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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 October 2009
Since his early student travels to France and Germany Chamberlain believed that he had been in training for the Foreign Office. Although he had accepted the shadow portfolio for foreign affairs on his return to the Conservative front bench in February, however, he did not consider the Foreign Office as a possibility until Baldwin first raised the question in October 1924. At this juncture, daunted by the expense, the exacting burden of work with which he was unfamiliar and the attendant political risks, Chamberlain had been inclined to prefer a return to the India Office. In the event, his wife recommended the Foreign Office and, rather uncharacteristically, he was soon confiding to his sisters that he had ‘rapidly found [his] feet’. Within a year he was rejoicing in afar greater sense of fulfilment from the Foreign Office than he could ever have expected from being Prime Minister. To a considerable degree this satisfaction was derived from the very special nature of the position enjoyed by a British Foreign Secretary. As he noted when the offer was first made, the Foreign Office ‘is the highest office in the public estimation’: a status reflected in the special pomp and dignity which surrounded its holder. As Eden later recalled, the Foreign Secretary's journey to Geneva was ‘something of an event and took place at a measured pace. The top-hatted stationmaster and the Foreign Office representatives at Victoria, the harbourmaster at Dover bowing us on to the ship, the préfect and the mayor of Calais, then the drive across Paris and dinner at the Embassy, the night train at the Gare de Lyon, where M. Briand and some other of Sir Austen's colleagues were also embarking for Geneva. Finally, the arrival at Geneva, about 7.30 in the morning, when the whole staff was paraded to meet their chief at the station’. In many respects, Chamberlain was ideally suited by character and temperament to fulfil such a role as a model British Foreign Secretary.
1 Chamberlain, A. to Ida, , 8 11 1931Google Scholar, AC5/1/563. This view was shared by his family see Chamberlain, N. to Chamberlain, A., 7 12 1916Google Scholar, AC5/2/35.
2 Chamberlain, A. to Ivy, , 10 10 1924Google Scholar, AC6/1/563. Baldwin claimed that he would have offered him the job in May 1923 had Curzon resigned, as he hoped. See Neville Chamberlain Diary, 23 May 1923; also Dawson, to Milner, , 23 05 1923Google Scholar, Milner MSS 51/76 (Bodleian Library, Oxford).
3 Chamberlain, A. to Hilda, , 23 12 1924Google Scholar, AC5/1/342.
4 A. Chamberlain to Amery, 21 November 1925, AC37/13.
5 Chamberlain, A. to Ivy, , 10 10 1924Google Scholar, AC6/1/563.
6 Avon, , Facing the Dictators, 9.Google Scholar
7 For recognition that his past ‘shortcomings’ may be ‘positive virtues’ in this office see The Times, 7 11 1924Google Scholar, Dutton, , Austen Chamberlain, 232Google Scholar. For a less flattering view of Chamberlain's pompous solemnity in foreign affairs debates see Sidney to Beatrice Webb, 5 March and 24 June 1925, MacKenzie, N. (ed), The Letters of Sidney and Beatrice Webb, Vol III, The Pilgrimage, 1912–47, (Cambridge, 1978), 231, 239Google Scholar; Pethick-Lawrence, F.W., Fate Has Been Kind, 145.Google Scholar
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9 Chamberlain, A. to Carnegie, Mary, 20 09 1925Google Scholar, AC4/1/1264. See also Baldwin's comment in R.R. James, Memoirs of a Conservative, 174–5Google Scholar.
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12 A. Chamberlain to Hilda, 25 April and to Ida 16 May 1926, AC5/1/380, 383. The personal gulf remained. Even during this period Chamberlain went rarely to Chequers and never to Astley, unlike Tyrrell, PUS at the F.O. See also ‘Character Sketches of the 1924–29 Cabinet’, n.d. (1955–58?) Templewood MSS XX (A) 5, fol.15.
