Edward Grey 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon

Edward Grey Grey of Fallodon, 1st Viscount , 1862-1933, British statesman. He entered Parliament as a Liberal in 1885 and became (1905) foreign secretary in the difficult period preceding World War I. Coming to office in the middle of the Moroccan crisis (see Morocco ), Grey continued the policy of support of France initiated by the 5th marquess of Lansdowne and authorized secret military conversations with France. In 1907 he concluded the Anglo-Russian entente, thus completing the so-called Triple Entente against Germany (see Triple Alliance and Triple Entente ). He again stood firmly in support of France during the Agadir crisis (1911). Having successfully convened a conference of the Great Powers during the Balkan Wars , Grey attempted the same course after the assassination (1914) of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria. This time he failed, however, and World War I began. Remaining as foreign secretary until 1916, Grey maintained good relations with the United States and concluded the secret Treaty of London (1915), which brought Italy into the war. He was created a peer in 1916. Grey was president of the League of Nations Union from 1918 and served (1919-20) as a special ambassador to the United States. His chief publications are Twenty-five Years, 1892-1916 (1926), Fallodon Papers (1926), and Speeches on Foreign Affairs, 1904-1914 (1931).

Bibliography: See biographies by G. M. Trevelyan (1937) and K. Robbins (1971).

Grey, Edward, Viscount Grey of Fallodon (1862–1933), British politician. He was Foreign Secretary from 1905 to 1916, negotiating the Triple Entente (1907), which brought Britain, France, and Russia together, and in 1914 persuading a reluctant British cabinet to go to war, because Germany had violated Belgian neutrality.

Grey, Edward, 3rd Baronet and 1st Viscount Grey of Falloden (b. 25 Apr. 1862, d. 7 Sept. 1933). British Foreign Secretary 1905–16 Born in London, and educated at Winchester and Oxford. He entered Parliament in 1885 for the Liberal Party, representing Berwick upon Tweed. In the government of Lord Rosebery, he served as under-secretary to the foreign office. As a Liberal Imperialist, he strongly supported Britain's effort in the South African (Boer) War, but Campbell-Bannerman still appointed him as Foreign Secretary in 1905. He was responsible for the Anglo-Russian Entente of 1907, and for negotiating an end to the Balkan War of 1912–13. In 1914 he persuaded the British Cabinet to go to war, because Germany had violated Belgian neutrality. He lost office in 1916, when Lloyd George formed a new government. After the war, he was a prominent supporter of the League of Nations.