View source for Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon

{{Short description|British Liberal statesman (1862–1933)}}
{{Redirect|Sir Edward Grey||Edward Grey (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}

{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = The Viscount Grey of Fallodon
| honorific-suffix    = [[Order of the Garter|KG]] [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|PC]] [[Deputy Lieutenant|DL]] [[Zoological Society of London|FZS]]
| image               = Portrait_of_Edward_Grey,_1st_Viscount_Grey_of_Fallodon.jpg
| order1              = [[Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (UK)|Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]]
| term_start1         = 10 December 1905
| term_end1           = 10 December 1916
| primeminister1      = [[Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman]]<br />[[H. H. Asquith]]
| predecessor1        = [[Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne|The Marquess of Lansdowne]]
| successor1          = [[Arthur Balfour]]
| ambassador_from     = British
| country             = the United States
| term_start          = September 1919
| term_end            = March 1920
| appointer           = [[George V]]
| nominator           = [[David Lloyd George]]
| predecessor         = [[Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading|The Marquess of Reading]]
| successor           = [[Sir Auckland Geddes]]
| order3              = [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]]
| term_start3         = 18 August 1892
| term_end3           = 20 June 1895
| primeminister3      = [[William Ewart Gladstone]]<br />[[The Earl of Rosebery]]
| predecessor3        = [[James Lowther, 1st Viscount Ullswater|James Lowther]]
| successor3          = [[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston|George Curzon]]
| office4             = Member of the [[House of Lords]]
| status4             = [[Lord Temporal]]
| term_label4         = [[Hereditary peer]]age
| term_start4         = 27 July 1916
| term_end4           = 7 September 1933
| predecessor4        = ''Peerage created''
| successor4          = ''Peerage extinct''
| office5             = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Berwick-upon-Tweed (UK Parliament constituency)|Berwick-upon-Tweed]]
| term_start5         = November 1885
| term_end5           = July 1916
| predecessor5        = [[Hubert Jerningham]]<br />[[David Milne Home (politician)|David Milne Home]]
| successor5          = [[Sir Francis Blake, 1st Baronet, of Tillmouth Park|Sir Francis Blake]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=yes|1862|04|25}}
| birth_place         = [[London]], England
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1933|09|7|1862|04|25}}
| death_place         = [[Fallodon]], England
| party               = [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]]
| relations           = [[House of Grey]]
| alma_mater          = [[Balliol College, Oxford]]
| profession          = Politician
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Dorothy Widdrington|1885|1906|end=died}}
* {{marriage|[[Pamela Wyndham|Pamela Tennant, Baroness Glenconner]]|1922|1928|end=died}}
}}
}}

'''Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon''' (25 April 1862 – 7 September 1933), better known as '''Sir Edward Grey''', was a British statesman and [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] politician who was the main force behind British foreign policy in the era of the [[First World War]].

An adherent of the "[[social liberalism|New Liberalism]]",<ref>{{cite book|last=Finn|first=Margot C.|title=After Chartism: Class and Nation in English Radical Politics 1848–1874|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=259|chapter=The Reform League, Union, and International}}</ref> he served as [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|Foreign Secretary]] from 1905 to 1916, the longest continuous tenure of any holder of that office. He renewed the 1902 [[Anglo-Japanese Alliance]] in 1911. The centrepiece of his policy was the defence of [[French Third Republic|France]] against [[German Empire|German]] aggression, while avoiding a binding alliance with Paris. He supported France in the Moroccan crises of [[First Moroccan Crisis|1905]] and [[Agadir Crisis|1911]]. Another major achievement was the [[Anglo-Russian Convention]] of 1907. He resolved an outstanding conflict with Germany over the [[Baghdad railway]] in 1913. His most important action came in the [[July Crisis]] in 1914, when he led Britain into World War I against Germany. He convinced the Liberal [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|cabinet]] that Britain had an obligation and was honour-bound to defend France, and prevent Germany from controlling Western Europe. Once the war began, there was little role for his diplomacy; he lost office in December 1916. By 1919 he was a leading British supporter of the [[League of Nations]].

He is remembered for his "[[the lamps are going out]]" remark on 3 August 1914 on the outbreak of the First World War.<ref>Viscount Grey of Fallodon: ''Twenty-Five Years 1892–1916'' (New York, 1925) [https://books.google.com/books?id=d68gSzbih8QC&q=%22lamps+are%22 p. 20 books.google].</ref> He signed the [[Sykes-Picot Agreement]] on 16 May 1916.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS094.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2009-03-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327062139/http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS094.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2009 }} p. 8.</ref> He was [[ennoblement|ennobled]] in 1916, prior to which he was the 3rd [[Baronet]] Grey of Fallodon, and was [[List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United States|Ambassador to the United States]] between 1919 and 1920 and [[List of United Kingdom Liberal Party leaders#Leaders of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords|Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords]] between 1923 and 1924.

==Background, education and early life==
Grey was the eldest of the seven children of Colonel George Henry Grey and Harriet Jane Pearson, daughter of Charles Pearson. His grandfather [[Sir George Grey, 2nd Baronet]] of [[Fallodon]], was also a prominent Liberal politician, while his great-grandfather [[Sir George Grey, 1st Baronet]] of Fallodon, was the third son of [[Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey]], and the younger brother of Prime Minister [[Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey]].{{sfn|Otte |2020 |p=7-8}} He was also a cousin of two later British [[Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (UK)|Foreign Secretaries]]: [[Anthony Eden]] and [[Lord Halifax]]. Grey attended [[Temple Grove School]] from 1873 until 1876.{{sfn|Otte |2020 |p=12-13}}  His father died unexpectedly in December 1874, and his grandfather assumed responsibility for his education, sending him to [[Winchester College]].<ref>Leach, Arthur F. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20170113010337/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hw3d4t;view=1up;seq=13 A History of Winchester College]''. London and New York, 1899. Page 510</ref>{{sfn|Otte |2020 |p=17-18}}

Grey went on to [[Balliol College, Oxford]], in 1880 to read [[Literae Humaniores]]. Apparently an indolent student, he was tutored by [[Mandell Creighton]] during the vacations and managed a second class in [[Honour Moderations]]. He subsequently became more idle, using his time to become university champion at [[real tennis]]. In 1882 his grandfather died and he inherited a baronet's title, an estate of about {{convert|2000|acre|km2}}, and a private income.{{sfn|Otte |2020 |p=26}}  Returning to Oxford in the autumn of 1883, Grey switched to [[legal education in the United Kingdom|studying jurisprudence (law)]] in the belief that it would be an easier option, but by January 1884 he had been [[sent down]] but allowed to return to sit his [[final examination]]. Grey returned in the summer and achieved [[British undergraduate degree classification|Third Class honours]] in Jurisprudence. Though he was entitled to receive a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], he never received one. He would receive an honorary doctorate of law from Oxford in 1907.{{sfn|Otte |2020 |p=27}}