13 Craig, G.A., ‘The British Foreign Office from Grey to Austen Chamberlain’ in Craig, G.A. and Gilbert, F. (eds) The Diplomats 1919–39 (New York, 1963) vol I, 15–48Google Scholar. Also Avon, , Facing the Dictators, 7Google Scholar; Petrie, , The Chamberlain Tradition, 175Google Scholar. Cf. Kennedy, P., The Realities Behind Diplomacy: Background Influences over British External Policy 1865–1980, (Fontana ed. 1981), 252.Google Scholar
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16 For his pride and the belief that in French his natural coldness disappeared see A. Chamberlain to Ida, 22 January 1927, AC5/1/406; to Mary Carnegie, 2 September 1927, AC4/1/1282. For the scorn, see Jones' report that Austen's knowledge of French was considered ‘a national misfortune, and Hilton Young had once remarked that he spent most of his time when in Geneva with Austen trying to prevent him from making a speech in French’, Whitehall Diary II, 161Google Scholar. Entry for 5 December 1928. Also Beaverbrook's snide remark that ‘he knows French completely, and speaks it perfectly. His delight in showing off this accomplishment makes him keener on the side of France than the present French premier (or his predecessor)’. Beaverbrook to Borden, 29 April 1925, Beaverbrook MSS C/51.
17 Petrie, , Life and Letters, II, 304Google Scholar. Avon, , Facing the Dictators, 7.Google Scholar
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28 Chamberlain memo, 21 February 1925, FO 371/11064 quoted in Johnson, D., ‘The Locarno Treaties’, 111–12Google Scholar.
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32 Chamberlain, N. to Hilda, , 7 03 1925Google Scholar, NC18/1/475; Amery Diary, 2 and 4 March 1925, Leo Amery Diaries, I, 399–400Google Scholar. See also Vt. D'Abernon, , An Ambassador of Peace (1930) vol III, 155.Google Scholar
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41 For the conference and the agreements see Jacobson, , Locarno Diplomacy, 60–68Google Scholar. For a description of the ceremony see Chamberlain, A. to Tyrrell, , 18 10 1925Google Scholar, AC52/769.
42 Chamberlain, A. to D'Abernon, , 19 03, 4 11 1925Google Scholar, AC50/54, 37/98. Also Balfour to Chamberlain, 16 October 1925, AC37/24; Richardson, D., The Evolution of British Disarmament Policy in the 1920s, (1989), 42–3Google Scholar.
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47 House of Commons Debates, 5 Series, 188 col 429, 18 11 1925.Google Scholar
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50 Vt. Cecil, All the Way, 189Google Scholar; Birn, D.S., The League of Nations Union, 61–2Google Scholar.
51 Chamberlain to League Council, 12 March 1925, Medlicott, W.N., British Foreign Policy Since Versailles, 1919–63 (1968), 334.Google Scholar
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54 Northedge, F.S., The Troubled Giant, 269–272Google Scholar; Jacobson, , Locarno Diplomacy, 35–7Google Scholar.
55 Dutton, D., Austen Chamberlain, 249–50Google Scholar.
56 Chamberlain, A. to D'Abernon, , 11 09 1930Google Scholar, AC39/2/35.
57 Chamberlain, A. to Hilda, , 26 12 1925Google Scholar, AC5/1/372. For these congratulations see AC37/1/1–478.
58 Chamberlain, A. to Ida, , 28 11 1925Google Scholar, AC5/1/370; House of Commons Debates, 5th Series, 188 col. 420, 18 11 1925.Google Scholar
59 Chamberlain, A. to Hilda, , 26 12 1925Google Scholar, AC5/1/372; to Tyrrell, 18 October 1925, AC52/769. See also Chamberlain's remarks while presiding at the inaugural lecture of Dr C.K. Webster at the LSE, The Times, 9 03 1933.Google Scholar
60 Neville Chamberlain Diary, 22 October 1925.
61 Sir Lee Stack, Sirdar of the Egyptian Army had been assassinated on 19 November 1924.
62 The Treaty of Versailles provided for the evacuation of Cologne on 10 January 1925 but the French argued diere was a good legal justification for a prolongation of the occupation as Germany was not fulfilling the Treaty.
63 F.A. Macquisten proposed a Private Members Bill to compel trade unionists to ‘contract in’ rather than ‘contract out’ of the political levy. Baldwin opposed it on grounds of timing and tactics to preserve the government's role as defender of industrial peace. His speech to the Commons with the plea ‘Give peace in our time. O Lord’, was a triumph.
64 Sir Eyre Alexander Crowe (1864–1925) Assistant Under-Secretary at FO 1912–19; plenipotentiary to Paris Peace Conference 1919; Permanent Under-Sec FO 1920–25.
65 Paul Painlevé (1863–1933) French Minister of War 1917, 1925–6; Prime Minister 1917, 1925; Minister of Air 1930–31, 1932–33.
