Editing Cecil Spring Rice (section)

==Career==

===Early diplomatic career===
[[File:Spring-rice c2.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Spring Rice as a young man.]]
Spring Rice began his career as a clerk in the [[Foreign Office]] in 1882. In 1886, he was appointed Assistant Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary, the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] politician [[Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery|Lord Rosebery]].{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | pp = 36–38 (Volume I)}} Spring Rice was known to be a supporter of the Liberal Party and was sympathetic to the [[Irish Home Rule movement]] so he was relieved of his post when the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]] came to power later that year. Spring Rice subsequently made the unusual move to the diplomatic service, where he remained for the rest of his life, starting with his first posting to the British legation in [[Washington, D.C.]] in 1887.{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | pp = 51–97 (Volume I)}}

In 1892 he was posted to Japan, and undertook a tour of Korea with Curzon later that year.{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 125 (Volume I)}} While in Japan Spring Rice was instrumental in laying the foundations of the [[Anglo-Japanese Alliance]], which he identified as vital to British interests if Russian expansionism in the region was to be challenged. He left Japan in October 1893 and was posted again to Washington until October 1895, when he was posted to the British embassy in Berlin.{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | pp = 178–256 (Volume I)}} During his time in Germany he fell in love with his future wife, Florence Lascelles, the daughter of the then British ambassador. He left Berlin in July 1898, and after spending several months with his family on Ullswater was posted to Constantinople.{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 256 (Volume I)}} In May 1899 he was given his first posting to Persia as Secretary of Legation, and he became the British [[chargé d'affaires]] in [[Tehran]] in March 1900, when the Minister, Sir [[Mortimer Durand]], left for London due to his wife's health.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Court Circular|date=9 March 1900 |page=6 |issue=36085}}</ref> In 1901 Spring Rice was appointed Commissioner of Public Debt in [[Cairo]], where he remained for two years. In November 1901, he had been promoted to the rank of [[diplomatic rank|Secretary of Embassy]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27387 |date=13 December 1901 |page=8834 }}</ref> He was made Chargé d'Affaires in [[St. Petersburg]] in 1903, and in June of that year began to warn the British government that war between Russia and Japan was becoming increasingly likely.<ref name=burton/> He was still serving in Russia when the [[Russo-Japanese War]] began in January 1904, and he corresponded at length with his close friend and confidant President Roosevelt about the United States' mediation in the conflict and the subsequent [[Treaty of Portsmouth]].{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 441 (Volume I)}} In January 1905 [[Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne|Lord Lansdowne]] appointed Spring Rice as the Foreign Office's special representative to the US president.<ref name=burton/> Spring Rice was carrying out the duties of the British ambassador to Russia, who was unwell, during the [[1905 Russian Revolution]] and was involved in the early negotiations which resulted in the [[Anglo-Russian Entente]] of 1907.

In September 1906 Spring Rice undertook his first ambassadorial role when he was made [[British Ambassador to Iran|British Minister to Persia]], before becoming [[List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Sweden|Ambassador to Sweden]] in 1908.{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 126 (Volume II)}}

===Ambassador to Sweden===
Upon being appointed ambassador, Spring Rice was instructed by [[Edward VII]] to help improve relations between Sweden and Norway following the [[Dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden|dissolution of the Union]] between the two countries in 1905. The primary concern of the British government, however, was the increasingly friendly relations between Sweden and Germany, and the growing diplomatic, cultural and economic influence of Germany in Scandinavia. In a letter to [[Richard Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow|Lord Cranley]] in May 1909, Spring Rice stated "I suppose you realise that Sweden is in effect a province of Prussia [Germany], not in will but in necessity".{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 139 (Volume II)}}  He went on to say that "in case of war I think we should regard Sweden as German in effect...". Spring Rice became irritated by what he saw as Sweden's deference to [[Wilhelm II]], and his embassy was involved in an intensifying rivalry between Germany and Britain for control of Sweden's important iron and timber resources.<ref>Patrick Salmon, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sx3JAH0LiMEC&dq=cecil+spring+rice+sweden&pg=PA43 ''Scandinavia and the Great Powers 1890-1940''] (Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 43.</ref> Nonetheless, relations between Sweden and London remained amicable.

In November 1912, after four years in Sweden, it was announced that Spring Rice's next diplomatic posting was to be as ambassador to the United States.