Grey left university with no clear career plan and in the summer of 1884 he asked a neighbour and relative, [[Thomas Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook|Lord Northbrook]], at the time [[First Lord of the Admiralty]], to find him "serious and unpaid employment." Northbrook recommended him as a private secretary to his kinsman Sir [[Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer|Evelyn Baring]], the [[List of colonial heads of Egypt|British consul general to Egypt]], who was attending a conference in London.{{sfn|Otte |2020 |p=30}}  Grey had shown no particular interest in politics whilst at university, but by the summer of 1884 Northbrook found him "very keen on politics," and after the Egyptian conference had ended found him a position as an unpaid assistant private secretary to [[Hugh Childers]], the [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]].{{sfn|Otte |2020 |p=30-31}}

In 1898 Grey became a director of the [[North Eastern Railway (United Kingdom)|North Eastern Railway]], later becoming Chairman (1904-5; curtailed by his appointment as Foreign Secretary). In ''Twenty-Five Years'' (see Works, below) Grey later wrote that '…the year 1905 was one of the happiest of my life; the work of Chairman of the Railway was agreeable and interesting…'. After leaving the Foreign Office Grey resumed his directorship of the NER in 1917, and when the North Eastern Railway became part of the [[London and North Eastern Railway]] he became a director of that company, remaining in this position until 1933. At the Railway Centenary celebrations in July 1925, Grey accompanied the [[George VI|Duke]] and [[Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother|Duchess of York]] and presented them with silver models of the engine ''[[Locomotion No. 1|Locomotion]]'' and the passenger carriage ''Experiment''.

Two of Grey's brothers were killed by wild animals in Africa: George was mauled by a lion in 1911, and Charles was felled by a buffalo in 1928.{{sfn|Otte |2020 |p=403,663}}  His other brother, Alexander, was a vicar in Trinidad and died there aged 48 from the after-effects of a childhood cricket injury.

==Early political career==
Grey was selected as the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] candidate for [[Berwick-upon-Tweed (UK Parliament constituency)|Berwick-upon-Tweed]] where his [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] opponent was [[Henry Percy, 7th Duke of Northumberland|Earl Percy]].  He was duly elected in November 1885 and, at 23, became the youngest MP ([[Baby of the House]]) in the new House of Commons. He was not called in the [[Government of Ireland Bill 1886|Home Rule debate]], but was nonetheless convinced by [[William Ewart Gladstone]] and [[John Morley]] of the rightness of the cause.  A year later Grey summoned up the courage to make a maiden speech, at a similar period to [[Asquith]]. During the debate over the [[Irish Land Acts#Irish Land (Purchase) Act 1885|1888 Land Purchase Bill]] he began "an association and friendship" with [[R. B. Haldane]], which was "thus strengthened as years went on". The nascent imperialists voted against "this passing exception".<ref>Grey of Fallodon, ''Twenty-five Years'', vol.1, p.xxiv</ref> On a previous occasion he had met [[Neville Lyttelton]], later a knight and general, who would become his closest friend.<ref>[[David Owen]], ''Military Conversations'', p.</ref>{{page needed|date=January 2021}}

Grey retained his seat in the [[1892 United Kingdom general election|1892 election]] with a majority of 442 votes and to his surprise was made [[Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]] by Gladstone (albeit after his son [[Herbert Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone|Herbert]] had refused the post) under the [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|Foreign Secretary]], [[Lord Rosebery]]. Grey would later claim that at this point he had had no special training nor paid special attention to foreign affairs.<ref>Viscount Grey, ''Twenty Five Years, 1892–1916'' (London, 1925) p.1.</ref> The new Under-Secretary prepared the policy for making [[Protectorate of Uganda|Uganda]] a new colony, proposing to build a [[Cape to Cairo Railway|railway from Cairo through East Africa]], though later limiting government funds being used to build it.{{sfn|Otte |2020 |p= 73-77, 99}} There was continuity in presentation and preparation during the [[Scramble for Africa]]; foreign policy was not an election issue. The Liberals continued to incline towards the [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]], causing the press to write of a "Quadruple Alliance".

Grey later dated his first suspicions of future Anglo-German disagreements to his early days in office, after [[German Empire|Germany]] had sought commercial concessions from Britain in the [[Ottoman Empire]]; in return they would promise support for the [[History of Egypt under the British|British position in Egypt]]. "It was the abrupt and rough peremptoriness of the German action that gave me an unpleasant impression"; not, he added, that the German position was at all "unreasonable," rather that the "method... was not that of a friend."<ref>Viscount Grey, ''Twenty Five Years'', p.10.</ref> With hindsight, he argued in his autobiography, "the whole policy of the years from 1886 to 1904 [might] be criticized as having played into the hands of Germany."<ref>Viscount Grey, ''Twenty Five Years'', p.33.</ref>

===1895 statement on French expansion in Africa===
[[File:Sir Edward Grey.jpg|thumb|upright|Grey in 1895]]
Prior to the Foreign Office vote on 28 March 1895, Grey asked [[John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley|Lord Kimberley]], the new Foreign Secretary, for direction as to how he should answer any question about French activities in West Africa.  According to Grey, Kimberley suggested "pretty firm language."<ref>Viscount Grey, ''Twenty Five Years, 1892–1916'' (London, 1925), p. 18.</ref> In fact, West Africa was not mentioned, but when pressed on possible French activities in the Nile Valley Grey stated that a French expedition "would be an unfriendly act and would be so viewed by England."<ref>Quoted in Viscount Grey, ''Twenty Five Years, 1892–1916'' (London, 1925), p.20.</ref> According to Grey the subsequent row both in Paris and in the Cabinet was made worse by the failure of ''[[Hansard]]'' to record that his statement referred explicitly to the Nile Valley and not to Africa in general.<ref>Viscount Grey, ''Twenty Five Years, 1892–1916'' (London, 1925), p. 20.</ref> The statement was made before the dispatch of the [[Marchand Mission]]—indeed, he believed it might have actually provoked it—and as Grey admits did much to damage future Anglo-French relations.<ref>Viscount Grey, ''Twenty Five Years, 1892–1916'' (London, 1925), p. 21.</ref>

The Liberal Party lost a key vote in the House of Commons on 21 June 1895, and Grey was among the majority in his party that preferred a dissolution to continuing. He seems to have left office with few regrets, noting, "I shall never be in office again and the days of my stay in the House of Commons are probably numbered. We [he and his wife] are both very glad and relieved{{nbsp}}..."<ref>E & D Grey, ''Cottage Book, Itchen Abbas, 1894–1905'' (London, 1909) entry of 22/23 June 1985.</ref>{{verify source|date=January 2021}} The Liberals were soundly defeated in the subsequent [[1895 United Kingdom general election|general election]], although Grey added 300 votes to his own majority.<ref>Keith Robbins, ''Sir Edward Grey. A Biography of Lord Grey of Fallodon'' (London, 1971) p.56.</ref> He was to remain out of office for the next ten years, but was sworn of the [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|Privy Council]] on 11 August 1902,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27464|date=12 August 1902 |page=5174 }}</ref> following an announcement of the King's intention to make this appointment in the [[1902 Coronation Honours]] list published in June that year.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Coronation Honours |date=26 June 1902 |page=5 |issue=36804}}</ref>