66 Joseph Caillaux (1863–1944) Socialist Radical Deputy, 1898–1919 when convicted of treason. Amnesty 1924 and Senator 1925–44. Minister of Finance 1899–1902, 1906–9, 1911, 1913–14, 1925, 1926, 1935; Prime Minister 1911–12. Chairman of Commission of Finances 1937–40.
67 Edouard Herriot (1872–1957) Mayor of Lyon 1905–47; French Prime Minister 1924–25, 1926, 1932. Foreign Minister 1926–36; Pres. Chamber of Deputies 1936–40; Pres. National Assembly 1947–54; President Radical Party 1919–40 and Socialist-Radical Party 1945–57.
68 Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg (1847–1934). German C-in-C 1916–19; elected President of German Reich April 1925–34 after death of Ebert in February.
69 William George Tyrrell (1866–1947) Entered Diplomatie Service 1889; Principal Private Sec. to Foreign Secretary 1907–15; Ass. Under-Sec 1918–25; Permanent Under-Sec 1925–28; Ambassador in Paris 1928–34; Pres. Board of Film Censors 1935–47; Knighted 1913, created Baron Tyrrell 1929.
70 Aimé Joseph de Fleuriau (1870–1938) Entered French Diplomatic Service 1892; Counsellor of London Embassy 1913–20; Minister to Peking 1921–4; Ambassador to London 1924–33.
71 George Riddell (1865–1934). Chairman News of the World 1903–1934Google Scholar and one-time Chairman Newspaper Proprietors Association. Created Baron 1920.
72 Translated as ‘He sets his ball flying like a bit of false news’. An example, supposedly, of Briand's famous wit, Down the Years, 180–1Google Scholar.
73 The Note to France, 28 May 1925 reported that any new British obligation should be confined to the western frontier (and could not guarantee arbitration treaties between Germany and non-signatories). It also enshrined the principle that force would only be used after the defaulting nation had been allowed to refer the dispute to conciliation by the League thus compelling France to have a clean record on arbitration.
74 Alanson B. Houghton (1863–1941) American businessman and diplomat. US Ambassador to Germany 1922–25 and to London 1925–29.
75 Sir Walford Harmood Montague Selby (1881–1965). Ass. Private Secretary to Foreign Secretary 1911–15; First Secretary Cairo 1919–22; Principal Private Secretary to Foreign Secretary 1924–32; Ambassador to Vienna 1933–37 and to Lisbon 1937–40.
76 Under pressure from Hindenburg and right-wing Nationalists on 26 September 1925 the Germans insisted that the ‘War Guilt’ issue should be resolved and Cologne evacuated before any further progress could be made. This infuriated Chamberlain and eventually the Germans gave way.
77 Dr Friedrich Sthamer (1856–1931) German lawyer and diplomat. Senator for Hamburg 1904; Chargé d'Affaires for German Republic in London February–August 1920 and then Ambassador until 1930.
78 Eduard Bene
(1884–1948). Czechoslovak Foreign Minister; President League of Nations Assembly 1935; President of Czechoslovakia 1935–38 and 1945–48. President in exile in London 1942–45.
79 Sir Esme William Howard (1863–1939) Consul-General Hungary 1908–11; Minister to Switzerland 1911–13 to Sweden 1913–19; Ambassador to Spain 1919–24 and to USA 1924–30. Created Baron Howard of Penrith.
80 Joseph Paul-Boncour (1873–1973) Chef de Cabinet to French Prime Minister 1899–1902, 1906–09. Republican Socialist Deputy 1909; Minister of Labour 1911; President of Foreign Affairs Commission, Chamber of Deputies, 1927–31; Minister of War 1932; Prime Minister 1932–3; Foreign Minister 1932–4, 1938; Minister for League Affairs 1936.
81 A border clash between Bulgarian and Greek troops on 19 October 1925 escalated and three days later Bulgaria called on the League to intervene. After League Council on 23 October its President, Briand, sent a telegram to both sides urging a cessation of hostilities and withdrawal of troops and then an observer party to report back to the Council: a well-established League technique to reduce tension which proved very effective in this case.
82 George Ambrose Lloyd (1879–1941). Conservative MP for Staffordshire (West) 1910–18; Eastbourne 1924–25. Governor of Bombay 1918–23; High Commissioner for Egypt and Sudan 1925–29; Colonial Secretary and Leader of House of Lords 1940–41. Created Kt 1918 and Baron 1925.
