The impact of military service on the British Foreign Office and Diplomatic and Consular Services, 1914-8

Fisher, John

Abstract

This article examines the interface of military service and the Foreign Office and Diplomatic and Consular Services during the First World War. That convergence encompassed efforts by those institutions to respond in a patriotic spirit to demands for the release of serving officials. However, efforts were made to minimise the impact of their removal upon those institutions. As with other government departments, the Foreign Office came under the scrutiny of those who sought to maximise the war effort. It attempted to limit the drain upon its staff but, on occasion, found itself at odds with the War Office, some of whose functions appeared to stray into the Foreign Office's domain. The issue arose in the context of heightened debate about the conduct and direction of foreign policy, when the control of foreign policy by senior officials as well as by successive foreign secretaries was uncertain. This article draws extensively upon official and private archival collections in order to examine a neglected aspect of wartime administrative history. © 2012 Taylor & Francis.

• Journal Article Type: Review
• Publication Date: Nov 19, 2012
• Journal: International History Review
• Print ISSN: 0707-5332
• Electronic ISSN: 1949-6540
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 34
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 431-448
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07075332.2012.675211
• Keywords: military service, first world war, british foreign office, diplomatic service, consular service, 1914-1918
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/946607
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07075332.2012.675211