He was appointed a [[deputy lieutenant]] of [[Northumberland]] in 1901.<ref name="apr901">{{London Gazette| issue=27305|page=2625|date=16 April 1901}}</ref>

==Foreign Secretary 1905–1916==
[[File:Edward Grey 5 February 1903.jpg|upright|thumb|Grey caricatured by [[Leslie Ward|Spy]] for ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', 1903]]
With the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] government of [[Arthur Balfour]] divided and unpopular, there was some speculation that [[H. H. Asquith]] and his allies Grey and [[Richard Haldane]] would refuse to serve in the next Liberal government unless the Liberal leader Sir [[Henry Campbell-Bannerman]] accepted a peerage, which would have left Asquith as the real leader in the House of Commons. The plot (called the "[[Relugas Compact]]" after the Scottish lodge where the men met) collapsed when Asquith agreed to serve as [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] under Campbell-Bannerman. When Campbell-Bannerman [[Liberal government, 1905–1915|formed a government]] in December 1905 Grey was appointed [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|Foreign Secretary]]—the first Foreign Secretary to sit in the Commons since 1868. Haldane became [[Secretary of State for War]]. The party won a landslide victory in the [[1906 United Kingdom general election|1906 general election]]. Whilst an MP, he voted in favour of the 1908 Women's Enfranchisement Bill.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WOMEN'S ENFRANCHISEMENT BILL. (Hansard, 28 February 1908) |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1908/feb/28/womens-enfranchisement-bill-1 |access-date=2022-04-08 |website=api.parliament.uk}}</ref> When Campbell-Bannerman stepped down as prime minister in 1908, Grey was Asquith's only realistic rival to succeed his friend. In any event, Grey continued as Foreign Secretary, and held office for 11 years to the day, the longest continuous tenure in that office.

===Anglo-Russian Entente 1907===
{{See also|Anglo-Russian Entente}}
As early as 13 December 1905, Grey had assured the Russian Ambassador Count [[Alexander von Benckendorff (diplomat)|Alexander Benckendorff]] that he supported the idea of an agreement with [[Russian Empire|Russia]].<ref>Beryl Williams, ''Great Britain and Russia, 1905 to the 1907 Convention'' p.133, in F. H. Hinsley (ed.), ''British Foreign Policy Under Sir Edward Grey'' (Cambridge, 1977)</ref> Negotiations began soon after the arrival of Sir [[Arthur Nicolson, 1st Baron Carnock|Arthur Nicolson]] as the new [[List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Russia|British Ambassador]] in June 1906. In contrast with the previous [[Unionist Government 1895–1905|Conservative government]] that had seen Russia as a potential threat to the [[British Empire|empire]], Grey's intention was to re-establish Russia "as a factor in European politics"<ref>Beryl Williams, ''Great Britain and Russia, 1905 to the 1907 Convention'' p.133, in F. H. Hinsley (ed.), ''British Foreign Policy Under Sir Edward Grey'' (Cambridge, 1977), p. 134.</ref> on the side of France and Great Britain to maintain a [[Balance of power (international relations)|balance of power]] in Europe.<ref>Grey claimed that to the best of his recollection he had never used the phrase "balance of power," never consciously pursued it as a policy and was doubtful as to its precise meaning. Viscount Grey, ''Twenty Five Years 1892–1916'' (London, 1925) pp. 4–5.</ref>

===Agadir Crisis 1911===
{{main|Agadir Crisis}}
Grey did not welcome the prospect of a renewed crisis over Morocco: he worried that it might either lead to a re-opening of the issues covered by the [[Treaty of Algeciras]] or that it might drive [[Restoration (Spain)|Spain]] into alliance with Germany. Initially Grey tried to restrain both France and Spain, but by the spring of 1911 he had failed on both counts. Grey believed that, whether he liked it or not, his hands were tied by the terms of the ''[[Entente cordiale]]''. The despatch of the German gunboat {{SMS|Panther|1901|2}} to [[Agadir]] served to strengthen French resolve and, because he was determined both to protect the agreement with France and also to block German attempts at expansion around the Mediterranean, it pushed Grey closer to France. Grey, however, tried to calm the situation, merely commenting on the "abrupt" nature of the German intervention, and insisting that Britain must participate in any discussions about the future of Morocco.<ref>Michael L. Dockrill, ''The formulation of a continental foreign policy by Great Britain, 1908–1912'' (1986) p 181</ref>

In cabinet on 4 July 1911, Grey accepted that Britain would oppose any German port in the region, any new fortified port anywhere on the Moroccan coast, and that Britain must continue to enjoy an "open door" for its trade with Morocco.  Grey at this point was resisting efforts by the [[Foreign Office]] to support French intransigence.  By the time a second cabinet was held on 21 July, Grey had adopted a tougher position, suggesting that he propose to Germany that a multi-national conference be held, and that were Germany to refuse to participate "we should take steps to assert and protect British interests."<ref>Quoted in M.L. Dockrill, "British Policy During the Agadir Crisis of 1911" p. 276. in F.H. Hinsley (ed.), ''British Foreign Policy Under Sir Edward Grey'' (Cambridge, 1977)</ref>

Grey was made a [[Order of the Garter|Knight Companion of the Garter]] in 1912.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=28581 |date=16 February 1912 |page=1169 }}</ref> Throughout the period leading up to World War Grey played a leading part in negotiations with Kaiser [[Wilhelm II]]. He visited Germany and invited their delegation to the Windsor Castle Conference in 1912. They returned several times, with Haldane acting as interpreter.

===July Crisis 1914===
{{Further|British entry into World War I|July Crisis}}
Although Grey's activist foreign policy, which relied increasingly on the [[Triple Entente]] with France and Russia, came under criticism from the radicals within his own party, he maintained his position because of support from the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]] for his "non-partisan" foreign policy.  In 1914, Grey played a key role in the [[July Ultimatum|July Crisis]] leading to the outbreak of [[World War I]]. His attempts to mediate the dispute between [[Austria-Hungary]] and [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]] were ignored by both sides.  On 16 July, [[Maurice de Bunsen]], British ambassador to Austria-Hungary advised that Austria-Hungary regarded the Serbian government as having been complicit in the assassination of [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand]] and his wife [[Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg|Sophie]], and would have to act if Austria-Hungary was not to lose her position as a Great Power.  The British Cabinet were preoccupied with the [[Home Rule Crisis|crisis in Ulster]], and Grey failed to realize the urgency of the situation, and chose to await further developments.<ref>Christopher Clark,  "Sir Edward Grey and the July Crisis." ''International History Review'' 38.2 (2016): 326–338.</ref>

