Edward Grey Quotes
This should be represented to the Austrian government, and you should impress upon how necessary it is that their decision to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina should be reconsidered.
In 1908 Austria had designs on the Balkans, whose small countries have been fought over for years.
Edward Grey [Viscount Fallodon], 1862-1933, British Foreign Secretary (Liberal), Memorandum to Sir E. Goschen, October 5, 1908
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Chamberlain’s policy was to appease Hitler and Germany to avoid war. Although he did not see Czechoslavkia as a critical British national interest and claimed he had secured peace {585941} , the reality was that he gave Germany room to start its aggression which would engulf all of Europe and much of the world. The British became the only bulwark against Hitler until the Russians stopped the Germans and America entered the war.
Despite the fact that there were no formal political polls at the time, public opinion was very influential in curtailing what might be a tendency to use of the American military. Starting with the Cold War later, Presidents tended to use American military force regardless of public opinion or would exaggerate or lie (Vietnam and Iraq wars for example) to temporally gain some public support.
Germany had demanded that Belgium allow German troops to cross Belgium to the French frontier. However, King Albert was concerned that this would be a de facto German occupation of Belgium and asked for help. The British tried diplomacy but things were out of anyone’s control and the First World War ensued.
England in this quotation claims the right to interfere in the internal affairs of another nation if there is mismanagement or crises AND her national interests are affected.
This is one of he earliest uses of the term “policemen of the world.”
Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, KG, PC, DL, FZS, better known as Sir Edward Grey, was a British Liberal statesman and the main force behind British foreign policy in the era of the First World War.
