Editing Cecil Spring Rice (section)

===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.