On 23 July, Austria-Hungary formally handed the Serbian government an ultimatum, which demanded their acceptance, by 25 July, of terms tantamount to Serbia's vassalage to Austria-Hungary; it was soon clear that Serbia would accept most of the demands but that Austria-Hungary would settle for nothing less than complete capitulation. On 24 July, the French ambassador in London tried to waken Grey to the realization that once Austrian forces crossed the Serbian border, it would be too late for mediation. Grey responded by urging the German ambassador to attempt a four-power conference of Britain, France, [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] and Germany at Vienna to mediate between Austria-Hungary and Russia, Serbia's patron, or at least to obtain an extension of the time-limit set by Austria-Hungary. Grey again proposed a four-power conference on 26 July. He also suggested that Russia and Austria-Hungary should be encouraged to negotiate. The other powers were open to the idea, but Germany, France and Russia were not supporting this.{{sfn|Jenkins|p=324}}{{sfn|Koss|p=155}}

Following the collapse of Grey's four-power talks on Tuesday 28 July, it was clear that war on the continent was now inevitable, although it was not yet certain whether Britain should be involved. Asquith, Grey and Haldane had a late night talk at the Foreign Office.{{sfn|Jenkins|p=325}} On Wednesday 29 July two decisions were taken at Cabinet. Firstly, the Armed Forces were placed on alert (the "Precautionary Period" was declared and the War Book was opened at 2pm). Secondly, the Cabinet agreed to guarantee the neutrality of Belgium, but that Britain's response to any violation of Belgian neutrality would be decided on grounds of policy rather than strict legality. Grey was authorised to tell the German and French ambassadors that Britain had not yet made a decision as to whether or on what terms to join in or stand aside. Besides issues of party management (many Liberal MPs, including at least a third of the Cabinet, and the Liberal press apart from ''[[The Westminster Gazette]]'', wanted Britain to stay out), Asquith and Grey genuinely believed that openly backing France and Russia would make them more intransigent, without necessarily deterring Germany.{{sfn|Koss|p=156-7}} On Friday 31 July Grey had a "rather painful" interview with [[Paul Cambon]], the French Ambassador, at which he resisted Cambon's pressure to back France openly.{{sfn|Jenkins|p=325-6}}

King [[George V]] [[Electrical telegraph|telegraphed]] Berlin to confirm that Grey had stated that Britain would remain neutral if France ''and Russia'' were not attacked.  By 31 July, when Grey finally sent a memorandum demanding that Germany respect Belgium's neutrality, it was too late.  German forces were already massed at the Belgian border, and [[Helmuth von Moltke the Younger|Helmuth von Moltke]] convinced Kaiser [[Wilhelm II]] it was too late to change the plan of attack.

At a meeting with [[Karl Max, Prince Lichnowsky]], the German Ambassador, early on 1 August, Grey stated the conditions necessary for Britain to remain neutral, but perhaps with a lack of clarity.  Grey did not make it clear that Britain would not ignore a breach of the [[Treaty of London (1839)]], to respect and protect the neutrality of Belgium.  Nor it seems did he make it clear that Britain would support Russia, for at 11:14 AM that morning, Lichnowsky sent a telegram to Berlin which indicated that Grey had proposed that, if Germany were not to attack ''France'', Britain would remain neutral.<ref>Harry F Young, "The Misunderstanding of August 1, 1914," ''Journal of modern history'' (Dec 1976), 644–665.</ref> Saturday 1 August saw a difficult Cabinet from 11am to 1.30pm. The Cabinet were divided, but (with the notable exception of [[Winston Churchill]]) predominantly against war. Grey threatened to resign if the Cabinet pledged not to intervene in any circumstances. Asquith's private preference was to stay out, but he gave Grey staunch support and reckoned he would have to resign if Grey did.{{sfn|Koss|p=157-8}} Overnight Germany issued an ultimatum to Russia and France. The first of two Cabinets on Sunday 2 August was from 11am to 2pm. After much difficulty it was agreed that Grey should tell Cambon and the Germans that the [[Royal Navy]] would not allow the [[Imperial German Navy]] to conduct hostile operations in the Channel (the [[French Navy]] was concentrated in the Mediterranean, under an Anglo-French naval agreement of 1912).{{sfn|Jenkins|p=327-8}}

On Monday 3 August, Germany declared war on France and broke the old London treaty by invading Belgium. That afternoon Grey made an hour-long speech to the House of Commons.{{sfn|Koss|p=159}}{{sfn|Jenkins|p=328-9}} As Grey stood at a window in the Foreign Office, watching the lamps being lit as dusk approached on 3 August, he is famously said to have remarked to the editor of ''The Westminster Gazette'', "[[The lamps are going out]] all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime."<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9038083/Sir-Edward-Grey-3rd-Baronet Sir Edward Grey, 3rd Baronet] [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] Article. Other common versions of the quote are

* ''The lights are going out all over Europe and I doubt we will see them go on again in our lifetime'', (Sources [http://www.doi.gov.mt/EN/commentaries/2004/05/tim01.asp Malta in Europe—a new dawn] Department of Information—Government of Malta, 2000–2006. Ambassador [[Guenter Burghardt]] [http://www.eurunion.org/news/speeches/2003/030604gb.htm The State of the Transatlantic Relationship] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061001235943/http://www.eurunion.org/news/speeches/2003/030604gb.htm|date=1 October 2006}} 4 June 2003)
* ''The lights are going out all over Europe: we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927215316/http://www.financialnews-us.com/?page=ushome&contentid=532873 The lights are going out all over Europe]  William Wright, Editor [http://www.financialnews-us.com/index.cfm?page=usaboutus Financial News Online US] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080426164555/http://www.financialnews-us.com/index.cfm?page=usaboutus|date=26 April 2008}} 6 March 2006</ref>{{sfn|Koss|p=159}}{{sfn|Jenkins|p=328-9}}

United by the need to assist France as promised, and hold the Liberal party together lest the warmongering Conservatives take power, the Cabinet voted almost unanimously for war, with only [[John Burns]] and [[Viscount Morley]] resigning. On the afternoon of Tuesday 4 August the House of Commons was informed that an ultimatum had been given to Germany expiring midnight Berlin time (11pm in London). In terms of public appeal, the Liberals made a great deal of German violation of Belgian neutrality, but this was not the main cause for its decision to go to war.{{sfn|Jenkins|p=329}}{{sfn|Koss|p=159-60}}

In his memoirs published in 1925 Grey gave his retrospective analysis of the causes of the war:
:More than one true thing may be said about the causes of the war, but the statement that comprises the most truth is that militarism and the armaments inseparable from it made war inevitable....After 1870 Germany had no reason to be afraid, but she fortified herself with armaments and the [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]] in order that she might never have reason to be afraid in the future. France naturally was afraid after 1870, and she made her military preparations and the [[Franco-Russian Alliance|Dual Alliance]] (with Russia). Britain, with a very small Army and a very large Empire, became first uncomfortable and then (particularly when Germany began a big-fleet programme) afraid of isolation. She made the [[Anglo-Japanese Alliance]], made up her quarrels with France and Russia, and entered the Entente. Finally, Germany became afraid that she would presently be afraid and struck the blow while she believed her power to be invincible.<ref>He adds in response to those who say that "if we had adopted conscription and built up a big Army we should have prevented the war. We should not thereby have prevented the war; we should have precipitated it sooner."  Grey, ''Twenty-Five Years'' (1925) 2:53–54.</ref>

