Richard Burdon Haldane Viscount Haldane of Cloan

Richard Burdon Haldane Haldane of Cloan, Viscount 1856-1928, British statesman. He entered (1885) the House of Commons as a Liberal. As war secretary (1905-12) he effected drastic army reforms, creating a British expeditionary force, an imperial general staff, an officers training corps, and the territorial army. He was created a peer in 1911. On a diplomatic mission to Germany (1912), he rejected a proposal of British neutrality in any war into which Germany might be drawn. His tenure of office as lord chancellor (1912-15) ended after the outbreak of World War I, when popular clamor mistakenly attacked him as pro-German. In Ramsay MacDonald 's first short Labour ministry (1924) he was again lord chancellor. He was first chancellor of the Univ. of Bristol and was elected lord rector of Edinburgh. He wrote a number of philosophical works, including Pathway to Reality (1903), Reign of Relativity (1921), The Philosophy of Humanism (1922), and Selected Addresses and Essays (1928, repr. 1970). He also wrote an autobiography (1929).

Bibliography: See study by E. Ashby (1974).

Haldane, Richard Burdon, Viscount Haldane of Cloan (1856–1928) British politician. As Secretary for War (1905–12) he showed great organizational skill in his reforms of the British army. Recognizing the growing danger from German militarism, he used his knowledge of the German army to redevelop the military organization in Britain to meet the requirements of modern warfare. A small expeditionary force ready for instant action was formed with a Territorial Army as a reserve, and an Imperial General Staff to organize military planning on an improved basis. Haldane was sent on a mission to Berlin in 1912 to secure a reduction in naval armaments, but failed.

Haldane, Richard Burdon, 1st Viscount Haldane of Cloan (b. 30 July 1856, d. 19 Aug. 1928). British Liberal and Labour politician Born in Edinburgh, he was educated there apart from a brief spell at the German University of Göttingen in 1874. He was called to the Bar in 1879, and entered Parliament in 1885 for the Liberal Party, representing the constituency of East Lothian. As Secretary of State for War (1905–12) he carried out fundamental army reforms. He created a small expeditionary force, equipped for instant action, along with a reserve territorial force. An Imperial General Staff was made responsible for all military strategic planning. In 1912, he became Lord Chancellor, but Asquith dismissed him in 1915 following an unjustified press campaign which claimed he was pro-German. Following the war he supported the Labour Party, and was once again made Lord Chancellor in 1924. His main domestic concern was education: he co-founded the London School of Economics with Sidney and Beatrice Webb, was President of Birkbeck College, and an active supporter of the Workers' Educational Association.