83 Gustav Stresemann (1878–1929) German Chancellor 1923; Minister of Foreign Affairs 1924–29.
84 Edgar Vincent (1857–1941). Conservative MP for Exeter 1899–1906; contested Colchester for Liberals December 1910. Ambassador to Germany 1920–26; Head British Economic Mission to Argentine and Brazil 1929. Kt 1887. Created Baron D'Abernon 1914, Viscount 1926.
85 N. Chamberlain to his wife, 7 May 1926, NC1/26/364.
86 For the crisis see Carlton, D., ‘Great Britain and the League Council Crisis of 1926’, Historical Journal, XI. 2.(1968)Google Scholar; Jacobson, J., Locarno Diplomacy, 68–76Google Scholar; Northedge, F.S., The League of Nations: its Life and Times, 1920–1946, (Leicester, 1988), 101–103.Google Scholar
87 D. Carlton considers Chamberlain's logic to be ‘quite plausible’ and ‘cogent’, Anthony Eden, 21Google Scholar. Dutton, however, describes it as ‘somewhat unconvincing’. Austen Chamberlain, 267Google Scholar. For Chamberlain's own account see Chamberlain, A. to Baldwin, , 18 03 1926Google Scholar, Petrie, , Life and Letters, II, 297–303.Google Scholar
88 Birn, D.S., The League of Nations Union, 62–3Google Scholar. Also Beatrice Webb Diary, 15 March 1926, , N. and MacKenzie, J. (eds), The Diary of Beatrice Webb, (1985), IV, 70Google Scholar. For other countries resentment at the ‘Locarno cabal’ see Jordan, W.M., Great Britain, France and the German Problem, 1918–39 (1943), 98–100.Google Scholar
89 Ahmed Fuad (1868–1936) Youngest son of Ismail Pasha, succeeded as Khedive of Egypt 1917 and assumed title of King when British protectorate ended in 1922.
90 Arthur James Cook (1883–1931) General Secretary MFGB 1924–31.
91 On 17 September Briand and Stresemann met in secret at Thoiry near Geneva and came to a far-reaching agreement to remove German war guilt, grant mandates, return the Saar without a plebiscite and evacuate the Rhine within a year. In return, France would obtain substantial and much-needed payments to bolster the Franc. The stabilisation of the Franc and financial objections in Britain and France led to the collapse of the plan.
92 William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874–1950) Canadian economist and politician. Deputy Minister of Labour, 1900–8; Liberal MP 1908–11, 1921–49; Minister of Labour 1909–11; Liberal Leader 1919–48; Prime Minister 1921–30, 1935–48.
93 Dr General James Barry Munnik Hertzog (1866–1942) South African soldier and politician. Cabinet Minister 1910–12 when resigned to establish National Party; Prime Minister 1924–1939; Minister of Native Affairs 1924–29; Minister of External Affairs 1929–39.
94 Kevin O'Higgins (1892–1927) Sinn Fein MP 1918–22. Minister of Home Affairs of Irish Free State 1922–3; Vice-Pres and Minister of Justice 1923–27.
95 The Balfour Report of the Inter-Imperial Relations Committee declared the equality of the Dominions with each other and with Britain, in free and voluntary association under the Crown.
96 Barnett, C., The Collapse of British Power, 201.Google Scholar
97 Cmd. 2768, Imperial Conference 1926: Summary of Proceedings (1926), 28–9Google Scholar.
98 Sir Miles Wedderburn Lampson (1880–1964) Diplomat and Pro-Consul. Entered F.O. 1903. Second Secretary Tokyo 1908–10; High Commissioner to Siberia 1920; Minister to China, 1926–33; Ambassador to Egypt and High Commissioner to Sudan 1934–46; Special Commissioner to South-East Asia 1946–48. Created Baron Killearn 1943.
99 Oswald Ernald Mosley (1896–1980) Conservative MP for Harrow 1918–20 then Independent 1920–24 and later Labour May–October 1924. Unsuccessful Labour candidate against Neville Chamberlain in Birmingham Ladywood October 1924; Labour MP Smethwick December 1926–February 1931 then New Party February–October 1931. Chancellor Duchy of Lancaster 1929–30; Leader New Party 1931–32, of British Union of Fascists 1932–40, of Union Movement 1948–66. Interned 1940–44. Succeeded 6th Bart. 1928.