Conservative Party and Anglo-German Relations, 1905-1914

212 Pages·2007·0.69 MB·English

by  Frank McDonough

The Conservative Party
and Anglo-German
Relations, 1905–1914
Frank McDonough
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The Conservative Party
and Anglo-German
Relations, 1905–1914
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Also by Frank McDonough
THE BRITISH EMPIRE, 1815–1914
THE ORIGINS OF THE FIRST AND SECOND WORLD WARS
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN, APPEASEMENT AND THE BRITISH ROAD TO WAR
HITLER AND NAZI GERMANY
CONFLICT, COMMUNISM AND FASCISM: Europe, 1890–1945
OPPOSITION AND RESISTANCE IN NAZI GERMANY
HITLER, CHAMBERLAIN AND APPEASEMENT
HITLER AND THE RISE OF THE NAZI PARTY
THE HOLOCAUST
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The Conservative Party
and Anglo-German
Relations, 1905–1914
Frank McDonough
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© Frank McDonough 2007
All rights reserved.No reproduction,copy or transmission of this
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Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in 2007 by
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ISBN-13:978–0–230–51711–0 hardback
ISBN-10:0–230–51711–0 hardback
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McDonough,Frank.
The Conservative Party and Anglo-German relations,1905–14 / Frank
McDonough.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13:978–0–230–51711–0 (cloth)
ISBN-10:0–230–51711–0 (cloth)
1.Great Britain – Foreign relations – Germany.2.Germany – Foreign
relations – Great Britain.3.Conservative Party (Great
Britain) – History – 20th century.4.Great Britain – Politics and
government – 1901–1936.I.Title.
DA47.2.M258 2007
327.4104309(cid:2)041––dc22 2007060003
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Antony Rowe Ltd,Chippenham and Eastbourne
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To the memory of my father Francis McDonough
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Contents
Preface viii
Introduction 1
1 The Nature and Organisation of Conservative Foreign
and Defence Questions at Westminster 16
2 Leadership: (1) A.J. Balfour and Anglo-German Relations 35
3 Leadership: (2) Andrew Bonar Law and
Anglo-German Relations 53
4 The Views of the Conservative Party at Westminster
towards Anglo-German Relations, 1905–1914 69
5 The Role of the German Threat in the Propaganda
and Electioneering Tactics of the Conservative Party
at the Two General Elections of 1910 85
6 Extra Parliamentary Pressure Groups and Germany 105
7 The Conservative Party and the Decision for War in 1914 127
Conclusion 138
The Key Characters 144
Notes 153
Bibliography 173
Index 186
vii
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Preface
The book has taken many years to finally reach publication. The
delay does not reflect any lack of hard work on the part of the author,
but more the intrusion of many other projects and publication com-
mitments. The book began life after a conversation with the late and
great R.A.C. Parker, my tutor, on his ‘Special Subject’ on ‘British
Policy and the Coming of The Second World War’ at Oxford way back
in the 1980s. He suggested that I undertake a doctorate with him
on some aspect of appeasement. I thought it had all been said on
that subject, most by R.A.C., but he felt that two areas had been
neglected: the mass media and the evolution of appeasement before
Chamberlain came to power. I began work on the press and appease-
ment and produced some articles in that subject. I also wrote a book on
appeasement entitled, Neville Chamberlain, Appeasement and the
British road to war (1998), and I have become associated with the
Parker-inspired ‘post-revisionist’ or ‘counter-revisionist’ school. Idecided
to examine how the appeasers in the Conservative Party in
the1930sevolved their ideas during the early period of the twentieth
century. The title of my thesis, at the outset, was ‘The Evolution of
Appeasement in the Conservative Party 1905–1937’. I even set up a
database (actually it was then a card index) of all the Conservative MPs
who sat in parliament from 1905 to 1937. I quickly realised a flaw in
my over-ambitious plan: the vast majority of the Edwardian ‘die
hard’ Tories never made it to the 1930s. Most of them never evolved
at all. They simply got old, and like everyone else they died. I finally
decided to undertake research on the Conservative Party’s attitude to
Germany as an Opposition party from 1905 to 1914. I soon found
that no one had produced either a monograph or a doctorate on this
subject. I was finally underway. After many years of research and a
doctorate awarded on the subject in 2000, now finally comes the
monograph.
viii
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Preface ix
I would like to take this opportunity to thank a number of people
who have helped along this long journey: R.A.C. Parker, for sparking
the idea to begin my research and Dr. Ruth Henig, my Ph.D. supervisor,
at the time of completion – a great influence and inspiration. I would
also like to thank Professor David McEvoy, Director of the School of
Social Science, who helped me in carrying out most of the archival
research for this project. I am also grateful for the generous support of
the University’s Research Committee. I would also like to single out
for very special praise Dr Nick White, Reader in Imperial History, with
whom I have shared a room at university for longer than we both
care to remember and who pushed me to finish off the thesis and the
book. In addition, he has provided me with much intellectual and
academic stimulation and also a great many laughs over the years.
My other colleagues in the History Department at Liverpool John
Moores have also provided support and encouragement. But the
whole project would not have been possible without the support, loy-
alty and love of Ann, my wife. Finally, I must mention my dear old
dad, Francis, who died on 11 August2006, aged 82, after a very long
illness. I write this less than a month after his death. I could write
many words about this man: he helped so many people as he passed
along in his life and without the challengingintellectual stimulation
he provided at home I would not be writing this and you would not
be reading it. Quite fittingly, the book is dedicated to his memory.
6 September 2006 DRFRANCISXAVIERMCDONOUGH
Reader in International History
Liverpool John Moores University