===Ambassador to the United States===
[[File:Spring-rice c.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Sir Cecil Spring Rice in [[Court uniform and dress in the United Kingdom|court dress]].]]
Spring Rice had long held the ambition of being appointed ambassador to the United States. In his biography of Spring Rice, [[Stephen Gwynn]] stated that Spring Rice's main concern, throughout his diplomatic career, was to "improve relations between the two great English-speaking powers".{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | pp = 178 (Volume II)}} Within the diplomatic service Spring Rice had unique entrée into Washington's corridors of power, and his work alongside President Roosevelt in 1905 led the British government to regard him as a natural choice for ambassador by 1912.<ref name=burton/> The diplomat [[Sir&nbsp;Ignatius Valentine Chirol]] observed that Spring Rice's "whole career seems to have been a preparation for the final struggle in Washington".<ref name=burton/>

Within two years of Spring Rice's posting to Washington DC, the [[First World War]] had broken out in Europe, and his principal task became that of ending American neutrality. The United States was the largest potential supplier of munitions, arms and food to the United Kingdom and its allies, as well as a potential ally in the war.<ref name="theodorerooseveltcenter.org"/> However, in 1914 public opinion in America favoured neutrality, and Spring Rice had to grapple with the strong anti-British and non-interventionist elements in American politics at the time. Spring Rice also had the complex task of justifying British policies that violated America's rights as a neutral state, such as the monitoring of mail and telegrams and the seizure of contraband at sea.<ref name="theodorerooseveltcenter.org"/> Furthermore, German diplomats under [[Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff]] were active in attempting to influence American political opinion against the Allies. Of particular concern to Spring Rice was liaison between German and Irish groups in America, and his embassy was closely involved in gathering intelligence regarding the actions of anti-British spies and informants.<ref>Stephen Hartley, Licínia Simão, [https://books.google.com/books?id=DbSuCwAAQBAJ&q=The+Irish+Question+as+a+Problem+in+British+Foreign+Policy,+1914%E2%80%9318 ''The Irish Question as a Problem in British Foreign Policy, 1914–18''] (Springer, 1987), p. 45 (Retrieved 25 July 2016).</ref> He successfully engaged with his many [[Atlanticism|Atlanticist]] American friends, including [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[Henry Stimson]] and [[Joseph Hodges Choate]], who applied pressure on [[Woodrow Wilson]] to abandon neutrality.

In January 1915 [[Arthur Balfour]], the former prime minister, was sent on a mission to convince the United States Congress of Britain's friendship.<ref>/ref>"absolutely irreplaceable supplies", Cabinet Papers, 41/23/7</ref> In a series of meetings, Spring Rice and Consul-General, [[Courtenay Bennett|Sir Courtenay Bennett]], were marginalised by the delegation's representatives. Spring Rice and Bennett agreed to support the subsequent [[Anglo-American Agreement for Co-ordination and Acceleration of Deliveries|Commercial Agreement]] on the condition that Spring Rice's friend, [[J. P. Morgan Jr.]], was appointed as the sole purchasing agent.<ref>[[Kathleen Burk]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=BbtwAwAAQBAJ&q=Britain,+America+and+the+Sinews+of+War+1914-1918 ''Britain, America and the Sinews of War 1914–1918''] (Routledge, 2014), p. 18 (Retrieved 25 July 2016).</ref> Spring Rice was able to keep the feeble commission alive, but voiced his concerns that British finances in the United States were reaching a critical point as chaotic credit arrangements by-passed the body set up by parliament to effectuate co-ordination. Spring Rice sent daily wires to London warning that Gold runs would seriously undermine British bank facility, but these were largely ignored. Spring Rice had served as best man at J. P. Morgan's wedding and his influence over the commission was too great for him to be seen as impartial.<ref>The Board of Management, "The Bulletin of the Federal Reserve" - for warnings to US Treasury and Wall Street against investing in foreign Treasury bills;</ref>

As the war went on, Spring Rice's embassy increasingly assumed an advisory role to the many British special delegations which were sent to secure the support of the US government. Spring Rice complained about the limited part he was able to play in the 1915 [[Anglo-French Financial Commission]] led by [[Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading|Lord Reading]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Greg Kennedy|title=Britain's War At Sea, 1914-1918: The war they thought and the war they fought|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MSIFDAAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|year=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-17221-5|page=33}}</ref> Spring Rice was also concerned by the large number of private brokers and agents, both with and without official authority, who were operating in the United States on behalf of the government and British businesses. As a result, Spring Rice had to request for the [[War Office]] to provide him with an official list of accredited agents, which was reluctantly compiled in late 1914.<ref>Kathleen Burk, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BbtwAwAAQBAJ&q=Britain,+America+and+the+Sinews+of+War+1914-1918 ''Britain, America and the Sinews of War 1914–1918''] (Routledge, 2014), p. 17 (Retrieved 25 July 2016).</ref>

