Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain

The English statesman Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain (1863-1937) held a number of high offices, most notably that of foreign secretary. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925.

Austen Chamberlain was born in Birmingham, England, on Oct. 16, 1863. His father, Joseph Chamberlain, was the famous reforming mayor of Birmingham and a powerful figure in the Liberal and then the Conservative party. His mother, Helen, died in childbirth. Neville Chamberlain, Conservative prime minister of Great Britain from 1937 to 1940, was his younger half brother. Austen was educated at Rugby and at Trinity College, Cambridge, and then studied in France and Germany.

Given his family background, it was inevitable that Chamberlain should enter politics. But as his contemporary Lord Birkenhead put it, "Austen always played the game and always lost it." In 1892 Chamberlain was elected to the House of Commons as a Liberal Unionist. When the Tories took office under Lord Salisbury in 1895, he rose rapidly from civil lord of the Admiralty (1895-1900), to a Cabinet seat as postmaster general (1900), to the chancellorship of the Exchequer (1903-1905). He later served as secretary of state of India (1915-1917), as a member of the coalition War Cabinet under David Lloyd George (1918), and again as chancellor of the Exchequer (1919-1921).

Chamberlain's most important work was done during the postwar years. In 1921 he succeeded Bonar Law as leader of the Conservative party. That year he also accompanied Prime Minister Lloyd George to a conference with the Sinn Fein and signed the Irish Treaty. But because of his stand on the "Irish question" and because many Tories wished to dissolve the coalition with Lloyd George, he was ousted from the leadership in 1922.

A Labour victory in 1924, however, did much to heal the split in the Conservative party. When the Tories returned to power later that year Chamberlain was named foreign secretary, a post which he held until 1929. In 1925 he negotiated the Locarno Pact, a series of mutual defense and arbitration treaties among the major European powers. He was convinced that only respect for, and consultation with, Germany would win lasting peace. He also helped Germany secure a seat on the council of the League of Nations.

This was the last time Chamberlain held an important office. In the National government of 1931 he accepted the minor post of first lord of the Admiralty. He spent his last years as a backbencher, respected for his views on foreign affairs. Chamberlain died on March 16, 1937.

Further Reading

Chamberlain's own writings are autobiographical: Down the Years (1935), Politics from Inside (1936), and Seen in Passing (1937). The standard biography is Sir Charles Petrie, The Life and Letters of the Rt. Hon. Sir Austen Chamberlain (2 vols., 1939-1940). □

Chamberlain, Sir (Joseph) Austen (b. 16 Oct. 1863, d. 16 Mar. 1937). British Foreign Secretary 1924–9 Born in Birmingham, he was the half-brother of Neville Chamberlain, and the son of Joseph Chamberlain, who groomed him for a political career. He was educated at Rugby and studied at Cambridge before entering Parliament in 1892 as Liberal Unionist (later Conservative) MP for East Worcestershire. As a loyal mouthpiece of his father, he was made Chancellor of the Exchequer (1903–5) to represent Joseph's views in government, from which he (Joseph) had resigned in order to pursue his tariff-reform campaign. Austen's identification with this deeply divisive issue, however, precluded him from the leadership in 1911, as he was seen by some as an unconventional upstart in the mould of his father. As Secretary of State for India (1915–17), he once more held high office, but resigned over alleged blunders in the Mesopotamia campaign, for which he accepted ministerial responsibility. A Minister without Portfolio from 1918, he again became Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1919 and leader of the Conservative Party in 1921, but loyalty to Lloyd George led to his refusal to replace him as Prime Minister. When the Conservative Party opposed the continuing of its coalition with Lloyd George in 1922, Chamberlain resigned as leader, thus becoming only one of two Conservative leaders in the twentieth century never to be Prime Minister.

