Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon

The Right Honourable The Viscount Grey of Fallodon KG PC DL FZS
British Ambassador to the United States
In office September 1919 – March 1920
Nominated by	David Lloyd George
Appointed by	George V
Preceded by	Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading
Succeeded by	Sir Auckland Geddes
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office 10 December 1905 – 10 December 1916
Prime Minister	Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman H. H. Asquith
Preceded by	Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne
Succeeded by	Arthur Balfour
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office 18 August 1892 – 20 June 1895
Prime Minister	William Ewart Gladstone Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
Preceded by	James Lowther
Succeeded by	George Curzon
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office July 1916 – 7 September 1933 Hereditary Peerage
Preceded by	Peerage created
Succeeded by	Peerage extinct
Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed
In office December 1885 – July 1916
Preceded by	Hubert Jerningham David Milne Home
Succeeded by	Sir Francis Blake
Personal details
Born	(1862-04-25)25 April 1862 London, England
Died	7 September 1933(1933-09-07) (aged 71) Fallodon, England
Political party	Liberal
Spouses	Dorothy Widdrington ​ ​ (m. 1885; died 1906)​ Pamela Tennant, Baroness Glenconner ​ ​ (m. 1922; died 1928)​
Relations	House of Grey
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford
Profession	Politician

Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, KG, PC, DL, FZS (25 April 1862 – 7 September 1933), better known as Sir Edward Grey, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who was the main force behind British foreign policy in the era of the First World War.

An adherent of the "New Liberalism",^[1] he served as Foreign Secretary from 1905 to 1916, the longest continuous tenure of any holder of that office. He renewed the 1902 Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1911. The centrepiece of his policy was the defence of France against German aggression, while avoiding a binding alliance with Paris. He supported France in the Moroccan crises of 1905 and 1911. Another major achievement was the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. He resolved an outstanding conflict with Germany over the Baghdad railway in 1913. His most important action came in the July Crisis in 1914, when he led Britain into World War I against Germany. He convinced the Liberal cabinet that Britain had an obligation and was honour-bound to defend France, and prevent Germany from controlling Western Europe. Once the war began, there was little role for his diplomacy; he lost office in December 1916. By 1919 he was a leading British supporter of the League of Nations.

He is remembered for his "the lamps are going out" remark on 3 August 1914 on the outbreak of the First World War.^[2] He signed the Sykes-Picot Agreement on 16 May 1916.^[3] He was ennobled in 1916, prior to which he was the 3rd Baronet Grey of Fallodon, and was Ambassador to the United States between 1919 and 1920 and Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords between 1923 and 1924.