Skip to main content

British Diplomacy from the Unification of Germany to the Spanish Civil War, 1863-1939

  • Home
  • Collections
  • British Diplomacy from the Unification of Germany to the Spanish Civil War, 1863-1939
A black and white photograph of Esme Howard in 1924. He has a prominent moustache.

Papers of Sir Esme Howard, 1863-1939

Esme Howard was one of the major British diplomatists of the early part of the twentieth century. Howard's abilities led him to hold from 1913 to his retirement in 1930 a series of important posts, culminating in the Washington embassy
Erik Goldstei, Boston University

Access the full collection

Get full access to British Diplomacy from the Unification of Germany to the Spanish Civil War, 1863-1939.

Institutional Free Trial

Sign up for a FREE trial 

Single User License

Purchase a license below to view the full collection.

Already have a license? Sign in to view the collection

See British diplomacy in World War One, the Spanish Civil War and 1920s America.

Smiddy, Massey, and Howard, in hats, stood against a stone wall

Esmé Howard (1863-1939) was an influential British diplomat during the early 20th century. As a young man, he worked as private secretary to the British ambassador in Berlin and witnessed the forging of the recently unified Germany. During the 1900s, he held various diplomatic positions in Crete, Budapest, and Berne and between 1913 and 1919 he was posted to Stockholm and was mainly trusted with tackling blockade diplomacy during the First World War. The zenith of his career occurred between 1924 and 1930, when he was a successful British ambassador to the United States. Upon his retirement in 1930 he was elevated to the House of Lords for his work in Washington.

This collection contains extensive material collected over the fascinating and fruitful life of Esmé Howard. This includes a plethora of personal correspondence with important figures, further correspondence, memorandum, and other material from his many diplomatic occupations, his personal diaries, and files documenting his personal estate. As such, the collection offers a compelling account of British diplomacy during and after the First World War.

Contents

British Diplomacy from the Unification of Germany to the Spanish Civil War, 1863-1939...

Papers of Sir Esme Howard, 1863-1939

Discover 
Mrs. Vincent Massey, Timothy Smiddy, Vincent Massey, Sir Esme Howard, 15 Feb 1927

Volumes

Licensed to access Personal Records

Howards's diaries follow his career through South Africa, Crete, Sweden, England, Geneva, Poland, Madrid and Versailles. Howard's other interests are...

Licensed to access Estate Records

The primary focus of these records is upon the development of the rubber and cocoa plantation syndicate which owned plantations...

Licensed to access General Letters Arranged Alphabetically

Most of this correspondence is on a wide range of topics that arose during 1936; however, some recurring themes are...

Licensed to access General Letters Arranged by Date

General letters dated from 1867 until 1939, includes letters of congratulations to Sir Esme Howard on his elevation to the...

Licensed to access General Letters on Specific Themes

The dominant theme within this group of documents is of Esme Howard's personal correspondence with members of the Foreign, Commonwealth,...

Licensed to access Diplomatic Career

The significance of these documents lies as much with the range of countries they cover as with the subjects under...

Licensed to access Subject Files

This group contains three core themes: diplomacy and peace negotiations, correspondence and printed reports re. Maltese affairs, and content on...

Licensed to access Printed and Pictoral Records

These printed records cover an eclectic mix of subjects, the foremost of these are literary works and other compositions by...

Insights

  • His papers from 'the Psychological Warfare Division on opinion in Sicily' review that division's uses. These items explore whether it might be a good idea to continue some of the division's research after the war.
  • During his time as a diplomat, Howard's diaries covered his work in a range of countries. From South Africa between the first and second Boer Wars, to Crete between Greece's two wars to claim the island.
  • The 'Personal Records' also contain extracts from Howard's diary during the Versailles Conference which followed the First World War.
  • Howard's work also led him to correspond with Ramsay MacDonald, Theodore Roosevelt, George Bernard Shaw and the former Irish prime Minister Liam Cosgrave, as well as many other diplomatic contacts.
A black and white image of POWs at a re-education camp.

Licensed to access Building a New Germany: Denazification and Political Re-education, 1944–1948

1944   1948

Licensed to access British Diplomacy with America and Ireland, an Ambassador's Letters, 1909-1962

1909   1962
Representatives from the Soviet Union, UK and US at the 1945 Potsdam Conference in Potsdam, Germany.

Licensed to access Establishing the Post-War International Order, 1944-1961

1944   1961
Back to Top