William Strang, 1st Baron Strang
Encyclopedia
William Strang, 1st Baron Strang, GCMG
, KCB, MBE
(2 January 1893—27 May 1978) was a British
diplomat who served as a leading adviser to the British Government from the 1930s to the 1950s and as Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office
from 1949 to 1953.
, University College, London and at the Sorbonne
.
in 1915 and served in the First World War. He ended the war as a Captain
.
In 1919, he joined the Diplomatic Service and served at the British embassy in Belgrade
from 1919 to 1922, at the Foreign Office
from 1922 to 1930 and at the embassy in Moscow
from 1930 to 1933. During his time in Moscow he played an important role in the Metro-Vickers
engineers trial, in which six British engineers were accused of spying. He returned to the Foreign Office in 1933, and held office as head of the League of Nations
section until 1937 and of the Central Department from 1937 to 1939. From 1939 to 1943 he was assistant under-secretary of state for Europe.
During the 1930s he was an adviser to the government at the major international meetings, and met Mussolini
, Hitler
and Stalin
. He was a tacit opponent of appeasement, but always stayed loyal to the government. He continued as an adviser during and after the Second World War and was present at the major conferences between the Allied
leaders. In 1943 Strang was appointed the British representative on the European Advisory Commission
, with the rank of ambassador. The commission was set up by the Allies to study the possible post-war political problems in Europe and make recommendations. In this role Strang was considered a great success. The commission was dissolved at the Potsdam Conference
in 1945 and Strang was appointed political adviser to the Commander-in-Chief of British forces in Germany
, Bernard Montgomery
.
Strang again returned to the Foreign Office in 1947 and served as Permanent Under-Secretary of State
for the German section from 1947 to 1949 and as Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
from 1949 to 1953. The six years Strang served as Permanent Under-Secretary of State saw the gradual recovery of Europe through the Marshall Plan
, the establishment of the Western European Union
and NATO and the breaking of the Berlin blockade
. He retired from the Foreign Office in 1953.
(CMG) in 1932, a Commander of the Order of the Bath
(CB) in 1939, a KCMG in 1943, a GCMG in 1950 and a KCB in 1953. In 1954, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Strang, of Stonesfield
in the County of Oxford. He later served as a Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chairman of Committees
in the House of Lords
and as Convenor of the Crossbench Peers. He was also Chairman of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and of the college committee of University College, London. He published The Foreign Office (1955), Britain in World Affairs (1961) and Diplomatic Career (1962) as well as his autobiography Home and Abroad (1956).
Because of standing up for Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn
not becoming part of the Soviet occupation zone, as it was Stalin's wish, William Strang is very adored on the island, although he never got there in his lifetime.
Lord Strang died at the age of 85.
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
, KCB, MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(2 January 1893—27 May 1978) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
diplomat who served as a leading adviser to the British Government from the 1930s to the 1950s and as Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office
Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office
This is a list of Permanent Under-Secretaries in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office since 1790.Not to be confused with Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs...
from 1949 to 1953.
Early life and education
Strang was the eldest son of James Strang, a farmer, and his wife Margaret Steven, daughter of William Steven. He was educated at Palmer's SchoolPalmer's College
Palmer's College is a sixth form college for 16 - 19 year olds in Thurrock, Essex, England. With an 'outstanding' Ofsted inspection in 2007, the College was awarded Beacon status in 2008...
, University College, London and at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
.
Military and diplomatic career
Strang was commissioned into the Worcestershire RegimentWorcestershire Regiment
The Worcestershire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 29th Regiment of Foot and the 36th Regiment of Foot....
in 1915 and served in the First World War. He ended the war as a Captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
.
In 1919, he joined the Diplomatic Service and served at the British embassy in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
from 1919 to 1922, at the Foreign Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
from 1922 to 1930 and at the embassy in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
from 1930 to 1933. During his time in Moscow he played an important role in the Metro-Vickers
Vickers
Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
engineers trial, in which six British engineers were accused of spying. He returned to the Foreign Office in 1933, and held office as head of the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
section until 1937 and of the Central Department from 1937 to 1939. From 1939 to 1943 he was assistant under-secretary of state for Europe.
During the 1930s he was an adviser to the government at the major international meetings, and met Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
, Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
. He was a tacit opponent of appeasement, but always stayed loyal to the government. He continued as an adviser during and after the Second World War and was present at the major conferences between the Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
leaders. In 1943 Strang was appointed the British representative on the European Advisory Commission
European Advisory Commission
The formation of the European Advisory Commission was agreed on at the Moscow Conference on October 30, 1943 between the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Anthony Eden, the United States, Cordell Hull, and the Soviet Union, Molotov, and confirmed at the Tehran Conference in November...
, with the rank of ambassador. The commission was set up by the Allies to study the possible post-war political problems in Europe and make recommendations. In this role Strang was considered a great success. The commission was dissolved at the Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
in 1945 and Strang was appointed political adviser to the Commander-in-Chief of British forces in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Bernard Montgomery
Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC , nicknamed "Monty" and the "Spartan General" was a British Army officer. He saw action in the First World War, when he was seriously wounded, and during the Second World War he commanded the 8th Army from...
.
Strang again returned to the Foreign Office in 1947 and served as Permanent Under-Secretary of State
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
for the German section from 1947 to 1949 and as Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
from 1949 to 1953. The six years Strang served as Permanent Under-Secretary of State saw the gradual recovery of Europe through the Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
, the establishment of the Western European Union
Western European Union
The Western European Union was an international organisation tasked with implementing the Modified Treaty of Brussels , an amended version of the original 1948 Treaty of Brussels...
and NATO and the breaking of the Berlin blockade
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War and the first resulting in casualties. During the multinational occupation of post-World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway and road access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied...
. He retired from the Foreign Office in 1953.
Honours
While serving as an army captain, Strang was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1918. was made a Commander of the Order of St Michael and St GeorgeOrder of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
(CMG) in 1932, a Commander of the Order of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(CB) in 1939, a KCMG in 1943, a GCMG in 1950 and a KCB in 1953. In 1954, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Strang, of Stonesfield
Stonesfield
Stonesfield is a village and civil parish about north of Witney in Oxfordshire.The village is on the crest of an escarpment. The parish extends mostly north and north-east of the village, in which directions the land rises gently and then descends to the Glyme at Glympton and Wootton about to the...
in the County of Oxford. He later served as a Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chairman of Committees
Chairman of Committees
The Chairman of Committees is an officer of the House of Lords who presides over the House when it is in committee both in the Lords Chamber and in Grand Committee, which is when committee stage is taken away from the floor to free up debating time in the main Chamber...
in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
and as Convenor of the Crossbench Peers. He was also Chairman of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and of the college committee of University College, London. He published The Foreign Office (1955), Britain in World Affairs (1961) and Diplomatic Career (1962) as well as his autobiography Home and Abroad (1956).
Family and legacy
In 1920, he married Elsie Wynne Jones, daughter of Josias E. Jones. They had one daughter and one son, Colin, who succeeded him in the barony.Because of standing up for Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn
Fehmarn
Fehmarn is an island and - since 2003 - a town on this island in the Baltic Sea, off the eastern coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and ca. 18 kilometers south of the Danish island of Lolland...
not becoming part of the Soviet occupation zone, as it was Stalin's wish, William Strang is very adored on the island, although he never got there in his lifetime.
Lord Strang died at the age of 85.