184/p. 251.

77 Memorandum by Bertie, 16 Aug. 1916, Bertie papers, FO 800/175/p. 62; Hardinge to Grey, 3 Sept. 1916, Grey papers, FO 800/96/p. 316.

78 Mallet to Maxse, 18 Oct. 1915, Maxse papers, West Sussex County Record Office, 469/p. 562.

79 Memorandum by Paget and Tyrrell, 7 Aug. 1916, P.R.O. CAB 24/2/78; Hardinge to Chirol, 18 April 1917, Hardinge papers 31/p. 315. In December 1916 Tyrrell tried to join the ‘Garden Suburb’ as Lloyd George's special adviser on foreign affairs, but his offer was not accepted. Walters to Davies, 12 Dec. 1916, and Murray to Lloyd George, 13 Dec. 1916, Lloyd George papers, Beaverbrook Library, F/41/5/2 and 3; Murray to Lloyd George, 14 Dec. 1916, Murray of Elibank papers, National Library of Scotland, MS 8804, p. 69.

80 Hardinge to Balfour, 10 Oct. 1918, Hardinge papers, 39/p. 122; Hardinge, Old diplomacy, p. 228.

81 There is still no comprehensive study of the far-reaching intrigues that influenced the senior appointments in the British Foreign Office and diplomatic service before and during the First World War. The present author is currently engaged on a study which is intended to fill this gap.

82 See, e.g., the German and American sources cited in footnotes 4, 5 and 52. Also Hardinge to Chirol, 30 April 1913, Hardinge papers, 93/p. 20/no. 19.

83 Chirol to Hardinge, 10 April 1913, Hardinge papers, 71/p. 9.

84 See Steiner, Foreign Office and foreign policy, p. 150 for a different interpretation. Reference must also be made here to Professor Butterfield's brilliant and provocative assessment of British foreign policy in 1914 (‘Grey, Sir Edward in July 1914’, Historical Studies, 1965, pp. 19–21), as the Foreign Office can no longer be treated as holding a single view. The argument advanced by Professor Butterfield in favour of greater flexibility was in fact advocated at the time by Tyrrell, though the work of Professor Fischer and his school has shown that this was not really a practical possibility. The diplomacy that Professor Butterfield described as ‘an act of faith or…a piece of sentimentality’ was peculiar to Nicolson alone, and was not representative of the Foreign Office as a whole. Finally Crowe certainly did not ‘write off a considerable area of the diplomatic problem’, did not ‘avoid comparing power with power, aggression with aggression - avoid properly confronting the map of European forces as a whole’. Grey's foreign policy represented a compromise between the views of Tyrrell, Nicolson and Crowe, and cannot be regarded as the sum total of these views.Google Scholar

85 Hardinge had also found Grey ‘very impressionable’ and had been given great freedom over appointments, but at least he was permanent under-secretary and not merely a senior clerk. See Corp, E. T., ‘Sir Charles Hardinge and the question of intervention in the Boer War’, Journal of Modern History, LI, 2 (1979), 1071–84. See also above, note 81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

86 von Kürenberg, J., His Excellency the Spectre (London, 1933), p. iv.Google Scholar

87 Nicolson, Carnock, p. 329.

88 Hendrick, Walter H. Page, p. 203.