[[File:Signing the British War Loan 1917.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Spring Rice (second from left) signing the third US [[War bond|War Loan]] to Britain in 1917.]]
By 1916, the British government was becoming increasingly worried about the [[Ghadar Party]], a US-based political movement which was agitating for rebellion against British rule in India. The American authorities had been reluctant to check the Indian seditionist movement earlier in the war, and fear about the potential political fallout had prevented Spring Rice from pressing the matter diplomatically. However, in February 1916 Spring Rice was ordered to raise the issue with the new US Secretary of State, [[Robert Lansing]]. The subsequent [[Hindu–German Conspiracy Trial]] uncovered plans to incite an armed revolt in India with German support.<ref name=Strachan800>{{Harvnb|Strachan|2001|p=800}}</ref><ref name=Strachan804>{{Harvnb|Strachan|2001|p=804}}</ref>

In 1916, Spring Rice constantly sought a reprieve for [[Roger Casement]], citing the danger of protests from [[Irish Americans]], but he also advised political and religious leaders of Casement's "perversion" and the existence of the ''[[Black Diaries]]''. In January 1917 he signed the agreement of the third US [[War bond|War Loan]] to Britain on behalf of his government. Spring Rice's efforts to end US neutrality eventually met with success when the USA [[American entry into World War I|entered the conflict]] on the side of the Allies in 1917. In mid-January 1918, following a disagreement with [[Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe|Lord Northcliffe]], the head of the British war mission to America, he was abruptly recalled to London in a one-line telegram.{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 426 (Volume II)}}

Spring Rice immediately travelled to Canada to begin his journey back to Britain. In Canada, Spring Rice was the guest of his wife's cousin, the Duke of Devonshire, who was at the time serving as [[Governor General of Canada]]. Although only 58 and in reasonably good health, Spring Rice unexpectedly died at the viceregal seat, [[Rideau Hall]] in Ottawa, a mere three weeks after leaving his post.{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 435 (Volume II)}} It is believed that his underlying health condition (Graves' disease) had been exacerbated by exhaustion and stress. It was suggested by his family and close friends that Spring Rice had died of a broken heart following his removal from office, with [[Henry Cabot Lodge]] commenting that "the sudden cessation of his work and responsibilities in which his heart was bound up caused him the loss of the will to live".<ref name=burton/> He is buried in [[Beechwood Cemetery]] in [[Ottawa]]. Spring Rice was replaced as ambassador by Lord Reading, who was a direct representative of Britain's [[war cabinet]] and had been afforded additional negotiating powers, thus combining the roles previously held by Northcliffe and Spring Rice.<ref>{{cite news |date=12 January 1918 |title=Sir Cecil Spring-Rice, the British Ambassador at Washington, is coming home on leave |url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/12th-january-1918/3/sir-cecil-spring-rice-the-british-ambassador-at-wa |newspaper=The Spectator |location=London |access-date=26 July 2016 }}</ref>

===Assessment of work===
In ''[[The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt]]'', [[Edmund Morris (writer)|Edmund Morris]] described Spring Rice as "a born diplomat [who] invariably picked out and cultivated the most important person in any place".<ref>{{cite book | title=The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt | publisher=Modern Library | author=Morris, Edmund | year=2001 | location=7271 of 20280 (p. 357) | isbn=978-0-307-77782-9| edition=Kindle }}</ref> He was well respected in London's diplomatic circles, and had a wide network of influential friends in the United States and Britain. The diplomat [[Malcolm Robertson (diplomat)|Sir Malcolm Robertson]] described Spring Rice as "one of the two or three really brilliant ambassadors whom I have met in thirty years of diplomatic life."{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 213 (Volume II)}}

However, Spring Rice's success in turning the earlier close links to the US administration to a relationship of use to his government is debatable. By the end of his appointment, Spring Rice had earned the enmity of his government after becoming paranoid about the threat posed by German spies, and also because of his immense dislike of the many British delegations to Washington that were not under the control of his embassy. Furthermore, Spring Rice's personal connections to many notable [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] politicians was well known, so some members of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] administration of [[Woodrow Wilson]] were dubious about trusting him. He was damaged by his association with Roosevelt following the former President's attacks on Wilson for his policy of neutrality and for a lack of military preparedness.<ref name="theodorerooseveltcenter.org"/> Spring Rice found [[William Jennings Bryan]], the Secretary of State, hard to take seriously and disliked having to deal with [[Edward M. House]], Wilson's confidential adviser, who held no official post in the US government. Even so, after his death the British government publicly recognised Spring Rice's extraordinary contribution to the war effort. His untiring attempts to get the United States to join the [[Allies (World War I)|Allies]] were evident as well as his success in frustrating the work of the German ambassador, von Bernstorff.{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 352 (Volume II)}}

In a speech in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] in 1919, [[Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood|Lord Robert Cecil]] said:{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 436 (Volume II)}}

{{blockquote|"No ambassador has ever had to discharge duties of greater delicacy or of more far reaching importance than fell to his lot. Nor has any ambassador ever fulfilled his task with more unwearied vigilance, conspicuous ability and ultimate success."}}