Historians studying the July crisis typically conclude that Grey:
:was not a great foreign secretary but an honest, reticent, punctilious English gentleman.... He exhibited a judicious understanding of European affairs, a firm control of his staff, and a suppleness and tact in diplomacy, but he had no boldness, no imagination, no ability to command men and events. [Regarding the war] He pursued a cautious, moderate policy, one that not only fitted his temperament, but also reflected the deep split in the Cabinet, in the Liberal party, and in public opinion.<ref>Clayton Roberts and David F. Roberts, ''A History of England, Volume 2: 1688 to the present. Vol. 2'' (3rd edition, 1991) p. 722.</ref>

===First World War===
{{Further|Diplomatic history of World War I}}
Following the outbreak of [[World War I]], the conduct of British foreign policy was increasingly constrained by the demands of a military struggle beyond Grey's control. During the war, Grey worked with the [[Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe|Marquess of Crewe]] to press an initially reluctant ambassador to the United States, Sir [[Cecil Spring Rice]], to raise the issue of the [[Hindu–German Conspiracy]] with the American government; this ultimately led to the unfolding of the entire plot.

In the early years of the war, Grey oversaw negotiation of important secret agreements with new allies (Italy and the [[Arab Revolt|Arab rebels]]) and with France and Russia (the [[Sykes–Picot Agreement]]) which, among other provisions, assigned postwar control of the [[Turkish Straits]] to Russia. Otherwise, Asquith and Grey generally preferred to avoid discussion of war aims for fear of raising an issue that might fracture the Entente.  In a 12 February 1916 paper the new [[Chief of the Imperial General Staff]] [[William Robertson (British Army officer)|William Robertson]] proposed that the Allies offer a separate peace to Turkey, or offer Turkish territory to [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] to encourage Bulgaria to break with the [[Central Powers]] and make peace, so as to allow British forces in that theatre to be redeployed against Germany. Grey replied that Britain needed her continental allies more than they needed her, and imperial interests could not incur the risk (e.g., by reneging on the promise that Russia was to have control of the Turkish Straits) that they might choose to make a separate peace, which would leave Germany dominant on the continent.<ref>Woodward, 1998, p 35</ref>

Grey retained his position as Foreign Secretary when [[Asquith coalition ministry|Asquith's Coalition Government]] (which included the Conservatives) was formed in May 1915. Grey was one of those Liberal ministers who contemplated joining Sir [[John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon|John Simon]] ([[Home Secretary]]) in resigning in protest at the conscription of bachelors, due to be [[Military Service Act 1916|enacted in January 1916]], but he did not do so.<ref>Guinn 1965 pp.126–7</ref>  In late 1916 American President [[Woodrow Wilson]] secretly promoted a compromise peace to both sides of the war. Both sides rejected the offer. Germany thought that with the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk|defeat of Russia]] it had enough troops, and new tactics, to win a decisive victory on the Western front . The British cabinet was hostile. Grey was the only senior leader who supported Wilson's proposal, but his influence was declining. The best he could do was to soothe Wilson's hurt feelings and prevent a possible rupture with Washington.<ref>David R. Woodward, "Great Britain and President Wilson's effort to end world war I in 1916" ''Maryland Historian'' (1970) 1#1 pp 45–58.</ref>

In an attempt to reduce his workload, he left the House of Commons for the [[House of Lords]] in July 1916, accepting a peerage as Viscount Grey of Fallodon, in the County of Northumberland.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29689 |date=1 August 1916 |page=7565 }}</ref> When Asquith's ministry collapsed in December 1916 and [[David Lloyd George]] became Prime Minister, Grey went into opposition.

===Later career===
[[File:1stViscountGreyOFFallodonOld.jpg|thumb|upright|Lord Grey of Fallodon]]
Grey became President of the [[League of Nations Union]] in 1918.<ref>Waterhouse 2013, p.384</ref> In 1919 he was appointed [[List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United States|Ambassador to the United States]], with responsibility for encouraging that country join the League of Nations. Grey's eyesight had deteriorated to near blindness by this stage and his appointment was a short-term one, for five months until 1920. He dealt with the issue of Irish independence, but failed to convince the U.S. to ratify the [[Treaty of Versailles]].<ref>George W. Egerton, "Britain and the 'Great Betrayal': Anglo-American Relations and the Struggle for United
States Ratification of the Treaty of Versailles, 1919–1920" ''Historical Journal'' (1978) 21#4 pp. 885–911 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2638973 online]</ref><ref>Leon Boothe, "Lord Grey, The United States and Political Efforts for a League of Nations, 1914–1920" ''Maryland Historical Magazine'' 1970, 65#1, pp 36–54.</ref> During his stay in the U.S. Grey was unable to obtain a meeting with President [[Woodrow Wilson]], a fact which he attributed to the influence of the Irish lobby, although Wilson had in fact suffered a severe stroke at the start of October 1919, but this was not widely known for several months.<ref>Waterhouse 2013, pp.384–6</ref>

By mid July 1920 [[Lord Robert Cecil]], a moderate and staunchly pro-[[League of Nations]] Conservative, was keen for a party realignment under Grey, who was also a strong supporter of the League.<ref>Koss 1985, p249</ref> Grey had been irritated by Asquith's failure to congratulate him on his Washington appointment, but they reestablished relations in November 1920.<ref name="Koss 1985, p251">Koss 1985, p251</ref> Asquith reached an agreement with Grey on 29 June 1921, suggesting that he could be Leader in the Lords and [[Lord President of the Council]] in any future Liberal Government, as his eyesight was no longer good enough to cope with the paperwork of running a major department. Grey wanted British troops simply pulled out of [[Irish War of Independence|Ireland]] and the Irish left to sort themselves out, a solution likened by [[Roy Jenkins]] to the British withdrawal from India in 1947.<ref name="Jenkins 1964, p490-1">Jenkins 1964, p490-1</ref>

The success of [[Anti-Waste League]] candidates at by-elections made leading Liberals feel that there was a strong vote which might be tapped by a wider-based and more credible opposition to Lloyd George's Coalition government.<ref name="Jenkins 1964, p490-1"/> Talks between Grey and Lord Robert Cecil also began in June 1921.<ref name="Koss 1985, p251"/> A wider meeting (Cecil, Asquith, Grey, and leading Liberals [[Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe|Lord Crewe]], [[Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford|Walter Runciman]] and Sir [[Donald Maclean (British politician)|Donald Maclean]]) was held on 5 July 1921. Cecil wanted a genuine coalition rather than a ''de facto'' Liberal government, with Grey rather than Asquith as prime minister, and an official manifesto by himself and Grey which the official Liberal leaders Asquith and Lord Crewe would then endorse. Another Conservative, Sir [[Arthur Steel-Maitland]], later joined in the talks, and his views were similar to Cecil's, but Maclean, Runciman and Crewe were hostile. Grey himself was not keen, and his eyesight would have been a major handicap to his becoming prime minister. He missed the third meeting, saying that he was feeding squirrels in Northumberland, and was late for the fourth. He did, however, make a move by speaking in his former constituency in October 1921, to little effect, after which the move for a party realignment fizzled out.<ref>Jenkins 1964, p491-2</ref>