Chamberlain made peace with the party during 1923, for which Baldwin made him Foreign Secretary in 1924. His main aim was to encourage France to adopt a more conciliatory stance towards Germany, in order to assist Stresemann in his aim to revise by peaceful means the Treaty of Versailles. Together with Dawes, Chamberlain succeeded in rescheduling Germany's repatriation payments, for which he received the Nobel Peace Prize. He also had an important role in securing the Locarno Treaties of 1925, which secured Germany's entry into the League of Nations and achieved some geopolitical stability in western Europe. Like his father, his political career was hampered by his adherence to fair trade and his mercantile Birmingham roots. Attempts to shake off these deficiencies also hindered him, leading him to an exaggerated sense of honour and loyalty.

Chamberlain, Sir Austen (1863–1937). The only 20th-cent. leader of the Conservative Party who failed to rise to the premiership, Chamberlain none the less enjoyed a ministerial career of considerable length and distinction. His rise owed much to the patronage of his father Joseph, but he ultimately emerged in his own right as a politician of standing. Chancellor of the Exchequer under Balfour (1903–5), he strongly supported tariff reform. During the First World War he accepted responsibility for the failure of the Mesopotamian campaign, resigning as secretary of state for India in 1917. But he was soon recalled to high office, returned to the Exchequer, and remained a leading supporter of Lloyd George's coalition until its fall in October 1922. He succeeded Bonar Law as Conservative leader in 1921 (having withdrawn from the leadership contest ten years earlier in the latter's favour), but lost his chance of the premiership through loyalty to Lloyd George.

As foreign secretary under Baldwin (1924–9) he is best remembered for the Locarno treaties of 1925, which, despite later misgivings, were hailed at the time as a great step towards European harmony, winning Chamberlain both the Garter and the Nobel peace prize. After a brief spell at the Admiralty, Chamberlain retired to the back benches in 1931, becoming one of very few British politicians who warned of the dangers posed by Hitler's Germany. Stiff and formal in appearance and manner, Chamberlain was often a difficult colleague. But he won respect for his loyalty and sense of principle. His diaries have been published by the Royal Historical Society.

David Dutton

Sir Austen Chamberlain (Joseph Austen Chamberlain) , 1863–1937, British statesman; son of Joseph Chamberlain and half brother of Neville Chamberlain . He entered Parliament as a Conservative in 1892. He was chancellor of the exchequer (1903–5), secretary of state for India (1915–17), a member of Lloyd George's war cabinet (1918), again (1919–21) chancellor of the exchequer, and lord privy seal (1921–22). Although he succeeded Andrew Bonar Law as Conservative leader in 1921, he opposed the Conservative withdrawal that brought down Lloyd George 's government in 1922. From 1924 to 1929, Chamberlain was foreign secretary under Stanley Baldwin . The Locarno Pact of 1925 was largely his work, and in the same year he was awarded (with Charles G. Dawes ) the Nobel Peace Prize. He last held a cabinet position in 1931, but he continued to be influential in Parliament until his death.

Bibliography: See his Down the Years (1935), Politics from Inside (1936), and Seen in Passing (1937); Sir Charles Petrie, Life and Letters of Sir Austen Chamberlain (1939–40); biography by D. Dutton (1985).

Chamberlain, Sir Austen (1863–1937). The only 20th‐cent. leader of the Conservative Party who failed to obtain the premiership, Chamberlain none the less enjoyed a ministerial career of distinction. His rise owed much to the patronage of his father Joseph. Chancellor of the Exchequer under Balfour (1903–5), he strongly supported tariff reform. During the First World War he accepted responsibility for the failure of the Mesopotamian campaign, resigning as secretary of state for India in 1917. But he was soon recalled to the Exchequer, and remained a leading supporter of Lloyd George's coalition until its fall in October 1922. He succeeded Bonar Law as Conservative leader in 1921, but lost his chance of the premiership through loyalty to Lloyd George. As foreign secretary under Baldwin (1924–9) he is best remembered for the Locarno treaties of 1925.

Chamberlain, Sir (Joseph) Austen (1863–1937) British statesman, son of Joseph Chamberlain. He entered Parliament in 1892, and served as chancellor of the exchequer (1903–05, 1919–21) in the governments of Arthur Balfour and David Lloyd George. In 1921, he succeeded Bonar Law as Conservative Party leader. He acted as foreign minister (1924–29) in Stanley Baldwin's administration. For his work on the Locarno Pact, he shared the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize.