Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 The making of a diplomat, 1863–1903
- 2 Crete: consulship and civil war, 1903–1906
- 3 Washington: Imperial affairs and arbitration, 1906–1908
- 4 Budapest and Berne: prelude to the Great War, 1908–1913
- 5 Stockholm: war and diplomacy in neutral northern Europe, 1913–1916
- 6 Stockholm: diplomacy and war in neutral northern Europe, 1916–1918
- 7 Paris: Poland, the Baltic States, and the Treaty of Versailles, 1918–1919
- 8 Madrid: Anglo-Spanish relations, 1919–1924
- 9 Washington redux: rebuilding good relations, 1924–1927
- 10 Washington redux: meeting the American challenge, 1927-1930
- Epilogue and conclusion ‘A great ambassador’
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - Budapest and Berne: prelude to the Great War, 1908–1913
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 The making of a diplomat, 1863–1903
- 2 Crete: consulship and civil war, 1903–1906
- 3 Washington: Imperial affairs and arbitration, 1906–1908
- 4 Budapest and Berne: prelude to the Great War, 1908–1913
- 5 Stockholm: war and diplomacy in neutral northern Europe, 1913–1916
- 6 Stockholm: diplomacy and war in neutral northern Europe, 1916–1918
- 7 Paris: Poland, the Baltic States, and the Treaty of Versailles, 1918–1919
- 8 Madrid: Anglo-Spanish relations, 1919–1924
- 9 Washington redux: rebuilding good relations, 1924–1927
- 10 Washington redux: meeting the American challenge, 1927-1930
- Epilogue and conclusion ‘A great ambassador’
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
It is a most curious thing that in foreign politics the English radical has always[,] ever since I can remember, been absurdly & ignorantly in the wrong. I suppose it is because they never try to learn the grammar of foreign affairs.
Howard, March 1913After a year at Washington, Howard found his financial resources stretched thinly. A third son, Hubert, had been born in December 1907 and this, in combination with the social responsibilities of a counsellor, began to erode his inheritance. Moreover, in the autumn of 1907, he had made a trip to Louis d'Or and learnt the disheartening news that the experimental rubber-growing would not succeed. Latex flow remained well below that needed for profitable enterprise and, worse, could not be expected to improve. He and Thorlief Orde therefore made the decision to begin anew with cocoa cultivation. All of the rubber groves would have to be cut down and replaced with cocoa trees. It would be a while before he could rely on any substantial income from this venture, let alone have enough annual profits to consider retiring once again from the Diplomatic Service. These financial strictures convinced him of what had been evident since he rejoined the Embassy at Rome: his future and the security of his family lay in a diplomatic career.
On returning from Louis d'Or he enquired discreetly of his friends at the Foreign Office about the possibility of an early transfer from Washington to some less costly post.
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- Esme HowardA Diplomatic Biography, pp. 101 - 131Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1989