Grey continued to be active in politics despite his near blindness, serving as [[List of United Kingdom Liberal Party leaders#Leaders of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords|Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords]] from 1923 until his resignation shortly before the [[1924 United Kingdom general election|1924 election]] on the grounds that he was unable to attend on a regular basis. Having declined to stand for [[Chancellor of the University of Oxford]] in 1925, to make way for [[1925 University of Oxford Chancellor election|Asquith's unsuccessful bid]], he was elected unopposed as in 1928 and held the position until his death in 1933.<ref>[http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_university/oxford_people/key_university_officers/past_chancellors.html Chancellors of the University of Oxford] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080521100037/http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_university/oxford_people/key_university_officers/past_chancellors.html |date=21 May 2008 }} [[University of Oxford]]</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:The Wyndham Sisters - Lady Elcho, Mrs. Adeane, and Mrs. Tenant.jpg|thumb|''[[The Wyndham Sisters: Lady Elcho, Mrs. Adeane, and Mrs. Tennant|The Wyndham Sisters]]'', by [[John Singer Sargent]], 1899 ([[Metropolitan Museum of Art]])]]

Grey married Dorothy, daughter of S. F. Widdrington, of Newton Hall, Northumberland, in 1885. They enjoyed a close relationship, sharing a fondness for peaceful rural pursuits at their country residence by the [[River Itchen, Hampshire]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Robert K.|last=Massie|pages=584–585|title=Dreadnought. Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War|year=2004|publisher=Pimlico |isbn=1-8441-3528-4}}</ref> After her death in a road accident in February 1906, Grey remained single until marrying [[Pamela Wyndham|Pamela Adelaide Genevieve Wyndham]], daughter of the Honourable [[Percy Wyndham (1835–1911)|Percy Wyndham]] and widow of [[Edward Tennant, 1st Baron Glenconner|Lord Glenconner]], in 1922.  There were no offspring from either marriage.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} According to [[Max Hastings]], however, Grey had two illegitimate children as a result of extra-marital affairs.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hastings|first1=Max|title=Catastrophe 1914|date=2013|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-307-59705-2|page=37}}</ref> [[Edward James]] claimed that his sister [[Audrey Evelyn James]], officially the daughter of [[William Dodge James]] and [[Evelyn Elizabeth Forbes]], was actually one of the children of Grey.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Carpenter|first1=Humphrey|title=The Brideshead Generation: Evelyn Waugh and His Friends|date=2013|publisher=Faber & Faber|page=22|isbn=9780571309283|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QUhlAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT22|access-date=19 January 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon by Sir James Guthrie.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait of Sir Edward Grey by [[James Guthrie (artist)|James Guthrie]], circa 1924–1930.]]

During his university years Grey represented his college at [[association football|football]] and was also an excellent tennis player being [[Oxford University|Oxford champion]] in 1883 (and winning the varsity competition the same year) and won the British championship in 1889, 1891, 1895, 1896 and 1898. He was runner-up in 1892, 1893 and 1894, years in which he held office.<ref>Keith Robbins, ''Sir Edward Grey. A Biography of Lord Grey of Fallodon'', (London, 1971) pp. 15, 55.</ref> He was also a lifelong fly [[fisherman]], publishing a book, ''Fly Fishing'', on his exploits in 1899,<ref>Viscount Grey, ''Fly Fishing'', (London, 1899)</ref> which remains one of the most popular books ever written on the subject.  He continued to fish by touch after his deteriorating eye-sight meant he was no longer able to see the fly or a rising fish.  He was also an avid [[ornithologist]]; one of the best-known photographs of him shows him with a robin perched on his hat; ''The Charm of Birds'' was published in 1927. In 1933 he was one of eleven people{{efn|The letter was signed: {{Flatlist|
* [[William Grenfell, 1st Baron Desborough|Desborough]]
* [[Hugh Steuart Gladstone|Hugh S. Gladstone]]
* Grey of Fallodon
* [[Julian S. Huxley]] (Chancellor of Oxford University)
* [[Tom Longstaff|T. G Longstaff]]
* [[Percy R. Lowe]]
* [[Peter Chalmers Mitchell|P. Chalmers Mitchell]]
* [[Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild|Rothschild]]
* [[Mungo Murray, 7th Earl of Mansfield|Scone]] M.P. (Chairman, British Trust for Ornithology)
* [[E. L. Turner]]
* [[H. F. Witherby]] (President, British Ornithologists' Union)
}}}} involved in the appeal that led to the foundation of the [[British Trust for Ornithology]] (BTO), an organisation for the study of [[bird]]s in the British Isles.<ref>{{cite news |title=Observers of Birds |url=https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/u38/downloads/home-news/2013-06/bto-letter-the-times-July-1-1933.pdf |work=[[The Times]] |date=1 July 1933}}</ref> He was, along with his fellow Liberal Haldane, one of the original members of the [[Coefficients (dining club)|Coefficients dining club]] of social reformers set up in 1902 by the [[Fabian Society|Fabian]] campaigners [[Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield|Sidney]] and [[Beatrice Webb]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Scally|first=Robert J.|title=The Origins of the Lloyd George Coalition: The Politics of Social Imperialism, 1900–1918|year=1975|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, New Jersey|isbn=0691075700|page=79|chapter=III: The Coefficients Club}}</ref>

==Death==
[[File:Edward Grey memorial Winchester.jpg|thumb|Edward Grey memorial, Winchester College]]
Lady Grey of Fallodon died on 18 November 1928. Lord Grey of Fallodon remained a widower until his own death at Fallodon on 7 September 1933, aged 71, following which his body was cremated at [[Darlington]].<ref name=compeerage>{{cite book|title=The Complete Peerage, Volume XIII—Peerage Creations 1901–1938|year=1949|publisher=St Catherine's Press|page=230}}</ref> The viscountcy became extinct on his death, though he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his cousin, [[Sir Charles George Grey, 4th Baronet|Sir George Grey]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} Grey is commemorated at Winchester College; by a relief next to the Ambassador's entrance to the Foreign Office in Downing Street, London; by a bronze plaque at the summit of [[Ros Castle]] hill, Northumberland, one of his favourite viewpoints; by an inscription on the outer wall near the main entrance to The [[Great North Museum: Hancock]] in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (recording his presidency of the [[Natural History Society of Northumbria]]), and by the establishment of the [[Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology]] at Oxford University.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Richard |date=2015 |title=A Fitting Tribute |newspaper=Issuu |url=https://issuu.com/fcohistorians/docs/fco896_gray_memorial_booklet_-_web_812e11dc3c95ff |access-date=7 August 2023}}</ref> The railway workers at [[Fallodon railway station|Fallodon]] planted a copper beech tree in his memory at the site of the private station. His ashes were interred with those of his wife Dorothy in woodland on the Fallodon estate, below a simple stone reading "Here, among trees that they planted together, are placed the ashes of Edward and Dorothy Grey."

