The foreign policy of Sir Edward Grey : Germany and the ententes with France and Russia, 1905-1914

Abstract

Much has been written about the foreign policy of Sir Edward Grey as part of the attempt to illumninate the origians of the First World War. While Grey has been criticized by some historians for various parts of his policy, the overwhelming verdict has been favourable to him. The reputation he gained while Foregin Secretary as a completely honest, selfless, peace-loving man and the apparent credibility of the two volumes of his memoirs, Twenty-five Years, has resulted in these memoirs, unlike those of most other important pre-war diplomatic figures, having been largely accepted at face value as a true record of his ideas and motives, rather than as an apologia. It is on the basis of Grey's own account of his policy that the source material on British foreign policy between 1905 and 1914, mainly the British Documents on the Origins of the War, 1898-1914, has been interpreted. As G. M. Trevelyan, Grey's very apologetic biographer, writes: "The main principles of Grey's polcy were these -- Entente but not Alliance with France and Russian, accopmpanied by constant efforts to achieve more friendly relations with Germany.