==Works==
[[File:Recreation by Grey of Falloden - Project Gutenberg eText 17956.jpg|thumb|upright|Cover of Grey's ''Recreation'', 1920]]
* ''[https://archive.org/details/flyfishing00grey Fly Fishing]'' (1899, 1929 two new chapters were added)
* ''Cottage Book. Itchen Abbas, 1894–1905'' (1909)
* ''On Sea trout'' (1913 essay, published in book form 1994)
* {{cite book |title=[[s:The League of Nations|The League of Nations]] |date=1918 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=London}}
* ''[https://archive.org/details/recreationbyvisc17956gut Recreation]'' (1920)
* ''[https://archive.org/search.php?query=%27%27Twenty-Five%20Years%2C%201892-1916%27%27 Twenty-Five Years, 1892–1916.]'' (1925)
* ''Fallodon Papers'' (1926)
* ''The fly-fisherman'' (1926 essay, published in book form 1994)
* ''The Charm of Birds'' (Hodder and Stoughton, 1927)

==Honours==

===British Empire Honours===

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
! style="width:20%;"| Country
! style="width:20%;"| Date
! style="width:55%;"| Appointment
! style="width:5%;"| Post-nominal letters
|-
| {{Flagu|United Kingdom}} || '''11 August 1902 – 7 September 1933''' || Member of [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council]]<ref>{{cite web |title=The Edinburgh Gazette 15 August 1902 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/11435/page/822 |website=The Edinburgh Gazette |access-date=29 August 2022 |language=en}}</ref> || PC 
|-
| {{Flagu|United Kingdom}} || '''12 February 1912 – 7 September 1933''' || Knight Companion of the [[Order of the Garter]]<ref>{{cite web |title=The London Gazette 16 February 1912 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28581/page/1169 |website=The Edinburgh Gazette |access-date=29 August 2022 |language=en}}</ref> || KG
|-
| {{Flagu|England}} ||  || [[Deputy Lieutenant]] of the [[Counties of England|County]] of [[Northumberland]] || DL
|-
|}

==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = [[File:Coronet of a British Viscount.svg|centre|150px]][[File:Grey (of Fallodon) Escutcheon.png|centre|200px]]
|escutcheon = Gules a lion rampant within a bordure engrailed Argent a mullet for difference.
|crest = A scaling ladder in bend sinister Or hooked and pointed Sable.
|motto = De Bon Vouloir Servir Le Roy (To Serve The King With Good Will)<ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage |date=2003 |page=442}}</ref>}}

===Scholastic===

; Chancellor, visitor, governor, rector and fellowships
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
! style="width:20%;"| Location
! style="width:20%;"| Date
! style="width:40%;"| School
! style="width:20%;"| Position
|-
| {{Flagu|England}} || '''1928{{spaced ndash}}7 September 1933''' || [[University of Oxford]] || [[List of chancellors of the University of Oxford|Chancellor]]
|-
|}

===Memberships and Fellowships===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
! style="width:20%;"| Country
! style="width:20%;"| Date
! style="width:40%;"| Organisation
! style="width:20%;"| Position
|-
| {{Flagu|United Kingdom}} || '''26 November 1914{{spaced ndash}}7 September 1933'''  || [[Royal Society]] || Fellow (FRS) – Elected under Statute 12<ref>{{cite web |title=Past Fellows of the Royal Society |url=https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Overview.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&r=(((Surname=%27Grey%27)))%20And%20(((Forenames=%27Edward%27))) |website=The Royal Society |date= |access-date=29 August 2022 |language=en}}</ref>  
|-
| {{Flagu|United Kingdom}} || '''{{spaced ndash}}7 September 1933'''  || [[Zoological Society of London]] || Fellow (FZS)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.zsl.org/blogs/artefact-of-the-month/start-of-the-first-world-war |title=Start of the First World War  |last=Syiph |first=Ann |date=1 August 2014 |website=The Zoological Society of London |access-date=29 August 2022 }}</ref>
|-
|}

==See also==
* [[British entry into World War I]]
* [[Liberal government, 1905–1915]]
* [[Timeline of British diplomatic history#1897-1919]]
* [[Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book | last = Jenkins | first = Roy | author-link = Roy Jenkins | year = 1964 | title = Asquith | edition = first | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=cKdBAAAAIAAJ&q=asquith+Jenkins| location = London | publisher = Collins | oclc = 243906913 | ref = {{sfnRef|Jenkins}}}}
* {{cite book | last = Koss | first = Stephen | author-link = Stephen Koss | year = 1985 | title = Asquith  | location = London | publisher = Hamish Hamilton | isbn = 978-0-231-06155-1| ref = {{sfnRef|Koss}}}}
* {{Cite book |last=Otte |first=Thomas G. |title=Statesman of Europe : a life of Sir Edward Grey |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-241-41336-4 |location=[London], UK |oclc=1198445572}}

==Further reading==
* Boothe, Leon. "Lord Grey, The United States and Political Efforts for a League of Nations, 1914-1920" ''Maryland Historical Magazine'' 1970, 65#1, pp 36–54.
* Brown, William R. "Sir Edward Grey's rhetoric." ''Southern Journal of Communication'' 34.4 (1969): 276–287.
* Cecil, Algernon. ''British Foreign Secretaries 1807–1916'' (1927) pp 315–364. [https://archive.org/details/bristishforeigns0000unse online]
* Clark, Christopher. "Sir Edward Grey and the July Crisis." ''International History Review'' 38.2 (2016): 326–338.  https://doi.org/10.1080/07075332.2015.1134620
* Gooch, G.P. ''Before the war: studies in diplomacy'' (2 vol 1936, 1938) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.2275 online] vol 2 pp 1–133.
* {{cite book|last=Gordon|first=H.S.|title=Edward Grey of Fallodon and His Birds|place=London|year=1937}}
* Lord Grey, Viscount of Fallodon. ''Twenty Five Years 1892–1916'' (1925), his autobiography [https://archive.org/details/GreyViscountOfFallodonTwentyFiveYears online]; a primary source 
*{{cite book|last=Guinn|first= Paul |title=British Strategy and Politics 1914–18|year=1965|publisher=Clarendon|asin=B0000CML3C}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Hinsley |editor-first=F.H. |editor-link=Harry Hinsley |title=British Foreign Policy Under Sir Edward Grey|place=Cambridge|year=1977}} [https://archive.org/details/britishforeignpo0000unse online]
* {{cite book|last1=Lowe|first1=C.J.|first2=M. L.|last2=Dockrill|title=Mirage of Power: British Foreign Policy 1902–1914|volume=3 vols}} [https://archive.org/details/mirageofpower0000lowe/page/n5/mode/2up vol 1 online]; also [https://archive.org/details/mirageofpower0000lowe/page/n5/mode/2up vol 2 online]
** {{cite book|last1=Lowe|first1= C.J.|first2=M. L.|last2= Dockrill|title=Mirage of Power: The Documents| volume= 3: British Foreign Policy 1902–1922|year=1972}} [https://archive.org/details/mirageofpower0003lowe/page/n5/mode/2up vol 3 online]; primary sources
* Lutz, Hermann. ''Lord Grey and the World War'' (1928) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.190967 online]
* Massie, Robert K. ''Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the coming of the Great War'' (Random House, 1991) [https://www.amazon.com/Dreadnought-Britain-Germany-Coming-Great/dp/0345375564 excerpt] see [[Dreadnought (book)]], popular history; pp 581–593.
* Mombauer, Annika. "Sir Edward Grey, Germany, and the Outbreak of the First World War: A Re-Evaluation." ''International History Review'' 38.2 (2016): 301–325. [https://oro.open.ac.uk/45198/3/45198.pdf online]
* Mulligan, William. "From Case to Narrative: The Marquess of Lansdowne, Sir Edward Grey, and the Threat from Germany, 1900–1906." ''International History Review'' 30.2 (2008): 273–302.
* Murray, Gilbert. ''The Foreign Policy of Sir Edward Grey, 1906–1915'' (1915)[https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.93017 online]
* Neilson, Keith."'Control of the Whirlwind': Sir Edward Grey as Foreign Secretary, 1906–1916," in T.G. Otte (ed.), ''Makers of British Foreign Policy. From Pitt to Thatcher'' (Basingstoke 2002
* Otte, T. G. "'Postponing the Evil Day': Sir Edward Grey and British Foreign Policy." ''International History Review'' 38.2 (2016): 250–263. [https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/57803/2/Authors_final_version.doc online]
* Otte, Thomas G. "'Almost a law of nature'? Sir Edward Grey, the foreign office, and the balance of power in Europe, 1905–12." ''Diplomacy and Statecraft'' 14.2 (2003): 77–118.
* {{cite book |last=Robbins |first=Keith |author-link=Keith Robbins |title=Sir Edward Grey. A Biography of Lord Grey of Fallodon|year=1971}}
* {{cite ODNB|last=Robbins|first=Keith|title=Grey, Edward, Viscount Grey of Fallodon (1862–1933)|id=33570|date=2011}}
* Sontag, R. J. "British Policy in 1913–14" ''Journal of Modern History'' 10#4 (1938), pp.&nbsp;542–553 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1899022 online]
* {{cite book|last=Steiner|first=Zara|title=The Foreign Office and Foreign Policy 1898–1914|url=https://archive.org/details/foreignofficefor0000stei|url-access=registration|place=London|year=1969|isbn=9780521076548}}
* {{cite book|last=Steiner|first=Zara|title=Britain and the Origins of the First World War|url=https://archive.org/details/britainoriginsof0000stei|url-access=registration|place=London|year=1977}}
* Trevelyan, G.M. ''Grey of Fallodon; the Life of Sir Edward Grey'' (1937) [https://archive.org/details/greyoffallodonbe0000trev online]
* Valone, Stephen J. "'There Must Be Some Misunderstanding': Sir Edward Grey's Diplomacy of August 1, 1914" ''Journal of British Studies'' (1988) 27#4 pp.&nbsp;405–424 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/175713 online]
* {{cite book|last=Waterhouse|first=Michael|title=Edwardian Requiem: A Life of Sir Edward Grey|year=2013}} popular biography.
* Williams, Joyce Grigsby. ''Colonel House & Sir Edward Grey: A Study in Anglo-American Diplomacy'' (1984)
* Wilson, Keith M. "The British Cabinet's decision for war, 2 August 1914." ''Review of International Studies'' 1.2 (1975): 148–159.
* {{cite book|last=Woodward|first=David R|title=Field Marshal Sir William Robertson|publisher=Westport Connecticut & London: Praeger|year= 1998|isbn= 0-275-95422-6}}
* Young, Harry F. "The misunderstanding of August 1, 1914." ''Journal of Modern History'' 48.4 (1976): 644–665. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1880196 online]
*{{cite book |last=Hesilrige |first=Arthur G. M. |date=1921| title=Debrett's Peerage and Titles of courtesy| url=https://archive.org/details/debrettspeeraget00unse/page/425 | location=160A, [[Fleet street]], [[London]], UK |publisher=[[Dean & Son]]|page=425}}

==External links==
{{wikisource|works=or}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=7719}}
* {{FadedPage|id=Grey, Edward|name=Edward Grey, Viscount Grey of Fallodon|author=yes}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon}}
* {{hansard-contribs | sir-edward-grey | Sir Edward Grey }}
* {{Cite EB1922 |last=Buckle |first=George Earle |author-link=George Earle Buckle |wstitle=Grey of Fallodon, Edward Grey, 1st Viscount |short=x}}
* [https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/grey_sir_edward/2017-04-18?version=1 1914–1918 online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War]
* [http://net.lib.byu.edu/~rdh7/wwi/1914/greytalk.html Grey's Speech of 3 August 1914 before the House of Commons] ("We are going to suffer, I am afraid, terribly in this war, whether we are in it or whether we stand aside.")
* [http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1914m/genabc.htm The Genesis of the "A.B.C." Memorandum of 1901].
* {{PM20|FID=pe/006508}}

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{{s-new | creation }}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[Grey baronets of Fallodon (1814)|Viscount Grey of Fallodon]]
| years = 1916–1933
}}
{{s-non | reason = Extinct }}
{{s-reg|uk-bt}}
{{succession box | before=[[Sir George Grey, 2nd Baronet|George Grey]] | title=[[Grey baronets of Fallodon (1814)|Baronet]]<br />'''(of Fallodon)''' | after=Charles George Grey | years=1882–1933}}
{{s-end}}

{{Foreign Secretary}}
{{Chancellors of the University of Oxford}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey, Edward, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon}}
[[Category:British secretaries of state for foreign affairs]]
[[Category:Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:English ornithologists]]
[[Category:People educated at Temple Grove School]]
[[Category:People educated at Winchester College]]
[[Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the University of Oxford]]
[[Category:Deputy lieutenants of Northumberland]]
[[Category:Knights of the Garter]]
[[Category:Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom|Grey of Fallodon, Edward Grey, 1st Viscount]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Zoological Society of London]]
[[Category:1862 births]]
[[Category:1933 deaths]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1885–1886]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1886–1892]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1892–1895]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1895–1900]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1900–1906]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1906–1910]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1910]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1910–1918]]
[[Category:UK MPs who were granted peerages]]
[[Category:Diplomatic peers]]
[[Category:Hindu–German Conspiracy]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United States]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society (Statute 12)]]
[[Category:North Eastern Railway (United Kingdom) people]]
[[Category:Chatham House people]]
[[Category:Grey family|Edward]]
[[Category:Viscounts created by George V]]
[[Category:Grey baronets]]
[[Category:People of the July Crisis]]